Post 4
1. General PVP Strategy.
Your primary means of movement is Medi/Charge. This way of movement, combined with Vigor/Charge, makes your character effectively uncatchable; that is to say, you are only going to get hit when you are playing agressively against your opponent, i.e. When YOU are attacking or when YOU run into your opponents attacks by mistake. Therefore; when attacking, your main aim should usually be: Don't get hit! As a general rule you should be switching from Attack to Defence throughout the duel. After all, the main benefit of this build is your ability to out manouver your opponent. The better you are at this will see the higher success rate/ kill ratio. Note that short controlled bursts of Vigor Charge in conjunction with using the terrain and anticipating your opponents movements will be a key factor in your ability to be in in a spot that your opponent does not suspect.
Some Key things to Remember:
1. When Dueling vs All characters that do not have Max-Block -> Charge! Any opponent foolish enough not to have maxblock vs you are exposed to your 2nd slot attack. These opponents can potentially be 1-hit KO'd. If you see that they don't have a maxblock setup - Punish them!
2. When Dueling vs any character that can freeze you -> Always wear Raven Frost ring. Not wearing Raven frost vs a Cold Sorc can be lethal, as you may be frozen! Getting stuck beside your opponent - especially if he is skilled - can be lethal. a skilled opponent will use the time given to him to quickly attack you with everything at his disposal.
3. A Note on Charge: Charge will naturally cause your character to desync, that is to say, turn invisible. This gives you, as a PVP'er, alot of opportunities to attack an opponent at unawares. The longer you charge around before you make your attack, (medi and/or vigor) the greater your synch outcome will be. If you charge into obstacles such as a wall/house during your buildup for your attack, the time you remain invisible, in your opponents screen, will be longer.
2. Medi Charge/Vigor Charge
Medi Charging gives you the ability to charge around the map without using up all your mana. Using your hotkeys you can switch from medi charging to Conc-Blessed Hammers (or switch Charge on Oath/Rare %ED weapon) to attack your opponent. Charge on left click, Meditation on the right.
Vigor Charging allows you (for a brief duration) to move that extra bit further into an area on the map that your opponent will not expect you to be. While Medi-Charging has the same effect (as you are using Charge) Vigor charge increases this ability to a greater degree. Charge on left click, Vigor on the right.
3. Character Specific Strategies.
VS PNB Necro [ Easy – Medium ]
Medi/Vigor charge in conjunction with Conc-Blessed Hammer will be the primary way of dealing VS this opponent. You will generally not be using your %ED Charge weapon in this duel at all. Medi/Vigor charge around your opponent casting hammers in the direct that he is moving. If the Necro does not have alot of frw this duel will be much easier for you as you can trap the necro or funnel him into locations that are deathtraps. More challenging Necro's will have alot of FRW and will use the skill: Bone Wall, vs you. Your primary concern in this duel is not getting caught out when a Necro casts Bone Wall. When a Bone Wall has been cast your character can sometimes, inadvertently, charge into it, allowing your opponent the opportunity to get some free hits in. When you have hit a bone wall, and the necro is in your screen, you main priority is to escape, quickly. Walk (or run) 2-3 steps, then Medi/Vigor Charge away. Bone spirits are also guided and pack a punch, so make sure you that you always know where your opponent is and dont charge into a train of spirits. Some Necro's cast Bone Spirit incorrectly, that is to say they have their mouse on the edge of their screen when casting. This means that your Bone Spirit will go to the clicked area before it starts homing in on you. When you see a Necro doing this, Vigor Charge as close to the necro as you can (ideally just ahead of where he is moving to, and Conc-Hammer. This is a perfect move to make in this situation. Note that you should be @ 125% FCR and you dont need any %DR.
VS Nado Druid [ Easy ]
Medi/Vigor charge in conjunction with Conc-Blessed Hammer will be the primary way of dealing VS this opponent. You will generally not be using your %ED Charge weapon in this duel at all. Medi/Vigor charge around your opponent casting hammers in the direct that he is moving. If the Druid does not have alot of frw this duel will be much easier for you as you can trap the druid or funnel him into locations that are deathtraps. There are two things to look out for in this duel – The Druids tornadoes and his wolves. Always try to stay in your opponents screen, avoid his tornadoes and play as agressive as you can moving always ahead of the druid in order to kill him in a hammer field that he may run in to. Any minions that your opponent has can stall your character. When you have hit a minion, such as a wolf, and if the druid is in your screen, you main priority is to escape, quickly. Walk (or run) 2-3 steps, then Medi/Vigor Charge away. Another thing to look out for - If the druid is fast enough the wolves can “respawn” around him, which can be dangeroes. %DR (Shaft + String) is what you need to be wearing as the Druids tornadoes do physical damage.
VS Bowa Hybrid [ Hard ]
Bowa Hybrids use Guided Arrow, Lightning bolt and Lightning fury to attack. A fundamental rule should be: When the Bowa has bow out, Charge. When the Bowa has Javs+Shield out, Hammer. Bowa's have one of the best PVP forms of attack in the game – Guided Arrow. Guided arrow's are fast, homing, and can be invisible after two screens. Luckily, Medi/Vigor Charge is faster. After a few duels you will be able to recognise when the Bowa has you namelocked – simply charge out of his minimap and swing around when the namelock has been broken. A good bowa will always be moving and firing 2-3 arrows at the same time so it can be difficult to safely attack. This is the fundamental reason for using charge-to-hit; It forces the bowa to switch to Jav slot. Unless the Bowa has crazy %ED Javs, you should be able to take a few fury's and your charge damage should out-damage their attack. Invariably the bowa will be walking/running away from you on jav slot while casting fury/bolt against you. You meanwhile will be Charging the Bowa non-stop. If you get stuck on the bowa, charge a short distance away and re-charge the Bowa. Note: if you are low life, you need to charge away quickly as Lightning Bolt goes through your block and autohits. Note Also, you need to be careful when charging as your % Block is reduced to zero – a good fury will hurt you – this is why charging at an Amazon from the edge of your screen (when not invisible from sync) can be suicidal. %DR (Shaft + String) is what you need to be wearing as the Bowa will invariably be doing alot of (physical) damage. Finally Bowa's can be very difficult to kill if they have very high dodges – the abilty to take no damage from your attack. This works on Bow slot and Jav slot, standing, walking and running, and can be very frustrating at times! A long Sync and switching to 2nd slot to Charge while they are firing in another direction on bow slot is one of the easiest ways of ending this duel swiftly.
VS EFB [ Hard ]
While everyone has different abilities in PVP (some are simply better then others), there are some builds that can be difficult to duel. A ESFB would be one of the most difficult duels as they have a high manapool that regenerates itself through the duel. It can be very difficult to catch a defence orientated ESFB'er and you will need to learn when to be aggressive and when not. When dueling agressive ESFB'ers the matchup is quite easy (if they namelock telestomp you when you are hammering, they are dead) however when dueling an ESFB that is nto agressive, it can take quite some time to beat them. Use everything that you have learned vs all other builds for this duel, but above all, be patiant. Desync is your friend in this duel as are short controlled bursts of Vigor/Charge into spots that you "guess" your opponent will teleport into. A quick switch to Conc/Hammer x3 - x6 can result in a swift win sometimes. Dont bother trying to catch them on 2nd slot unless you see that they are wearing a Lidless Wall shield (ie. no maxblock).
VS Barb – [ Medium - Hard ]
Skilled Barbarians can be very difficult to kill. Also, they pack quite a punch so ensure that you are wearing your %DR setup! (Shaftstop+Sting of Ears). The problem when dueling a barbarian is that you have to usually get very close to them in order to hit them. This leaves you open to their WhirlWind attack that can take chunks out of your life pool. Never charge them on 2nd slot if you are in a serious duel and always be patiant. Sync around them as much as possible while not being predictable. Get in close when the opportunity presents itself and cast a few hammers. While you might be able to catch an unskilled barbarian running into a hammerfield, it can be quite difficult when dueling vs a someone who can predict where you are going to be. The one thing here is to be patiant.
VS Libby (Mirror Duels) – [ Medium - Hard ]
When dueling in Libby vs Libby its a bit of Luck, Skill and patiance to win. Luck because invariably your opponent will be killed by invisible hammers. Skill because you have manouvered into a position which has let you kill him with invisible hammers and patiance because invariably these can be long duels, especally when both players are playing "carefully". Practice and tips from your opponent are the best ways to improve here.
VS Light Trapper – [ Medium - Hard ]
Wear ThunderGods Vigor or you will invariably be a free-kill. Use long Sync's to get into his screen, cast 1-2 hammers, and charge away. If the Assassin is camping you should try charging around him for a bit, making sure that his traps are firing. If the assassin is walking/running and he does not have more then 2-3 traps out, charge him down. A switch to charge slot, and a well timed charge (after most of his traps have missed you) can see you hitting him away from his traps. Follow up charges may result in the assassin being exposed and the fundamental strategy at this point should be to keep attacking him, with either Charge or Hammers, to ensure that he has no time to cast further traps. Note that unless the assassin is using Shaftstop, your charge damage will hurt him alot. Finally a caution - if you get stuck on the shadow, or on the terrian, you need to retreat pretty quick, as Lighning Sentry does alot of damage.
VS Blizz Sorc [ Medium – Hard ]
Ensure you have enough Cold-Res before dueling a blizz sorc as invariably they will have Cold Mastery maxed and potentially between -200 and -250 Cold Res. Medi/Vigor charge in conjunction with Conc-Blessed Hammer will be the primary way of dealing VS this opponent. If the Sorc is predictable you can Vigor/Charge to where you expect the sorc to be and quickly cast 3-4 Hammers. If the Sorc is not predictable this could potentially be a very long duel. The important thing here is to have a high mana pool sothat you don't get caught out walking/running. The Sorc will be trying to either Namelock – Blizz you or cast blizzard just ahead of you sothat you charge into it. Vs all sorc's follow the primary stategy – always keep moving on charge slot. Cast Hammers sporadically and try to get as close to your opponent as you can without getting hit. If the Sorc is agressive, be defencive. If the Sorc is defencive, be aggressive.
VS Frozen Orb [FO] Sorc [ Medium – Hard ]
See above strategy VS Blizz Sorc. In addition:
Unlike most other Sorc Builds, a FO Sorc does not need 105% FCR to be proficient. This means that they can have more facets or stats then other sorc's. FO has a very wide area of affect which means that if they cast it in your direct when you are close – you will get hurt. A full FO attack, if point blank, while slow – will hurt alot! Don't get too close to the Sorc and always be on the side that they dont expect you to be. As there is a casting delay and the attack always comes from your opponent, you should be able to avoid the brunt of the damage while still getting in close to cast Hammer [ Vigor Charge with alot of Cold Res is a very useful strategy here. ].
VS ESLight [ Medium - Hard
ESlight Sorc's are similar in alot of ways with ESFB and Orbers, however there are some key differences. Unlike ESFB they need to be pretty close to you to hit and they cannot spam as many attacks. Orbers will usually hit you since their Orb takes up the full screen - Thunderstorm on the other hand is simply auto-targeting. What Light Sorc's DO have is lightning attack which has a huge damage range which potentially will really hurt your character. Try to find the right range vs them and use your experience vs ESFB / Orbers to find the right distance. Above all, dont be predictable.
VS Java [ Easy ] [ Java with FC - Hard ]
Unless the Java is using Farcast [FC], manual or otherwise, your build is basically an anti-character for them. Java's dont have minions - so you wont get stuck on anything. They don't have a homing attack - so you don't need to worry about things like GA or Bone Spirit and they need to be right on top of you to hit you with their main form of attack – Which is the perfect range for your primary form of attack! Not much else to say, you should ge the hang of these duels pretty fast. Java's are very weak vs sync so you can really crush this class.
Note that vs FC – simply keep moving and you wont get hit by the FC. (you will only get hit if you stop – so don't stop! Sync'ing in and out of their screen casting Hammers ahead of where they are moving to is the primary way to kill these opponents. When in doubt, just put thundergods vigor on (won't be enough vs HLD FC'ers).
VS Rabies [ Easy ]
Rabies, Like any melee build, needs to be very close to you to actually hurt you. The Range is usually not very far and happily for us, Shift-Rabies does not exist. Your build is basically an anti-character for them. Rabies' Druids have minions so you do have to be careful not to get stuck into them, but this duel should be easy enough provided you are careful. Not much else to say, you should ge the hang of these duels pretty fast. Java's are very weak vs sync so you can really crush this class.
First, thanks to Azn Masta and AsTorrents for letting me borrow from their layout designs, thanks to Leevolka on the rare items screened, Skill placement and general strat sections, also to Licioglax for playing vs me so many times on a Libby [+Lee here as well] and Finally, Special thanks as well to everyone in LLD section who assisted, including those involved in previous pala guides @ LLD & MLD.
This post was edited by ferdia on Jul 3 2010 07:11am