- Playing as the police, you have a great advantage on Derailed as long as you and your team take the approach slowly and carefully. Since Crosshair takes place in the Construction Site, there are tons of machines and buildings that you can use to cover your path and help with your plan to take the criminals by surprise. On the same note, this makes it very easy for the enemy to find hiding spots and prowl in the corners in between dumpsters and lying prone on top of roofs. Bring a decoy gadget with you to distract the enemy to one of the many paths available here. Since there are so many obstacles, it takes the enemy long enough to move and check out a distraction that if they fall for it, your team’s VIP has an open lane to charge the extraction point. Place a teammate running the operator class in the two story building that’s right in front of your deployment as an over-watch, but be careful because this position can be seen from the criminal deployment. Position the player up there but out of sight and stay in constant communication with everyone in your squad. If an enemy is spotted, the over-watch player can jump to the window quickly and take out the spotted enemy. When extracting, your team should occupy the building, splitting the two extractions to keep the VIP protected at all costs.
- As the criminals, it’s best to find a hiding spot and stay there. Work and communicate with your team to set up the entire squad in strategic locations that can overlook both extractions and the major approaches so that your team doesn’t get overwhelmed with incoming forces. Use the dumpsters near the B extraction and the roofs adjacent to the A extraction to protect each enemy objective. Staying close and keeping out of sight is key on Derailed because there are so many places to hide and the police don’t have time to check them all. The only problem with using the roofs at A is that there is a two story construction portable near the police deployment that allows the police to have a vantage point that overlooks these roofs. If your team is going to use a roof, be prepared to take out this over-watch position in order to stay safe while hiding up there. In that same vein, you can use the grappling hook to climb any of the buildings. Just be aware that some of the roofs are rather short and if you’re not positioned correctly you can be spotted from the ground level.
- On defense, Derailed is very much an all-out war when you attempt the rush tactic. It becomes less about which team has the better shooters and more about which team gets the luckiest and comes running around the corner before the enemy knows you’re there. It is important to rush to a hiding spot and stay there simply because it is incredibly difficult to see which way the police are coming. Without a lot of sightlines straight to the extraction points, mechanics and enforcers should practice lockdown tactics.
- The best VIP routes on Derailed are along the outside perimeter of the map, specifically because of the pathway that leads horizontally across the middle of the map. Crossing this path is dangerous and getting caught here is close to guaranteed death. If you let the rest of your team cross the path safely, there is a good chance that it is safe for you and the VIP. However, a smart criminal will let them pass, wait for you to cross, then take you out. The outer perimeters minimize this risk because the visible access points to the road are in the middle. It is tougher to check both ways in a pinch than it is to check one, so make sure your back is to your base or out of bounds when crossing. In this map there are plenty of tight corners where laser tripmines and enemy players can be hidden. When out in the open move quickly, but in tight spaces move slowly and quietly because footsteps can be very loud, especially when running.
- Use the grappling hook to get to the roofs. Since you don’t want to be there for very long, especially when attacking, zipline to the north or south side of the map bypassing the dirt road and avoiding as much danger as possible. When defending, be sure to carry the security camera with you and set it on the dumpsters and building walls to watch areas that you just don’t have the bodies to cover at all times.
Smoke grenades can really help you make a getaway. —Brian Paoloni, Quality Designer