Use Custom Games with Buck or Sledge to learn maps vertically. Start from the top floor and work downward, or start around the bomb sites and expand outward. Identify every floor and ceiling you can break, and note the visual reference points that tell you where you are. This is what builds real map knowledge and pre-plant denial setups.
Use it to control sites, cut off rotations and disrupt defenders. Always drone first to confirm it is safe. Buck, Sledge, Ram and Fuze are the top picks, and breaching charges also work. Vertical control is at its most valuable during the plant and post-plant phase.
Play from above or below to deny plant areas and burn attacker time. Nitro cells, reinforcements and operator tools like Pulse, Solis and Valkyrie maximise the effect. Pre-placed C4 is particularly strong on common attacker routes.
As a defender, reinforce hatches — and Kaid can electrify them. As an attacker, use Hibana, Ace, Thermite or Maverick to open them. As a defender you can also deliberately leave a hatch soft so you have a fast rotation or escape route.
Attack Buck, Sledge, Ram, Fuze, and anyone carrying breaching charges.
Defence Pulse, Solis, Valkyrie, Lesion, Azami, Aruni, Oryx — and anyone with a shotgun or DMR for making angles.
This chapter is from The Principles of Competitive Siege, a free guide by Szhutsen K. Liang. SiegeIQ puts the same thinking on your own clips: upload a round and get a breakdown of what actually went wrong. Try it free.