Hako Strategy

General Hako Strategy, work in progress

3v3

 

Target

We have to kill someone for GB, obviously.  But we also don't want our opponents to have hyper.  So the compromise is to kill the least dangerous with hyper target, and let the other front line job live for as long as we can manage it.  We hit the back line job and other front line job to store TP, and then use it on the targeted front line job as soon as they return, to prevent them from quarrying up good items.  This works doubly as you want the other two ALIVE, but LOW HP, so that when it comes time to kill them later in the match, it's easy.

So, focus one target, usually the weakest of the 2 front line jobs.  see my rankings here

In general, target:

DRK>WAR>DRG>MNK>RNG>SAM

There are exceptions sometimes because of who is playing, race differences, etc.

First Death

As healer, you can make the decision with your squad to "let" your target player die (not cure them in the first exchange).  This quickly gets them to hyper, and this early in the game, the opponents shouldn't have a lot of petra yet.  This is dangerous though, if the opposing team plays cleanly, it can backfire.  Think of it like an aggressive gambit in chess; you offer up a sacrifice to your opponent (easy GB) with the hope of benefitting from your new position (saved MP, quick access to hyper).

Who To Target When The Game Gets Dirty

I'm going to post this on the front page as well.  This is complicated stuff but needs to be discussed.  When the game veers off the standard path of "kill DRK and nobody else", targeting starts to get weird.  The basic rule of targeting comes down to who is the most dangerous. 

The power hierarchy:  WHM>SAM>RNG>DRG>MNK>WAR>DRK.

Anyone with hyper activated (ie. has died) is more dangerous than those who do not.  Therefore, a hyper SAM (a SAM that has died) needs to be targeted over the usual target.  Similarly, a hyper WHM becomes the target after it dies. Period!  If you kill the non-standard target because they had 5 ON, kill them again repeatedly!

This is the reason for many comeback wins.  Players don't follow up with their chosen strategy.  Just killing someone once because they have 5 ON and then going back to killing the normal target is going to lose you tons of games.  

Exceptions to this rule are based on time remaining in the match and petras.  Obviously when there's 30 seconds left and only the DRK has petra and gate breach, then sure, target the DRK.  But beyond extreme situations like that, it really comes down to your judgment.  Every game is different.  Only experience will teach you how to make decisions at those times.