User:Shard/Howtonotsuck
From Guild Wars Wiki
I've seen it all in the scrub arenas (RA, AB, fort aspenwood...now costume brawl), and I got so tired of teaming up with idiots that I decided to help you. Here are some tips that every player should be required to know before dooming their soon-to-be team.
[edit] 1: Never try to fight a team larger than yours.
If you are alone, do not try to solo a group of 2 or more people. If you try to 1v5, who do you think will win? (If you don't know, try doing the math)
[edit] 2: Kite
Kiting is a fancy term for moving away from damage. Kiting is the best defensive tactic in the game. Without a speed boost, a melee character's damage drops to zero when you're moving away from him. Even with a speed boost, he can only do about 40% his of regular damage to you. Lowering damage is a good way to not suck, because damage makes your health go down. If you're not already aware (I'm sure someone isn't), you die when your health goes below 1.
[edit] 3: Pay attention to your immediate surroundings.
If you see a bright, fiery torrent of visual effects culminating at your location, do not stop to take a picture. Get the hell out. AoE is the number one killer of morons in this game. You can make it seem like you aren't a moron simply by moving out of large, glowy visual effects.
[edit] 4: Keep an eye on your compass at all times.
First of all, the default compass is too small. Your compass should be big enough that you can make out the pixels on the picture of the map. Watching your map is the best form of awareness you can have in this game. Glancing at it for half a second tells you where you, your allies, and nearby enemies are, and where each of them is heading. Without your compass, you cannot see large groups of enemies sneak up from behind you. It also lays out important locations, such as shrines.
[edit] 5: Be aware of what your target(s) is doing.
If you are trying to kill a melandru dervish, don't do it with Searing Flames. It won't work. Every day I see at least one person try to Rotting Flesh or Searing Flames or Pin Down a melandru dervish. Likewise, if your target has interrupts on his bar, do not try to cast a 2 second spell near him. This is common sense stuff. Be awake when you play with other people.
[edit] 6: Read each skill on your bar before entering a mission.
You would be surprised how many players, especially in RA, have no clue what most of their skills do. Assassins: Most of your opening attacks require something. Don't finish a combo if your first attack misses. Steady Stance warriors: USE STEADY STANCE! I've knocked down more steady stance warriors using heal sig than I can count. I've seen even more of them knock themselves down. Dervishes: Do not use wearying strike on a full target if you're not in God Mode. You will be unpleasantly surprised that your next Wild Blow will do only 27 damage.
[edit] 7: Keep the party window open and pay attention to it.
The number one reason why idiots don't use res sig in RA is because they don't bring one. The number two reason is because they never look at their party window. If you can't res sig a dead ally within 4 seconds of his death, you shouldn't be pvping. No, res sig is not a skill that "only helps recover from failure," it's a skill that gives your party 500 health, 15 energy, and 7 extra skills. Res sig is used to be the most powerful skill in the game, bring it.
[edit] 8: Know what each profession's roles are.
If you are a warrior, do not attack other warriors. They have 96 armor most of the time, meaning you're doing about half your regular damage to them. Kill casters first, they're squishy. Likewise, if you are a healer, do not tank damage. You will die. The point of being a healer is to make people live, not to absorb damage. Also, healers, NEVER BRING RESURRECT SKILLS. I cannot stress this enough. A healer who wastes 3-6 seconds to res a teammate is losing 3-6 seconds of healing, which is all the time a decent warrior needs to score another kill.
[edit] 9: PvE builds do not work in PvP.
If you just started pvping, but have been pveing for a long time, do not use your favorite pve build. You will lose. If you are totally clueless as to what to run, ask someone who pvps often. Even if it's a mindless gimmick, running a bad build that wins is better than running a bad build that loses.
On a similar note, do not run "survival builds" in pvp. Not only do survival builds not work, they also waste everyone's time. Running builds fall into this category. Use builds which either help your team, or hurt the other team.
[edit] 10: Know how to win the map you're in.
If you happen to be in a match where wiping the other team is not the main objective, don't make it your main objective. It's like playing ping pong only to hit the ball as hard as you can instead of aiming it at the other side of the table. While hitting a ping pong ball 100 feet across the room is amusing, it doesn't make you win.
If you follow even half of these tips, then even you can not suck at pvp.
