Why hello there. Welcome to Bloody Bay/Siren's Call/Warburg/Recluse's Victory. Nice of you to join us. This is your first/second/third/etc. time in a PvP zone? Well welcome (back). There are a few things you should know about PvP zones here. Im not implying you dont already know them, nor am I saying I know everything there is to know about them. However, the knowledge I have to share with you might make your PvP experience more enjoyable. This guide is not me telling you how to build your character or what kind of character to make to participate in PvP. Theres plenty of those out there. It is merely a guide on tactics, expectations, and yes even proper PvP decorum.
If PvP does not interest you at all, there is likely nothing I can say to change your mind, and I understand that. Some people come home to relax and avoid the competition that is so prevalent in the world around us. However, other people thrive on competition and enjoy the act of fighting against another player. If you see this as something that is wrong with these people, than I suggest you not post in reply to this guide, because all it will do is diminish my attempt at trying to assist people who are interested in PvP. At least enough to read a guide
First: PvP stands for Player versus Player. Therefore, in these zones you have the chance to run into other players that will be able to kill you. On the same side however, you also have the ability to kill them. Can I fight both heroes and villains you ask? Only in Warburg. The first thing you need to recognize is that if you decide to go into one of these zones, theres a chance that you will be targeted by an enemy player and possibly be killed. If you understand this, and accept it, it will make your experience more enjoyable than if you denied the truth of the matter and the fact that since you are in such a zone, they do have that right. (More details below.)
Second: Arent PvPers a bunch of stuck-up looneys? Im sure youve heard the phrase one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Yeh? However, thats not the case here. Just because that guy is screaming how awesome he is and how he pwnzrd you, does not mean all PvPers are going to automatically do so. However, these people do exist. If smack-talk annoys you, I highly recommend putting broadcast on a different tab while in a PvP zone, or even removing it completely so you wont be tempted to join in. Some people find smack-talk to be the highlight of their PvP experience. If you, like me, dislike it, remove it from your vision. /Ignore works very well in PvP zones when someone just wants to have a measuring contest.
Another point on the etiquette of PvP is
if you do get killed, it does not matter the circumstances, yelling about it will not help. Only about 1% of people you fight will be sorry that they didnt realize you were fighting a Warden. This is considered a valid tactic by many. Do I recommend using it? Ill keep my recommendations to myself, and let you decide based on how you personally would feel if it happened to you. If you wouldnt like it, than why would you do it to others? If you dont care, than its up to you to decide whether another persons feelings matter enough to you to take them into consideration.
If you kill someone, do not brag. Haha, you got owned! is no more appropriate than Why did you kill me you noob?! Bragging does nothing for you except make people put you on their /ignore list. If you are really as good at PvP as you feel you are, then show it. Actions speak louder than words. If however, you still feel the need to brag, dont be surprised if people hunt you down and try to faceplant you. Good fight! is an appropriate response if you are either killed or are the killer. If you dont feel it was a good fight, then it is probably better if you dont say anything. Unless you really just want to be flamed.
We PvPers understand that there are badges in the zones that you might be there to get, as well as Warheads and Shivans. However, that does not always mean we will leave you alone. I personally usually will if you ask. However, it should be realized before you even enter the zone that I might also be trying to get my 400 rep badge.
The developers chose to put many badges in PvP zones, and decided they were part of PvP content. I sympathize with the fact that some of these badges are needed for accolades. However, that does not change the fact that some people are in PvP zones to fight (or just kill) other players. If you come in direct conflict with one of these players, you have a few options. Fight them to the best of your ability and try to kill them. Run away. Or stand there and die (allowing them easy rep). After you utilize one of these options, you then have the option of either leaving the zone, and coming back perhaps at a safer time, or staying in the zone, and risking death by a player again. If you choose the latter, congratulations. You are either more determined, more masochistic, or :gasp: enjoying PvP play.
Third: How do you fight in PvP? Im not the best PvPer ever. I have some characters that are excellent in PvP and some that are not very good at all when solo PvPing. Every every every (emphasis on the every) character can be useful in team pvp. But remember that support characters and squishy characters are going to be targeted first. Why? Because when they die, that support and damage is no longer there to bother you. It is a logical tactic to defeat those easiest to defeat first, then worry about those that take more effort. Leaderships Tactics is a very good power for both heroes and villains to have. Not only does it increase the chances you have of hitting your ice shielded enemy or that super reflexes scrapper (might want to pop a few yellow inspirations though), but it also gives you +perception, allowing you to see stalkers or other stealthed enemies.
TP foe is a very good power, and a very hated power. If you find you are continuously and annoyingly being TPd and want to do something about it, pop one little orange inspiration. That is all it takes. Break-frees are very common in PvP so if you are a control-type character, expect to not be able to lock down an opponent until youve gotten rid of all their break frees. (Be warned: This might take more that one attempt.) That being said, you should always carry around break frees. Stuns, holds, fears, confuses
all are powers very common in the game and once the effect is applied to you, you are very close to dead. However, if you stay alert and use a break free the moment the status effect is placed on you, you can survive. Never give up and say Oh well Im dead. If you are willing to fight back it should make the battle more interesting and fun for the both of you.
Running away is nigh pointless. From a RPing stand-point I can understand why you would run away. However, from a game mechanics view, it doesnt cause you debt, it doesnt lose you reputation, and it doesnt hurt you as a player as long as you recognize (yes this again) that you are in a PvP zone. If you are about to die, why not give the person the honor of killing you? I understand if you have a code youve been working on, or if youve been gathering the meteor pieces, and perhaps in those circumstances running away is excused. But otherwise
what is the point? Is one minute taken to rest and get back out there really worth depriving the PvPer of their reward for killing you? When it becomes a battle of whether you can run away faster or whether they can catch up to you, it takes the point away (and sometimes just serves to anger the person youre running from. However, if this is what floats your boat...)
Fourth: Should you make a character specifically for PvP? Well if it interests you that much, sure. However, I would recommend taking a character that you enjoy to play. I dont recommend speccing your character for PvP specifically, no. There are some hardcore PvPers who do this and have great fun with it. However, if youre just wanting to see if PvP is for you, take a character out and play in Sirens Call a bit, which is one of the fuller zones when it comes to PvP. If a powerful character would interest you more, then there are plenty of guides about what particular archetypes and power choices are more powerful in PvP, but just for the sake of fun, take a few friends. Stay together, work together, and live or die together. This should give you the best impression of whether or not PvP is for you.
Fifth is a personal note of a sort. If someone calls you a Carebear, do not immediately take offense. (Whats offensive about the word Carebear??) If they mean it offensively, shrug it off or play it up. I in fact happen to be Grumpy Bear! If they dont mean it offensively, they are probably using the term carebear to describe someone who doesnt PvP. I will not use the term non-PvPer because that then defines that set by what they do not do, which I feel is unfair and silly. However, I wont call them a PvEer, because guess what, so am I! However, you will not find me using the term Carebear because I discovered recently that some people do find it offensive (even after explaining why and how I did not mean it offensively...) which leaves me at a complete loss for an appropriate term... Any suggestions? (However, this does not mean you should come to this thread to post that instead of Carebear, we should now call non-PvPers doodie heads! Such suggestions will automatically be reported to a moderator, as they are non-productive, clearly insulting, and generally annoying to me.)
AND last but not least: Realize that the other players you are fighting are people on the other side of the keyboard, through a connection that allows us to play together. Whether that means theyre half a world away or just a couple of blocks, this person is not a mindless, heartless drone (even if they act like it.) Does it matter if they act like 6 year olds? Perhaps they are. Is it your job to call them on it? If you feel the need to insult someone by telling them Theyre moms telling them to go to bed! then you must not have read the rest of my post... In closing, what does it hurt you to respect someone else? Even if they arent worthy of your respect, you are showing more maturity by not actively promoting foul behavior.
This concludes my Introduction to PvP. I hope this sets the proper expectations of what to see in these zones, and I hope that with the proper outlook, you will find PvP more enjoyable. Or at the very least, more tolerable. Hope to see you out there sometime!
) and my words have been misread or ignored a thousand and a half times so far in the last few posts I've made. (Exaggeration when I say 1500, but some days it feels like it... this being one of those days.) I can see how easy it is to confuse what I said.