3 replies to this topic

[Bluetail]

*I realize this is in the wrong spot and will move it to the appropriate section*

 

Introduction:

 

I noticed in the Seasons thread that a lot of players new to PvP were looking for advice, mentors, ect. As a FallenSword mentor I can try to solve this. So to further help promote the success of Seasons (PvP in general) I'll be putting together a guide. I noticed there are a ton of levelling guides but not a lot of PvP topics, so hopefully this helps for a change since most PvP is learned personally or thru allies/ guildmates. I will be updating this thread as I get time to add more advice, tip, tricks. I intend to keep this as relevant to the game meta as buffs and strategies are rolled out.

 

If you find this helpful please post some feedback, it would be much appreciated to help me improve this guide! Also post any of your own tips here as well if you feel inclined to do so. If you can show some competence after reading this guide and still need some help, PM me in-game and I can gladly help you figure out what gear + buffs you need.

 

 

Part 1 (Defending while Online Vs Offline):

 

I can see alot of people are new to PvP and dont understand how easy it is to defend when online or even offline (and win!). So I can post some tips for those of you who need it.

 

First off you ideally want to have both the best Defence and Armour Set available at your level, possibly even a Suicide set up (Hunting Setup) to hit players with stats well above yours. Use Cloak to swap between the Armour and Defence sets to keep attackers guessing while your online. If you cant get both Armour and Defence sets, just get the Armour set, these are great for offline compared to Defence (when you can stay buffed). Armour sets have a great buff combo available for you. 

 

Part 1A: Defending /w Armour

 

Ideally you want to run any buff that increases your armour (Armour Boost, Sanctuary, Golden Shield, High Gaurd, Coordinated Defence, Layered Armour, Terrorize, as well as Smashing Hammer and Coordinated Attack for more damage when Entrench comes into play). The more the merrier in terms of buffs and skill level. 

 

Next you want to maximize HP with the buff combo (Ageless, Anchored, Stout Hearted, and Fortitude if your set has some defence as well). Great Vigor could be useful at a high level or with a lot of base HP, but right now these are not all that common. The next step may vary, but in general it is best to just maximize Entrench and Severe Condition, these are transfer buffs and will severely limit your damage stat, but the extra Armour and HP it provides is worth it. 

 

Now you should have a ton of HP and Armour but lack damage after Entrench and Severe Condition. With this buff combo you want to use Savagery, Chi Strike and Shield Strike to get your damage. Chi Strike always activates and your HP should be really high. Since you wont be using the Defence stat Shield Strike wont harm you but gives you a shot at double damage (which also improves Armour with Entrench + SC). Savagery will work well with your high Armour stat.

 

In the current game meta Armour + Attack sets are not so prevalent, especially beyond level 1700. In this set up attack is not needed though it could always help to have more for Severe Condition to transfer to HP. The reason being is that you want to use your high armour stat to cause unresolved conflicts (no one dies), while your HP keeps you safe from random Crits/ Piercing Strikes as well as Ignite, Poison, Bloodthirst, ect. Your opponent will hit you MANY times in a single combat, allowing a lot of chances for the 2% to kick in in your favour where your Chi Strike damage will kill any low armoured opponents. If not, worse case scenario it is an unresolved conflict which results in no loss or Xp loss. Keep in mind your opponent can still punch through but would require alot of damage, and probably Savagery and Shield Strike both activating. If a Defence set activates Shield Strike, they get double damage, but most likely you will kill them the next turn if you survive that exchange. 

 

To improve your survival rate I suggest you throw on Empower, Last Ditch, Force Shield, and Reflection these are all great buffs. For extra good measure throw on Sealed and Reckoning if you can, these may seem small but they can block out/ double some key buffs and save you from a loss. Any Enchant or Cursed buffs will also help improve your raw stats (visible stats) greatly. This Buff Combo has a lot of hidden stats Vs raw stats so one benefit is having all the N00Bz who dont know about the world of hidden stats hit you and lose (this happens more than you think). Even pros who dont check your profile + buffs properly can make the same mistake. Furthermore all these hidden stats will force your attacker to whip out a calculator to do the Math, which is very annoying and tedious. Yes, Math will be helping defend, so you should be capable of calculating your own stats. This shouldnt be hard with a calculator. In addition Guild Structures can allow for up to 150% Reinforced Armour as a form of counter to Piercing Strike and Critical Hit and buffs that increase those enhancements. Though very helpful not every guild has access to such structures.

  

So to summarize, this buff combo allows you to easily defend and in most cases 2% hits will allow you to win when they activate. Your vulnerabilities are Critical Hit, Piercing Strike, as well as Ignite, Poison, Bloodthirst but the threat can be reduced by HP bulk. Shatter Armour is another threat but the levels are relatively low to pose any great threat. Shatter Armour 460 can be attained from the Scissor Nose Egg giving a 23% chance to reduce your armour by 75% but is dropped by a seasonal Legendary Monster. The buff Hardened can be use to mitigate this, though its hardly necessary as this skill is usually low, plus the potion is not sustainable to use. Your only real threats are extremely high damage (either thru very high SH and CoA, Savagery, or Shield Strike) which would be mitigated by your large armour stat, as well as Wither which can half your HP. As mentioned this will most likely result in Unresolved Combat so its not best for offensive use, especially against someone with Smite but it can still be viable. This is the safest way to defend that I have come across, just remember to replace any Spell Broken or Spell Leeched buffs.

 

Part 1B: Defending /w Defence

 

(Coming Soon)

 

I hope this really helps new PvPers out, please leave feedback or tips in thread if you found this helpful or have something to share. 

Edited by Blue Tail, 01 August 2015 - 21:49.

[xxlooperxx]

Great guide. Although, I don't agree with the part about maximizing entrench/severe conditioning. I usually run SC 40(10% transferred) or 75(18.75% transferred). If you max them out you're chances of an unresolved combat are very high... Which means it wont count as a win.. So if you are looking to simply not lose then that's great! In seasons though, you need that W to advance lol.

[Bluetail]

Great guide. Although, I don't agree with the part about maximizing entrench/severe conditioning. I usually run SC 40(10% transferred) or 75(18.75% transferred). 

 

Very true. The lower your SC and Entrench the more likely you are to preserve your damage resulting in more victories, but puts you at more risk from higher levelled- better equipped players with a lot of damage beating you. Conversely if you maximize these buff you will neither win or lose the majority of your battles, meaning your rank will not change much if at all. Depending on how conservative or adventurous a player is they can be able to choose their level SC or Entrench to reflect that, which is why I mention that it would vary. Most people use Severe Condition 40 but then again there is no magic number for every range since all sets are different.

 

Though this can help out in Seasons, it would also be very good for bounty board defence (which has now become a part of ranked PvP). Unresolved conflicts dont have Xp loss, plus they waste the bounty hunters stamina + tickets + time, which is worse than being deflected. With the nuisances Deflect and unresolved combats, most players will be deterred from hitting your bounty. By maximizing your HP and Armour, you decrease the number of players who can acquire enough damage to break thru and cause Xp loss. Ultimately it is something the player must decide on their own terms.

Edited by Blue Tail, 01 August 2015 - 22:26.

[Kedyn]

Very true. The lower your SC and Entrench the more likely you are to preserve your damage resulting in more victories, but puts you at more risk from higher levelled- better equipped players with a lot of damage beating you. Conversely if you maximize these buff you will neither win or lose the majority of your battles, meaning your rank will not change much if at all. Depending on how conservative or adventurous a player is they can be able to choose their level SC or Entrench to reflect that, which is why I mention that it would vary. Most people use Severe Condition 40 but then again there is no magic number for every range since all sets are different.

 

Though this can help out in Seasons, it would also be very good for bounty board defence (which has now become a part of ranked PvP). Unresolved conflicts dont have Xp loss, plus they waste the bounty hunters stamina + tickets + time, which is worse than being deflected. With the nuisances Deflect and unresolved combats, most players will be deterred from hitting your bounty. By maximizing your HP and Armour, you decrease the number of players who can acquire enough damage to break thru and cause Xp loss. Ultimately it is something the player must decide on their own terms.

 

When going for unresolved, I much prefer defense - as most activations of Dispel Curse, HG, GS, etc. are more likely to cause unresolved. Granted, it all depends on what your opponent is running. If they are using level 403 buffs with EoC access to gear, it doesn't really matter what you use. I think there's more ways around armor than there is defense. You can have Shatter Armor, Poison, Blood thirst, Ignite, Critical Hit, etc. that can all cause extra damage against armor+HP sets. However, even with the idea that in a defense set that you may not hit, you still have the 2% chance to hit that player in defense, more so if there is a piercing strike activation.

 

I do like the information provided though, it does explain a decent amount about armor sets. Keep up the work.