March 06, 2007
40-49 Paladin Tactics for Arathi Basin
I apologize for the title lacking wit. I feel so witless, like I don't have my wits about me. Must be Zanzil's Juice.
Anywho, I've been AB'ing it up, in hopes to get my AB boots, then I'll be hitting the WSG to get the epic lvl 50 bracers, then it's power level to 58 time. As I've been playing my Paladin, I've noticed a few things that are quite different than PvP'ing with my low level Warlock, my Warrior, my Priest, my Rogue, or my Mage. The Paladin really is there for support. If it's anything more than 1v1, the paladin is supportive only. He can't handle taking down two of any class, like all the others above can, but in a 2v2 situation, he makes all the difference for a positive outcome. Whether he's healing, standing around with Concentration aura and dropping judgments, or swinging his weapon around for some mild DPS, he's great in a many vs many encounter.
The Paladin is also a machine in the 1v1 encounter. I haven't had trouble taking anything down in 1v1.
The issue is, the numbers on the scoreboard don't show the paladin's usefulness. You don't often see a Paladin at the top (Where I'm used to being), but you often see them mired in the middle. In the 40-49 bracket, I'm stuck in the middle of the scoreboard with, on average 15 killing blows, 20000 damage, and 20000 healing (I don't keep track of HK's, meaningless stat that it is, "I was in the vicinity when people died, whoopadeedoo"). The score doesn't show the paladin's effectiveness. The score doesn't show that you bubbled and hit people trying to cap your flag. It doesn't show that your blessing of might increased every rogues DPS by 20. It doesn't show that your concentration aura allowed all the priests and mages around you to be that much more effective.
The Paladin is amazing in PvP, but the numbers simply don't show it. And, at times, the player may not even feel it.
Posted by mrh176 at 08:59 AM
March 05, 2007
The New PvP, and Arathi Basin
My my, how this game has changed. I've been on the outs for a while now, but I've got my seksy new Draenei Pally and I've caught the PvP bug. So now, in this new Honour Token world, I'm forced to review and reflect on what is wise in the way of picking PvP battles. It took me 10 AB battles to get my lvl 48 Pally Belt. Back in the day, it'd take a month of AB battles to hit honoured and get your belt, but you never had to AB again, and could always get the updated gear. Now I have to AB more to get my 58 belt, if I want my 58 belt. That, and there's no 60+ rewards for AB or WSG...
So what does this mean? This means, you PvP in early brackets to twink your character now. There's no reason to stay in any bracket, like before there used to be. So what do people do now? My suggestion is to plan out what exact PvP rewards you want as your character progresses. Also, plan out what rewards are worth your time investment. 30 WSG win tokens for a +7 stamina, 6 hp/5sec trinket? Only you can answer that question for yourself (how often you win vs lose). Sometimes, it might be better to farm stuff and buy gear in the AH. Once you spend your PvP Honour and Tokens, it's gone for good, and there's no XP in it. So is the 10-30 WSG matches worth a mediocre trinket? Is the 7-20 AB matches worth the belt for your bracket? Will that time investment make it that much easier to lvl your character?
PvP is a much different beast now then it was before. Still fun, but the rewards are much more piece-meil, and some of the really good rewards end up going to players that don't deserve them (like the lvl 60/70 GM weapons).
Posted by mrh176 at 11:18 AM
November 21, 2005
How to Beat Teamspeak
I played my fair share of Arathi Basin matches this weekend against Stormfist and Wartorn (now known as "Rival"). Out of this experience, I've learned a few things.
- Set Goals for yourself: You want to play to win, don't let the big names scare you. Also, set a reasonable goal. If you're in with a bunch of un-co-ordinated PUGS then you'll want to set a goal of getting 1310 resources (the level at which you get 600 bonus honour). If your in a group with friends, your goal is to win, and you must believe you can do it.
- Beat the Teamspeak Team: The teamspeak team, if playing conservatively, will take three nodes that have a central defense point. To beat them, you must attack the two furthest points with equal sized forces, and split their defense. And you must do this without compromising either of your two nodes. Sound really hard? Well, it is really hard! That's what happens when you play against the best.
In short, do a multi-pronged attack against a teamspeak team. Whether you do equal sized assault teams, or one of 3 and one of 8, that's up to you. (there should always be 11 people attacking when you're down 2 nodes to 3, that leaves two defending each node, ready to yell if they are under siege)
That's all for today! I'll post some more as the week goes on, and one of these days, I'll add some fancy graphics!
Posted by mrh176 at 03:59 PM
November 16, 2005
The Unstop-a-bubble
I did get to play with the famed team last night. Teamspeak was a requirement so I got off my lazy rear and installed and configured the beast. It ran quite smoothly, much like we ran quite smoothly over top of the enemy in Arathi Basin!
Teamspeak makes a huge tactical difference, it's what makes the roving group strategy possible, as well as allows a single character to be given orders by a single leader. It also makes the leader much more effective.
The biggest difference Teamspeak makes is that EVERYONE LISTENS (thus making any plan good).
One thing that this team did rather effectively, is to station roving groups at key points in the battlefield, such that they could respond to any attack quickly. As I said before, this can only be effective with Teamspeak.
It's like a paradigm shift in team effectiveness. More to follow, I'm sure!
Posted by mrh176 at 08:49 AM
November 15, 2005
The Importance of Teamspeak
First things first, take a look at the list of the top Horde PvPr's. That's who I had the pleasure of facing in Arathi Basin during the holiday. There weren't a lot of Horde PUGs to enjoy demolishing, instead, every game was hard as hard could be hard. What makes these teams so good at what they do?
They are dedicated, they are all in the same guild, they know each other very well, and they communicate using Teamspeak. While our guild does have a teamspeak server, I have yet to install the software, or dig out my noise canceling microphone from the depths of the pile of electronics.
However, it is what I must do to remain competitive. I may, simply, go and purchase a new microphone.
Between Basin matches, I was able to go with five of my friends to destroy Baron Rivendare. This dungeon is very fun ten man. It brings the challenge back to the game, kinda like running Zul'Gurub. I also managed to get a sexy ring from Ramstein.
Next weekend should bring us back to Alterac Valley, and, I'm told, I'll be able to play with "Team Pally-Pot" during the week. As I learn more about the name "Pally-Pot", I'll be sure to post about it! Stay Tuned...
Posted by mrh176 at 08:53 AM
November 04, 2005
Farm First
An Arathi Basin post! It's been a while since I paid tribute to where I spend 80% of my WoW time. I'd like to discuss the "Farm First" strategy in Arathi Basin ("Stables First" if your Horde).
What Works
Sending a small team of three, a healer, a mage, and one other (any class). Sending a small team to this node at the start of the game is very powerful. You'll often take the node, or, even better, tie up double, or over double of the enemy as they try and get you out of there. If you do get it, you stop the flow of those first few resources, often giving you an early lead.What doesn't Work
Sending five or more people on the same task. If you send too many, the horde that went to the mine, blacksmith, and mill will be unopposed there, and can easily double back to the farm (a central location to all three) and beat the ever loving stuffing out of you.
I got in a couple of matches yesterday, when we send 4 or less to the farm, we won the match. In one game, we sent eight to the farm thinking, "What 3 people do, 8 can do better". Well, that's not true... we lost that match 2000 to 300.
Posted by mrh176 at 08:29 AM
October 20, 2005
Viewer Mail
I'm going to take some time to answer some viewer mail today, as Arathi has been very quiet on my server this week, so I've been spending my time "Gearing Up". Now to the email.
Thor Thor from Nathrezim writes:
I was reading your blog, perhapse you can give me some insight...
On my server (Nathrezim) Alliance has fewer people, and the majority of us are less geared out then the horde, as a result we often loose BG's to horde Pickup groups... not to mention their coordinated guild groups.
We run a strategy like this...
Group 1 and 2 Zerg blacksmith, while 3 hits Mill.
Leave no less then 2 or 3 at every controlled node, set up a group of 'static defense' to go where they are needed.
I have a hard time getting the guys off a flag when its contested, they don't want to give up on it.. which usually leads to horde getting a respawn at the node that half of my group is at, and we get attacked in a weakspot.
We also seem to be undergeared.. in a 10 on 10 zerg, horde wins 90% of the time. So our strategey has to be superior.
Anything im missing here? Or do we just gotta practice...
As long as your match is 15 v 15, you always have hope. So I'll give you some strategy and tactics that hopefully will help you out Thor Thor.
Strategy
It only takes one person to grab the Stables. The blacksmith is important, but not as important as you might think. Try this your next match. Send one person to the stables, one person (pally or mage) to the mine (they're going to die), one person to the Smithy (again, pally or mage, maybe druid). Then send 6 people to the mill, and 6 people to the Farm.
Get to the Farm using the road on the east side (between the Blacksmith and the Lumber Mill). Some Horde might see you, they might not. Most of 'em will be at the mill or mine.
Capping the Farm right off the bat creates a huge choke point and allows you to focus your forces, and hopefully have superior numbers in all your fights.
Another strategy that I've done, and has worked successfully for me, is to have 5 rogues in a single group, and have them travel from node to node, stealthed, popping when the get close to defenders, and stealing nodes. Staying stealthed after they take it, or leaving entirely (mix it up, so the enemy is never sure). Don't do this in the same match as above though, or players will get confused.
Tactics
The most important thing to do, when defending a flag, is to STOP the ENEMY from capping it at all costs. Fight close to the flag, hit anyone trying to cap it (AoE preferably). If you do this really well, you can have 3 or 4 people defend against 10 for a VERY long time.
The most important thing to do, when attacking a flag, is to CAP it. Have a survivable player (warrior/pally) click that flag, and click it often. People will be hitting him, and the DPS people can focus on whoever is smacking the person capping the flag. It's how to TANK in AB, do it often. Fighting battles doesn't win AB, owning stuff does.
That's all the advise I have for you Thor Thor. Good luck in your upcoming AB matches! Keep practicing! It's worth the faction even if you don't win every match. When victory comes (and it will) it will taste very sweet.
Posted by mrh176 at 08:21 AM
October 14, 2005
Of Mice and Men
Witty title aside, this is another Arathi Basin post. A short one today though. I'm also going to work on some graphics for the blog this weekend, although, it is an Arathi Basin holiday this weekend too, so I might be too busy ripping my sword out of orcish gullets to accomplish any publishing activities.
Hilarious AB Story
We were down 2 nodes to 3, and the game was within 40 resource points. We're struggling to take another flag. (Horde owned Mine, Mill, and Farm) As the horde was pushing towards the blacksmith (where I had just died), I figured I'd run up to the mill (after I rez'd) to see what was going on up there. So I run up, there are two horde looking intently at the blacksmith battle. So intently, they didn't notice me capping the flag, not more than 4 yards behind them. I managed to keep them at bay long enough for the node to change ownership too. I bet their team wasn't very happy with that performance o_O.Moving on...
Didn't post a single AB win last night. All our games were close, so it wasn't a total blowout, probably got 15,000 honour or so, which isn't horrible for our bracket (50-59). We managed to co-ordinate a WSG game afterwards too, which was a nice change up, even though we got hammered. In my defense, I completely forgot how to play WSG. It isn't like riding a bike. My brain has been all AB tactics for too long.Anyway, I'll be doing AB all weekend, might do some grinding or a raid in between to lvl and gear up though. Look me up! Send a tell to Airazel on Silver Hand. If you're on Silver Hand, alliance side, and want to join in the Arathi Basin action, join the pvp59 channel.
Have a good Arathi Basin Holiday everyone!
Posted by mrh176 at 08:38 AM
October 12, 2005
Sun Tzu's Art of War
As it applies to Arathi Basin.
I'm all pumped after leading raids and posting a bunch of wins last night, so I thought I'd be all egotistical about it.
There are two parts to every battle, as Sun Tzu would say. There's strategy and Tactics.
Strategy
Strategy is your battle plan before the battle begins. A couple of things that I've been trying to achieve on the strategy front;- Have four groups, Two "Acquire" groups, and Two "Cap" groups. The "Acquire" group consists of four members each and have a single healer. The "Cap" group consists of Night Elves, Druids, or Rogues (things that can stealth). A single Acquire group takes a resource Node, then the cap group moves in and defends it afterwards. The leftover three players either rove, assist on defense, or harass the blacksmith the entire match.
- Have two standard 5 man groups, and 5 one man groups. Each one man group is assigned to a single resource node, and either harasses it, or defends it for the entire match. This forces the horde to either have it's best players holed up on a resource node, or more than one man on defense. This gives our team a numbers advantage, as we can tie up two or three players with one.
Tactics
Tactics is the art of co-ordinating a battle that has already began. I don't want to give away all my secrets, but these two tactics were very effective, and fun, last night.- One thing that worked rather well, If the horde owns the mine, mount up and run around until some hordy is chasing you (hopefully, you'll get a few tailers). Then head towards the mine, and run into the mine. You should be able to get in no problem, and the LOS will screw with root spells. When I did this, I'd usually get three or four people chase me inside. Once I get to the end, I wait for them all to get there, then punch my Intimidating Shout, and watch them run around for a bit. The goal is, to have more than one player tied up, giving your team a numbers advantage elsewhere on the field.
- My other trick from last nights victories, Invisibility Potions. Nothing like letting the horde see you run towards something, then drinking an Invisibility potion. Or even better, using it to sneak up on a node. If the one defender sees you coming, they can call in reinforcements. If he doesn't.... This worked rather well, one time I capped a node using this, another time, I managed to attract five defenders, while we were winning battles at the other four nodes.
Overall
The one thing to keep in mind for your AB games is that there are five objectives. It's better to have small, well defined "Holy Trinity" teams than to run around as a big mass. Sticking with your mini-group is important. If your running solo and can tie up more than one enemy for a non-trivial period of time, that's valuable. But if you get cut to shreds in seconds, it's not valuable. You'll win with the proper support. (DPS, Meatsheild, Healer)Posted by mrh176 at 09:44 AM
October 06, 2005
Arathi Basin Slump Subsided
Despite the cheating of the Horde member Asylus, we alliance managed to put together a few wins. It was actually quite nice to win a couple rounds of AB.
I've also spent some time leveling up too. I'd like to get to a more competitive level so I can slice Thorga in half as effectively as I dish it out to other hunters. (I'm coming for you Thorga!)
You can now track my PvP progress on the PvP standings website for Silver Hand. I'm all ranked and stuff.
I've also been AWOL the last few days, been tied up with some non-awesome-me type stuff. I'll get back to living life in Azeroth shortly.
It's all those "responsibility" and "family" and "work" things that keep getting in the way.
If someone wants to give me a big chunk of money so I can remove "work" and "responsibility" from my plate, I'd be more than a welcome recipient.
*wink*
Posted by mrh176 at 03:44 PM
September 29, 2005
Arathi Basin
So, in the last two days I've managed to get in about eight Arathi Basin games. Three wins, five losses.
There are some huge problems with Alliance in Arathi Basin. Their low intellects cannot grasp the thought of more than one objective. Often, you'll end up with Soloists or Two-somes running around trying to capture bases. Needless to say, that doesn't work well.
Another losing scenario, when they think they're organized, and all run around as one massive clob of people, zerging base after base. When Genghis Khan rode through Aisa, his enemies didn't comeback to life, they do here... What ends up happening is, the enemy runs one or two people behind the mass and re-takes bases after the mass has moved on.
The puny Alliance brain cannot comprehend any other strategy. Which is unfortunate.
Rather than teach the unwashed masses (well, and it's more fun), me and a few friends do not join the main raid while playing. We usually end up with a group of four people and we rove and keep one or two bases. Often, our focal point is the lumbermill. From there we can see 80% of the battlefield, and if the serfs need our lordly assistance, we can re-inforce them.
This has lead to a much larger amount of success. Out of the eight games I was in, I lost four where I was part of the main raid, lost one where we weren't, and won three where we weren't. Not being part of the main raid lead to a 75% win percentage for us.
I then often think it's hilarious when I get tells like, "Leave your group! You're hurting the raid!!!" That might be true in Alterac Valley, but not here. I actually received an apology from another player last night! I think the plebs might be learning the finer art of tactics when facing equal numbers.
If your going to lead (or lead by example in our case), the lumber mill is your vantage point.
Posted by mrh176 at 08:25 AM