Where should I start?

Hi there,

I've been playing CoH/CoV for a while now, and this is the first time I've stepped over the tracks into the PVP forum . I've realised that PVP is one area of the game I've not tried before. So I'm after some advice.

I'll most likely be starting a new character off for I12, and I'd like to play something I'll have fun with in PVP. I've played on Union and Defiant, with heroes and villains, playing support and damage characters. I think I'd be most interested in trying out casual zone stuff. So I'd like to know where you lot think I should start.

Is it right that Union has a higher PVP community, or are they both about the same? I'm under the impression that range > melee in general, is this right? Any large PVP SGs out there that can mentor me? Anyone know of any decent guides out there?

Any advice is appreciated.

Cheers,

Mike.

Hey there and welcome. Well if you wanna play support, there are toons like kinetics, empath, sonic, thermal you will enjoy. Damage toons, there are plenty. But if you want range, blasters, rad/psy defenders, corruptors (CoV side). As far as i know its true that Union has the biggest pvp population across all 4 servers. Now pvp SGs, there are like 5-6 that are only based around pvp. But there are many SGs in union that do pvp very often.

Range > Melee, that highly depends on what you are playing versus the toon that the enemy plays. But most of the time yes, range > melee.

Hello matey welcome to the PvP community.

Righto so lets get down to business.You are interested into casual zone PvP and i am guessing you are not part of a regular pvp sg or team so you want something reliable on its own to have fun.

I would say Tankers Brutes is the best place to start.

Ice/Energy,Fire/Energy for tankers are you best bets to have some good fun,not die easy so you can be able observe stuff in zone as well as be able take your own kills.

Energy/Fire for brutes should be your best bet imho villains side.

These sets are easy to get into,give you good survivability and allow you to get the feeling of PvP mechanics and observe how more experienced PvPers play their sets.

Ranged sets especially blasters are great for PvP but need support and need to be really experienced to be a good blaster in PvP due to high mobility and fast targeting involved as well knowing how to combine powers and so on.Witout support tho most important you will need a REALLY expensive build.Most PvPer builds range from 300-1billion inf.

Union has a higher PvP population with more crowded zones and lately we have loads of actions across all 3 major PvP zones as well as arena PvP events including the Monday Nights where we gather for random fun welcome newcomers and show them the ropes and so on.

Regarding PvP SG's well there are quite a few on Union. Vindicate/Fatality (aint recruiting atm),Retribution,Evil(villains side),a couple of new SG's too like Resistance and Enigma Force.

Feel free also to contact any of the seasoned PvPers on this board for info i think 99% will be happy to answer questions.

Thats all welcome again wish you all best and catch ya in Union PvP zones (well preferably RV )

Basically what TG and Zaldor said.

I would pvp with a non squishy, might help if you say what toons you already have one may be a decent starting pvp toon if speced right. If you want something new a fire/ss tank is quite nice, solid in PvP can do pretty decent damage but are still easy to level. Although EM is a very powerful PvP set it suffers a lot in PvE and have to wait til 35/38 for heavy hitters.

Once you understand PvP mechanics you should look to level up a specific pvp toon such as a blaster (Fire/ Ice/ Psy/) or defender (Empath, Kinetics, Rad) if you want something more team based.

A good way of meeting PvPers is by playing a buffer in the zones, blasters especially will thank you for it!

Buffers are the easiest to play, especially if you have a good team. Just need to make sure your travel power is fast and you can escape/chase easily.

Read the posts in this bit of the forum too, there are some funny ones with regards to PvP and the attitude of some players. Gives a bit of an idea of the general opinion of certain actions you might find in PvP zones.

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Buffers are the easiest to play

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I disagree, playing a buffer means you are running around with a bif "kill me first" sign on you and thats not what a new player needs.

The op should roll a stalker with stealth and a stealth IO so he can both indulge in pvp and observe

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Buffers are the easiest to play

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree, playing a buffer means you are running around with a bif "kill me first" sign on you and thats not what a new player needs.

The op should roll a stalker with stealth and a stealth IO so he can both indulge in pvp and observe

[/ QUOTE ]

Fair enough, I always find a buffer easier to play, never tried stalkers though. Melee toons just seem like they chase more than actually do anything.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Buffers are the easiest to play

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree, playing a buffer means you are running around with a bif "kill me first" sign on you and thats not what a new player needs.

The op should roll a stalker with stealth and a stealth IO so he can both indulge in pvp and observe

[/ QUOTE ]

Fair enough, I always find a buffer easier to play, never tried stalkers though. Melee toons just seem like they chase more than actually do anything.

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thats true and its a pain in the [censored] with the latency of the game meaning that you can be on top of someone and still not have your attacks fire, pvp i feel they should extend melee range to 10ft to compensate but thats just me.

Personally Im pretty sucky on a buffer, corrs are a good mix of buff and attack but the problem for a lot of new people is that jerks are drawn to ganking them over and over because they are easy targets (and jerks are jerks) I highly recommend stalkers as you can watch and plan and get a feel about what eveyrone is doing and interact at a time of your own choosing. They are a great "beginner" AT but i could be bias

Wow, nice welcome, .

Good feedback here. Thanks Zaldor and TG, I think I'll start a new character on Union then. I have limited play time, so I don't really want to level a character as a 'trainer' before starting something 'proper'. However I do appreciate the 'get an understanding of PVP with a robust character' advice here.

Quote:

might help if you say what toons you already have one may be a decent starting pvp toon if speced right.

Good idea Phil_ here's what I have of note, or characters I've enjoyed playing/decent concept. At least the ones I can remember anyway .

Defiant
43 Dark/Dark Corr
32 Ill/Rad Cont
24 Ma/Regen Scrap
22 Dark/Elec Brute
22 Thug/Poison MM
20 Plant/Thorn Dom
16 Ice/Fire Tank

Union
35 Storm/Elec Def
28 Bots/Traps MM
18 Inv/SS Tank
14 Ice/Ice Dom
14 Mind/NRG Dom
12 Son/Kin Corr

At the moment I'm alternating between the D/D corr and I/F tank. I've got my eye on a new Cold/Ice defender for general play. Like the idea of a buff/debuff set of cold, and ice matches thematically and is also new and shiny.

Stalk_obot, I've tried playing stalkers a couple of times before, and not got on with them. Teamed, in a PVE setting, I've found everything moves around too much . Solo is ok for a while, but I didn't 'get' the hit and run style, and felt weak trying to scrap the rest of the fight. Maybe they're just not for me, or maybe I need to stick with them for longer .

Ok, I think I'll lurk in the PVP zones with one of my existing characters for a while and try and get a feeling of how things play out.

Cheers for the pointers guys.

Mike.

I reckon cold/ice defenders could work very well in PvP if you understand the sets, their strengths, their weaknesses. This is key for any build in PvP really, you need to know what your powers do and what possible weaknesses you got to make sure other players wont abuse those.

I play ice/cold corr often in PvP and its pretty nice. The slows from cold can put a real dent in your opponent, making them a sitting duck for you or your teammates to finish off. The shields on cold are a bit so-so, they are a nice extra but it generally wont keep your teammates alive unless theyre stacked with other +def. This because almost every toon has some sorta acc boosting power (most signifcantly buildup and aim). Frostwork however is ace in PvP (imo) as it instantly puts someone at the hp cap.

For the rest I agree with what already has been said.