Edition9
Gamer's Mantra I hope everyone had a chance to try their hand at PvP during the PvP Extreme weekend. As I stated before, I'm much more into PvE than PvP, but the added faction was enough to tempt me into trying it, and I'm glad I did. I learned more about certain skills, as well as some interesting strategy and tactics. Most of all, my brief PvP exposure improved my game as a whole, even for PvE. One of the biggest differences I've seen between PvE and PvP is how battles move and flow. In PvE, battles tend to be rather static affairs with little to no monster movement once the battle begins. Ranged foes and enemy spellcasters have a tendency to grow roots while the melee ones tend to rush and stay engaged on specific characters for long durations. There are some definite exceptions, and improvements in the monster AI have attempted to make the foes a bit more dynamic, but in general, they still don't move very much. In PvP, the battle is much more dynamic, and an on-going battle may move across large stretches of an arena as it progresses. The movement of a battle has an immediate and obvious implication on certain area of effect skills, but it also impacts a large number of other things including ranged attacks, spells, traps, ease of rez'ing a comrade and ultimately in many cases winning vs. losing. Movement itself is not a skill on your skillbar, yet it is sometimes the most valuable action your character has available. As I watched good teams, bad teams and those in between, one of the early indicators I began to notice was how players moved their characters. Inexperienced players often made a number of tactical blunders with their movement. A few were too timid and they'd end up hanging back too far unable to engage the enemy or save their comrades. Several had the exact opposite problem, rushing into a swarm of enemies leading to their own swift demise. Some became too spread out, overtaxing their healers. Many got too close together, setting themselves up for an enemy's area of effect spells. Few utilized their terrain to it's fullest potential. On the flip-side, the experienced players made their movements count. They knew when to rush vs. when to hold back. They avoided drifting too far apart, yet avoided congregating too closely. Most of all, they utilized their terrain well. This is a case where the build, skills & equipment makes no difference. The playstyle of these more experienced players is what sets them apart. I still consider myself quite a newbie when it comes to PvP, so I am not about to list a bunch of suggestions for how to maximize your movement in PvP. I'm only suggesting that movement can make a sizeable difference in an arena, and mastering how you move will likely make you a far better PvPer. Movement can make a major difference in your PvE play as well. Though the monster AI tends to be a bit dumber, there are ways to use character movements to make battles easier. Here are seven mantras to making the most of your moves in PvE. #1 - Make the monsters come to you There are at least 4 major benefits to having the monsters come to you instead of rushing at them. First, the time used while the monsters approach can be used to cast spells, giving your group an extra volley of deadly spells before the battle has barely begun. Second, luring the monsters into your position allows you to utilize traps. Third, the flip-side can be avoided. Some monsters use traps, and by not rushing at them you can avoid walking into them. Finally, monsters rushing toward your group will often set themselves up for area of effect spells, clustering around your frontmost character, or the one the AI views as your weakest link. Obviously, some foes won't close, and those enemies must be closed with instead, but in many battles, you can lure the foes to you, making for an easier battle. Also, I see a lot of players that think they know how to lure, but don't do it very well. Merely shooting at a foe with a long range bow is not what we're talking about. Combining that shot with a character that then falls back leading the entire group of aggravated foes with him is usually the objective here. #2 - If swarmed, move or fall back Many foes in PvE will break off their current target if that target moves far enough. Knowing when to move vs. when to stand your ground to cast or attack takes some practice, but eventually you can get rather good at it. If multiple ranged foes are attacking you, merely moving back a few steps can often cause them to completely change their target, allowing you to survive. If you're the last party member alive and fleeing from multiple foes, you can sometimes run far enough to have the monsters give up. The saying, "Run away to fight another day", holds true even here in Guild Wars. Once they break off they often return to their original locale. If you were smart and lured the monsters to begin with, that means your fallen comrades should now be in a safe area and you can go back and rez them and hopefully get your entire party back up. #3 - Use terrain to your advantage If you are facing ranged foes, ducking under a bridge or behind a wall can eliminate all their damage. The monster AI tends to be too stupid to realize it's arrows, wands and projectile spells are missing. Meanwhile, if you've got any non-targetting skills (Life Siphon, Vampiric Gaze, Lightning Strike, Immolate, Firestorm, etc), you can still launch those spells and damage your foe from your safe location. If there are natural pinchpoints (doorways, narrow paths, etc), you can use these to force the monsters into a tight grouping, setting them up for area affect spells. You sometimes need to use some luring to get them there, and then use your own movements to draw them in closer. Finally, rangers should try to move onto the high ground during a battle, as they seem to do extra damage if they are higher than their target. #4 - Use movement to foil ranged attacks If you're facing archers or casters with projectiles skills, you can often reduce all the damage my merely moving to avoid getting hit. With practice, you can get really good at timing your side-to-side moves to avoid nasty things like Lightning Orbs or poisoned arrows. This can be a good tactic to use if you're waiting for skills, health or energy to recharge. #5 - Use movement to foil enemy spells The most obvious case is to move out of area of effect skills. Once you find yourself in an enemy's Firestorm, Searing Heat, Chaos Storm or other area of effect spell, move out of it. You'll save yourself taking a lot of unnecessary damage that way. If you find yourself fighting foes within their Ward Against Melee or Well of Blood, simply move out of it as well. The foes will pursue you, and no longer gain the benefit of the effect. #6 - Maintain a safe distance The effectiveness of certain enemy skills is greatly reduced if you avoid getting too close together. Good examples are spells like Chain Lightning, Chaos Storm or Fireball. Having multiple characters nailed by one of those spells can easily be avoided by maintaining a larger distance apart. Doing so may require a set of small corrective movements before and during the course of a battle. #7 - Setup the monsters Much like running the table in a game of pool, you can do something akin to it by moving and positioning your character for your upcoming attacks. This tends to apply more to melee characters than ranged attackers or casters, but there are elements of this for each. Rather than waiting to finish your current foe, then moving to your next one, this tactic involves moving during the battle to get yourself into position to more quickly launch your next attack on your next foe. In most cases, once attacked, your current melee foe will stay engaged on you, allowing subsequent short movements to drag that foe toward your next target. Why would you do this? For one, it allows you to set yourself up for skills like Hundred Blades or Cyclone Axe. If you have point blank area affect skills like Lava Font or Whirlwind, it can let you set up the monsters for a more optimal use. This type of movement also allows you to make optimal use of some adrenaline skills, letting you launch them at your desired foe the instant they are ready. Hopefully these tips will help everyone improve their PvE game. With the upcoming difficult challenges rumored to await in Sorrow's Furnace and Grenth's Footprint, heroes are going to need some good strategy and tactics to survive there. Movement may seem basic, but it can aid anyone above and beyond the limitations of their skills & equipment. |
