Curse

Kaydee · Jan 28, 2008, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by sterbenx2

I think people are forgetting this player is new. He most likley won't have most of these skills unlocked. I think he would benefit more from others experiance if we understood his character better. A month is not a lot of playtime at all.

First: being in RA we can establish that your Dervish is lvl 20. Check

Second: Have you completed the +15 Attribute point quests with you character?
To check, open your skills/attribute panel and lower all of your attributes to 0. You should have 200 attribute points. If not, use the wiki to find the two attribute point quests in Nightfall, The native campaign for your character.

Third: gear? Do you have a max dmg scythe? max damage for a scythe is 9-41. The most commonly accepted requirment on weapons is 9. Tho arguments could start up over req. A req 9 is the most popular and pretty easy to obtain. If you do have a max req9 scythe, what are the modifications on it? All weapons have three possible upgrades, an inscription and 2 mods exclusive to the weapon type.

fourth: Armor. Do you have max armor? Max armor level or AL for a Dervish is 70.
If you do have max AL, what upgrades are on your armor? Each individual piece of armor has two possible upgrades. An insignia and a rune. (Your head piece should have an inherant upgrade of Scythe Mastery +1)

All of this info is critical to establishing that you are minimally equiped to handle RA. Please list the info as it will help us to help you.

i have the 30 extra att points, you get the pretty fast in nightfall compared to prophecies, i also have max armor.

For enchantments, i have +1 to scythes on head and energy, health and armor on the rest.

Kaydee · Jan 28, 2008, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

Team arena.

(this text added because just the link with the information you needed was too short)

It is indeed the Team arena that we are trying to unlock

Kaydee · Jan 28, 2008, 04:53 PM // 16:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keithark

If you cannot get past 5 wins in RA then chances are high that you will not do good in TA, learning all the skills and what they do and how to counter them is a must in PvP in GW. For example I cast Insidious on a warrior and he mashes the frenzy button and attacks....ok, 2 seconds later he is dead and my team goes about killing others then they rez the warrior and he comes up I put Insidious on him and he frenzy attack me again. If you don't know what is killing you then you will always die.

I dont agree on this, since team arena is a team effort more then it is with Ra, since you dont know what setup you will get, and also no coordination over ventrilo as i could with my friends im TA.

darkdreamr · Jan 28, 2008, 04:56 PM // 16:56

Yeah, I'd like to point out that being so new, you will probably be very frustrated with TA when you get there. Learning how to pvp well is a long (never-ending?) process. That being said, I encourage you to keep trying because it's one of the most rewarding things to do in Guild Wars.

If you have Factions, I would actually recommend that for fun, you and friends play some Alliance Battles. You can join up as a group of 4, and it's very casual play that can still help you perfect your skills. To do well in AB, you'll want to

1) replace res signet with a speed boost or other optional skill
2) consider bringing skills that quickly and easily kill the enemy NPCs
3) avoid enemy mobs and avoid creating your own mobs - try to stay in small groups and capture the shrines
4) pray the other 8 people on your team aren't incompetent

Good luck!

Craywulf · Jan 28, 2008, 04:58 PM // 16:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaydee

It is indeed the Team arena that we are trying to unlock

I never realized Team Arena is/was locked. Why would ArenaNet lock the Team Arena?

Its showing up on my screen last time I went to Battle Isle , How did I unlock it?

EDIT: oops I posted before I read the explanation.

ValaOfTheFens · Jan 28, 2008, 05:01 PM // 17:01

My RA build:
[skill]Corrupt Enchantment[/skill][skill]Insidious Parasite[/skill][skill]Parasitic Bond[/skill][skill]Price Of Failure[/skill][skill]Reckless Haste[/skill][skill]Ether Feast[/skill][skill]Conjure Phantasm[/skill][skill]Resurrection Signet[/skill]

The only better build would be the N/A Toxic Chill build. I got owned by it in like 2 seconds. Otherwise, I pretty much killed every melee attacker in sight. I even outhexed some Mesmers. I had some trouble with Avatar of Dwayna Dervs but most were using Reaper's Sweep or Avatar of Balthazar.

Whiskeyjack · Jan 28, 2008, 05:01 PM // 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaydee

I dont agree on this, since team arena is a team effort more then it is with Ra, since you dont know what setup you will get, and also no coordination over ventrilo as i could with my friends im TA.

While that is true it works both way's, the opposition in TA is going to be a lot tougher and if you haven't put your time in RA you will probably get rolled. As for how to get to TA, your best bet is to use a "cheap" build requiring least skill for most reward, that basically means Ebon dust spearchucker, curse necro or some sin builds.

makosi · Jan 28, 2008, 05:06 PM // 17:06

You could always use one of the overpowered augury of deep wound builds on pvxwiki. The Enchanter's Conundrum + Shatter Delusions one takes about 90% of the average persons health away.

Solange · Jan 28, 2008, 05:07 PM // 17:07

UNLOCK THE FREAKING ISLAND A.NET

Seriously

If you're an old timer the island WAS automatically unlocked but new players have to go through these stupid trials and the shitty tutorial system

I HIGHLY DOUBT the majority of NEW players who try guild wars PVP will be determined as the original poster to EVEN BOTHER POSTING HERE - they might just give up and say to hell with this - AND what ends up happening is fewer and fewer people in Team Arena, In heroes ascent and guild wars pvp...I can't even get a group in there anyway and i'm a 2 year veteran but still allowing people to see whats out there might make them determined to continue to get better but not if its so frustrating from the starting gate.

New games come out (Guild wars 2) and even the veteran players might move on and if you want to continue to have new blood in ALL These areas of the game OPEN THEM UP and allow people to play in them no matter the skill level...if its too difficult to play then you have a problem as only the elite players will continue to get better and this HUGE GAP with newbies wanting to get involved

Want to keep PVP alive for years to come...open the island up and improve the @#$#$# Tutorial.

Shadowspawn X · Jan 28, 2008, 05:12 PM // 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaydee

I dont agree on this, since team arena is a team effort more then it is with Ra, since you dont know what setup you will get, and also no coordination over ventrilo as i could with my friends im TA.

Wrong answer. I repeat stay in RA and get a glad rank 1st. Right now you have these handicaps:

1) you can't kill anything

2) you can't stay alive

3) you can't interrupt or even know what to interrupt

4) you don't have pvp vision yet ( basically a battlefield awareness)

5) you don't know common builds and counters

6) you don't know the advantages and strategies of each map

7) Limited skills unlocked

8) Lack of class mastery

Stay in RA and fix the above you are in no shape to go to TA facing battle hardened high ranked pvp'rs coordinated on vent. You will never get a glad and most likely quit in frustration. Good luck and HF.

aapo · Jan 28, 2008, 05:23 PM // 17:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craywulf

I never realized Team Arena is/was locked. Why would ArenaNet lock the Team Arena?

- Good question. Why can't person who bought this game for PvP play nothing but Random Arenas and Zaishen NPCs? Why doesn't he have same vigor runes unlocked as everyone else? Why he has nothing but Flare, Firestorm and other utter crap skills unlocked and being laughed because of that?

With questions like this it's no wonder every place is dying. When the game design is this hostile to new players, how can ANET ever hope to get enough income? Betrayed players often don't come here to complain, they'll just leave the game and ANET can be happy with their 30 bucks. Haha. They're happy to announce how many million accounts are sold, but refuse to reveal how many people actually play the game!

zwitterion · Jan 28, 2008, 05:38 PM // 17:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaydee

Anyway, back on topic, is there anyway to bypass that RA so we can PvP as a group together?

I fully sympathise with you mate, it's a really stupid system. The only (and best since it's more relaxed) way I found for PvPing with my friends on new accounts was to do an Alliance Battle with them. You get to AB through a guild hall, and you have to own Factions or one of the PvP packs. If none of you have guilds or you can't get an invite / guest pass to get to a hall to get to AB, PM me and i'll hook you up through ours.

Chthon · Jan 28, 2008, 05:41 PM // 17:41

I don't want to be mean here, but it's apparent that, well, you suck. If your monks are leaving and you haven't managed to get a 5-win steak by now just through pure luck (especially with all the terrible opponents who were out this past weekend), chances are that you're affirmatively handicapping the teams you're on, and that's why you're losing. Such is life for new players. Let's see what we can do to make you a better player.

First, some very basics. I think this post is very helpful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sterbenx2

I think people are forgetting this player is new. He most likley won't have most of these skills unlocked. I think he would benefit more from others experiance if we understood his character better. A month is not a lot of playtime at all.

First: being in RA we can establish that your Dervish is lvl 20. Check

Second: Have you completed the +15 Attribute point quests with you character?
To check, open your skills/attribute panel and lower all of your attributes to 0. You should have 200 attribute points. If not, use the wiki to find the two attribute point quests in Nightfall, The native campaign for your character.

Third: gear? Do you have a max dmg scythe? max damage for a scythe is 9-41. The most commonly accepted requirment on weapons is 9. Tho arguments could start up over req. A req 9 is the most popular and pretty easy to obtain. If you do have a max req9 scythe, what are the modifications on it? All weapons have three possible upgrades, an inscription and 2 mods exclusive to the weapon type.

fourth: Armor. Do you have max armor? Max armor level or AL for a Dervish is 70.
If you do have max AL, what upgrades are on your armor? Each individual piece of armor has two possible upgrades. An insignia and a rune. (Your head piece should have an inherant upgrade of Scythe Mastery +1)

All of this info is critical to establishing that you are minimally equiped to handle RA. Please list the info as it will help us to help you.

(Ignore the part about req9 items though; as long as you meet the req -- which you most certainly will with a scythe -- it's irrelevant.)

This is also good advice:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadowspawn X

I'm not going to give you a build (as others have done a fine job of that) just some advice. The key to gladiator RA style is to master no-monk glads (unless you play a monk). You won't have a monk many times but good players still get glads. I'm thinking 35-40% of your glads should come from no-monk teams. The key to this in RA is overwhelming force and fast rezzing, simple as that. If your build can't drop a target in 3-6 secs don't bother bringing it to RA. Now there are many other powerful builds on the necro and mesmer side of the fence that are slower kills but deliver unbelievable pressure as you gain more experience you can explore these as well. Also study what kills you and be aware of what is happening around you. Last bit of advice is stay in RA for a while to unlock a nice amount of faction and pick a couple of classes and pick up about 50 glads on each so you have a feel for the class, also you will have unlocked many skills as you stay in RA. When you and your buddies are glad1 you will be better able to move on to TA and be successful, don't forget to get voice comms when you go to TA vent is the standard.

I have to agree with Shadowspawn that RA is NOT about waiting around till you get a monk. Going 10 wins in RA without a monk is not terribly hard so long as you have decent offense and a bit of self-preservation. In fact, having a monk can be a distinct disadvantage because they reduce your total offense by 25%, which can leave you unable to kill effectively, especially if another member of the team (for example, you) isn't exactly a damage powerhouse. TA's a different story, but you shouldn't consider a monkless team to be a bad thing in RA.

IMO, you need to do 3 things to do well in RA:
1) Kill an un-protected, un-healed target in a matter of seconds, OR prevent the other team from killing your party indefinitely.
2) Pack enough self-preservation (self-heals, defensive skills, running skills) to prevent yourself from getting killed in a matter of seconds.
3) Bring rez.

As an offensive character, you can tell that you're pulling your own weight when you routinely produce the bulk of the damage for at least 2 kills and use your rez signet before you are taken out of play. Up until you can do that, you need to refine your build.

(Off-topic on TA:
I don't play TA, so my observations of it are based solely on RA teams that went to TA after 10 wins.
1. A lot of TA teams seem to be PUGs without vent. You could probably play TA without it if you really wanted to.
2. The quality of TA teams has dropped dramatically recently. It used to be that a team coming from RA would invariably get their asses handed to them in the first match. Recently, I've found many TA teams pose much less of a threat than a good RA team. On the flip side, there's nothing quite so much fun as beating a coordinated guild team on vent with a RA team.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormlord Alex

If that still doesn't work... Sync-join with your friends. A ZB/WoH monk, Magebane ranger, then a couple of physicals to kill shit will do fine.

Yeah.... I really can't endorse this one. Synch joining is cheating plain and simple. Don't do it.

DreamRunner · Jan 28, 2008, 05:41 PM // 17:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by ValaOfTheFens

My RA build:
[skill]Corrupt Enchantment[/skill][skill]Insidious Parasite[/skill][skill]Parasitic Bond[/skill][skill]Price Of Failure[/skill][skill]Reckless Haste[/skill][skill]Ether Feast[/skill][skill]Conjure Phantasm[/skill][skill]Resurrection Signet[/skill]

The only better build would be the N/A Toxic Chill build. I got owned by it in like 2 seconds. Otherwise, I pretty much killed every melee attacker in sight. I even outhexed some Mesmers. I had some trouble with Avatar of Dwayna Dervs but most were using Reaper's Sweep or Avatar of Balthazar.

You need some self defense, some e-management and faint > Price of Failure.

sterbenx2 · Jan 28, 2008, 06:00 PM // 18:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaydee

i have the 30 extra att points, you get the pretty fast in nightfall compared to prophecies, i also have max armor.

For enchantments, i have +1 to scythes on head and energy, health and armor on the rest.

perfect. Now, as long as you have the max weapon, you should be all set there. Good inscriptions for weapons are Strength and Honor dmg +15% when health is above 50. OR Guilded by Fate(not positive if the name is right) its dmg +15% while enchanted. This one is good on a dervish as you are almost always enchanted.

Now, keep in mind that the power of the dervish comes from his enchantments. Try to get your weapon attribute up high. 12 is the unmodified max, with a +1 head piece and a minor scythe rune on the head, you can get your weapon attribute up to 14 which is good. Some players prefer major or superior but you should only go that high once your comfortable with losing the heath from major and sup runes.

More heath or armor is best for the dervish. IMO, adding energy bonuses to armor is really only good for casters. but thats an opinion. If you have an attunement rune on your head piece, you should remove it and replace it with the minor scythe rune. Remove it ONLY with a perfect salvage kit as you don't want to chance breaking your armor. Also look on pvxwiki for PvE/ PvP builds that are highly rated and look over their skill bars and attributes. This will give you a much better understanding of what builds work and how they work, which is important. Tey also to cap some elites. There are quite a few Elites around the sunspear sanctuary that are fairly easy to cap and will help you out a lot. Like Avatar of Balthazar.

A good tip is to watch your attributes! Don't spread points out to tons of atts and have 8 skills of widely varied lines. You know that your Scythe Mastery will or should be at minimum 14 so try and pick 3 skills from that line that seem to work well together. Next read into skills in the dervish lines to see what will help to increase your damage output and also skills that will help keep you alive. Mystic Regen can be very good at keeping you alive. Just remember to read the skill discriptions carefully and look for skills that will synergize well with other skills. Also do this while looking at a skill trainers list, as they may have a skill that will help and you don't yet have.

sry for the long post but I hope it helps. And btw, I feel your pain. RA can be the suckiest of suckfests. I've very rarely ever got a team to get the 5 consecs but it is possible. Most elitists will say "if you can't do it then your a noob uninstall plz" but don't listen to them, most of them are wiki builds and suck at the game anyway. Try playing during peak hours for better chances. but hang in there. you'll get to the better arenas with patience. BTW, if you want to ask any questions, PM me in-game, I play everynight and I'll try to help where I can.

ValaOfTheFens · Jan 28, 2008, 06:31 PM // 18:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamRunner

You need some self defense, some e-management and faint > Price of Failure.

My energy was just fine. Most of my teams were actually capable of coordinated spikes so SR(I think I had it at 14) was more than enough. I agree on the defense thing but there isn't much I can do with the N/Me combo. I subbed in Shadow of Fear for a few rounds but it didn't do much.

*lemming* · Jan 28, 2008, 07:08 PM // 19:08

Use a PvP character instead of a PvE.

Dylananimus · Jan 28, 2008, 08:06 PM // 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by thor hammerbane

Gimmicks are annoying and lame and I have no respect for people who use them. @ THe guy who said they are unbeatable, you must just suck. A well co-ordinated balanced team can beat any form of gimmick..any.

Axe+Hammer>>>>>Sword
In PvP.

They're talking about RA, though. Umm...balanced teams are a little more difficult to come by in there

That's why the so called 'gimmick' builds were suggested for fast killing, so they could progress to TA, where the more 'balanced' teams are.

I fail to see the reason you chose this thread to tell other people they suck.

Edit: I also agree with the above post. Go with a PvP character if you can, unlock some skills (and possibly weapon upgrades and runes) with faction you get, then you'll stand a better chance. Failing that, you may have to play a lot longer in PvE to get half of what you need to make some of the good builds work.

garethporlest18 · Jan 28, 2008, 08:17 PM // 20:17

I was running a number of crap and gimmicky builds. Enchanters Conudrum with Empathy..A/D sins (which owned usually), N/A Toxic spike. The new Ranger spike going around.

I played with Vala once too haha.

I rarely bring any healing on my builds though because well..you gimp yourself that way. Also if you bring healing it's likely to get interrupted by the many interrupt rangers you will face so better to just kill faster/die/hope to get a heal of some sort on your team.

Cherng Butter · Jan 28, 2008, 09:58 PM // 21:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by sterbenx2

There are quite a few Elites around the sunspear sanctuary that are fairly easy to cap and will help you out a lot. Like Avatar of Balthazar.

I was under the impression AoB was a terrible elite skill. Good form elite skills include Avatar of Melandru, which you can pair with Wearying Strike for some fast recharging deepwound spiking with no negative side effects, and Avatar of Lyssa, which can put out some large damage numbers using quick activation attack skills such as Eremite's Sweep, Mystic Sweep, and Protector's Strike (warrior skill) while enemies are using skills.