Protect The Payload! It’s time to dive into the strategy behind an often misunderstood game mode.

After far too long of a wait, we’re happy to finally welcome you back to your Spider Tanks Showcase!

Today we’re not here just to talk about another Tank Part. We really, really like Tanks… but this time we’ll be digging into something far bigger than just one way to build your Tank.

Today we’re talking about Poultry Pusher. This game mode is less straightforward than Team Deathmatch or Capture the Flag. Pilots can easily underestimate the nuance of strategy involved, and teams often live or die on their ability to cooperate effectively.

Poultry Pusher TLDR

In Poultry Pusher, players protect and escort The Payload– a gigantic chicken of mass destruction. Once your Payload arrives at the opponents’ side, the detonation sequence begins and the match is won.

-The Payload moves when friendly Tanks are within its radius. Two Tanks make it go faster.

-When an enemy Tank is within The Payload’s radius, it will not progress forward.

-When The Payload has not had an allied Tank within its radius for an extended period, it will begin to move backwards except during overtime.

-An allied tank within range for even a moment will stop backwards progression, even if an enemy Tank is also within the radius.

-During overtime, both Payloads move forward without players in their radius

Harassing and Pushing

The typical strategy in Poultry Pusher involves two Tanks defending and pushing The Payload while one Tank attacks and harasses opponents’ off their Payload.

Some teams may opt to have two Tanks harassing while one holds down the chicken. Typically this is a tactic employed later in the match to recover from a deficit, but teams that are outranged or made up entirely of small Bodies may opt to be more aggressive throughout the entire match.

Whichever way you go, Poultry Pusher is nearly always two unbalanced matchups on opposite sides of the arena. Whether you wind up 2v1, 3v2, or 3v1, the odds are very rarely even in battles that occur in frays within PP.

Due to this, the decision of which player harasses and who stays with the chicken should very much consider the makeup of the other team. If their entire team is limited in range, sending a fast Tank with a long range Weapon could make for an easy win. If their team is full of bulky Titans and repairing, sending someone with Shield Drone and a Weapon capable of some close range chaos may make more sense. There are tons of ways to make a plan… but it usually pays to have a plan.

In most Maps, Payloads moving at similar speeds will cross near each other halfway through their route, which can cause utter chaos and change the game dramatically. Go ahead and plan for plans to quickly change at these moments.

The object isn’t always to kill the opponents. If two enemies are attacking you while you’re alone on The Payload, that usually means two Tanks aren’t pushing their Payload forward. If you can survive their onslaught, the rest of your team is probably 2v1 on the other side.

You just need to outlast. Likewise while harassing, if you can consistently make opponents leave the Payload’s radius, that’s just as good as them in pieces.

Artillery Weapons can be particularly effective, especially the JACKED O’ Lantern’s Brambler or the Fire Artillery since they leave a damaging zone behind that can cause people to flee The Payload’s radius.

Beware Weapons like Crossbow or Tortoise’s Blade Spinner, as they have massive range and can penetrate Tanks to take out a whole team at once if the person firing them knows what they’re doing.

Advanced Pushing

There’s tons of strategy involved in Poultry Pusher, and as you learn more you only realize that there are many different ways to turn the battle in your favor.

-Not All Maps Are Equal-

When forming a strategy, think about the route The Payload will take on a particular Map.

On a Map like Arctic Research, for instance, sending out your longest range Tank to attack may not be the best move. Since the Payloads march towards each other in no man’s land at the center of this Map, a long range Tank could easily push and harass at the same time.

-Abilities Are Your Friend-

You may only get two Abilities, but choosing the right ones for Poultry Pusher can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

A Shield Drone will protect you from all damage, but you’ll still push your Payload or block the progress of the enemy Payload. While harassing, this means you could have three seconds of interruption in the enemy chicken’s progress at any time. If you’re a high Energy Tank, you could easily get two shields back to back with some clever dodging in between.

Other Abilities can be extremely useful as well, such as Repulsor Zone. This costs one more Energy than Shield Drone, but gives you six seconds where the enemy can’t get to The Payload if you place it correctly.

A well timed Reactive Plating can be a game changer on either offense or defense, but get it wrong and you lose eight seconds in respawn time while the enemy pushes ahead.

-No Plan Survives Contact with the Enemy-

Just as true now as when 21st century race car driver Moltke the Elder said it. Flexibility is key to Poultry Pusher.

If your plans aren’t working, switch them up. While this may be more difficult with random teammates in the solo queue, it’s not impossible.

Your team also wants to win, and if you shift to attack instead of push when it makes sense, they’ll usually pick up your signals and follow your lead. A friendly message in chat takes seconds, and could save you a match worth of hardship.

Try not to be contrary when someone else takes the lead either. Always better to do a thing than argue and not do a thing. 3.5 minutes is too short to argue and still come out on top.

Push Onwards!

That’ll be it for us this week. Hopefully this has given both new and veteran Pilots alike some insight into fresh strategy for Poultry Pusher to help get that Payload over the finish line.

There’s lots of ways to be awesome at Poultry Pusher though. Let us know in the comments if we missed anything big!

Next time we’ll be back with a spotlight on Frozen Research. Tweet your favorite strategies to us @Spider_Tanks for a chance to be featured in the article!