complete PVP noob, completely overwhelmed

Hi all,

I've tried PVP very briefly in other games but always got brutally murdered because I never planned my build. I always just took whatever power looked "fun" at the moment.

Well a buddy of mine finally convinced me to give it a shot in COV, so I came here and started reading threads but my head started spinning there was so much info here. It's overwhelming.

So, I don't want to learn everything at once, but can someone just point me in the right general direction for building a good PVP villain? Also, which ones are completely useless in PVP?

Also, I will most likely be playing for free, so I'm not sure if that means I'll get my butt handed to me by all the VIP's or not. Cuz it sounds like VIP's get IO's (whatever those are).

Oh forgot that I'll probably be doing zone PVP instead of arena PVP. And will likely be teaming with only one other hero, who will be a Super strength/Fire Brute with AOE attacks.

SO's only? Make a Willpower Stalker.

Yeah if youre only using SO's, the only thing that will be able to contribute at all will be a WP stalker

Thanks guys, willpower stalker it is then!

So am I right about only VIP's getting IO's?

you have to crawl before you walk. ask around for some pvp mids builds on the boards or search for them to get you started. people will post em for ya.

PvP is all about knowing what is coming your way, and how to manage it with the powerset combination you possess. It is like with any pvp game, experience goes a long way so just start by getting out there any playing. Team up in zones, try arena with a few friends who you know wont give you **** even if its 11 to 0. It's a bit harder in this game because there are so many combinations, and some will be better than others. PvP functions different than PvE so my best advice to someone new is to just go out there and get your *** kicked. Figure out why and learn the system. Look at the numbers and effects behind each power and understand how they affect players. Mid's hero designer helps out with that quite a bit.

A lot of people say ranged toons are best. I think certain melee combinations can be very good simply for outlasting your opponent and wearing them down if in a duel and sometimes in zone. Get used to being ganged up on and find teams. Setup a chat bind that will call out which target you are going to attack or follow up on.

Most blasters, dominators, corruptors, and stalkers are used for damage, spikes, and debuffs. Scrappers, tanks, and masterminds are heavy disruptions/annoyance factors imo. I don't have a pvp with any one of those but when I face them I know tanks annoy the crap out of me and a good scrapper can actually crit some pretty scary damage. Controllers and defenders are good for debuffs, heals, and helping out teams. Epic AT's can be good with a lot of practice and investment. I would avoid brutes and warshades sadly... they just lack any real punch. I have seen some people make them pretty decent but they aren't very easy to make something out of.


I'd say a willpower stalker is a good way to start out, and yes IO's and incarnates make quite a bit of difference however accolades and your alignment power do as well. Start out with SO's and figure out what you want to further advance from there. Set bonuses are nice and anything giving +hp, +damage, +accuracy, +recharge, +recovery are always generally good. I hope my nonsense helps

Just a little thing:

How would a stalker survive/do his stuff without the 3rd layer of stealth provided by the Stealth IO, which is prio to be completly invisble. Free account doesn't have access to IO (or temporary) and stalk with only 2 layers of stealth is not invisible against a lot of toon.