A quick guide to the changes to nodes in update 10 and how to go about placing them.
Node Changes
As of update 10, nodes have had some big changes. Each team can now build 3 of each node (previously 4), each engineer can only build 1 of each node (previously 4), and nodes give +10 of their respective resource regardless of their placement (even in the first sector).
This has arguably taken the challenge out of the engineer role. The days of being a one-man node building machine are sadly over. Where previously a dedicated engineer could spend all game driving supply trucks, placing nodes and moving the nodes up to a further sector, now the placing of nodes is an unchallenging chore that requires 3 players to spend 5 minutes of their game making the minimum effort to place nodes before joining their squads.
The New Meta
Despite these changes, a new meta has evolved. As before, nodes can only exist in friendly sectors. Attempting to build nodes in enemy sectors is impossible, and if a sector is captured containing nodes then those nodes will be wiped from existence. Therefore to keep your nodes up even while defending the final strong point, the nodes should be placed in the first sector.
To build nodes in the first sector comes with its own challenges. Supply trucks cannot drop their supplies in this sector. However dropping supplies at the very start of the second sector will allow you to build nodes in the first sector. If you are able to spawn quickly at the start of the game, take the supply truck with an officer, drop supplies as soon as the pre-game barrier has vanished, and get building! The officer can then continue to the front lines to build a garrison for the rest of your team.
Sometimes this is not an option, so teaming up with a support player is your next best shot. Place the manpower node first, and if the support player is within 50m of the node (the yellow radius on the map) their supplies will regenerate twice as fast (150s vs 300s). You could also ask for a supply drop from your commander, but since when do commanders listen to engineers?
Conclusion
Nodes win games, but if this isn’t motivation enough to spend 5 minutes as engineer then remember this: nodes also generate a ton of experience points over time, which are credited to whatever class you are playing. Building 3 nodes that last an entire game can give you thousands of support points, helping you to level up your other classes and your squad members’ ranks.
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