XMegidoX
Posts: 11
Joined: 12/28/2005
Credibility: 0 pts
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| Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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Before you read this post, take yourself over to Wyat's epic post thread HERE and read all the links in there, then come back to this one.
Also before you begin, you need to know that you're going to need to get yourself a microphone or headset, download ventrilo, practice, and, at this stage, you're going to have to have more than a little luck.
First of all, choose the class you want to play as your main class (this may change due to guild demands, but focus on 1 class, then work on the others after).
Load up Guild Wars and log in. Press 'B'. This brings up Observer mode. Pick any match to watch ad observe how people playing your class play, and what builds they are running. Note these builds down and take a rough guess at the attributes. As you play, you will tweak these attributes until they are right, or you can whisper someone and they will usually be more than willing to tell you the numbers.
General Procedure
PvE/Isle of the Nameless-->RA/AB-->TA-->HA-->GvG
To unlock the skills, you are best off with buying them in PvE, or going through the Master of Paths' training arenas to get ~2k free balthazar faction per day (Id suggest unlocking the elite skills by doing this). Then, get the build set up, go to RA or AB and play that build for a while to get used to it. Once you are about Gladiator 1 or Kurzick/Luxon 2 (assuming you didnt do any FFF), move on to team arenas for a taste of organised play. Youre going to either need a guild at this point, or get lucky with getting accepted into a decent team.
Play here until roughly Gladiator 2, or until you feel entirely comfortable with playing the character (that doesnt mean you think you are leet at it, this means actually be good at it in comparison to others).
Next, team up with some friends you have made from this process, or that you knew before, or with guildies to start Heroes Ascent. You want to be aiming to get to about Rank 6 Hero to be accepted into a good guild if you have no known references (aka, top level players). Keep playing the class you started with, dont just farm gimmicks.
Lastly, once you are in the gvg guild, be prepared to lose. GvG is unlike anything else in the game, and as such you do not have much experience, you may be better off joining a Training Guild or a guild with no to low reqs to get some experience. Talk to a Canthan Ambassador npc and look round all the guild halls until you are familiar with them all.
Basic Positions
Frontline
These are the guys that are in the enemies face, making the pressure, and getting the kills. One of these is generally the target caller. This person calls out targets for midliners to pressure, shutdown, etc, and calls and counts down spikes. As a frontliner, you do NOT need to follow calls except on spikes. Once the enemies have significant Death Penalty (~30%), you do not need to spike that target anymore, you can continue pressuring other targets. If a spike is called, and you don't have adrenaline, still attack - your auto-attack damage under frenzy is still non-negligable.
Frontline characters tend to be Warriors and Dervishes, with the occasional Assassin or Ranger not being uncommon, and Ritualists possible.
It is entirely possible, and in many cases, expected, for you to overextend out of your monks' range to make kills. Do not be bound by the aggro bubble. Obviously, dont go too far unless you have a specific objective in mind (splitting).
As a frontliner, you will usually be expected to play either: W/E, W/D or W/Rt - the usual bars are Shock Axe, Rend Axe, Dev Hammer, Earth Shaker, Dragon Slash. As a Dervish, you will be expected to run Avatar of Melandru, all other elites have fallen out of fashion except for Wounding Strike in Heroes Ascent and some gimmicky GvG builds.
Midline
The role of these characters is to make the frontline get kills. These characters are Elementalists, Mesmers, Paragons, Ritualists and Necromancers. Note the absence of Ranger from that list. Rangers are commonly perceived as a midline role, but I will discuss them seperately.
The main focus of these characters is to provide utility to force kills by either: Augmenting frontline damage or shutting down opposing frontline hate. This includes smiting/channeling such as Balthazars Aura, Zealots Fire, Splinter Weapon and Ancestor's Rage as well as spike assists such as Energy Burn, Shell Shock, Spear of Lightning etc and mid/backline shutdown such as Diversion, Shame and Draw Conditions.
The second focus of these characters is to provide frontline hate for the enemy frontline. This includes snares, blind, hexes and wards and shouts.
With the exception of the paragon, these characters have weak armor and as such, you will find yourself the target of more spikes and will want to spend more time in wards.
Backline
These are Monks. Some gimmick builds use N/Rts, but if you want to play backline competitively, you will be a monk.
The role of the backline is to mitigate damage and prevent spikes and keep the team clean. You will find your bar, unless you are playing Healer's Boon, will consist mostly of protection prayers since these are by far more efficient than healing prayers.
Every monk bar except healers boon will consist of small prots, spike prevention (large prots and maybe infuse), condition removal, hex removal, usually aegis and glyph of lesser energy.
Remember, if you have no energy, you are useless, let your team know when you are getting low so they can start linebacking to relieve pressure.
Flag Runner
This is usually a Rt/D, Rt/A, Mo/E, E/Mo, or Mo/D.
Your jobs include:
Running the flag to the flag stand to prevent enemy boosts.
Keeping npcs alive.
Telling people whats in your base, and what you need to deal with it.
Retrieving Repair Kits.
However, do not get caught up in the "I must run the flag all the time" mentality. If your team is in your base, with the enemies outside, running the flag is certain death.
Dedicated Gank
These are usually some combination of Assassins and Monks to keep them alive.
Your job is to kill enemy npcs to give your team an advantage at Victory or Death. If nobody ever comes back to deal with you, feel free to kill the lord.
You do not need to be in the enemy base at all times. If they send back a superior force, retreat back to the stand (with the thief preferably), and powerplay the unbalanced situation, then split off again later.
Ranger
I have left this until last since you perform the same roles as EVERYONE ELSE EXCEPT THE BACKLINE.
You may be expected to gank, push on enemy runners, pressure through spreading conditions, interrupting important spells, and assisting in flag running duties. As Yue put it, you are the team's toolbox.
You are also practically invincible - you have a decent armor level, have natural stride, troll and mending touch and so, you should die pretty infrequently.
Class Usage
Warrior
Almost every team runs 2 of these.
Dervish
These are used frequently in 1s or 2s.
Elementalist
These are usually Blinding Surge or Water Trident or Icy Shackles. You may also be a flag runner. Almost every team has 1 of these.
Mesmer
These are usually Energy Surge, Hex Eater Vortex (though not so much anymore), or Glyph of Energy. Almost every team has one of these.
Paragon
These are usually Defensive Anthem or Cruel Spear. Many teams use 1 of these.
Necromancer
These are usually Corrupt Enchantment. Not many teams use these as they are only really effective when hexing, and paired with other hexers.
Ritualist
Aside from flag running, these see very little to no play - unless you want to run flags, dont even bother with it.
Assassin
A few teams use 1 of these in the frontline, some teams use these in 2s as gankers.
Ranger
Many teams use 1 of these, some use more (though they tend to be gimmick builds).
Monk
Almost every team uses 2 of these.
Deviations From the General Procedure
Warrior
In Heroes Ascent, your Increased Attack Speed skill may not be frenzy. Remember in other situations that frenzy makes you take double damage, so always have a cancel stance.
Dervish
You can skip the Heroes Ascent section since the play is quite different.
Elementalist
No deviations.
Mesmer
In Heroes Ascent, you may take Psychic Distraction. Use this as a means of practicing your reflexes.
Paragon
You can skip RA and TA since your shouts become less effective here. Still start with AB.
Necromancer
You may skip Heroes Ascent since the most common usage of necros is as a dedicated spike team or as a N/Rt healer for some other gimmick.
Ritualist
The most common usage here is in a dedicated spike build. As such, you may skip heroes ascent again.
Assassin
You can skip Heroes Ascent as they only see play as Deadly Paradox Signet of Toxic Shock or as unblockable frontlines in "Sinway".
Ranger
No deviations. Although your skills will vary, experience as many different situations as possible. Try to avoid playing as a bunny thumper though. These are completely against the Ranger position mentality.
Monk
You may skip Heroes Ascent, though I would not recommend this. Use it as a ground to practice spike catching. Just remember, monking in HA is significantly different to GvG.
Looking for a Guild
You may wish to begin the long process by joining a guild with no or low reqs to get a team easier for TA, AB and HA. This will also be beneficial for GvG practice until you can get the experience in that environment.
Later, join a guild that you judge to be about the same skill level as you.
Good luck on your journey. I dont doubt that it will be hard at times, especially getting teams for TA and HA. Keep persevering, make a name for yourself, and I look forward to facing you in GvG soon :-)
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XMegidoX
Posts: 11
Joined: 12/28/2005
Credibility: 0 pts
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| RE: Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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After seeing the thread about positioning, I was reluctant to include a break-down of each, but I decided this was different enough to keep it in the post.
X Megido X - W/Rt - Questionable Tactics [hax]
| QUOTE | HackingHippie89
s**t, meg doesnt approve...it blows |
If you don't know what you're talking about, ask the questions, don't answer them.
The PvP Mindset Series
Active Skills vs Passive Skills and Proactive Play vs Reactive Play
Evaluating Skills
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Corruplt Intrept
Posts: 3
Joined: 05/15/2006
Credibility: 0 pts
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| RE: Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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Nice post,Achieving UAX is quite easy if you farm zaishen everyday.
Regards,
Corruplt Intrept
Guest me for GvG's
IGN: Baine Bloodfinger
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Wyat_hawke
Posts: 66
Joined: 06/16/2006
Credibility: 0 pts
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| RE: Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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Bah, I was writing this exact thing today! 3 and a half page down the gutter!
I shall smite you for this! 0 cred for you, lolz!
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XMegidoX
Posts: 11
Joined: 12/28/2005
Credibility: 0 pts
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| RE: Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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| QUOTE | Bah, I was writing this exact thing today! 3 and a half page down the gutter!
I shall smite you for this! 0 cred for you, lolz! |
Imo, post your views too. That way people can compare your and my differing opinions.
X Megido X - W/Rt - Questionable Tactics [hax]
| QUOTE | HackingHippie89
s**t, meg doesnt approve...it blows |
If you don't know what you're talking about, ask the questions, don't answer them.
The PvP Mindset Series
Active Skills vs Passive Skills and Proactive Play vs Reactive Play
Evaluating Skills
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stranger of kryta
GameAmp Staff
Posts: 4
Joined: 05/11/2006
Credibility: 0 pts
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| RE: Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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| QUOTE | Bah, I was writing this exact thing today! 3 and a half page down the gutter!
I shall smite you for this! 0 cred for you, lolz! |
awww wyat *hugs*
I believe what doesnt kill you only makes you STRANGER!!?
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meumesmo
Posts: 84
Joined: 09/11/2005
Credibility: 0 pts
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| RE: Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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Very nice! For people that want to start off this is great. I think one of the most common mistakes people make in PvP is, just because they have all unlocked skills for all characters that doesn't mean you can play all of them. Play the character you know the best and the one you feel most comfortable with, that way you're not only helping yourself but your team as well.
The midline in my opinion is one of the hardest parts of the team, why? Simply because you will be performing various roles at different times and you will always need to adjust to certain situations.
Well anyways great guide! +cred
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hat-of-doom
GameAmp Staff
Posts: 492
Joined: 12/06/2005
Credibility: 0 pts
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| RE: Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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Another great thread Meg :D
When the chips are down, these, uh…civilized people, they'll eat each other.
IGN: Mike Hearts You
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A l
Posts: 2
Joined: 11/19/2007
Credibility: 0 pts
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| RE: Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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Once again Meg , Nice work
Legendary was Alex
[GoE] Officer
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Jamnog
Posts: 82
Joined: 10/09/2005
Credibility: 0 pts
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| RE: Breaking into the GvG Scene. |
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+ Cred for Detail, informative, creative guide and getting more people into pvp. Excellent
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