Curse

Cherng Butter · May 01, 2009, 08:23 PM // 20:23

Ahh I see, fail sins ftw

He played fine, a lot of AB is running around anyway.

Lux Aeterna · May 01, 2009, 09:23 PM // 21:23

This is a video of capping (not fleeing), with actually a bit of fighting though it'd be cool to have someone fraps being the mvp in a 12v12 / 10v10 mob fight.

Tips for playing war in AB:

1) Be aggressive be aggressive, think fast and don't just call strats but call good strats. Make your team win, keep your team from dying if your allies are failing. Draw big arrows on the map. Learn how to skirt larger mobs without drawing aggro from them, cap behind them.

2) Stay in front of the group. Open your minimap, use it not only to pick caps but to locate other teams (both friendly and enemy).

3) Bring an all-offense build and be the mvp every time when you need to fight.

4) If you see a single friendly being chased by an incoming mob, charge them by yourself to make the first few turn back, saving an ally or two. (this actually works well for me)

In a group fight, learn to manage how much pressure you're taking and make sure not to overextend / overtax your monk - who, of course, is running an effective build and knows how to use it. Learn to see pressure points in teams, and use positioning to make sure you're not only at the most important point, but somewhere that won't get you killed quickly.

Survival without self heals or a monk is really about positioning and clever use of shock. Stay with teammates as much as possible, upon being separated from your group your first move should be to avoid combat and find some friendlies to team up with. You've got a total of like 38 seconds IMS on that build, there's absolutely no excuse for getting caught by something you can't handle...

In particular, don't get within range of sins and rangers, and generally don't go 1v1 unless you're looking for trouble. That's not to say you'll lose - 1v1 with the PR build I posted usually ends with a short chase and a bull's strike, and once I even beat a pindown/burning arrow ranger with scythe + no heals.

Remember that your health begins to regenerate quickly a few seconds after you stop taking damage (this is especially imporant).

Also do this:
[primal rage][rush][bull's strike][savage slash][sever artery][gash][sun and moon slash][shock]

moriz · May 02, 2009, 12:33 AM // 00:33

in the same vein as the warrior vid, here's me playing ranger:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jBTiNotb64

feel free to skip the first minute or so, since there was nothing going on.

moriz · May 02, 2009, 02:45 AM // 02:45

cripshot is stronger in AB than melshot most of the time, which is why i use it.

Cherng Butter · May 02, 2009, 08:33 PM // 20:33

What's wrong with killing people trying to run away? Doesn't that, iono, help you win?

Bryant Again · May 03, 2009, 12:41 AM // 00:41

A PRage build does look pretty smexi. How's it run using swords?

Also, what's your key bindings like, Moriz?

moriz · May 03, 2009, 01:46 AM // 01:46

a sword PR build? well, it runs like... a sword warrior on steroids. still doesn't beat an axe warrior though, since axe still has better damage compression.

my key bindings are designed so i never have to move my left hand very much. every key is well within reach. skills are: qadewrs and TAB. weaponswaps are 1 2 3 4, cancel action is `, and target previous/next/next object are z x c respectively. i've also worked out a new targeting scheme that is a combination of mouse targeting with the autotargeting to quickly swap targets. however, this doesn't seem to work in gvg. too many targets for me to keep track of there. on the upside, it works really well in skirmish situations.

Lux Aeterna · May 03, 2009, 02:11 AM // 02:11

It's similar to the axe equivalent, it's quite deadly and if you're good with savage slash you can do serious damage, like killing a monk off 2 KDs kind of damage (bull's sever gash shock sun and moon savage) probably had 550hp.

Only thing axe really has on it is +13 damage vs. kiters and double interrupts, but savage slash is a bit more precise and an excellent spike finisher.

PR sword reminds me of a build I used to play in Neverwinter Nights, called a dexer which used dexterity and speed rather than strength... quite effective and similar feeling, although dexers had high defense but with PR you gotta be aware.

You have to be a bit careful with primal rage now and avoid cancelling too soon, if you cancel reflexively too much you lose offense output due to the same recharge as sprint. I'm seeing more people using it now, I think, but WE axe really took over its niche.

I'm back on hammer though. Stomped the holy f*ck out of a magehunter's smash war despite starting 1v1 crippled poisoned and at half hp, she chased me looking for an easy kill but in the end couldn't even get away.

--

It's not just killing fleeing enemies, it's more crippling and poisoning the poor last survivor running away after his teams were beaten at a disadvantage, so oh look a palm sin can get him. It's just mean. Usually I'll let the poor last survivor get away, rather than crippling and poisoning him.

Sometimes if I'm feeling mean I'll actually click bull's strike...

Or if he's going to die I'll let someone less meaningful kill him, ie the merciless swarm of palm sins palm sins are like pirhanas i hate them.

Sux being an empath in AB, then again when I'm mad its fun to feel people's fear/shock.
dont be mean

moriz · May 03, 2009, 05:36 PM // 17:36

a kill is a kill is a kill is a kill. it doesn't matter how it's achieved. a kill in AB is +3 points. or in other words, that's the equivalent of holding three shrines for 7 seconds, or holding one shrine for 21 seconds. if i'm in position to score a kill, i will do everything i can to score that kill as quickly as possible.

this has nothing to do with being "mean".

Bobby2 · May 03, 2009, 06:26 PM // 18:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

a kill is a kill is a kill is a kill. it doesn't matter how it's achieved. a kill in AB is +3 points. or in other words, that's the equivalent of holding three shrines for 7 seconds, or holding one shrine for 21 seconds. if i'm in position to score a kill, i will do everything i can to score that kill as quickly as possible.

this has nothing to do with being "mean".

Now if everyone just kept in mind how much they're hampering their side when they dive bravely into the enemy mob...

Lux Aeterna · May 04, 2009, 02:15 AM // 02:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

a kill is a kill is a kill is a kill. it doesn't matter how it's achieved. a kill in AB is +3 points. or in other words, that's the equivalent of holding three shrines for 7 seconds, or holding one shrine for 21 seconds. if i'm in position to score a kill, i will do everything i can to score that kill as quickly as possible.

this has nothing to do with being "mean".

But I'm talking about one single ele limping away after a fight, when the other side is already losing badly. Like you can't really care that much about 10 balth faction can you? Don't talk about getting "kills", I know it's fun to say but it creeps out chick monks.

On the bright side: kurzicks can be pulled like NPCs.

Once I was scouting ahead of a big Luxon mob on Ancestral... Found four kurzicks, apparently thirsty for blood because they soon began chasing me. Knowing I had a 10 person mob following just out of sight, I ran lazily ahead of them till they were overtaken and slaughtered in a brutal fashion.

Made me feel warm and fuzzy.

moriz · May 04, 2009, 02:22 AM // 02:22

that one single ele limping away is probably the easiest kill available. i won't hesitate to devote the approximately 7 seconds it takes to chase down and kill that ele.

Lux Aeterna · May 04, 2009, 02:35 AM // 02:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

that one single ele limping away is probably the easiest kill available.

Which is why you should be merciful and let them go for the sake of honor.

What's your in game name I want to show you this cool thing called [bull's strike].

Arkantos · May 04, 2009, 02:58 AM // 02:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lux Aeterna

Which is why you should be merciful and let them go for the sake of honor.

What's your in game name I want to show you this cool thing called [bull's strike].

Mercy? Honor? I really hope you're attempting to troll. It's a low form of PvP in a video game where the objective is to win. If you can get an easy kill, do it. If you don't for the sake of online honor, I don't know why you're competing in a competitive game.

moriz · May 04, 2009, 03:12 AM // 03:12

i believe i know what [bull's strike] is. in fact, i made very good use of it in my warrior vid.

glacialphoenix · May 04, 2009, 07:04 AM // 07:04

Quote:

On the bright side: kurzicks can be pulled like NPCs.

So can Luxons, believe me.

Quote:

What's wrong with killing people trying to run away? Doesn't that, iono, help you win?

If it's an easy kill that doesn't involve you chasing a guy across half the map, yeah it does. On the other hand - speaking as a monk - I've had assassins think to chase me, and die because they cheerily followed me straight to the elite ele shrine, or straight into a mob. So - yeah, a kill is a kill is a kill, it's not my fault you overextended straight into a group of my allies, and I'm going to laugh at you if you shriek about how 'omg monk ran away' - well, yes, I'm not going to let you get those 3 points.

moriz · May 04, 2009, 09:08 AM // 09:08

the emphasis is on "killing", not "chasing". if it takes more than 15 seconds or so to chase down that target, then it's not worth it.

curiously enough, the cripshot instantly makes everything "chasable", and thus much easier to kill.

tmakinen · May 04, 2009, 09:25 AM // 09:25

Also, the entire point of rangers in AB is to make life so miserable to players on the opposite side that they ragequit in frustration

Killing is good but making people bail out is even better and for rangers griefing is a big part of the job description.

Lux Aeterna · May 04, 2009, 11:49 PM // 23:49

Lookit this:

Personally I think it's more interesting to play with people a bit like a cat, then kill them if you really want to or just let them go.

I saw a national geographic special about cheetas once, and in it there was a part where several baby cheetas had caught a baby zebra. After being caught, the baby zebra just sat there, and without a target to chase the cheetas sort of swatted at it and sat there confused. I'm a bit like that, if a target isn't putting up a fight it isn't interesting to me to finish it off.

Who really cares about 3 pts.

Then again, in other games I've had aerial jetpack duels with people simply because I needed some ammo ZAP ZAP BOOM hey look an ammo pickup.

Arkantos · May 04, 2009, 11:56 PM // 23:56

Quote:

Who really cares about 3 pts.

The objective is to get points. You let someone go for 'honor', you lose 3 points. They regroup, get healed, go and kill a teammate, they get 3 points. They kill another, another 3 points. And for what? So you can have your honor in AB?

Thank God not a lot of people have the same mentality as you.