I recently had a chance to play patch 1.2 on the test server. The general consensus among the player base is that this patch is making a lot of changes for the better. My opinion is the opposite. I fell in love with this game for a couple specific reasons and those reasons are being taken away from me. Let me explain what's going on.
First of all, the addition of new flashpoints and the new warzone are great. I don't generally play flashpoints but a lot of people do. The new warzone and the ranked pvp system are great. They are also balancing some of the classes, which is also a good thing. So why do I not like this patch if it's adding so many good things?
My first reason for loving this game is the ability to really customize your spec. I play with a hybrid spec that can be found in my Sorcerer pvp spec guide. This spec will no longer be possible with the new patch. They are making changes so that certain talents, such as Wrath, only work on spells from the tree they are in. This means that I can no longer use a big bust from one tree while having dots from the other. I have to pick one or the other. The customization that made this game unique is dead. I have to play either full Lightning or full Madness from now on.
The next thing is world pvp. I'm a HUGE fan of world pvp and my server has a large population of people that roamed around Ilum. This was my favorite part of the game. I could go out solo or bring my healer friend with me and run into people all night. Patch 1.2 is getting rid of the Ilum daily pvp quest. This means people have no reason to go there. Sure world pvp is still fun for most people but players have been conditioned over the years to not do something unless they are being rewarded for it. Having a great time isn't enough anymore, people need gear or money or something.
So despite all the great things being added in this patch, they're also removing a key part of the game. SWtOR will never be the same again. All of the crazy 1v1 and 2v2 fights I've had just roaming the world will no longer happen. For me, the fun factor is now gone and I'm sorry to say that I think I am too.
I wont be playing SWtOR anymore. I'm going to move around a bit. I'm starting by getting back into something that was a huge amount of fun for me and my friends, Warhammer Online. I'll be playing the free trial portion of the game. No dealing with long leveling or grinding out gear. Just log on and go kill people. I'll also be getting back into WoW at some point as well. If anyone has any good Free to Play's for pvp, or you'd like to voice your opinion about patch 1.2, please do so in the comments.
Casual gamers taking their skills to the next level
Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts
Monday, March 19, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Star Wars the Old Republic Ranged DPS PvP Basics
Are you new to pvp or just new to the ranged dps style of play? Well in this quick guide I'll share some of the basics to pvp that will help keep you alive and doing damage. I'm going to cover defensive and offensive abilities that will help you and your teammates as well as simple defensive tactics that can give you a serious advantage.
While the information in this guide can be used by any ranged dps class, I'm going to be discussing things from a sorcerer point of view since that's what I play and what I know the best. With that out of the way, lets get started.
Defensive Tactics
These tactics are something that you should constantly keep in mind and work on. Using these, no matter what class you play, will give you a serious advantage over your opponents.
Kiting
What is Kiting? I'm sure most people have heard this term but some of you may not know exactly what it means. Well the easy way to think about how the term relates to a pvp fight is this. Imagine you're flying a kite. You want the kite to go as high as you can get it and you have a string to make sure it stays within a reasonable distance from you. Same thing in pvp. Think of the enemy as the kite and your defensive abilities as the string. You want to use your defensive abilities to make sure that the enemy doesn't get to close to you, but also that they don't get too far away either.
To properly kite you have to be aware of your surroundings. Keep an eye on the person you are fighting but also watch out for people flanking or just make sure you don't run yourself into a corner. As a ranged dps against melee you always want to make sure you have an escape route in case things get to tough.
The most important thing to keep in mind here is that you don't want anyone to be hitting you. Make sure you keep moving and stay aware of what's going on around you at all times.
Line of Sight (LOS)
This is a great tactic if you're fighting anyone but it's main use is against other ranged dps. When you see someone start casting spells at you or shooting at you, get to a place where they can't see you. When you break their line of sight on you, they can't hit you anymore. You can use this to keep people from hitting you while you focus on someone else, or you can use it against people that you're fighting.
As a sorcerer, you can put your dots (damage over time) on a target and then move behind cover to prevent them from casting on you. This allows you to do damage with no risk to your own health. When the dots wear off just start the process again.
Defensive Abilities
As a sorcerer you have a number of abilities that will help keep people away from you. Some of these you'll want to use any time you can. Even if it's not going to directly help you, it will help your team which in turn helps you.
Force Slow - This snares your target, slowing their movement speed by 50%. Use this on melee that are chasing you down to give you time to either get away or get off a couple damaging spells. You can also use this offensively to make sure someone can't get away from you when you're getting close to making the kill.
Overload - Knocks players back that are within a certain radius of you. Use this when a melee class gets too close or is hitting you. With a talent in your Lightning tree you can also add a root to this knock back. This makes Overload one of your best defensive tools as it gives you distance as well as additional time to either run or cast. You can also use this in conjunction with Force slow. After the enemy has been knocked back hit them with force slow to give yourself even more distance.
Static Barrier - This allows you to absorb incoming damage. Using this regularly is like increasing the amount of health you have. There is a talent for this in the Lightning tree as well that increases the amount of damage absorbed by an additional 10%. Make sure you have this up every time you can while you're in a fight.
Electrocute - A 4 second stun. The target wont be able to move or attack during that time so use it wisely.
Whirlwind - Another stun, this one is for 8 seconds but can be broken if the target takes damage. Make sure to use this on a target that is not being attacked. This is particularly useful in a 2v1 situation. Whirlwind has a 2 second cast time but can be made instant by talents in the madness tree.
Purge - You can remove 2 negative force or mental effects at a time with this ability. This can be useful in removing enemy dots or snares so that you don't take any unnecessary damage.
Jolt - Allows you to interrupt a spell cast. This also locks the player out of using the ability that you interupted for 4 seconds. This is great to use against healers or against a main damage ability of a dps class.
Unbreakable Will - Breaks any CC that is effecting you. This is on a 2 minute cool down so use it wisely.
Force Speed - Increases your movement speed by 150% for 2 seconds. While it doesn't sound like 2 seconds is a lot, this can save you from a lot of bad situations. Use this to help break line of sight or just get away from a group of enemies that you don't want to take on.
Heals - Almost every class has some kind of a heal, and everyone should be carrying med packs. Don't forget to use them when you get low on health.
Offensive Abilities
Most of your defensive abilities can be used offensively so I wont get back into those. I'll just touch on new ones that will help give you and your team an edge.
Recklessness - This is a temporary buff that increases your crit chance by 60%. You get two charges and a charge is used up by either getting a crit or using Force Lightning.
Force Lightning - This is one of the main damaging abilities and also snares the target. This is useful at keeping enemies away from you or to help a teammate get away from an attacker.
Each class has their own versions of most of these abilities so just make sure you do a little research to see how my examples can relate to your class.
After practicing the tactics we talked about and combining them with all of the abilities at your disposal, you should notice a significant improvement in your game. Just keep working and you'll continue to get better. There is always room to grow and as I do I'll continue to update this guide with new information that can help. Please let me know in the comments if there is anything that you feel is missing and should be added.
While the information in this guide can be used by any ranged dps class, I'm going to be discussing things from a sorcerer point of view since that's what I play and what I know the best. With that out of the way, lets get started.
Defensive Tactics
These tactics are something that you should constantly keep in mind and work on. Using these, no matter what class you play, will give you a serious advantage over your opponents.
Kiting
What is Kiting? I'm sure most people have heard this term but some of you may not know exactly what it means. Well the easy way to think about how the term relates to a pvp fight is this. Imagine you're flying a kite. You want the kite to go as high as you can get it and you have a string to make sure it stays within a reasonable distance from you. Same thing in pvp. Think of the enemy as the kite and your defensive abilities as the string. You want to use your defensive abilities to make sure that the enemy doesn't get to close to you, but also that they don't get too far away either.
To properly kite you have to be aware of your surroundings. Keep an eye on the person you are fighting but also watch out for people flanking or just make sure you don't run yourself into a corner. As a ranged dps against melee you always want to make sure you have an escape route in case things get to tough.
The most important thing to keep in mind here is that you don't want anyone to be hitting you. Make sure you keep moving and stay aware of what's going on around you at all times.
Line of Sight (LOS)
This is a great tactic if you're fighting anyone but it's main use is against other ranged dps. When you see someone start casting spells at you or shooting at you, get to a place where they can't see you. When you break their line of sight on you, they can't hit you anymore. You can use this to keep people from hitting you while you focus on someone else, or you can use it against people that you're fighting.
As a sorcerer, you can put your dots (damage over time) on a target and then move behind cover to prevent them from casting on you. This allows you to do damage with no risk to your own health. When the dots wear off just start the process again.
Defensive Abilities
As a sorcerer you have a number of abilities that will help keep people away from you. Some of these you'll want to use any time you can. Even if it's not going to directly help you, it will help your team which in turn helps you.
Force Slow - This snares your target, slowing their movement speed by 50%. Use this on melee that are chasing you down to give you time to either get away or get off a couple damaging spells. You can also use this offensively to make sure someone can't get away from you when you're getting close to making the kill.
Overload - Knocks players back that are within a certain radius of you. Use this when a melee class gets too close or is hitting you. With a talent in your Lightning tree you can also add a root to this knock back. This makes Overload one of your best defensive tools as it gives you distance as well as additional time to either run or cast. You can also use this in conjunction with Force slow. After the enemy has been knocked back hit them with force slow to give yourself even more distance.
Static Barrier - This allows you to absorb incoming damage. Using this regularly is like increasing the amount of health you have. There is a talent for this in the Lightning tree as well that increases the amount of damage absorbed by an additional 10%. Make sure you have this up every time you can while you're in a fight.
Electrocute - A 4 second stun. The target wont be able to move or attack during that time so use it wisely.
Whirlwind - Another stun, this one is for 8 seconds but can be broken if the target takes damage. Make sure to use this on a target that is not being attacked. This is particularly useful in a 2v1 situation. Whirlwind has a 2 second cast time but can be made instant by talents in the madness tree.
Purge - You can remove 2 negative force or mental effects at a time with this ability. This can be useful in removing enemy dots or snares so that you don't take any unnecessary damage.
Jolt - Allows you to interrupt a spell cast. This also locks the player out of using the ability that you interupted for 4 seconds. This is great to use against healers or against a main damage ability of a dps class.
Unbreakable Will - Breaks any CC that is effecting you. This is on a 2 minute cool down so use it wisely.
Force Speed - Increases your movement speed by 150% for 2 seconds. While it doesn't sound like 2 seconds is a lot, this can save you from a lot of bad situations. Use this to help break line of sight or just get away from a group of enemies that you don't want to take on.
Heals - Almost every class has some kind of a heal, and everyone should be carrying med packs. Don't forget to use them when you get low on health.
Offensive Abilities
Most of your defensive abilities can be used offensively so I wont get back into those. I'll just touch on new ones that will help give you and your team an edge.
Recklessness - This is a temporary buff that increases your crit chance by 60%. You get two charges and a charge is used up by either getting a crit or using Force Lightning.
Force Lightning - This is one of the main damaging abilities and also snares the target. This is useful at keeping enemies away from you or to help a teammate get away from an attacker.
Each class has their own versions of most of these abilities so just make sure you do a little research to see how my examples can relate to your class.
After practicing the tactics we talked about and combining them with all of the abilities at your disposal, you should notice a significant improvement in your game. Just keep working and you'll continue to get better. There is always room to grow and as I do I'll continue to update this guide with new information that can help. Please let me know in the comments if there is anything that you feel is missing and should be added.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Star Wars the Old Republic Sith Sorcerer Spec Guide
Hello again, I wanted to bring out a guide for specs in SWtOR for the Sith Sorcerer. This is the class that I play and I have done a bit of testing on what works and what doesn't. Most of this is going to be personal preference but for dps there are three main specs you can use.
1. Lightning
Lightning is fun to play but requires a lot of standing and casting. This spec is most useful in warzones like Civil War and Voidstar. It's also useful for world pvp as a group. The reason I don't think this spec is good for Hutball is because of the close quarters nature of the warzone and the amount of time you spend standing still.
Thundering Blast is your big damage dealer for this spec and it has a 2sec cast time and a guaranteed crit. Besides that you'll want to use dots and rotate between Lightning Strike and Force Lightning when it's up. Lightning Strike has a chance of also giving you an instant Chain Lightning so keep an eye out for that buff.
This spec also provides you with some nice utility in the form of Electric Bindings and Lightning Barrier. Both of these can help keep you alive in tough fights.
2. Madness
Madness is a dot spec. Your dots have a chance of healing you so not only does it do great dps but it also gives you added survivability. The down side to this is that you wont see big numbers like you would with some other specs. You'll see a ton of numbers, but no massive crits with this one.
Your main damage as I said will come from dots, only one of which has a cast time. However, that cast time can be removed by a proc you get from using Force Lightning. With this spec you will get an ability called Wrath. This gives you a chance of making any of your damage abilities with a cast time be instant. How does this help you? You can use your main dot, Crushing Darkness, instantly while you continue moving. In addition to that, your top talent is not only a dot but a root as well. This is amazing for kiting melee around.
Madness is a great all around spec. You can effectively use this in all the warzones as well as world pvp whether you're solo or in a group.
3. Hybrid
I currently use this hybrid spec for pvp. I really enjoy it because it gives you the utility and some of the damage of Lightning spec while also giving you the dot damage and Wrath proc from Madness.
The main ability with this spec is going to be Force Lightning. Dots are still a big part of your damage so you have a choice based on the situation. Open with Force Lightning and then use your Wrath proc to cast either and instant Crushing Darkness or Chain Lightning. As an opener I usually cast the dots. You'll get Wrath to proc a lot so don't worry about using it up. While your Crushing Darkness is on cooldown use Chain Lighting anytime you see Wrath come up. This will allow you to put out a steady stream of damage as well as have a great way to burst if you need to.
This hybrid is great for all warzones since you have the ability to move or stand and cast. You can also use this effectively for world pvp either solo or in a group.
Talent Overview
Each tree has some key talents that you'll want to get. A great part of this game is the variety in specs that you can effectively use, but you'll be better off by not skipping certain things.
Death Field - This is a hard hitting instant aoe that heals you. If you follow it up with Death Mark it makes your dots hit harder. Even if you don't get Death Mark, this is a great spell to have because it's instant and hits hard.
Wrath - This is a no brainer. This gives each tick of your Force Lightning a chance of giving you an instant cast damage spell. I also forgot to mention that it makes what ever you cast with it do 20% more damage.
Lightning Barrier - Allows you to absorb 10% more damage, enough said.
Lightning Barrage - A proc from dot crits that makes your 3sec Force Lightning cast all of it's damage in 1.5sec. That is an amazing boost in dps!
Of course there are other great talents in each tree but these are the ones that I felt are the most important because you can have most of them with any spec you go with. I hope this guide was helpful to you. Let me know if there is anything that you feel I missed that should be added in the comments below.
1. Lightning
Lightning is fun to play but requires a lot of standing and casting. This spec is most useful in warzones like Civil War and Voidstar. It's also useful for world pvp as a group. The reason I don't think this spec is good for Hutball is because of the close quarters nature of the warzone and the amount of time you spend standing still.
Thundering Blast is your big damage dealer for this spec and it has a 2sec cast time and a guaranteed crit. Besides that you'll want to use dots and rotate between Lightning Strike and Force Lightning when it's up. Lightning Strike has a chance of also giving you an instant Chain Lightning so keep an eye out for that buff.
This spec also provides you with some nice utility in the form of Electric Bindings and Lightning Barrier. Both of these can help keep you alive in tough fights.
2. Madness
Madness is a dot spec. Your dots have a chance of healing you so not only does it do great dps but it also gives you added survivability. The down side to this is that you wont see big numbers like you would with some other specs. You'll see a ton of numbers, but no massive crits with this one.
Your main damage as I said will come from dots, only one of which has a cast time. However, that cast time can be removed by a proc you get from using Force Lightning. With this spec you will get an ability called Wrath. This gives you a chance of making any of your damage abilities with a cast time be instant. How does this help you? You can use your main dot, Crushing Darkness, instantly while you continue moving. In addition to that, your top talent is not only a dot but a root as well. This is amazing for kiting melee around.
Madness is a great all around spec. You can effectively use this in all the warzones as well as world pvp whether you're solo or in a group.
3. Hybrid
I currently use this hybrid spec for pvp. I really enjoy it because it gives you the utility and some of the damage of Lightning spec while also giving you the dot damage and Wrath proc from Madness.
The main ability with this spec is going to be Force Lightning. Dots are still a big part of your damage so you have a choice based on the situation. Open with Force Lightning and then use your Wrath proc to cast either and instant Crushing Darkness or Chain Lightning. As an opener I usually cast the dots. You'll get Wrath to proc a lot so don't worry about using it up. While your Crushing Darkness is on cooldown use Chain Lighting anytime you see Wrath come up. This will allow you to put out a steady stream of damage as well as have a great way to burst if you need to.
This hybrid is great for all warzones since you have the ability to move or stand and cast. You can also use this effectively for world pvp either solo or in a group.
Talent Overview
Each tree has some key talents that you'll want to get. A great part of this game is the variety in specs that you can effectively use, but you'll be better off by not skipping certain things.
Death Field - This is a hard hitting instant aoe that heals you. If you follow it up with Death Mark it makes your dots hit harder. Even if you don't get Death Mark, this is a great spell to have because it's instant and hits hard.
Wrath - This is a no brainer. This gives each tick of your Force Lightning a chance of giving you an instant cast damage spell. I also forgot to mention that it makes what ever you cast with it do 20% more damage.
Lightning Barrier - Allows you to absorb 10% more damage, enough said.
Lightning Barrage - A proc from dot crits that makes your 3sec Force Lightning cast all of it's damage in 1.5sec. That is an amazing boost in dps!
Of course there are other great talents in each tree but these are the ones that I felt are the most important because you can have most of them with any spec you go with. I hope this guide was helpful to you. Let me know if there is anything that you feel I missed that should be added in the comments below.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Star Wars the Old Republic pvp overview
I'm very big into SWtOR pvp. There are a lot of things that I love about the game and some things that I wish they would change. I'll go over both, the light and dark (good and bad), sides of the game. As I've said before, I'm a pvp player so I'm going to talk about the pvp in this game and steer clear of the pve content since I'm not familiar with it other than questing.
Using pvp to level is fun and an excellent way to gain xp and money but with patch 1.1 the game really gets interesting at level 50. Patch 1.1 introduced level 50 only warzones. A warzone is like a battleground from WoW. I'll get into each warzone in detail later. For now I'm going to focus on some other things.
First of all, you get to start progressing your gear at level 50. You'll get daily and weekly quests to win warzones and to compete in world pvp on the planet Ilum. Once complete, you'll receive champion or battlemaster gear bags for your efforts. You can also get the champion gear bag using warzone commendations. You gain these from simply playing warzones. Once you have 800 of them you can purchase a gear bag. In order to wear certain gear you need to be a high enough valor rank. Anyone new to level 50 should be purchasing the champion bags rather than battlemaster. Here is a quick video I made on my progression so far since hitting level 50.
The biggest thing I love about this game is that there are so many ways to play your class. In other games, in order to compete, everyone has to use the same spec. So far in this game I've successfully used three different specs and one of my friends uses a totally different one than any of mine. The level of variety is great and keeps the game interesting. That plus the fact that warzone ques are quick and world pvp is active but not over run by large zergs of people makes this a great game for pvp players.
The down side to this game is the gear system. I'm not a fan of the fact that I have to play warzones to get commendations, then trade them for mercenary commendations to buy a champion bag that will give me champion and centurion commendations, then I can buy gear. Sound confusing? Well that's because it is. I would be happy if they created a much easier solution. The easiest thing would be to remove mercenary commendations all together. Just make things cost more with the warzone commendations and keep using the gear bags. I'd be happy with that.
Well, I'd like to just finish up by saying that this is an amazing game that I'm sure will only get better as time goes on. I look forward to what Bioware has in store for us and sharing it all with you. Be sure to check back for more news updates and pvp info on this and other games.
Using pvp to level is fun and an excellent way to gain xp and money but with patch 1.1 the game really gets interesting at level 50. Patch 1.1 introduced level 50 only warzones. A warzone is like a battleground from WoW. I'll get into each warzone in detail later. For now I'm going to focus on some other things.
First of all, you get to start progressing your gear at level 50. You'll get daily and weekly quests to win warzones and to compete in world pvp on the planet Ilum. Once complete, you'll receive champion or battlemaster gear bags for your efforts. You can also get the champion gear bag using warzone commendations. You gain these from simply playing warzones. Once you have 800 of them you can purchase a gear bag. In order to wear certain gear you need to be a high enough valor rank. Anyone new to level 50 should be purchasing the champion bags rather than battlemaster. Here is a quick video I made on my progression so far since hitting level 50.
The biggest thing I love about this game is that there are so many ways to play your class. In other games, in order to compete, everyone has to use the same spec. So far in this game I've successfully used three different specs and one of my friends uses a totally different one than any of mine. The level of variety is great and keeps the game interesting. That plus the fact that warzone ques are quick and world pvp is active but not over run by large zergs of people makes this a great game for pvp players.
The down side to this game is the gear system. I'm not a fan of the fact that I have to play warzones to get commendations, then trade them for mercenary commendations to buy a champion bag that will give me champion and centurion commendations, then I can buy gear. Sound confusing? Well that's because it is. I would be happy if they created a much easier solution. The easiest thing would be to remove mercenary commendations all together. Just make things cost more with the warzone commendations and keep using the gear bags. I'd be happy with that.
Well, I'd like to just finish up by saying that this is an amazing game that I'm sure will only get better as time goes on. I look forward to what Bioware has in store for us and sharing it all with you. Be sure to check back for more news updates and pvp info on this and other games.
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