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Other things
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Battlegrounds for dummies: AB
10/4/08
(Created by Cottonmouthfrom the euro serverLaughing Skul)
Intro: This post is some of thoughts on how to play Arathi Basin battlegrounds. PvP never been so popular before 2.0.1 patch. Sometimes I get so frustrated about how people play this game and it's a bit late at that point to try to tell them they are a bit clueless and usually it leads to non constructive flame in battlegrounds chat which is pointless. So I decided to write down my thoughts and post them here.
Seconds that rule the game Even if you played since American closed beta, you might think that Arathi basin is a game about running around and killing each other. Let me tell you: you are wrong, this game is all about the flags, just like battlefield 1942 which I happened to play a lot. Killing opponents there is to distract you from main goal of the game. Also you might think that it is a pretty long filled with action game, if it is so - you are wrong again. This game only consists of a 10 second frame of time when someone tags the flag and another 50 seconds when nobody tags it back. Those are the moments of the game everything else there is just to fill gaps and to make those 10 seconds possible.
Hold 3 (now defend) You can pretty often see a message by someone "skilled": "hold 3 and we win" Let me tell you one thing - 3 node game is 30 minutes if you manage to hold them all the time not tagged by enemy a single time. On other hand 4 nodes on same conditions is only 10 minutes when 5 nodes is 1 minute game. That's why premades always go for 5:0. And it is always a good idea to tag more, while defending what you have. Usually it is pretty enough to have one person guarding node when everyone in team is aware/reporting where enemy is, and in what amounts and other members are fast enough to react and support where it's needed. Hint: needed is usually right away. You are given a 15 persons team which is a lot of resources to attack and defend.
To kill or not to kill
So you see enemy on a halfway between your node and enemy node, and you have a good chance of surviving while killing him. Will you kill him? 99 times of 100 people go for kill. What's more important is were you going to attack that enemy node or were you defending your node. Returning to seconds that rule this game - there is another one "a 30 seconds spawn timer". Let's say you were attacking that node and killed enemy but he managed to reduce your hp by a fair amount and forced you to use some cooldowns. You bandaged/had some food/got healed and moved on while he is already fresh (full hp/full mana), fully aware of your intentions to tag his node and most probably he notified his teammates of your intentions and numbers. So now you approach his flag but he is there and his teammates are coming. Was that kill worth it? On other hand when you see a big group incoming to your flag it is best to force them to unmount and fight as far away from your flag as possible just to get them busy and to reduce their numbers/mana/cooldowns before they reach your flag, while informing your team of their presence/direction, and amount and a cherry on top - classes. It is very important to always have a person watching the flag because 10 seconds to tag it - is a very small window and if you miss it you might not be able to get it back in 50 seconds while you can't respawn on this node already.
TAG ffs!!! I already told before that this whole game is about tagging flags and not letting enemy to tag it. So whatever you do inside arathi basin should be based on what goal you are reaching now "tagging" or "not letting tag" if your actions do not fit this goals - you probably playing your own game which is not a subject here. For example you can just ride along having 2-3 enemies on your tail simple as. You are not killing/healing anything and not getting killed. But you are kiting 2-3 enemies around which prevents them from tagging. Or you might ride in circles around poorly defended but not soloable for you flag to get enemies attention. They might decide to leave their spot to try to kill you. That gives your teammates a good opportunity to tag. Which in turn prevents enemies from spawning here. When you attack a good defended node - the longer you fight there and the more you kill there - the worse are your chances to tag it, because enemies will just respawn. 30 seconds respawn time works for you when you defend and against you when you attack. So whatever you do - watch the flag. If you attack try to get all the enemies turned away from flag if you are already engaged in fight. If you are not yet - try to tag it. Chances are that nobody will notice you. The thought "ah.. I'm owning that sucker" forces most players to focus on the killing and not on flags. If you are defending - always watch the flag. Try to position enemy far away from the flag so even if you die he has to run to the flag - that gives you precious seconds.
One of the best moments to cap is when your node get's zerged. Even if they tag yours. If you manage resources right. You still have one minute to kill them all on your node and they will not spawn there and at the same time they will not spawn on node you taged. So if you manage to defend new tagged one and clean up where you were kicked off you are on top and now have one more node to defend.
Positioning. Positioning is even more important when you are solo defending/watching the flag. If you are not a pet class/iceblock mage/bubbleboy and you stand next to flag - you are in a bad position. Since 2.0.1 crowd control effects don't last longer than 12 seconds, but standing next to flag solo - you give rogues best chances to tag. (unless you are a pet clas/ice block mage/paladin) they just sap you tag the flag and go back to stealth and now you can't get flag back and you don't see the rogue. Seduce/sheep - are pretty much the same in terms that they let attacker tag and after that you still can't get flag back until you kill them. There are not that much positions where you can hide but you can try. Your position should give you enough time to call for support and delay attackers. If you were not killed for a while, you probably don't have a "resurrection on corpse spot delay". So if flag is in danger and you just died defending it, but you know help is close, it's well worth a try to run to corpse and not wait for ghost res only because 10 seconds is so not much time to tag flag. And you can prevent taging one more time, while help is on the way. Life is cheap and honor gain was nerfed. That's why when you attack and kill before you tag collect insignias always. One second to shift-right-click corpse but saves you from being stabbed while you tag the flag.
Be aware Whatever you do in AB you should remember of your goals (tag/prevent tagging) and those seconds that rule the game (10 sec tag, 50 sec vulnerable to backtagging and 30 seconds spawn time). You should always know where and how many enemies there are. Checking map often helps a lot. For example if you see a lonely dot at a friendly flag rapidly moving It might be dying to defend a flag but for some reason didn't report an attack. Or you can see a flag that is not guarded. Checking score list before the game is a lot of help as well. If you came to defend a node and there is much less enemies than your teammates you should think of where the hell is all other enemies. It is ridiculous some time how the wish to kill enemy blinds people. Full team of horde might wait for the moment that paladins bubble runs out to kill him when his full team rushes to horde's other node and succeeds in caping it because every horde player was waiting for the bubble to run off. Be aware. If there is no enemy here - he is somewhere else trying to fulfill his goals. Pay attention to raid chat and inform others it is the key.
This post is subject to change.
p.s. never kill oom paladin
"Buffs and how to use them" speaking of normal buffs - you got enough time at the start of battle to buff everything around. Cheapest buffs are paladin ones. I have a paladin myself, cos they pissed me off too much. I usually buffed alot in battlegrounds as a paladin (it is really damn cheap) but rarely got any buffs from paladins back.. so i buffed them back with salvation. So you know it. What i wanted to say is it is always good to buff people around at the start at least. First blood and how it is spiled decides alot. In battlefield 1942 tournaments - first minute of the match was actual win or loose.. all else is just waiting for the fact to happen. So if you can help your team a bit - please do. Never say "water pls" mages hate it. if they don't - they are not mages. And no, it is not polite. It is more like "heal ffs".
There are temporal buffs spread on the map: sprint, rejuvination and berzerker. They are not there for you just to grab. especcially berzerker buff on your own node. So if you just spawned and plan to go somwhere it is not a good idea to grab it and run away. Most probably the guy who watches for this node and positioned himself so he can grab the buff and kill a single attacker fast counts on it. Please mind how you are using that buff to ride around with glowing arms. it does not really help. Same goes for rejuvination thingie. If there is someone seriously hurt or oom let him take it. even point it to him. althou i prefer to die if situation allows and respawn fresh.
"30 second teleport" I wanted to add another thing. If you look on the map - you can predict where all those who you kill will spawn. Hint: it is closest enemy flag. And you can also predict where you will be ported when you die. So if you are last one at Lumber mill and gone "to help" at stables or farm, while having blacksmith caped - when you die you will spawn at blacksmith. Meanwhile lumber mill can be caped. Same goes for continious zergs. Worst nodes to zerg are blacksmith and stables. Everithing killed in the middle of the map respawns at blacksmith if enemy owns it. Go and scout something else. And at stables, while ghost, you can perfectly see the flag and decide for yourself is it a corpse resurrection situation or you can wait for full hp/mana. This leads to one thing only while killing things or dying - mind where enemies/you will respawn and how it fits your goals (taging/preventing enemy from tagging)
Q u o t e: Ailawiu <> Bronzebeard Two things to add - DoTs do not interrupt flag capping. This includes Mind Flay(unless it procs blackout). If you are a priest and want to interrupt cap, while being too far away to fear - use wand. If you are a lock - don't dot, coil instead or use searing pain/fear/another fast cast. Also, if you know you are going to die and they will be capping, you can try dying somewhere around the corner so you don't lose your insignia and quickly corpse run before you get moved to other GY. There is a chance that attacker will move away for split second - or maybe you even manage to res *just* before he tags, or he is at very low hp to finish him off - letting you succesfully defend.
I had a section there about insignias and preventing caping/waiting for enemy to run off and recap but had nothing about what iterrupts caping as my post was originally not aimed at this. Good adition.
Q u o t e: Lancetfluke <> Azjol-Nerub
- If you're trying to cap a node, but there are too many defenders, go and camp their graveyard. When they spawn they will attack you instead of going for the flag, which makes it easier for your teammates to cap. (This is particularly important at the Aid Station in AV.) Corollary: if you're being camped at a graveyard, ignore the campers and run to the flag!
- If I've CC'd someone and am capping the flag, don't break the CC. The defender probably has me targeted and is mashing the keyboard so that as soon as it breaks he interrupts me.
- If there's one defender, and someone else is keeping them busy, cap the flag, don't assist.
- Attack from both sides. If a group of you is attacking LM from the south, chances are their defenders are drifting away from the flag, and may not be watching for attackers from the other side. Corollary: always fight at the flag!
- Don't fight melee classes in the water. It's like being permanently hamstrung.
- Use the terrain. If you're riding past LM, stick close to the cliff, a lookout at LM might miss you. Stand in the bushes and don't move - even though you have a big red name over your head, in a bush it gets broken up and attackers will often not see you. Goes for healers too.
- If you see a guy ramboing around solo, and you're also ramboing around solo, then just follow him instead.
General tips:
- Use CC to incapacitate healers.
- If you're a healer, and your healing, try to stay back and out of sight.
- If you're lucky enough to have someone healing (far fetched, I know) then try to keep them alive.
- AV biscuits and health pots are the best in the game, use em.
All good and solid points of wich some made it to my guide, some didn't cot they were not ab specific, like attacking cc'd ppl. got to love fat cows charging what i just sheeped to be able to cap.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem, consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Other things
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem, consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
