PvP Advice thread

Hi all

I wanted to start a thread just for asking questions about PvP. NOT for things like:

"PvP sucks and so can you!"
"I farm u lolz"

and so forth. I'm learning more about pvp every day, so why not have our questions here where the Wise and Experienced can share their insights?

Here's my first question.

What powersets are best suited for PvP? My stalker is nb/sr and several stalkers have let me know that nb is not ideal for non-pve play; usually EM comes up as a suggestion. My scrapper is spines/regen; regen is pvp win, but spines could certainly be better.

So, Kat, Enemy at al: for each AT, what would you recommend as powersets for those making PvP toons?

Thanks for that! Great advice...

Targus is just beating his chest....he gives great advice on the PvP101 channel.

Do I suck, Targus? Well, avoiding the 'r' rating...

I'm by no means in the heavyweight class of PvPers. I'm fair to middling in zone PvP although I do much better in arena fights. But getting beat down in zone teaches a hell of a lot too.

But, in honor of Targus' meaness, and in service of my vindictiveness, I present the follow photographic reconstruction of Targus' origin. You can beat me up for it later.

I think that is a rifle hidden in the roses, great picture.

This post is PURE WIN, Neuronia. Thanks a ton!

Neuronia is dead on, I'd like to however add some supplementary notes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Stalker: Martial Arts, Spines, Dark Melee, Energy Melee Regen, Ninjutsu, Willpower

any primary can be effective in zones if you follow the simple rule of KSing half dead targets, If you don't feel comfortable ASing then you will love spines. Spamming impale and sharks will generally get the job done, especially when a target is at a sliver of health and running for base. EM and MA are all around good sets with the significant advantage to EM IMO. DM is generally good for arena matches or FC duels as you can put your secondary effects to work more consistently here. Also Elec is not as devastating as it used to be following the TS nerf but it is definantly still way up there.

em>spines>dm,ma,elec>claws>kat>bs>db

Secondary Wise: every stalker secondary have subtle differences that tend to make play styles differ. Distinct differences would be choosing a resist set or a defense set. Subtle differences would be in how often one attacks, what attacks one leads with and how long one stays in combat.

Nin>regen>Wp>ea>sr>elec>da

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Scrapper: Martial Arts, Spines, Dark Melee, Fire Melee Regen (pretty much) Fire Aura gives that almost permanent click heal as well.

Broad sword and katana are good if you like to stand around and fc duel. parry helps with that. however fire is about as good as it gets.

A competent regen will NEVER EVER die. sadly everything else imo pales in comparison.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Tanker Fiery Aura, Willpower (RTTC will get detoggled a lot), Invln isn't bad these days Superstrength, EM pretty much

Everything here is dead on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Controller Illusion or Mind Most secondaries are fine except I'd avoid bubbles as defense bites. Therm, Cold, Empathy, Rad is ok except for detoggling constantly, Trick Arrow is ok for a few laughs.

depending on the secondary, Ice can still be a very effective primary. Pairing Ice with /rad or /cold will give you a deadly dueling toon. an Earth/TA is still about the most annoying toon in the game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Defender: Empathy, Cold, Rad is ok..., in truth just roll a Corruptor. Since Defenders lost their unresisted debuffs and Vigilance is lol, Corrs have Scourge which is <3. Blasts I like Psy with Placate Proc or Sonic personally

unresisted debuffs were more or less a myth, however these days trollers are better to bring to KBs or Zones because you can get more utility out of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Corruptors: Pretty much Thermal with Sonic Blast. Pain Dom and Colds can do ok (the latter with Dark Blast)

I'm not a big fan of sonic blast although I know how effective it is. I prefer Rad and even fire when paired with most secondaries. elec definantly is a winner when paired with thermal (end drain madness)

most of the corrupter secondaries make for really good dueling toons if paired with a decent primary examples include: fire/dark, dark/cold, elec/thermal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Blasters: Fire Blast, Psy Blast with the Placate Proc, Ice is meh now and Energy is pretty lol. Arrows can do ok. Energy Manipulation, Elec isn't bad either

a good fire blaster can outperform just about every other blaster except for a better fire blaster. proc it out and your good to go. psy is a close thanks to the placate proc, but psy is also more friendly to newer blasters thanks to what i believe to be very distinct roles of each attacks, a newbie will very quickly learn to use which attack in a certain situation. rad is ok, everything esle is meh.

energy is still at the top for secondaries. elec took a hit seeing as how its melee oriented. MM is useful because of drain psyche and devs for web grenades.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Masterminds: Thugs is the really popular one though you see the Odds Bots or Ninja out there. Secondaries: Thermal, Poison, Pain Dom, Storm Provoke and Aid Self to season.

Necro is probably the most popular primary. just about any secondary can work but the most effective being pains,thermals,poisons and darks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Brutes: Superstrength or EM paired with Fiery Aura, Electric Aura (no rly), Invuln is seen around too.

the key to a good pvp brute lies in playstyle. it would take 10 pages to explain it but being creative is key.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Dominators: Mind, Earth, Psy (I guess...), Fire Fire, Energy got a boost, Electric come to mind as popular

mind is the best hands down. fire can work if your very aggresive, everything else is meh

fire is the most damaging, energy is decent elec is overated (unless your m3z, then its good)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia Hero VEAT PBs haev a great bag of tricks with click heals, Phase, range damage etc... lol Warshades

Forts are good stalker killers in wb especially when given a lil perception. a good pb should NEVER die. spiders can be annoying in kbs if spamming webnades.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neuronia That's what I've seen off the top of my head. Use Super Leap and Superspeed and Phase. Use Hibernate.

depending on how much you duel and what your build is , its a toss up between concealment and leadership.

Wow, more win! Thanks Void!

Now here's one that I know has been driving some folks nuts...me included.

resist to -end debuffs.

Example: I was doing fairly well in RV one night on my tank until the electric attacks nailed me hard. Toggles dropped and so did I. I've got a few ideas on this, but how about you PvP vets? How do you deal with this sort of attack? There doesn't seem to be a lot out there about it...

generally just get the hell out of there. in zones end drains should be no problem because there are so many outs (base running, temp phase, other temp phase, other other temp phase, run into a mob of long bow) if you want to try and stay around then having blues on you or having conserve power may or may not help.

When it comes to dueling an end drainer in the arena such as fighting an elec/thermal or sonic/thermal. A good /rad troller or corr should NEVER run out of end. A good blaster (especially fire) will do way more damage then a thermal can heal (and will run them out of insp quick) and a good regen (with phase) should not only never run out of end but never go under 75% health. you can also make a toon that resist end drains naturally such as an elec/ tank but that will open up ALOT of issues against EVERYTHING else.

thermals have a big advantage as they don't require a skilled player to be a effective.

For masterminds
I would go with bots or thugs and try to stay away from the melee pets because they have a harder time hitting people then ranged ones.

I would add Sonic Blast and Rad Blast to the list of good Blaster primaries. Rad's not nearly as good as its Defender/Corruptor cousin because of the different recharge times, but it's still a good set. Archery is actually good as well, though I wouldn't call it top-tier. Mental Manip is a decent Blaster secondary because of Drain Psyche and Scare.

i have a pvp question..


how can i stop my uncontrollable giggling when i try to pvp?
seriously, i-cant-stop-giggling.

no idea why, but, its just so funny to me to fight someone else.. i try and try.. and i just giggle.. and die.. a lot.

ya, so, you wanna pad your pvp stats... Im the girl!

We can never be ELF STALKER but we can follow in his footsteps.

Hope to see you all at Kat's event this week.