Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBlood Sport: Become a 5v5 master (tips and tricks)
by C. Christian Moore 
Aug 30th 2010 at 7:00PM
Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column.
Listening Music: Massive Attack's "Teardrop." Apparently this song is the Dr. House theme...or something. I only noticed this because of the comments on this video. I wouldn't know, I don't watch the show. Maybe I should start because obviously someone from that drama has taste in music.
Default to damage
Oh, Wrath of the Lich King, how we had such great hopes. Damage is almost always the most successful strategy. Defaulting to damage is something I have to explain often, especially when I start playing with new teammates who are trying to push for their first gladiator title.
Players who have high technical skill (for instance, being able to Spell Reflect an escaping druid's Nature's Grasp) often try to win games by doing things more "skilled" than the enemy. They'll preach for seemingly endless hours about how often they Counterspelled their opponent's Incinerates, yet they still lost the match. Sometimes, the opportunity cost it takes to interrupt one of your spells to interrupt an opponent is better spent by doing damage, especially if an enemy is low on health. Why bother Counterspelling an enemy damage spell when you can get a kill? [EDIT: I removed confusing language concerning interrupts and global cooldowns.]
These same players look down on opposing compositions for being "faceroll" or "noob comp" because they win games by just pumping damage into the enemy. There's a reason why "bad players" can get to high ratings by using certain compositions -- damage is the premier strategy.
The danger of cool things
I'm not going to sit here and type out how awesome I am because I've never fallen into the "cool things are cool" trap. I'll freely admit that I still struggle with doing damage rather than cool stuff -- especially on my warlock.
When we were going for No. 1 in 5v5 a few seasons ago, I was doing almost everything except slinging fire at enemies. I would have every enemy DPS locked down with Curse of Tongues or Curse of Weakness -- except for our kill target, of course. I would CoT, Fear, Spell Lock, Shadowfury and Death Coil opposing healers until they were blue in the face.
What I should have been doing, however, was just casting a simple Curse of the Elements > Immolate > Chaos Bolt > Searing Pain > Conflagrate rotation into our kill target every chance I got. My teammates mentioned how little damage I was doing against high-rated teams (teams where I thought complex strategies were more effective), compared to the enormous amount of damage I was putting out against low-rated teams. I made the transition and we fared much, much better against the Top Ten teams on our battlegroup.
Pay less attention to addons
Many people think great arena players need to be paying attention to many, many things at once. Some people think great arena players need to always know when trinkets are available, or they somehow keep track of each enemy cooldown.
That's not the case. At all.
Top arena players understand what's going on in the game at the largest level possible. Understanding the big picture slows down the game and allows you to think inside other player's roles. It gives you insight as to when you should burn a cooldown or when you should beware an enemy is about to use a cooldown on you.
I don't use Afflicted 3 or any similar mods to track enemy cooldowns -- they waste precious screen space, and you generally shouldn't need mods like this if you take the time to understand the big picture. Plus, using mods like Afflicted desensitizes you to the natural ons and offs of cooldowns.
When a paladin casts Divine Shield, I can generally tell (within +/- 0.5 seconds) when his bubble is coming down, even though I have no way to tell exactly when it's going to dissipate (or be Mass Dispelled). On my shaman and priest, (Purge, Dispel Magic) I have enemy buffs (on my target and focus) enabled. On everyone else, I don't even bother and turn buffs off. I don't need to see if someone has a Sacred Shield or Mark of the Wild on them; it will make no difference to what I'm doing.
This isn't because I'm magical. I don't have some telepathic superpower. I don't have a sixth sense. What I do have, however, is enough arena experience to understand the game at large and look at the bare nubbins of important arena functions. It sounds more complex than it is ... (More on this next week.)
Figuring out and adapting to your teammates' playstyles
You get better at figuring out and adapting to your teammates' playstyles the more you play with different individuals. Everyone who has tried arena has met that guy on trade who wanted to play a few games -- and it just sucked. He was doing everything you didn't expect, and he was expecting you to do everything you didn't. Your playstyles were completely different, and you failed game after game.
Likewise, if you've been playing long enough, you've probably met a player or two who has meshed exceptionally well with you. Perhaps you're not rank 1 quality yet, but you've done better with them than you ever expected previously. You probably had similar ideas about how arenas should go, and your victories reaffirmed that.
I've played with holy paladins who cast Hammer of Justice once every 10 arena games. Other holy paladins use it on cooldown. Some druids love Cycloning enemy healers; some don't do it at all. Some Cyclone enemy DPS when they're at 10 percent health so they don't get receive heals. Then they charge up Starfire to help aid in killing blows with the DPS at 10 percent. Everyone has a different playstyle.
Having a different playstyle isn't wrong. Restoration druids usually find they fare better either with melee or spellcasters because of their playstyle -- offensive Cyclones on healers are much more important to a spell-burst team than they are to a team that focuses on melee; that's just the way arena works.
Want to ascend the arena ladders faster than a fireman playing Donkey Kong? Read Blood Sport for pointers on arena play. Don't miss our interviews with successful arena PvPers, and see The Art of War(craft) for the inside line on battlegrounds and world PvP.
Listening Music: Massive Attack's "Teardrop." Apparently this song is the Dr. House theme...or something. I only noticed this because of the comments on this video. I wouldn't know, I don't watch the show. Maybe I should start because obviously someone from that drama has taste in music.
Default to damage
Oh, Wrath of the Lich King, how we had such great hopes. Damage is almost always the most successful strategy. Defaulting to damage is something I have to explain often, especially when I start playing with new teammates who are trying to push for their first gladiator title.
Players who have high technical skill (for instance, being able to Spell Reflect an escaping druid's Nature's Grasp) often try to win games by doing things more "skilled" than the enemy. They'll preach for seemingly endless hours about how often they Counterspelled their opponent's Incinerates, yet they still lost the match. Sometimes, the opportunity cost it takes to interrupt one of your spells to interrupt an opponent is better spent by doing damage, especially if an enemy is low on health. Why bother Counterspelling an enemy damage spell when you can get a kill? [EDIT: I removed confusing language concerning interrupts and global cooldowns.]
These same players look down on opposing compositions for being "faceroll" or "noob comp" because they win games by just pumping damage into the enemy. There's a reason why "bad players" can get to high ratings by using certain compositions -- damage is the premier strategy.
The danger of cool things
I'm not going to sit here and type out how awesome I am because I've never fallen into the "cool things are cool" trap. I'll freely admit that I still struggle with doing damage rather than cool stuff -- especially on my warlock.
When we were going for No. 1 in 5v5 a few seasons ago, I was doing almost everything except slinging fire at enemies. I would have every enemy DPS locked down with Curse of Tongues or Curse of Weakness -- except for our kill target, of course. I would CoT, Fear, Spell Lock, Shadowfury and Death Coil opposing healers until they were blue in the face.
What I should have been doing, however, was just casting a simple Curse of the Elements > Immolate > Chaos Bolt > Searing Pain > Conflagrate rotation into our kill target every chance I got. My teammates mentioned how little damage I was doing against high-rated teams (teams where I thought complex strategies were more effective), compared to the enormous amount of damage I was putting out against low-rated teams. I made the transition and we fared much, much better against the Top Ten teams on our battlegroup.
Pay less attention to addons
Many people think great arena players need to be paying attention to many, many things at once. Some people think great arena players need to always know when trinkets are available, or they somehow keep track of each enemy cooldown.
That's not the case. At all.
Top arena players understand what's going on in the game at the largest level possible. Understanding the big picture slows down the game and allows you to think inside other player's roles. It gives you insight as to when you should burn a cooldown or when you should beware an enemy is about to use a cooldown on you.
I don't use Afflicted 3 or any similar mods to track enemy cooldowns -- they waste precious screen space, and you generally shouldn't need mods like this if you take the time to understand the big picture. Plus, using mods like Afflicted desensitizes you to the natural ons and offs of cooldowns.
When a paladin casts Divine Shield, I can generally tell (within +/- 0.5 seconds) when his bubble is coming down, even though I have no way to tell exactly when it's going to dissipate (or be Mass Dispelled). On my shaman and priest, (Purge, Dispel Magic) I have enemy buffs (on my target and focus) enabled. On everyone else, I don't even bother and turn buffs off. I don't need to see if someone has a Sacred Shield or Mark of the Wild on them; it will make no difference to what I'm doing.
This isn't because I'm magical. I don't have some telepathic superpower. I don't have a sixth sense. What I do have, however, is enough arena experience to understand the game at large and look at the bare nubbins of important arena functions. It sounds more complex than it is ... (More on this next week.)
Figuring out and adapting to your teammates' playstyles
You get better at figuring out and adapting to your teammates' playstyles the more you play with different individuals. Everyone who has tried arena has met that guy on trade who wanted to play a few games -- and it just sucked. He was doing everything you didn't expect, and he was expecting you to do everything you didn't. Your playstyles were completely different, and you failed game after game.
Likewise, if you've been playing long enough, you've probably met a player or two who has meshed exceptionally well with you. Perhaps you're not rank 1 quality yet, but you've done better with them than you ever expected previously. You probably had similar ideas about how arenas should go, and your victories reaffirmed that.
I've played with holy paladins who cast Hammer of Justice once every 10 arena games. Other holy paladins use it on cooldown. Some druids love Cycloning enemy healers; some don't do it at all. Some Cyclone enemy DPS when they're at 10 percent health so they don't get receive heals. Then they charge up Starfire to help aid in killing blows with the DPS at 10 percent. Everyone has a different playstyle.
Having a different playstyle isn't wrong. Restoration druids usually find they fare better either with melee or spellcasters because of their playstyle -- offensive Cyclones on healers are much more important to a spell-burst team than they are to a team that focuses on melee; that's just the way arena works.
Want to ascend the arena ladders faster than a fireman playing Donkey Kong? Read Blood Sport for pointers on arena play. Don't miss our interviews with successful arena PvPers, and see The Art of War(craft) for the inside line on battlegrounds and world PvP.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Blood Sport (Arena PvP)
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Ralph Parker Aug 30th 2010 9:42PM
What do you mean by "the natural ons and offs of CDs"? I kind of get what you mean about keeping the addons light, but how exactly are you able to tell when a pally's bubble is coming down? You mean by watching the UI debuff count down?
Thanks for the articles. They are amazing.
C.Christian.Moore Aug 31st 2010 1:03AM
Hi Ralph,
That's a good question. I'll explain more about it next week (hence the last few words of that paragraph), but I'll take some time to give you a bit of a teaser.
Some important abilities in PvP dissipate in ~5 seconds. Cloak of Shadows, Anti-Magic Shell, Deterrence, etc are all 5 seconds.
I often see giant mistakes happen when defensive immunity cooldowns (such as the ones listed above) are popped. Usually people just watch Afflicted until the cooldown disappears and then begin DPSing again. They might do something in-between, like try to crowd control a healer or something.
Not only do they waste precious time by not simply attacking another target, but they actually take their eyes away from the battlefield to watch a silly number ticking down. When they come back to the battlefield, things have usually changed dramatically (especially with regard to physical position).
Instead of watching timers, people should just look to get a general feel of when immunity buffs drop off. If you want an amazing arena mod, get LockNotes. LockNotes puts 64 font text in the middle of your screen that says "CLOAK OF SHADOWS UP" in red text. When Cloak of Shadows fades, it will scream in the same position, font, and size, "CLOAK OF SHADOWS DOWN," this time in green text.
There's no missing it. I don't even discourage mods like LockNotes (it works on all classes btw) because it doesn't give you a countdown timer -- it just says text.
When you've played against enough rogues, you will quickly understand how long a Cloak of Shadows lasts. Soon, you won't even need the mod.
You'll have taught yourself two very important pieces of arena knowledge:
1) When a rogue is most likely to use Cloak of Shadows. Incoming Incinerate when he's at 20% health? You betcha he's going to use Cloak to prevent that killing blow.
2) How long you have to do something else until Cloak of Shadows fades.
When I absolutely know a Cloak of Shadows is incoming, I'll just stop my cast mid-way and start on another target to get more uptime. He's going to cast the Cloak of Shadows no matter what, might as well get an extra damage spell in meanwhile (or an extra crowd control on an enemy).
Example: On my warlock, when an opposing death knight casts Anti-Magic Shell, I can switch targets, cast Immolate and Incinerate, or Curse of the Elements + Fear + Immolate, or any combination of 2-3 spells before I can switch back onto the death knight.
I don't have to look at a timer and waste precious global cooldowns -- I can simply know that when an opponent pops a cooldown, I have a set amount of time to do things. I look at it as an opportunity to do stuff that will push my opponents behind even further -- NOT as a failed kill attempt.
Hmm, maybe this wasn't just a teaser... Regardless, more on this next week. :D
Hope this has helped,
C. Christian Moore
Contributing Editor
WoW.com
Aestrir Aug 30th 2010 9:07PM
Wasn't sure where to ask this so here goes....after freshly hitting 80 on my druid, I plan on making the most of his dual-spec. Im going to raid balance, which is a moot point, what I can't decide upon is a PvP (arena) spec, although I've pared it down to feral or balance. This isn't a "Tell me what I enjoy more cause I can't make up my mind" post - I honestly do enjoy balance and feral PvP equally much. What I can't figure out is what is currently more viable overall in PvP (and how things look in Cata). Everywhere I look people say feral is gimped, but I did countless 70-79 bracket BGs, and absolutely dominated as feral. Will this get better/worse at 80, now that key stats become available for my opponents and I (res, arm-pen, etc)? On the other spectrum, balance has fairly good burst and utility, but from what I here Cata is trying to shift PvP away from burst, so what will this mean for balance? Also, will utilities like Solar Beam make them a better option in Cata?
TL;DR - I want to PvP (Arena) as either balance or feral, so speaking from experience, what are some things you think I ought to know about their mechanics, playstyles, and viability (leaving skill out of the picture) before making a decision?
Nick S Aug 30th 2010 10:11PM
Feral is truly awful right now... it has basically one 3v3 comp (Paladin/Arms/Feral) and even that requires a lot of skill to pull off.
Hirumared Aug 31st 2010 4:40AM
I see a lot of balance druids in arena's and they are just annoying. They pop out of stealth like 15yards away from you and pop starfall and treants and can just run around in circles and get killing blows. their burst is insane if you don't take care of it right away (i.e. a stun or silence). And feral is just sad. "oh know they have a druid on their team (druid pops out of stealth) whoo.. it's just a fearl druid. I was afraid it was a balance or resto" lol
ndelrosso Aug 31st 2010 4:04PM
Thanks for the mild input (I think), but could you explain a little further as to why feral is so bad? And possibly the pro's and con's of balance?
Colerejuste Aug 30th 2010 9:39PM
Teardrop was also used for TV advertising of Assassins Creed in Australia (if not anywhere else). That and the flight drive were the reasons I bought it, and playing that tune in my head while I played it where the only things that kept me playing it as long as I did.
Now to read the rest of the article.
Quark1020 Aug 30th 2010 9:42PM
Brute force.
If it didn't work the first time, you didn't use enough of it.
thexenocidesky Aug 30th 2010 10:15PM
Only in wotlk can you do sheer damage to win games.
Jdan Aug 31st 2010 10:37AM
Lol I heard CS takes a GCD. Oh wait no it doesnt. And 5's is a faceroll Bracket. WTB someting on 3's which is the least PoS bracket.
C.Christian.Moore Aug 31st 2010 1:10AM
Jdan,
My words were definitely confusing. I understand that Counterspell is off of the GCD, but often times (as you might know) spells need to be stopped in order to Counterspell something, losing damage from opportunity cost.
Example:
I just started charging my Frostbolt lazer.
Ooh, warlock is casting Backlashed Incinerates.
Better hit W, then my Counterspell button.
Haha, got him. He won't be doing damage to my healer any mo'.
I'm now chargin' my lazer...again.
I'll edit the post, just so there aren't any future misunderstandings.
Thanks.
C. Christian Moore
Contributing Editor
WoW.com
Thram Aug 31st 2010 9:31AM
The counter-point to this is if that backlashed incinerate would have killed someone if it wasn't stopped. I realize that hurting the other guy is key, but this is the same in PvP as PvE -- You do zero damage if you're dead.
Also, counter spell should be on a /stopcast macro so that there's no need to hit more than one button to get it off. When you need it, you need it.
C.Christian.Moore Aug 31st 2010 10:32AM
Thram,
I didn't mention anywhere in the scenario that stopping the Incinerate would have prevented a death. Normally backlashed Incinerates don't cause instagibs.
A general rule of thumb is that if your team is in a losing position, you should Counterspell enemy spell DPS instead of heals. I went over this in a previous article.
However, the scenario you are presenting is debatable. I'd gladly trade one of my healers for an opposing healer if we have more caster DPS (and are just as skilled as the other team or more so). Especially on 4 DPS teams, trades are inevitable (however, healers on 4 DPS teams are rarely at danger).
Sometimes making a sacrifice is the best thing to do for your team. Occasionally in 2v2 on a double DPS team, using your very low-health teammate as a sacrifice (bait for position) is the best way to win the game.
C. Christian Moore
Contributing Editor
WoW.com
Doma Aug 31st 2010 12:08AM
Vid was featured on crooks & liars late night music club a few days ago. I had downloaded mezzanine a few years ago, but never checked to see if the album was complete. Shocked when I opened up winamp and Teardrop wasn't there. I just bought the album yesterday :)
Feature some Black Keys next!
HesAwesome Aug 31st 2010 5:09AM
the author is awesome, i think he is the bestest 5v5 player eva!!!, can i touch his giant arena epeen...