|
[via theburialgrounds] This article is a primer on strategies for your survival in PvP on the PvP servers or as clashes erupt on PVE. It will not make you the dominant player on your server, but it is my hope that it will give you insight and clues as to how to handle yourself against a worthy enemy…your peers. Below gives you a place to begin and a few tips and tricks from PvP players. Don’t think that we are being nice or motherly. No, we are tired of culling the herd of the weak. Read this, work hard, and give us a challenge!
Setting the stage for PvP
Note that PvE skill does not correspond to PvP skill. This is the one of the most obvious facts to those who have played PvP before. Yet is the most common mistake players first make. I know we have been grinding for 80 levels and are used to charging in to 2-3 mobs and defeating them with over half our HP remaining. I know that Conan himself is used to killing armies while sipping latte (DON’T SIP LATTE!). PvP is different. Consider every other player like a elite mob ...one wrong move and your dead.
However AoC is a significant break from past MMOs (DAOC, WOW, Etc). In those games as you gained in levels you significantly increased in power over those lower level that you. NOT THE CASE in AOC! You gain a level and you get a few more HP (perhaps 30) and that’s about it! No more superior evasion and huge damage bonuses because your 1 level over somebody else. Consider yourself potential prey to those 2 to 3 levels below you and stay on guard.
Prepare yourself
The best PvPers are the ones who are never out of the PvP mindset. Surprise is one of the biggest attacks out there and with everyone having the Stealth ability it is equal across the board (somewhat). You should always be ready for combat any time you leave the cities (where PvP cannot take place), entering an instance, speaking with a quest NPC, walking leisurely down the path smelling roses (DON’T SMELL THE ROSES!) and even when you rez. Attacks can and do come at all these times. Be ready!
Your ability BAR
The first thing you need to do is setup your PVP UI. You should have a BAR dedicated to PVP and a separate one for PVE (As a caster I had a third one just for buffs). Often I keep my PVP bar on Bar 0 (SHIFT-0), and PVE on Bar 1 (SHIFT-1). Use whichever works best for you. The PVP bar should be set up so that you can easily activate abilities and items as you see fit. I kept my attacks on the main bar (1,2,3,Q,E) and spot 4 and 5 were set for Potions.
Potions
Buy potions. Always buy potions. They're cheap, and will save your life. Use potions, Always use potions. This is not like some other games where players say using potions somehow lessens the victory. Pots should always be used…and used early! Potions work over time, do not save them to the end, if you’ve been ATTACKED the first things you should hit (even before looking to see who attacked you) are your potions.
Using Health potions is obvious. For PvP, Stamina runs a close second. Even for casters stamina may make the difference between keeping distance from your foe and finding how well you don’t melee with that piece of bamboo you call a staff. Although it varies from player to player, I honestly don’t find that Mana potions are all that useful in PvP even for casters and obviously not for pure melee. Usually a fight over quickly and often with mana to spare (especially for one on one). The main exceptions are in Group PvP which last longer or if your a caster without a singificant amount of burst DPS (priests). But, if your ability bar space is limited…If there is one potion you could do without, its likely mana pots.
Camera, keyboard, and graphics setup
At this point in time there is no way to macro sequences and moves. Keyboard binding is limited but you should make take advantage of whatever you can. Speed is a major factor in PvP. You want abilities bound to keys, accessible at a single push of a button and NOT have to visually search, select and click icons.
Go into Camera options and change the camera following mode to "NEVER" from smart. This way you can spin the camera at will and it won't keep snapping back to the zero position by default. It is a handy way to immediately turn direction with a simple click of the mouse. Use and practice this.
For casters, work on moves like running, spinning the camera 180 degrees, targeting people chasing you, and then instantly turning around by clicking both mouse buttons at once + starting a spell cast. Then during your spell cast spinning the camera another 180 degrees and the second your spell finishes casting click both mouse buttons to run the way you were originally going again with zero time spent turning around.
For melee, Unbind "turn left and right" from the A and D keys and re-bind these keys to strafe left and right. you NEVER turn with your keyboard ever. It's substantially slower than mouse turning. From here on out , steering of your character should be with the mouse. Using A and D strafing along with the mouse look will allow you to turn around your opponents in a circular motion …this is called circle strafe.
Many players, particularly in melee combat, use Circle Strafe. This seems to be an effective technique for both avoiding damage and keeping your opponent off balance. It takes practice and skill to pull off effectively. Melee classes should use and practice this.
Because the game is graphically intense, you do not want the system to lag you out as you are fighting. Make sure you set your graphics to the minimal amount of fluff yet the largest amount to see players at a distance. It may be a good option to maximize your view distance but minimize the high quality view distance and the particle effect distance in Advanced video controls. Also disable grass and foliage around your character. Increasing the contrast usually makes it easier to see foes in the shadows of night.
PvP Gear, Gems and Equipment
Gear and equipment are surely to change over the short and long term of this game. Right now there is a belief that gear does not effect PvP situations. This mostly stems from the dev posting HERE. However this is not entirely acurate. When people look at PvP equipment they mainly look at Attack Rating, Defense Rating, Magic Rating (this includes specialized Magic Ratings) and Magical Resist. However, the positive or negative damage multipliers normally associated with offensive and defensive rating comparisons are completely ignored. All other stats work normally in PvP. It is simply that "scaler" functionality which is normally in place to dynamically adjust gameplay based on level differences is removed in PvP to allow for a fairer matchup of player skill and ability.
So in the end, +defense wont help you that much, nor will +attack. However, +health, +mana regen, +dex and all the other stats will work normally. This does cater to the more casual gamer. For those who does not have the time to run raids and pick up some of the higher tier items. The effect of quipment is lessened ..perhaps a little too much. This means your skill in play is going to be paramount.
The main gear for pvP is crafted gear with a lot of gems placed. I wont go into the specifics of each type of crafted weapons and armor (Consider it your homework...on my desk..Monday!). However its not the armor itself that makes it usful when putting your life on the line, its the gem sockets. Gems are how you load up on melee and magic resistance, damage modifiers, perception, stamina and more. Most PvP gears are set for high invulnerabilities and evasion. Some evasion gear was stacked so high that rumor had it Funcom banned players above 40%. However, recently the gem modifiers were "revised for longer PvP enjoyment" ...for those who dont speak developer, it means "hit with the nerf bat...although Nerf doesnt really produce bats anymore and seems to favor the Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25 Blaster ...THAT, my friends, is a TOY!!!)
On to the Gems...following the visible spectrum of rainbows(Data stolen..er, liberated...er, borrowed...er, pilfered...OK, OK ..give the props to Uilamin's Gem Cutting 101 HERE!)
My reccomendation is that even with the Nerf, load up on evasion, magic evasion, melee invulnerability. After that select the +damage modifier of your preference and load up as much as you can. IN the end, Green, Red and Blue are the gems of choice ..expect them to be costly on the Trader. You would think that perception would be a good PvP bonus to have, but in its current form its not.
Know thy Enemy
The most important paths to PvP success is knowing what you can about your opponent. You should want to identify his/her class based on first look. Knowing that, then you should know exactly what they are capable of. As in all MMOs, things change. I will work to keep up this list but it is ultimately up to you to stay on top of changes to your enemies class. I know there are some areas that are blank below.
Mage Classes
Necromancers
(aka Necros)
Recognized By: Posse of zombies Recognized By: Posse of Demons
HP: ~3000
Biggest Damage:
Lots of pets (2 point pets normaly)
Grip of Death
Weakness:
Lack of burst DPS, Low HP, Stinks at 1V 1, dependency on pets.
Demonologists
(aka Demos)
Recognized By: Anyone wearing cloth and trying to melee..especially with a 2H sword or Axe
HP: ~3100
Biggest Damage:
Fires of Gehenna
Weakness:
little defense, weak against holy damage, lack of CC
Heralds of Xotli
(aka HoX ..if female ‘Hot mama’)
HP: ~4000
Biggest Damage:
Molten Steel Slash
Pillar of Flame
Weakness:
Only 1 stun, lack of ranged attacks, utter dependence on DPS for survival, weak against CC, Cast bars on Combos
Priest Classes
Tempest of Set
(aka ToS...aka FOTM-1)
Recognized By: Stygian caster in armor
HP: ~4000
Biggest Damage:
Storm Field
Weakness:
Timer dependency for dps, weak against CC
Priest of Mitra
Recognized By: Aquillonian caster in armor
(aka PoM ...aka FOTM-2)
HP: ~4000
Biggest Damage:
Smite
Repulse
Weakness:
Lack of burst DPS. low HP
Bear Shaman
Recognized By: Cimmerian caster in armor
(aka …er...bear shaman)
HP: ~4.1k
Biggest Damage:
Shrewd Blow
Armor crush
Weakness:
Lack of HP, lack of DPS, lack of ranged attacks
Rogue Classes
Rangers
(aka Legolas Wannabe)
Recognized By: Anyone who using a bow against you
HP: ~5000
Biggest Damage:
Salvo
Heartseeker
Weakness:
Low armor, Susceptible to stun, Mez and snare trap durations are short. Cannot use mez arrow while in combat.
Assassins
(aka sins)
Recognized By: Anyone who dual wields daggers
HP: ~3400
Biggest Damage:
Swift Strikes
Weakness:
Lack of defense, Low HP, daggers have small attack radius making it difficult to hit moving targets, No snare
Barbarians
(aka Conan Wannabe)
Recognized By: Anyone who dual wields or uses a 2H yet doesn't have shiny metal armor
HP: ~4200
Biggest Damage:
Cyclone of Steel
Savage rage
Weakness:
Difficulty to catch classes at range, Relies heavily on CC (stuns and knockdowns), Low defense and no healing
Soldier Classes
Conqueror
(aka Conqs)
Recognized By:
HP: ~7500
Biggest Damage:
Whirlwind
Hail of Furious Strikes
Weakness:
Difficult to catch classes at range, charge on 1 min cooldown
Dark Templar
(aka DTs)
Recognized By: Anyone who willingly wears a shield and lifetaps you in PvP
HP: ~6100
Biggest Damage:
Mystical Bane
Blood for Aid
Weakness:
Difficulty to catch classes at range. Lack of ways to get out of CCs. Low DPS
Guardian
(aka G-men or FOTM-3)
Recognized By: Anyone wielding a polearm
HP: ~8500
Biggest Damage:
Dulling Blow
Weakness:
Difficulty to catch classes at range. Lack of sustained DPS
|
Who is online