Spacing and AoE Escalation¶

Core rule¶

Spacing is one of the strongest defensive tools in ZvZ.

A player who spreads correctly reduces enemy AoE value while staying close enough to heal, support, pressure, and re-engage.

Spread is not escape¶

Bad spread:

Everyone walks away from the fight, loses heal/support range, and stops pressuring.

Good spread:

Players take useful space around the fight, reduce enemy AoE value, and stay connected to the next role action.

Why clumps die¶

Large clumps create multiple problems at once:

enemy AoE gets higher value
enemy pierce hits more players
healers and supports are forced to save too many people at once
friendly tanks cannot see the real counter path
DPS lose angles and block each other
panic movement spreads the problem late instead of preventing it early

Focus Fire Protection / Resilience¶

AoE escalation explains why clumps die so quickly. Focus fire protection, often called resilience, explains why one player does not always die instantly just because many players hit them.

In ZvZ, good damage is not only "everyone hit one target." Good damage comes from timing, clump quality, pierce, heal cut, pressure, and choosing targets that can actually be killed.

This is why spacing matters in both directions: clumping too tightly gives the enemy AoE value, but spreading your damage with no timing or pressure can also fail to kill anything.

Role application¶

Role	Good spacing means
DPS	take angles that can hit, not random distance that leaves the fight
Healers	stand where danger can be healed without stacking on the danger
Supports	cover the active lane without becoming extra AoE escalation
Tanks	create front and stop paths without dragging enemy damage into backline
Caller/officers	call spread with direction and purpose when needed

Training prompt¶

When the caller says "spread," pause the VOD and ask:

Did I spread into useful space?
Could I still hit, heal, support, or stop?
Did I leave someone else to die?
Did I just join a different friendly clump?