This is a long article on the use of Sappers and how to equip and use them. It can be used by any style of player, be it tacter, clouter or eduer. The most important thing is the right equipment to use them. Please highlight or correct the article if you have a better idea on their uses.
Sappers have very little acknowledgement by most users as they do not see the kills immediately.
This unit sometimes plays a vital role in battles offensive and defensive. They are great support unit against ghasts or fast units travelling to harass our portals as bascially they get blown up along the way unless equip with anti-grav (most players tend to ignore anti-grav).
I will like to highlight some of the ways to play Sapper and I will appreciate if a more experience user can add to my tactics of using them or correct any mistakes I make.
Firstly, I will start off with equiping the Sapper. Equipment of Sapper:
H-mines, cloak, use cells (color in green at 17,000 energy or in purple at 18,000+ energy) if possible DO equip with goggles.
H-mines: High damage to bring down enemy unit.
Cloak: You do not want to die fast without mining up the place. Always press STOP or "S" if you see enemy approaching or passing your way.
Cells: H-mines require a lot of energy since you will like to mine up the place, you need a lot of energy for mining.
Goggles: This is an even less known item to be equip for Sappers BUT they are very important. Goggles enable you to see where the enemy is heading so that you can choose to stop and prevent enemy from knowing you are there and kill you before you mine up the place.
Tactics of Using Sapper: Sapper is the first unit out as it takes sometime before the enemy reaches your portal and start mobbing you. Please remember, if you are reinforcing a battle after sometime has past or attacking a map that has enemy set up, DO NOT rein sapper. They will just die at portal, giving enemy XP and not much for you.
Walk a distance from your portal and start mining. Best to choose a path that is not so commonly used by our ALLY reins. This is because any enemy coming to our portal directly will also blow up our own ally units and worse if they are newly reinforced for the battle. (They will be cursing at the bugger using the sapper)
After 1/4 or one quarter of your energy is used, walk along a path that is very seldom used by the enemy and head towards the nearest enemy portal. Place a few mines along the way so that enemy has to waste time slowing down to sacrifice units along the way to clear them or better still, got all of them killed by clicking at our portal and not looking at the path travelled by their own unit to see whether they meet up with anyone along the way.
Once you reach the path that you know enemies ground units will take start mining towards the poc. LOOK before you mine. Always mine towards the nearest poc that enemies will defend, starting from the point as near as you dare to walk towards the enemy portal. This is because our poor enemiy will ram all the mines to get to the nearest poc.
Another method if you choose to rein other units fast is to mine the path in front of the nearest poc from your own portal. MINE UP THE PATH AROUND THE POC and not on the poc. This is because enemy can phase a unit down and clear the mines and still continue poccing or worse, blew up our allies standing on the poc to defend it. Do NOT think that mining up the poc helps. It sucks to the core unless you are landmining the poc nearest to the enemy. This is because enemy will have a high chance of successfully poccing the poc nearest to them end game and our own allies or regimates in battle have a very low chance of grabbing it back. (Exception is given to EvilTofu, JediTofu, HairyTofu, Syasuke and Havok for completing MISSION IMPOSSIBLE repoc at end game) Mining the nearest poc often mean our own units are detered from heading there to defend it. You do not wan to be blown up by your own mines do you?
The next way to play sappers is to mine up an area in front of your own or allied arbs/trebs/balls will set up. This again can slow down or prevent enemy ground units from cutting them down. I can tell you, you can get a lot of satisfaction seeing your hard work paid when you see them blown up by your own mines instead of screaming for allied support to clear the enemy that is cutting your artillery units down. (Advice from Havok)
For Sappers to mine up or be effective, it takes around 4 mins to mine without the use of a volte. I recommend only 4 mins as you have to rein other units to kill them off as well. You can either choose after 4 min to purposely expose yourself so that their ground can kill you off and hopefully taking the path to their own destruction travelling to you or walk as fast as you can towards the nearest allied portal of your choosing.
Best way to die is to pretend to poc at the poc that you have mined when attacking. You can have the satisfaction of watching them ram through all the mines to get to you :D