PvP Tactics

[Allen]

OK, lots of people talking about, and taking part in, PvP. Rhyth mentioned talking about PvP tactics so perhaps everyone can add their own tactics to help in PvP situations, either one on one or full out battles on the fields of Hillsbrad like last night. Also, it would help if you could post specific tactics for your class and/or professions as they may help.

For me, being a mage, it has to be area effects. I think I have 3 at the moment, Cone of Frost, Flamestrike and Blizzard. These are extremely handy as they do damage to multiple enemies and increase your chances of getting honour kills (I got 101 last night in about an hour or two). I know you won't get as many points but every little helps.

Next is using talent points to increase the range of my fireballs. I can now fire them from 36 yards IIRC which is beyond the reach of most.

Blink is an extremely handy spell in PvP as it can get you out of most sticky situations, except when you're stunned. Having a few healing potions is always helpful being a cloth wearer as you'll find your hp rapidly decreases if you're targetted, especially by more than one! On several occasions I died instantly last night from hunters' shots, but I think they must have been high level as they were hitting me for 700-900 each time. I also think it has a lot to do with me being lvl 26!

So, please post all you can to help others out. Not only can you help by posting info about what your classes can do, but also how we can bring down other classes.

Rogues, kick mages casting fire spells and druids/shamens/priests casting healing spells, it will stop them casting fire and healing spells for 10 seconds.

[Dooms]

Being a preist I tend to try and stay hidden and focus healing & keeping people alive. Cast Shadow Word: Pain on everything i see to help the dmg dealers slightly.

[beanbandit]

Originally Posted by Allen

For me, being a mage, it has to be area effects. I think I have 3 at the moment, Cone of Frost, Flamestrike and Blizzard. These are extremely handy as they do damage to multiple enemies and increase your chances of getting honour kills (I got 101 last night in about an hour or two). I know you won't get as many points but every little helps.

Next is using talent points to increase the range of my fireballs. I can now fire them from 36 yards IIRC which is beyond the reach of most.

Using area effect spells may get you a few quick kills. It will also get you killed a lot more. Reason is you need to get quite close for the spell to work, and being a cloth wearer means your armor level is pretty dire. I've found the best way is to hit from range, 41 yards to be precise, this give you plenty of scope to back away but still be able to do damage.

Pick your targets carefully. It may be fun trying to hit a lvl 60, but if they resist your spells whats the point. I make sure to aim at lvl's i can inflict damage on. Don't forget to Tab through the enemys, makes it quicker to find a target in range.

Being a mage, you should have a spell that can get rid of stun effects enough for you to blink away.

How to kill a Mage quickly. Get in close and batter him. No armor = easy kill up close.

[Allen]

Heh, being only lvl 26 I find that nearly all my targets are lvl ?? so I just fire at anything!

That is true about range though, Fireballs can half go a looooong way! I wanna know what range some of these Hunters can fire from, I swear I was getting hit from the same distance I can shoot my Fireballs from!

[Mblaster]

The tactics vary considerably between classes.

For rogues there are two options in group PvP, pick off the ones that are isolated, either at the back of the group or people charging forward, and not drawing much attention, or Kamikaze buy picking a cloth wearer in the main group that you can kill in a few seconds (warlocks and priests are better as mages can blink). I can put out about 2000 damage in the first second if me two main abilities crit (about 50% chance for each to crit vs. a same level player). But after you've done that you're as good as dead as about 10 people are hitting you.

[Butcher]

You can blink out of almost any stun or root. You cannot blink out of other status effects such as sheep, blind, gouge, sleep, fear, frost trap, etc.

Rogue jumps you with cheapshot, immediately blink - it'll break the stun and you're now 20 yards away. First thing you should do is hit polymorph (don't bother to turn you can cast it behind you). Bandage up and get to work.

Bandages are invaluable in PvP, if you don't have FA, get it.

As a mage some useful tools you have are:

Improved counterspell (get this talent!) - 10s spell school lock out is very handy on healing classes. The 4s silence rocks on any caster; you don't have to counter to get the silence. So vs another mage you can just run at them and silence, then cast your poly.

Blink - rocks, instant 20 yard range, breaks stuns and roots, one of the best tools a mage has.

Ice block (frost mages only) - Just insane frankly. This ability makes you immune to everything for 10 seconds. It's not dispellable. It clears all negative effects from you, including: sheep, stun, root, snare, dots, curses, debuffs, poison, disease, fear, silence, frost traps. Basically The only time I've not been able to use this is when blinded, but that may have changed this patch. Certainly being able to break sheep and fear with this is insanely powerful, it can turn fights. It's also useful for letting your timers reset.

Presence of Mind (arcane specs only) - makes the next spell with <=10s cast time insta. Damn handy, often used by fire/arcane specs to instant cast pyroblast. Can also be good for instant polymorph.

Arcane Explosion - talent this to make it instant and it's by far the best HK farming spell a mage has. With it instant you can run around while casting it.

Scorch - good for a fast hit when someone is running at or away from you. Can proc impact stun if you're fire. The DPS is good, almost on a par with fireball.

Don't forget, never tank anything. If someone reaches you, frost nova and run, or blink away. Cone of Cold can also be used as a handy snare.

[Rhyth]

You can blink out of almost any stun or root. You cannot blink out of other status effects such as sheep, blind, gouge, sleep, fear, frost trap, etc.

Any shaman can use Tremor totem that shakes the ground around it, removing Fear, Charm and Sleep effects from party members within 30 yards. Lasts 1.50 min.

[Dooms]

Originally Posted by Allen

Heh, being only lvl 26 I find that nearly all my targets are lvl ?? so I just fire at anything!

That is true about range though, Fireballs can half go a looooong way! I wanna know what range some of these Hunters can fire from, I swear I was getting hit from the same distance I can shoot my Fireballs from!

Hunters can put talents into increasing their range to the same as mages can increase their fireballs (41yrd)