We all know that once an objective is downed, a member of the defending team can run over to it and hold E to return the objective to the attacking team’s spawn. We are constantly reminded to do so even by the commander/announcer figure over voice comms and given a score reward for doing so. However is this really the optimal strategy for the defending team?
I’d argue that over time the metagame for defenders on objective delivery maps will revolve around downing the objective and then NOT returning it. The benefits of leaving the objective downed in a known location is that all 5 members of the defending team no longer have to spread themselves thin to cover the periphery of the map , where all the side routes are, to defend against “ninja deliveries”. They can simply set up in strong locations around the objective and camp. In addition, many mercs have area of denial abilities. Fragger can toss nades at anyone running to pick up the objective. Proxy can lay mines around it. Stoker will be able to flame it off if the attacking team comes to pick it up. Arty can bombard it, and Skyhammer can airstrike it. In short, if the defending team plays their mercs and rotates their abilities properly once the objective is down, it becomes extremely difficult for the attacking team to reacquire it.
Anyway, it seems a odd to me that the game encourages and rewards you with score for returning the objective, a strategy that is actually more likely to allow the opposing team to win, and I’d like to see some kind of revision from the Dirty Bomb devs to reconcile the two.