So you're sitting on the steps of that ramp in Shatt from Lower City to the Terace of Light watching all the over-geared, elitist PvP jerks standing around with 12k HP and 35% crit waiting for their Arena queue.
And you sit there thinking (1) "I hate those guys," and (2) "I wish I was cool like them."
So you've decided to see what Shaved and Uncle Heavy have to say about it, eh?
Well, here's my .
What this post is not designed to do: This post will not give you specific strategies or cookie-cutter tactics. It will not turn you into an arena master just from reading it. It will not help you get laid- except in very limited circumstances. (But even then, there's clearly more than just the post's content at work.) This post will not make you a better player or help you understand your class.
What this post is designed to do: This post is designed to get you on the right path toward being able to survive longer than 3 seconds in arena. I want you to go in there ready to learn about how the various arenas and class match-ups function. That takes some effort and thought, but it means the difference between being 'burned down' and doing the 'burning.' The goal here is to put the reader into the right frame of mind for he or she to (over time) adapt and grow as an arena player.
Uncle Heavy says: [meow] L2pwn nub imoz [/meow]
I. Mindset Ok, so you want to start some Arena, and you think, "I rock face in bg's! I should pwn arena!!" Sorry scrub, AV ---------->
The arena is nothing like battlegrounds. It's a lot more like a duel. 5v5 is the closest thing, and that's still night-and-day from AB or WSG. And the smaller the teams are, the more like a duel it is.
This is wildly important to understand. You cannot hide or run. There is no res. You can't "defend." When those doors open, if you're not on your game, you lose. Arena matches are short, very short. Use ALL your cooldowns. Wait, that's more important than it appears here.
<clears throat>
CHEA CHEA SKEET SKEET
USE ALL OF YOUR COOLDOWNS OR YOU WILL LOSE IMOZ
That's better. A saved cooldown is a wasted one.
Think in terms of the most effective use of your abilities. For shaved, an example of cooldown use in a match looks like this:
Opponent team is a warrior and a paladin (just so this works out easily)
1) Drop a snake trap (30 sec), Burn rapid fire (5 min, shaves 1 sec off wyvern's cast time), wyvern sting (2 min) to sleep the paly.
Warrior closes on me. Paladin bubbles out of the poison and is awake now.
2) Pop deterrence (5 min CD) to make the warrior useless against me, pop readiness (5 min, refreshes deterrence, rapid fire, wyvern, and trap), drop a slow trap.
Paladin starts to heal. Paly bubble is fading.
3) Wait for the bubble to end, shoot warrior, Wyvern the paly again to stop the heal he's casting. Kite the warrior (2 traps on him, a third cooling down).
Paladin is asleep. Warrior is rooted and yelling at his screen.
4) Burn that warrior while the paly heals him.
Warrior's perma-root is fading, as is Paladin sleep.
5) Drop freezing trap (for warrior), Rapid fire and waste that paladin.
Warrior gets out of the trap. Paladin is dead (Luv has been killing him or something lol).
6) Warrior gets into melee range. Deterence again (last cooldown available) and make him cry.
This is what I'm talking about in terms of cooldown use. Obviously this example is an ideal situation, but the point is that you should be thinking about cooldown usage the entire fight. Use the cooldowns you have when you need them. Don't wait!
Think about Cooldown synergy. Which cooldowns affect the other ones? what sequence give you the most effective use of them? Which ones work together really well and which ones don't?
Get used to this idea. This is probably the hardest play-style transition when going from BG PvP to arena PvP.
-- Edited by shaved at 19:22, 2007-06-27
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II. Stats You're looking at your character sheet, wondering what you need for arena. 8k hp? 20% crit? 11k mana? PvE ----------> Scrub!
First of all, don't even start thinking about serious arena shenanigans without 9k hp, crit near 30% (not everyone, I get that some builds don't use crit), and at LEAST 20 resilience (100 is closer to the minimum I'd go in with).
Why 9k hp? People hit like trucks. Can you take a 6k pyro crit and 2 seconds of white damage from a hunter? Not with 8k you can't. I don't care how good your heals are, you'll get 2-shotted before the first heal goes off with less than 9k.
Why 30% crit? Resilience! I have 30% crit, but in the arena, I crit about 22-24% of the time (according to SWSTATS). Get that crit up there or expect to NEVER crit. Crits win matches, resilience saves them.
Why 100 resilience? A 6k pyro crit is now either a 5.5k crit or a 2.8k hit. Much easier to take a second one if the first one didn't crit. And before he can cast the next one, my multishot just might drop him.
So, your goal should be to keep about 80% of your PvE damage while increasing the following stats:
III. Roles The most important thing you've got to establish (before you queue) is the roles that each player will be expected to perform. This will change based on your class make-up and the size of your team. Some basic roles include interupts, tank, CC, heals, burst dps, "chaos inciter" (attract attention and otherwise irritate the other team), and buffs. In my 2v2 with Luv and Commie, role is determined before the match and is determined by the capabilities of our specs and classes.
Shaved/Commie Commie is neither a tank nor a dps'er. He can heal, interupt, and buff. So that leaves it to me to try to CC, burst dps, and attract attention (traps, sleep, pet).
Luv/Commie Luv can tank better than commie, but he's got to be stealthed at the begining to be most effective, so that means that they have to play diferently from the Shaved/Commie combo. Their roles overlap on interupts so that Luv can burst through one of the opponents quickly, while Commie keeps them both alive.
Shaved/Luv With no healer, we've got to play the match very aggressively. I run up and attract attention with the goal of cc'ing something. While their team starts to beat on me, Luv opens up and destroys their healer or other clothie in the confusion.
More to come, stay tuned
-- Edited by shaved at 19:23, 2007-06-27
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if ur doing arena (or even just BGs), the insignia of the alliance (lvl 60) and medalion of the alliance (lvl 70) r very useful. the lvl 60 one requires only about 3-4k honor and is well worth it. these trinkets dispell all movement impairing effects or effects that cause u to lose control of ur character (i.e. cyclone, freeze trap, sap, seduce, fear, deathcoil, sheep, etc.)
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I wanna listen to big band music and watch cops beating up hippies. -Grandpa Simpson
also, if u dont already, start amassing 2 sets of gear. 1 for pve and 1 for pvp. if ur just gonna pvp, obviously u dont need a pve set, but im assuming most people want to pvp and pve. if ur just gonna pve, gtfo of this post nub. malfurion----------> for pvp, ur gonna want the stuff shaved mentioned b4...stam, resil, crit, dodge, parry, defence
Edit: unless ur nightshift, in which case, keep stacking AP til ur the first worldwide w/ 3k unbuffed. seriously, he'll one-shot clothies soon...im not kidding
-- Edited by Luvatmaction at 22:49, 2007-06-27
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I wanna listen to big band music and watch cops beating up hippies. -Grandpa Simpson
Why 9k hp? People hit like trucks. Can you take a 6k pyro crit and 2 seconds of white damage from a hunter? Not with 8k you can't. I don't care how good your heals are, you''ll get 2-shotted before the first heal goes off with less than 9k. If your a dedicated pvper 2000+ rating you won't have to worry about fire mages, way to squishy compared to ice mages. 9k health UNBUFFED is a good start to a new team but eventually you will need 10,11,12k unbuffed as your rating gets higher since you will start fighting better teams.
Why 30% crit? Resilience! I have 30% crit, but in the arena, I crit about 22-24% of the time (according to SWSTATS). Get that crit up there or expect to NEVER crit. Crits win matches, resilience saves them.
Stacking crit in pvp gear isn't a good thing to depend on, critting doesn't win matches, survival does. Outlasting the other players while still burning them down is how you win. Crits are nice yes, but you shouldn't depend on them to win.
USE ALL OF YOUR COOLDOWNS OR YOU WILL LOSE IMOZ
That's better. A saved cooldown is a wasted one. Like you said try to use all your cooldowns in the duration of the fight. Do not use your cooldowns at the start of the fight, you use them near the end of the fight while everyone is low to finish them off. A good healer will easily heal through cooldowns and everything else at the start of the fight. Using cooldowns also depends on the size of the team, 2v2 and 3v3 save your cooldowns. 5v5 is just burn them down as fast as you can.
So, your goal should be to keep about 80% of your PvE damage while increasing the following stats:
Stamina
Resilience
Crit
Mitigation (resistance, resilience, dodge, parry, block) If your pve gear has close to no stam, trash it. A green with twice the amount of stam will be better. If you can survive you will win.
First of all, don't even start thinking about serious arena shenanigans without 9k hp, crit near 30% (not everyone, I get that some builds don't use crit), and at LEAST 20 resilience (100 is closer to the minimum I'd go in with). 20 resilience is next to nothing. Its almost pointless having that little. 100 is alot better but, if your getting serious 200+ is the way to go.
If your a dedicated pvper 2000+ rating you won't have to worry about fire mages, way to squishy compared to ice mages. 9k health UNBUFFED is a good start to a new team but eventually you will need 10,11,12k unbuffed as your rating gets higher since you will start fighting better teams.
All true. But I'm helping people get started, not close the season at 2000+.
Stacking crit in pvp gear isn't a good thing to depend on, critting doesn't win matches, survival does. Outlasting the other players while still burning them down is how you win. Crits are nice yes, but you shouldn't depend on them to win.
I agree, not all builds depend on crit. (Mine does, but hunters in arena is another issue entirely though.) Crit helps a lot though, and if we're talking about burst damage to cut through healing or force a bubble (or even surprise a healer enough that there's no reaction), crit makes a significant difference.
You're right about surviving, though. The way I see it is "live long enough to get that crit, have that talent proc, or see the other guy make a mistake."
Like you said try to use all your cooldowns in the duration of the fight. Do not use your cooldowns at the start of the fight, you use them near the end of the fight while everyone is low to finish them off. A good healer will easily heal through cooldowns and everything else at the start of the fight. Using cooldowns also depends on the size of the team, 2v2 and 3v3 save your cooldowns. 5v5 is just burn them down as fast as you can.
Time your cooldowns, use them wisely, but for god's sake, USE THEM!
If your pve gear has close to no stam, trash it. A green with twice the amount of stam will be better. If you can survive you will win.
Make sure you still do damage or heal (or whatever your role is).
20 resilience is next to nothing. Its almost pointless having that little. 100 is alot better but, if your getting serious 200+ is the way to go.
Agreed. I have 150 right now, and I notice a real difference. But my goal is about 250-300 eventually. But honestly, just getting SOME resil will make a difference, and the important thing is for people to consider this stat an end-game pvp stat. End-game in the sense that it's not as useful as stam, AP, or +healing/spell dmg, until you're at about 10k hp, 1600 AP, or <insert numbers here> +healing/spell dmg or so. But once you're there, it's ok to give up a small amount of it for more resilience. (Like Mp5 for hunters in PvE- useless at first because you still need AP and other main stats, but eventually you'll be useless without it.)
-- Edited by shaved at 02:16, 2007-06-29
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