Coach Axiom · 33k PRHigh layer is not highground
Zone 8 to 10
In Zone 8 there is hardly any real highground in solos anyway. Try to be high layer. From there you rotate more easily with a Shockwave, you scout better and you are less likely to get jumped by unstacked players. Early highground costs mats in solos that you will miss two zones later.
The last zones
In solos you take highground late, in the last two zones, maybe three. Holding height over several zones means taking refreshes all the time, while you also have to pressure and get kills on your own. Ammo is a problem too: without kills you cannot keep spraying the whole time.
Go up when you are stacked: good mats, good HP and heals, or a fresh refresh. With over 1,000 mats in second moving, deep and frontside, look for height and play up. With 800 to 900 it gets a lot harder.
Taking highground and holding it
Taking highground is an investment. There are three ways up.
1. Play zone, then Shockwave up
Play zone, use your heals, then Shockwave up from outstorm. Do not let the highground player see beforehand that you are outstorm and want to come up. Play the zone first and then shock up, so he is not focused on you and you can take it over.
2. Front zone
Go in from the front and try to shoot the highground player down to take his spot. If it fails, drop layers to avoid wasting many mats and heals by being second height.
3. Be there first
The cheapest way. Box up on a good spot the zone pulls to, a mountain for example, layer up and show everyone that you are the highground player. Then check that the next zone does not max pull away, and it is easy to hold.
Once you are up
- Tarp on the outside: not through the middle of the zone, where second height can walk right under you. On the outside you have vision on the whole field. Check under you every now and then.
- Pressure: spray the second height player or whoever looks up at you. It tells them you are there and scares them off contesting.
- Pull to the other side: Shockwave forward once and build up again there, or give the height up for now and take it back next zone. Low on mats, stay up until the zone gets there and try to make rotating players low or kill them for mats. If that fails, stop trying to play high.
- Someone comes for it: with awareness on him, hit him first and hold it. If you take a 100 pump without awareness and cannot fight back on few mats, you are usually better off letting it go.
Why you do not want to be second height
Second height is the second highest player in the endgame, out of everyone still alive.
Why it is the worst spot
The highground player sprays the second height player the whole time, so that he stops being a threat, goes down or loses mats, and is scared off coming up. In the last two zones, when everyone sits on top of each other, highground hardly sees anyone but the player right under him.
Play a solid high layer instead
High layer sits below second height. You are still high and can rotate the next zone easily, without being his main target. Highground can still play you there, so make sure you do not lose too much to him.
Passing through is fine
On your way up to highground you are second height for a moment, and that is not a mistake. You can even use it: get into the highground player's blind spot and try the highground play from there. If it fails, ask yourself if you really needed it.
Late in the game
With about five players left you do not want to be that high. Be on midlayer, lowground or highground, but never second height. If it comes down to the last three and both winning positions are held by stacked players, you are stuck in between, and all you can do is try a play on one of them.
When lowground is right and when it is not
Lowground is one of the two winning positions in the endgame, next to highground. It only wins late, and only when the layer belongs to you.
Zone 8 to 10
Lowground is not a winning position yet. Far too many players sit on that layer, mostly the ones without mats looking for kills, so you cannot claim it for yourself. You also cannot hit good Shockwaves from down there. As long as you have mats, try to be high layer instead. With almost no builds left it is different: you go lower to find a refresh (Refresh).
- Coming in low: do not stay down. Build straight up from layer 1 to layer 3 as you come in, so you do not get scuffed at the bottom. If you come in low and die on the next rotation, coming in low was the real mistake.
- Old builds: with mats, do not land in other players' builds. You have no edits in there, and the owner might still be alive and come back with edits on you when the zone pulls there.
Zone 11 and 12
Now lowground is the goal, but only if you are the only one on that layer, or close to it. Claim it, defend it and play it for the win.
No Shockwaves
Without Shockwaves, lowground is fine, even in Zone 8 to 10. Down low you are a bit hidden. Play more backside then, and do not go early.
Not every winning game is a highground game. Sometimes lowground or midlayer is better, so learn to play more than one way.
Holding lowground
In solos, lowground usually only gets claimed in the last zones. Before that it is too hard alone: you would have to pressure everyone off the bottom, stay front and get the kills that pay for your tarp, with few options down low when the zone pulls somewhere random.
1. Stay front
When the zone pulls, move with it the whole time and stay in front. If you wait until the zone comes to you from behind, other players go in front of you and claim the lowground.
2. Tarp and backtarp
A tarp is a tunnel: boxes in a row in one direction, it can also go diagonal. Keep rebuilding the wall at the back, so nobody sneaks into your tarp and kills you from behind. In solos you need the mats for it, more in Mats and heals.
3. Out of mats
With no mats left in the last zones, playing other players' old builds is a good play. Hide in them instead of spending your last mats on a box everyone can see. The tarp is not yours, and players who know that build wait for the moment it ends or breaks. Know where you go next before that, and do not pickaxe out at the last second.
How to get to the front before everyone else is in Endgame.