Curse

Haxx · Nov 20, 2008, 02:34 AM // 02:34

Hey, lately I've noticed the complete lack of skill in most of the warriors around r300 or worse. So I'm making this thread with the hope of teaching some new players, or maybe some less experienced older players how to warrior.

First off, I'll start with an introduction to the class and its purpose. The warrior provides the biggest pressure and utility available to melee classes. It's abilities range from snaring, condition pressure, spiking, and creating vast party wide damage. You are the center of your teams offense, you control the playing field and how the match turns out. Sure your midline can make or break a game with a nice interrupt or diversion/shame. But without you, your team cannot take advantage of these prime opportunities.

I will start with a common warrior bar and explain how to play it...

Shock Axe
[build prof=warri/eleme axemas=12+1+1 streng=12+1 airmag=3][eviscerate][executioner's strike][disrupting chop][shock][bulls strike][frenzy][rush][Resurrection Signet][/build]

Shock axe is one of the more common warrior builds ran today. This bar consists of IAS (Increased Attack Speed), IMS (Increased Movement Speed), Knockdowns, and a rather powerful Attack Chain for spikes. I will breakdown the bar skill by skill.

[eviscerate]
Your elite skill. It does large damage to aid on spikes and also inflicts Deep Wound. Also good for pressuring. Note the deep wound. It is a great damage bonus to your spikes, but the use of RC alone will make up for any damage dealt by this skill. Use it wisely. When spiking, use this skill second or last so that the Deep Wound is the last thing to go on the enemy, and has less chace of being removed and the spike being caught.

[executioner's strike]
Insane damage skill. The damage from this skill makes your spike a spike. It is also a great pressure dealer.

[disrupting chop]
Personally one of my favorite skills. D chop is great due to its ability to "q-rupt" or quarter interrupt. Your attack chain is cleverly arranged to work with this skill. Either use Bull's Strike or Shock to know your target down, use Frenzy, and use your skills in this order: Eviscerate-->Executioner's Strike-->D-Chop... This will almost always hit an interrupt on a monk desperate to save himself/herself. It can also work on midline players such as FC mesmers that may try to snare or blind you in order to get away.

[shock]
Shock is a great utility skill, but use it sparingly. Save it for situations where you need the extra pressure and can Knockdown a target to prevent its kiting. You can also use it to interrupt important skills such as Aegis or Rez Sig, as well as to temporarily snare a foe on the retreat to possible force a death on an enemy target.

[bulls strike]
Absolute favorite skill in the game. Bull's Strike is the ice beneath a warrior's skates. This skill can be used to turn the tide of a game at any point. It's large damage bonus combined with its knockdown abilities make this skill feared by anything that moves. A warrior that is good with Bull's Strike controls the battle field and can rework the playing field in seconds. As targets kite you can knock them down for large damage on an unmoving target. You can also stop a ganker dead in its tracks as it falls back, you can knock a monk down and spike it out, or even lineback to relieve pressure on your monks. More on linebacking later.

[frenzy]
A dangerous but brilliant IAS. It causes you to take double damage, but increases your attack speed with no damage reduction or mobility. You can use this skill to build your adrenaline quickly or to spike a target out quickly. Always make sure to make a clear call on vent if you use frenzy and get blinded or blurred during a spike and don't have the adrenaline to cancel with Rush. This alerts your monks that you are vunerable to spikes and they need to throw a prot spirit on you. It's also not a bad idea to call when you are "Frenzying" on vent, unless your monks are good enough to keep you pre protted so you can spam Frenzy more and do more pressure.

[rush]
A well synergized IMS used to cancel Frenzy so you don't take the double damage. Its low adrenal cost makes it the perfect cancel for Frenzy and a great skill for mobility due to the low number of hits needed to charge it. Rush can be used to give you a necessary speed boost to reach a target and Bull's Strike them as they push or pull on the map. A team in fear of getting wiped will often run without thinking about dodging bull's. Rush is a great skill in this instance due to its abilities to allow you to catch those kiter's and Knock them down to induce the team wipe.

[Resurrection Signet]
Rez your allies. Simple Enough.

Also note that this bar has many special tactics that can be used with it. My favorite is the Chain knocking. It enabled a warrior to keep a target on the ground for about 5 seconds (assuming you are running the correct armor and have included a Stonefist Insignia). This is a very simple and easy to learn trick. Practice using Bull's Strike, learn your enemies movement patterns quickly. Predicting when an enemy will run away is a warrior's biggest advantage over the enemy. To perform a Knockdown Chain, watch your target closely, predict when he/she will run away, or build up your adrenaline to use Rush and catch up to a target and use Bull's Strike upon arrival. When you knock the target down, you have multiple options, you can either:

A) Auto attack the target and prepare to QuarterKnock him with Shock
B) Use your attack chain if it is charged and ready (let dchop hit for the interrupt) then follow up with Shock to put them on the ground for 2 more seconds to finish them off.
C)Switch targets and hope to induce protting on the Knocked Down target.

Remeber, it if important to Frenzy in order for the D-chop to work, it also increases your DPS by 33% (quoted from poster below). Always watch to cancel your Frenzy's though, save your monks as much energy as you can.

KNOWING WHO TO ATTACK!!!

Adrenaline is what fuels a warriors ability to move quickly and deal large damage to targets. Without adrenaline you are virtually useless(there are a few exceptions which I will discuss later). this means you have to build your adrenaline up, which means you have to hit the target. Frenzy, as discussed earlier, is great for building adrenaline. Another popular skill for building adrenaline is:

Enraging Charge
[enraging charge]

Now of course you can always be a brave warrior and run in arms flailing axe, swinging wildly, but there is a much better, easier, and safer way to do it. As the game starts, switch to your spear set, and run up to the enemy. Attacking from a distance is much safer and allows any of your teams stragglers to catch up. In most cases though, you will already have engaged the enemy and are in the midst of pressuring them. In this case, one of the most effective ways to build adrenaline is on an opposing frontliner. Frontliners are usually extended out of the reach of aegis, and are not popular targets for guardian. This means they have little chance of blocking any attack thrown their way. This makes them great targets to build on because all of your attacks should find your way to the target.

As you can see, knowing who to attack is key as a warrior. Attacking unprotted targets is ideal because they won't block your attacks. Preprots have a large role in who you decide to attack. Below are a few of the common (and some not so common) preprots monks bring into GvG...

Spirit Bond

Protective Spirit

Reversal of Fortune

Holy Veil

Guardian

Aegis

Glyph Of Lesser Energy

Shield of Deflection

Familiarize yourself with the appearance of these skills so that you know what is being cast on who. This will enable you to do the most damage possible to the enemy. Note that certain spells have effects that last. (ex/a white cloud-like ring accompanied by a larger blue ring circling around any enemy means they are under the effects of Aegis).

It's also important to know how much damage you deal out. When you auto attack, you deal less than 60 damage, which means you can auto attack through a spirit bond or a protective spirit without your skills being a waste or healing the enemy. If you see a blue and gold ring around them indicating Reversal of Fortune, you may choose to leave them alone for a few seconds. The idea is to make the monks burn their energy and not get any use out of it.

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!

IT IS IMPORTANT TO SWITCH TARGETS OFTEN. As monks throw heals and prots out onto their team, it burns their energy. If you can make these heals and prots useless, then you have achieved your goal as a warrior. This means it is good to coordinate pressures where both warriors can run at one target, this forces guardians or spirit bonds to be thrown on him, a quick target switch means they just wasted 10-15 energy for absolutely no gain. As a warrior, you need to always be aware of the playing field. On the other end of this, you want your monks to save energy, this means that you need to be aware of their warrior's positioning and when you need to cancel your frenzy's.

Linebacking and How to Avoid Getting Linebacked

Linebacking is an effective technique used to slow damage on your squishy targets (60AL targets vunerable to large amounts of damage). Linebacking is when you chase after an opposing frontline using bull's to knockthem down to relive pressure, spiking them to scare them off back to their monks, and using Shock (if you brought it) to knock them down midspike so they don't do enough damage to be any danger to your monks or midline. Linebacking is often used when an important skill gets diverted on your backline's bars. It is also effective when your monks energy gets low. Linebacking decreases the need for your monks to cast which helps their energy regenerate quicker and lets them hold up longer. On the other hand, getting linebacked will do well to hurt your pressure as well. If getting linebacked, ask for an Aura of Stability or a Prot Spirit so you are safe to frenzy and attack as usual. Be aware though if your prot spirit gets shattered, be ready for a QUICK cancel with rush, their warrios are already there, they don't have to run up and get ready to spike you. If you have Aura Of Stability on you, just attack like normally. If you don't, then you will have to use your brain. Count the recharge of bull's strike so as not to be knocked down on recharge(The recharge time on Bull's Strike is 10 seconds). If you get knocked down by Shock, don't stand up immediately and run off. Generally the enemy warrior will be waiting for you to stand up and run away for them to Bull's you again. This means that you should C+Space and attack the warrior for a few seconds (C+Space is the default key combination for attack nearest target.) Watch the animation of enemy warriors as well. Often if you see a warrior use rush, they will Follow up with bull's strike to knock you down upon reaching you. This is a good time to switch to them and let them waste their bull's. Switching targets while being linebacked is VERY IMPORTANT. If you are being linebacked, you want to move as little as possible and not "train" targets. (Training a target means to chase them for long periods of time to reduce their casting and keep them from pressuring your team, ask your monks what is hurting them most so you know who to train. Good targets to train are Dom mesmers, and FC mesmers). By not training a target, and moving as little as possible, you reduce the risk of being hit with Bull's and therefore maximize the damage you can deal to their team.

Also as mentioned below...watching the warriors from obs matches will increase your ability as a warrior tremendously. A few players to watch for are:

Chop Chop the Panda [rawr]

Otherwise known as Polly, is known for his ability to switch targets every 3-4 hits and spike something everytime his adrenaline is available. He builds adrenaline on 4-5 different targets one time, and then the next time he builds it on just one target. Mix it up and be as random and different as you can.

Godguard [StS]

Godguard is one of my favorite players. He puts out great pressure on targets. But just as you think he's found a home in your backline pressuring your monks, he turns to your midline and puts out the cleanest warrior spike you've ever seen.

A Few More Bars To Try

Conjure Axe

[eviscerate][executioner's strike][disrupting chop][frenzy][rush][conjure frost][bull's strike][resurrection signet]

Maintain your Conjure by switching to an enchanting set when you have the opportunity. Spike with skills 4-2-1-3 and cancel with rush. By using Executioner's Strike first, it cuts down on the time the RC has to remove the condition and stop your spike. Use Bull's to knock down kiters for added pressure. Rez sig to rez your allies.

Warrior's Endurance

[dismember][power attack][protector's strike][frenzy][dash][warrior's endurance][bull's strike][resurrection signet]

Maintain Warrior's Endurance to fuel your energy. Spam skills 2-3 and use frenzy often. Spike with skills 4-2-1-3 (same reason as above). Knock down kiters with Bull's Strike to apply pressure. Use rez to rez your allies.

Magehunter's Warrior

[magehunter's smash][crushing blow][hammer bash][flail][enraging charge][distracting strike][bull's strike][death pact signet]

Use Enraging Charge to build adrenaline quickly. Spike with 1-4-2-3. Get to know the wait times to quarterknock an opponent. Sometimes you will have to wait a beat in order for the quarterknock to work. Interrupt key skills like Aegis, Glyph of Immolation, or the enemy hammer warrior's Hammer Bash with D-strike. Rez monks and midline with Death Pact Signet to insure they are rezzed with the most energy possible. If preferred, you may replace bull's strike with Rush if you want the extra speed boost.

Crip Slash

[crippling slash][gash][sun and moon slash][frenzy][bull's strike][rush][conjure frost][resurrection signet]

Spike targets with 4-1-2-3 and cancel with rush. Use bull's to knockdown kiters for pressure. Some people prefer to bring D-strike on sword warriors. It's all a matter of preference. Maintain your conjure. Rez with Rez Sig. Conjure may also be replaced with skills such as D-Strike or Dash (drop Rush for D-strike).

More will be added later when I have time. This is just the start... thanks for all contributions, especially "bussboy" who's input was a great help to this guide so far.

Antares Ascending · Nov 20, 2008, 03:25 AM // 03:25

Nice guide. There is a new pvp site mentioned in this forum that would probably love input like this. Haven't seen any flamers there yet..yikes!!!

The addy: www.gwstrat.com

take care,

Ant

tyrant rex · Nov 20, 2008, 04:32 AM // 04:32

so this is basically a strictly worse guide then the one posted by chiizu on qq forums , why did you make it?

obsidian ectoplasm · Nov 20, 2008, 04:57 AM // 04:57

nice guide, looking forward to the rest

Cammy · Nov 20, 2008, 05:26 AM // 05:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyrant rex

so this is basically a strictly worse guide then the one posted by chiizu on qq forums , why did you make it?

this

zzzzzzzzzzzz

Div · Nov 20, 2008, 06:34 AM // 06:34

I think this gives a better starter's overview of the warrior, since most scrubs don't even know what shock does.

Leslie · Nov 20, 2008, 06:45 AM // 06:45

not bad, don't forget to mention you can chain knockdowns with bulls and shock, nice job mentioning quarterbreaking

newbie_of_doom · Nov 20, 2008, 09:46 AM // 09:46

Holy veil seriously doesnt matter if youre training a target. Believe it or not. And target switching at rof, how do you get to hit anything then?
And maybe you should like get a screenshot of the most important monk skill for warriors to pay attention to: guardian. Maybe you should unlock it.
And a lack of warrior skill in the top 300 isnt the only lack of skill, most of the top 300 are all retards. Iherdthisgame was dead.

Frenzy shouldn't be dangerous if your monks arent retarded and actually hardprot you when they should.

bussboy · Nov 20, 2008, 04:58 PM // 16:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by newbie_of_doom

Holy veil seriously doesnt matter if youre training a target. Believe it or not. And target switching at rof, how do you get to hit anything then?
And maybe you should like get a screenshot of the most important monk skill for warriors to pay attention to: guardian. Maybe you should unlock it.
And a lack of warrior skill in the top 300 isnt the only lack of skill, most of the top 300 are all retards. Iherdthisgame was dead.

Frenzy shouldn't be dangerous if your monks arent retarded and actually hardprot you when they should.

I have to agree with everything you said. As for the topic creator, i hope you "finish" your decription soon, because I find it seriously lacking alot of the stuff that really tells ppl HOW TO play warrior.

Very start of 8v8 games:
This is more courtesy, but the warriors usually exchange a few attacks then the battle has begun and they usually move into their opponents team area. Im not going to tell you how many exact attacks because thats completely up to the warriors. Some will be retarded douches and lineback you for a good few minutes before they realize they are wasting their time, and yours.
Dont get pushed around by the other teams warriors, if you really find them annoying, spike it (and ask for a hard prot ) while you frenzy.

Lets assume you arnt being linebacked and your monks are good for removals firstly......

FRENZY every 8 seconds.(when the target isnt moving much)
Frenzy as much as possible.

Double Damage Aspect:
Be good at cancling the frenzy. Ive noticed that when ive been in frenzy for a while, they would notice ,it was pretty obvious. Even in some games, I could take all the pressure off our monks and they only had to heal 1 person (me). With a good frenzy cancel, it was a waste of a spike (with my monks watching the battle field well). If your monks are bitches and complain when you extend for their monks,while in frenzy... think twice about this.

Extra Damage Aspect:
If you have ever watched Void Fury play warrior? He can pressure teams out perfectly. Now from a mathematical aspect? your adding 33% dps from your current dps to your current dps. That equals more dmg. If their woh cant deal with it (assuming ur intelligently swapping and thwarting the RC's guardians) , then its gg. We will talk more about pressure later on.

As for the Double damage thing , I talked about the other team eying your frenzy. Quite often if their monks yell at the offense to spike you, then thats undesirable.(infact I usually only do this tactic SOMETIMES in gank senarios, where less damage is needed since a rit can puts out less health/second than the ganks dps (most of the time) Ive also used it during that 3 derv 2 smite mesmer meta crap this past summer, since the dps was uber high) Sometimes you have to limit your frenzy enough that it wont be the center of attention. But seriously.. Do your best to find the fine line between adding more damage but before reaching the center of the enemies attention. Find this line, and frenzy just becuase of the fact that more dmg = more pressure = easier spikes

RUSH when you want to kill a target that kites. Rush then Follow up with bullstrike as soon as you catch up. This is a good lead in for the combo described below.

Bullstrike is preferably your first kd because it doesnt cause exhaustion.

You can combo up your attack skills like so..
1.Frenzy then Bullstrike (order doesnt matter at this point)
2.Executioners and Evicerate (order is kinda important only because you dont want to give their RC enough time to catch the deepwound)
3.Shock (try to kd which will interrupt any 1/4S cast)
Usually your target is dead or being finished off at this point. If he still isnt dead , you have Disrupting Chop/Agonizing Chop or Distracting Strike to follow up for their next 1/4S cast and hopefully the target will be dead.

If you want to see spikes I encourage you to watch StS in action. Godguard is very good at suprizing the other team with perfect spikes in the midst of a fierce battle.

Also, When your spiking.. You should strive to randomize your spike targets (if they have really good monks). A good monk will memorize your spike pattern if its too similar from spike to spike. Ive had that happen before.
Ex: Gaining Adrenaline on 1 target, spiking a different one.

Dont do that ALWAYS. Even if its good a few times, monks will know that after 10 seconds on 1 target, your going to switch off and spike asap. Bad situation. Not only pick new targets, but if your target you gained adrenaline on is still unprotted, give it a shot. Make it seem to the enemy monks that your spikes are 100% randomized. Even if they arnt. As soon as they got your pattern, you need to change it asap. Even better.. dont show them a pattern. Chopchop sometimes makes his spike targets seem random, but then again , on somedays his spikes are seen a mile away, and still go through. I would recomend watching the whole Gaining adrenaline/spike process when Chopchop plays warrior.

Pressure Play: Incorporating pressure from shock warriors(and your whole team) is the holy grail to a gvg. Doing spikes is a nice fundamental but being able to pressure makes you and your team that much better. Its not that you dont spike when your pressuring, its just that when you spike a pressured out team, usually the targets health is under 80%. Spikes become easier. Now if you do this vs a really good backline, they will continue to stop your spikes .(And if your pressuring perfectly), they will still be losing too much health while still stopping your spikes. Finally when they are low enough hp before the spike, the target will die, and monks will fold.

Warriors pressure by:
Successfull KDs from Bullstrike on Recharge
Use your adrenaline spike skills asap (dont hold skills)
Attacking as much as possible, if your targets gonna kite around alot, and not allow you to get max dps, pick a stationary one (till he gets proted) or ask for a snare.
Get off protted targets asap (guardian/weapon of warding mainly)
Spikes with or without adrenaline (since your not holding skills)

Go for easiest kills (low armor/low hp/ you know he wont kite much, and is unprotted) or for good teams which always kite, do it immediatly after a goldy timed bullstrike. Still, make it seem randomized from their monks point of view.

Something I neglected to talk about beforehand was how to use your bullstrike. Bullstrike to warriors is the monks equivalent to recognizing a spike pattern out of a warrior. Sometimes this doesnt work when people try to randomize their kiting. Some casters will finish the cast then kite, or some will just kite off the bat, and some stupid ones will not kite at all. If people display a pattern in kiting as you approach and get a hit off, then use it to your advantage. If your 100% sure hes not gonna move, hes as good as dead if you can spike. If they are gonna kite off the bat, be ready with bullstrike, if they are gonna cast first, you can either interrupt if u got the time , or bullstrike AFTER he finishes the cast .

Where as pressure play is the holy grail, spiking is a fundamental skill to have down. Pressure is not very good anymore because of Rits party heals. If their rit is using his party heals each time he passes by like he should, then ur job to pressure becomes 10times more difficult, unless u can get his recupperation down.

Spiking is more meta than pressure play (while not in a split). So its good to understand and be able to pressure to the best of your ability.. but when it comes down to it, if you want to succeed, you have to be able to do perfect spikes like Godguard(spikes out of nowhere and uber clean).

Im really not talking much about ganks because they are a whole different category. Basically.. ganks are very game deciding on players individual skill(tactics and playing wise). If you put TK Noodle out on a split for example, then the other team better have a very godly backline ready otherwise its gg. Shock warriors on splits is sometimes bad. Where its probably the funnest to play as a build in a gank senario... a hammer would be the actual best to use in terms of getting kills upfront. Hammer is huge shudown when his combo is going. And you can keep the combo going for a long ass time . But enough about hammers.

I would appreciate comments on this. Im always open to criticism. it will help me to improve . Im sure i missed some stuff too. Discuss!!!

Haxx · Nov 21, 2008, 02:51 AM // 02:51

Thanks for the input, I am including Guardian in this update, as well as Aegis and more detailed information. I would have included those enchantments earlier but i lost the screenshots somewhere on my hard drive. Anything you notice or any help/suggestion you have are appreciated.

Div · Nov 21, 2008, 06:29 AM // 06:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haxx

Chop Chop the Panda [rawr]

Otherwise known as Polly, is known for his erratic play style. He builds adrenaline on 4-5 different targets one time, and then the next time he builds it on just one target. Mix it up and be as random and different as you can.

Godguard [StS]

Godguard is one of my favorite players. He puts out great pressure on targets. But just as you think he's found a home in your backline pressuring your monks, he turns to your midline and puts out the cleanest warrior spike you've ever seen.

I demand the addition of David the Grammar and Persey Lightbringer to that list.

Polly and Godguard are great spikers and very strong warrior killers, but you'll probably need to balance your list with warriors who can pressure and split well.

Oh, and your descriptions are a bit off:

Quote:

Godguard [StS]
But just as you think he's found a home *linebacking your axe warrior*, he turns to your *hammer warrior* and puts out the cleanest warrior spike you've ever seen.

Ariena Najea · Nov 21, 2008, 07:07 AM // 07:07

I've only played warrior a handful of times in PvP, mostly in Random Arenas and Heroes' Ascent, never in GvG. Most of the time I play Monk and I have to say after reading this guide I feel a lot more informed on how to deal with these frontliners.

I never knew about quarter-interrupting, and never knew post-kd interruptions were quite so easy... I had always figured I was up against very skilled players who were expert at timing their interrupts. I've always known better than to cast right after getting up from a knockdown, but the few times I wasn't really thinking and cast anyways, my RoFs were interrupted. From playing Ranger in Alliance Battles and Random Arenas, I have firsthand experience in interrupting by intuition rather than simply using reflexes, and I know that nailing 1/4 skills reliably takes a lot of experience.

Thanks for writing this

IMMORTAlMITCH · Nov 21, 2008, 08:09 AM // 08:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haxx

Chop Chop the Panda [rawr]

Otherwise known as Polly, is known for his erratic play style. He builds adrenaline on 4-5 different targets one time, and then the next time he builds it on just one target. Mix it up and be as random and different as you can.

Godguard [StS]

Godguard is one of my favorite players. He puts out great pressure on targets. But just as you think he's found a home in your backline pressuring your monks, he turns to your midline and puts out the cleanest warrior spike you've ever seen.

You complain about lack of skill on warriors, and then you bring up these 2 as examples of skillful warriors? No offense to either of them, but pressure is a concept that is unknown to both of them, polly builds adren calls a target shocks and unloads, godguard builds adren calls a warrior and unloads.

Also you forgot to mention this is how you play warrior:

[build prof=W/A][Dismember][Power Attack][Protector's Strike][Bull's Strike][Frenzy][Dash][Warrior's Endurance][Res sig][/build]

Spam 2 and 3 until 1 is charged, run up to someone and use 4 and 5 (optional), 1, 2 and 3, repeat for 28 minutes.

Ego · Nov 21, 2008, 08:15 AM // 08:15

My head hurts.

And I didn't even read anything.

Marxon Aurion · Nov 21, 2008, 02:11 PM // 14:11

Wow, Mitch? Frenzy as optional?!

Stupid Shizno · Nov 21, 2008, 03:04 PM // 15:04

mitch is only good when he plays under david the hammer, sup bra lol

Haxx · Nov 21, 2008, 10:22 PM // 22:22

lol, thanks Mitch, i was getting to that bar, all in good time. and yes i admit, Polly is not quite the person to settle for a pressure play style. hope it continues to help some players and more to come soon. thanks again for all your contributions.

Rhamia Darigaz · Nov 21, 2008, 10:33 PM // 22:33

i just watched a few obs matches between some guilds so i think i'm pretty well informed and qualified to express a valid opinion.
having said that, i have to totally agree with that mitch guy, spiking is for losers who never win and pressure seems to be dominating the current metagame. so basically you should take those 2 whoru warriors out of the OP and put in those two guys that that other guy mentioned.

lord of all tyria · Nov 21, 2008, 10:37 PM // 22:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhamia Darigaz

pressure seems to be dominating the current metagame

I'm sorry, what now?

Haxx · Nov 21, 2008, 10:50 PM // 22:50

Answering the above post by Rhamia Darigaz. Pressure is indeed the basis of a good team. But spiking is what wins lots of matches now a days. As you deal pressure, monks will run low on energy making you spikes much tougher for them to catch and much more deadly to their energy pool. As you play, it is good to pressure targets for a period of time, then begin to spike every 30 seconds or so to enforce infuses or prot spirits to be thrown around. Burning their energy, and possibly causing a team wipe. Its good to let the timer call spikes once in awhile as well. Telling players to spike a target at say 11:58 will make him die after time. You can also call a spike at say 11:52 where he will die and will most likely end up rezzing at the base before a player can bring him up at their location. This can be an effective way of wiping a team by spiking one monk out at a time.