Tribes 3 Rivals: Roles Guide and How to Play Them

As a chaotic team-based FPS, Tribes 3: Rivals will require every player to know the different roles and how to play them.

Playing a defensive role that stays at the base requires a very different playstyle than the flag-stealing Cappers, for example!

To make things a tad simpler for you, we’ll go over all of the competitive roles in the game and break down the basics of playing them.

How to Play Every Role | Roles Guide

There are 5 roles you can play in Tribe 3: Rivals, all of them defined by how you help your team out. They are Flag Defense, Chaser, Midfield, Clearer, and Capper.

Which role you have to play in your team is something you have to define with your teammates. Of course, if you’re playing casually with randos you should just switch according to the situation.

Now, let us give you an overview of all the 5 roles and how to play them.

Flag Defense

In the role of Flag Defense, your goal is to stay in your team’s base protecting the flag. The name says it all, after all!

You’ll try to minimize how much you get out of the base, trying to only go out whenever you’re helping an allied Capper or when chasing any enemies that run off with the flag.

Ideally, you should stick to either Medium or Heavy Armors in this role. You’ll need the extra defenses and firepower, but you have no use for the Light Armor’s speed.

As a Medium Armor, you should try to hide near the flag and watch out for incoming enemies. Once you spot them, attack them before they can make off with the flag.

You should equip the Impact Nitron for its ability to force flag drops and the Shield Pack for extra defenses.

If you pick Heavy Armor instead, you’ll ideally try to stay on top of the flag yourself. You can physically block enemy Cappers from stealing the flag by just standing there!

For your Heavy Armor loadout, make sure to pick the Stormslicer for its damage and the Mine for their area denial potential.

Overall, this is a relatively simple role but also one of the most important! Be a credit to your team by never letting the enemies make off with the flag.

Chaser

This role is all about returning your flag to your base. But, unlike the Flag Defense role, you won’t focus on prevention! You’ll focus on reaction.

That means that you will, as the name implies, chase down enemy Cappers that make off with your flag.

Since speed is so important for this role, you’ll want to stick to either the Light or Medium Armors.

Light is faster, but most players prefer Medium for its better survivability.

No matter which Armor you pick, make sure to bring two things in your loadout: Impact Nitron in your Belt, and the Chaser Perk.

Impact Nitron, as we mentioned before, can be used to force enemy Cappers to drop the flag. It can make getting the flag back a lot easier!

As for the Chaser Perk, it’ll give you extra damage against any enemy carrying your flag.

Additionally, you’ll get extra Energy and Energy Regeneration. It also prevents self-damage once, which means you get a free Disc Jump!

Disc Jumps are when you shoot an explosive disc weapon, like the Spinfusor, toward the ground and jump at the same time. It’s similar to good ol’ explosive jumping in other games.

Other than these two must-haves, you can pick whichever weapons you want for either Armor loadout.

Ultimately, this role is also quite simple, as you just need to hunt down enemy Cappers once they run away with your flag. Rush them down before they make it to their base!

Midfielder

This is one of the odder roles right now, as you will basically act as a sort of scout by staying somewhere between both bases.

Try to spot enemies that are approaching your base and let your team know about them before they’re too close! Give your Flag Defenders and Chasers some time to prepare against enemy attacks.

Aside from just calling out enemy positions, though, you should also be trying to intercept and kill enemies before they come close to your base.

Your loadout here is, frankly, going to be whatever you feel most comfortable using. That said, you’ll need to stay on the move pretty often, so Light and Medium Armors are recommended.

Survivalist Perk might also be the best Perk for this role, as it enhances the effects of Health Packs. It’s fantastic for staying alive out in the middle of the map!

In summary, your goal as a Midfielder is to call out enemy positions and intercept them before they can reach your base. It’s a very open-ended role, so you’ll be constantly switching between offense and defense!

Clearer

The Clearer is a vanguard for the Capper. Your sole goal in this role is to distract and kill enemy Flag Defenders and Chasers, as well as any Midfielders that show up to ruin your party.

Kill as many of the enemies as possible, or at the very least keep them distracted.

Also make sure to shoot and remove any Mines you spot, and try to get Heavy Flag Defenders to stop camping atop the flag.

Basically, you’re setting things up for your Capper to come in and swoop the flag with as little trouble as possible!

You’ll also need to take care of all base assets, such as turrets and sensors. It’s absolutely vital that you take as many of them out as possible before your team’s Capper reaches the enemy base!

As a Clearer, you’ll be drawing a lot of enemy fire toward you, so you should stay as Medium or Heavy Armors for their survivability.

However, your loadout is very open-ended. The only recommendation we do have is the Gladiator if you pick the Heavy Armor. It’s an absolute beast at wrecking enemy base assets!

Ultimately, you just have to do what your name implies and clear the enemy base of hostiles before your Capper comes in to steal the flag. Any enemy you can’t kill, you should at least keep distracted.

Capper

Last but not least, the role of Capper has one single goal in mind: steal the enemy flag and take it to your team’s base.

You’ll have to work in tandem with your allies, particularly anyone in the role of Clearer, to make taking the flag easier.

Since you’ll need to be quick, you’ll want to pick either the Light or Medium Armors for your loadout.

As always, Light has extra mobility but Medium has superior survivability. Pick whichever one fits you best!

Your equipment loadout is very open-ended in this role, with the exception of your Perk. Make sure to pick the Capper Perk whenever you’re in this role!

It increases the range for flag and Health drop pickups and also disables speed limits while holding the flag.

A unique challenge for Cappers is that you should try to develop a route across every map since you need to maximize your speed.

This is something you’re going to have to master with practice but just try to have routes where it’s easy for you to speed through and stay away from enemies.

Bring the enemy flag back to your team as fast as possible, and focus primarily on movement! You should avoid fighting enemies head-on if possible, letting your teammates take care of them instead.

ALSO READ: Tribes 3 Rivals: Ultimate Beginner’s Guide for New Players