Overview
In Siege, each team has an IKE turret that they must defend, while at the same time, taking down the opponents. Similar to Heist. During the middle, if the battle, bolts will suddenly spawn onto the map, the more bolts that you collect, the stronger your push will be.
The team with the most bolts before the timer runs out will spawn a robot that will attack the enemy IKE. The IKE deals 1000 DPS, whenever any target is present in the designated area of the semi-circle. As a result, you win if you end up destroying their IKE, or deal more damage, again similar to that of Heist.
The bolts you collect will result in a stronger bot. However, it is important to note that all levels of a bot will have the same health as each other. Though the increase in speed and damage will make it harder to fend off than lower bots.
Stages
There are 3 stages/battle phases within Siege. In this section, there will be a basic summary of all the phases within Siege, which will be built up to more advanced strategising as you go through the latter stages of this guide...
- Collecting and fighting for bolts
- Attacking with a bot
- Defending the enemy bot
It is important to balance all 3 phases and not overcommit on one, such as going all out on a push, especially with a low bot level. Unless you are certain you will deal a substantial amount of damage
Fighting for bolts
Don't go super aggro, take your time creating area control in mid...doing this will ensure that more bolts will be transferred towards your IKE.
IMPORTANT: With the recent update, bolts will now spawn in a specific and fixed locations. Learn the pattern of bolt spawning and use it to your advantage, and become more efficient when creating/maintaining area control. This makes Siege less RNG and more skill.
If you are unable to easily grab a bolt, prevent the enemy team from picking it up. Works well with brawlers who have area denial such as throwers, this enables your other teammates who are less vulnerable to being exposed, collect them.
Attacking with a bot
Always try to support your bot, do not purely rely on it as damage output on the enemies IKE, as it can easily be defended by higher/more experienced players. Supporting your bot will guarantee more damage to their IKE, a possible advantage of mid control in the next interval of bolt spawns.
Don't group up near to your bot, especially inside the area of the semi-circle, where the IKE can consistently penetrate you with 1000 DPS, while also having a large radius of splash damage.
To improve the efficiency of the IKE, eliminate any brawlers/spawnable slowing down the advancement of your bot, as it will ultimately shorten the lifespan of the bot.
DO NOT overcommit! Siege is a game mode of patience and turnaround, it doesn't end in one interval unless you take out 100% of their IKE. Overcommitting will result in a complete loss of control in mid and forfeits all your positional advantage...enabling the enemy team to create control and make it harder for you to push in mid. The best do not always primarily focus on the damage on the IKE, but chipping down the brawlers of the enemy team to give them more of an advantage and edge in the next interval of bolt spawns.
Defending with a bot
Engage the robot as soon as possible, to minimise as much damage to your IKE. As your opponents won't deal as great damage without it. Decide whether to fully engage with the bot (and die), or stay alive and maintain positioning. (Think about this if you are the last person yet to die. The bot will gain huge ground while the whole of your team respawns)
Stall the bot as much as possible, more detail on this later.
Decide when to make for the centre again. This can help give an advantage in the next interval of siege bolts. DO NOT go mid if your IKE is critically low. Go for mid early if your IKE has stable health, and the bot has below 8k or so health, so the IKE is able to manage it itself.
Advantageous mechanics
Now it's time to establish the best mechanics that are suitable for this gamemode of Siege. First, we must cover the overall basics in what you want your brawler to do, in order to be viable in this mode.
You want to play a brawler who is able to create area control, and allow their teamates to then maintain it. Generally being support and not the main output of damage and being super aggro. Maintaining the area control is just as important as creating it, keep that in mind, and find a comp that balance out these two areas. You also need to consider brawlers who are able to tolerate the bot, and being capable of defending it, since you are at least going to defend once in a Siege map.
Now we will go through a few brawlers that are viable for this mode:
Barley
One of the best brawlers in Siege, and arguably his best mode in general. He is great at creating area control with his splash dmage and long lasting projectiles. His gadgets are also a really good benefit
Pam
More map dependant, but still a solid pick as maintaining area control with uer healing turret. Her shots also allow her to create pressure and chip down any opponents. She can be played in a variety of different ways and should definitely be considered in more open based maps.
Frank
His stunning ability can easily change the game and turn it around. He is able to stun the bot allowing his teamates to take it out and deal less damage to the IKE. He can also create area control by stunning in the middle of the map.
Jessie
Not really the best brawler, but her gadgets do make her better, and make her a really solid pick to go for. She can be used as both defense and offense with her turret, and can be a great asset to a team. Though less viable with other brawlers better to use than her.
Gene
His pulling mechanics make him insane at Siege. Being able to pull enemies with bolts as well as bots charging towards the IKE. Gene can be used in several different ways from support to damage
Others who are also viable are: Rosa, Darryl, Jacky, Penny, Brock and much more.
NOTE: All of these brawlers are map dependent, and always will be, the next section will cover comps and advanced strategising and how to maximise win rates.
Strategising and Synergy
You may be playing all the best brawlers that are insane for a paticular map, but it is about how you play them. Comps play a huge part in winning 3v3 matches. Most of the time, people will just use o e of the most pverpowered comps to gurantee a high winrate. Knowing how to use it and the roles of each brawler, will certainly increase chances of victory!
One of the best known comps in Siege is pam, max and possibly between tick and Barley (Somewhat map dependant but in a more general case). Again, having the strongest comp is one thing, but being able to synergise is another. One great example is Gene and Frank. Gene acts like a Poco towards Frank with the constant 400 healing. This means that frank will have to stay close to gene, but not worry about his health and being exposed with his slow attacking speed. Having the ability to pull in brawlers can be really benefitial in a continuous recycle of supers and control in mid. This is also the same case in defense, pulling and stunning the bot, distracting him from the IKE.
Tips and tricks
Don't push with your bot, and be in front of it is the first tip.
Depending on the remaining health of the enemies IKE, it may be benefitial to snipe the turret, and ignore the bolts. Only do this if you are certain you will completely finish the IKE off.
When you're Siege bot is heading to attack the IKE, it may not be a good idea to kill enemies, as they can use their immunity to fend off the bot. This is very situational and depends on the health of the IKE.
The first interval of siege bolts requires 3/5 to gurantee a bot. So you can sacrifice some bolts if you are at a risk of losing position by dying. However, a technique can be used by purposely losing the first interval (by one bolt). As first interval, the bot will be very weak and easy to defend. As a result, your IKE will not sustain as much damage, and now you have an advantage in the second intrtval by having more bolts. This can also benfit your team if the opponents decide to overcommit on their push. Use their inexperince to your advantage and think outside the box!