Blood Sport: How should you prepare for season 11 PvP?
by Olivia Grace 
Dec 7th 2011 at 5:00PM
So you've had a week away from the arena. What have you been up to in that week? Playing in the autumn leaves? Finally cleaning your keyboard?
Or maybe you've been frantically gathering a transmogrification set (once you'd got over the fact that you couldn't transmogrify your paladin into a power ranger)? I know I have, and I'm now in love with Kezzik in Area 52! Perhaps you've been running the new dungeons or flirting with the new raid? ...Or ganking your GM in the Darkmoon Faire's Deathmatch Arena, like @trimbleirl.
If you are one of the people who has done enough hard work in season 10 to get a title, you should give yourself a pat on the back. Well done! You're well on your way to the upper echelons of PvP, and I hope you climb even higher this season! And if you're one of the people who has been working through Battlegrounds every day to get your conquest points, congratulations! You're going to be among the first to get your grubby mitts on the new gear.
But moving on from what you could have been doing to what you could be doing now, what are the top tips to prepare yourself for season 11?
Balancing act
Unless you're one of the few who belong to a pure PvP guild, chances are you've been involved in a fair bit of PvE this week. Even in a PvP guild, you've probably had the chance to run the new 5-man content and maybe even try out the Raid Finder or the new raid as a guild group. Now, with the new PvP season upon us, you should probably have a think about what you want to spend your in-game time doing. What do you enjoy the most? What are your goals for this patch?
If you want to engage heavily in both progression raiding and Arena or Rated Battlegrounds, chances are you're going to be starved for time. Spreading yourself too thinly will usually mean letting people down, somewhere or other, be it the other people in your raid team or the other people you PvP with. If, of course, you have all the time in the world to dedicate to gaming, this may not apply. However, everything in moderation -- and we all need a break every now and then, let alone sleep and sunlight!
So once you've established what your main priorities are, set boundaries. Maybe you will only raid two nights a week as opposed to three, or perhaps you won't raid with your guild at all in dogged pursuit of a 2,200+ rating. Or maybe you'll casually dabble in Arena while focusing on killing that dragon. You know the one. Of course, these priorities may change, but it's helpful to be clear on what you want at the start of an expansion.
Once you've decided what you're after this season from your PvP endeavors, make sure your guild, partners and team members are aware of it too. Discuss it, and try to agree on it. It's very frustrating to be the one who's really trying to push hard when your teammates have other priorities, in-game or in real life. Guilds will often prioritize raid progression over everything else, so this may be a bone of contention. Be prepared! And remember, WoW Insider is here to help.
"WLTM 3v3 team, GSOH required ..."
But what if you don't have a team at all right now? Well, get into trade, write yourself an advert, and get involved! I'll talk more about ways to do this in future columns. When you're first looking for a team, chances are you'll take anyone, and that's great -- learning by doing is really the only way. But as you become a little more accustomed to the Arena, you'll realize that certain team compositions (or comps) might work better than others or suit your style more. Do you want to play with a healer and extend the fights, or do you hope to outdo your opponents in burst damage faster than they can do the same to you?
There are various comps that are considered viable, rightly or wrongly, so look into those. They often have entertaining names like KFC (warrior/hunter/healer) or Shadowcleave (DK/warlock/shaman healer). Comps will affect tactics, and while there aren't cast-iron guaranteed ways to win in any comp, there are often certain strategies that practiced teams may rely on.
But Liv, how do I find those out? Well, some will come with practice, but watch streams, read forums, and keep coming back to Blood Sport! I will definitely be talking more about comps and general tactics in the coming weeks.
Lastly, try to Arena with people you like. It'll make it a much more pleasant experience, and I care about your well-being!
Azeroth's got talent
There have been changes for many classes in patch 4.3, and while it is mostly the calm before the storm of Mists of Pandaria, it may well have affected your PvP gameplay. Assess the changes for your class. Maybe it's time to rework your existing spec to pick up new talents, or maybe a whole new spec has become viable or interesting. Try those new talents out in Battlegrounds, in duels, and then take them to the Arena.
Other things to consider might be keybinds. Look for guides on how best to work them. While it's true that the best keybinds for you are the ones that work for you, if you decide you need to make changes to improve efficiency, now's the time, rather than at the height of the season. As with spec changes, practice makes perfect, and muscle memory is your friend in high-pressure situations. So get into those Battlegrounds and duels, and beat the living daylights out of those target dummies!
Or maybe you want to make the jump from clicking to keybinds. Clicking is generally not considered to be the best way to play in PvP, and although you'll doubtless suffer through a learning period changing over, you may eventually improve your gameplay overall. Perhaps you want to improve your strafing, or learn to jump'n'shoot as a hunter? Now is the time! Find a secluded spot -- the Exodar or Silvermoon City are often good -- and practice, practice, practice.
Top gearNo, I'm not talking about the car show. With a new season comes new gear, as previously the honor gear's item level has been upgraded for season 11. Those who read my last column will have held on to their lovingly farmed honor to buy the new shiny pieces ... or spent it on a super-awesome (if not yet completely finished) transmogrification set for their restoration shaman. Hypothetically speaking, of course. Ahem.
As with PvE gear, you'll want to be careful to ensure that the pieces you're buying give you the highest possible upgrade in your best stats. Unlike PvE gear, set bonuses will most likely carry over, but keep an eye on those when buying new gear. If you're new to the PvP game, you'll want to try to build up your resilience before attempting to push into Arena teams. Rightly or wrongly, most teams will require a certain level of resilience. Buy the latest crafted set from the Auction House, then replace PvE gear before upgrading PvP gear.
Also the points earned threshold for weapons, shields and wands and relics, and so on will have been reset, so get to farming! I'm not sure right now whether honor or conquest earned in this season-less week will count toward your season total to qualify for weapon purchases.
Mods, macros and addons
Purist folk play without these, but most of us use them. Check out the addon guide for advice on what to use, and then make sure they're updated. Make sure your macros still work, that your UI is functioning as it should in a PvP environment.
Think about new addons. With the advent of transmogrification and my assumption that it will continue to apply in the Arena and in Rated Battlegrounds, it has become suddenly harder to discern whether your opponents are decked out in top-of-the-range conquest gear or 333 blues. I'd love to hear about an addon that can tell me that and other vital addons that you use. I'll doubtless cover this in future columns.
As I mentioned in my last column, MMR has been reset, and this is going to make for some crazy matches in the early weeks of the season. Don't be disheartened. Be patient, persist -- and most importantly, have fun out there!
Do you want to capture flags, attack towers, invade cities, and dominate the Arena for your faction? Do you dream of riding your War Bear with pride? We'll steer you to victory with the secrets of PvP, including proven addons and keybindings that win!
Filed under: PvP, Blood Sport (Arena PvP)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Akawaka Dec 7th 2011 5:58PM
I am a long time player, a soloist, and always ignored pvp as my main expereince has been from annoying people wanting to duel and me getting my arse kicked as they jumped all over the place. I love questing anf where blizz has been heading (just got into 80-85 zones and they are beyond awesome!). However whenever I used dungeon finder I swaer nearly every time it was hell, verbal abuse non stop and I have vision issues so it is hard to keep track of it all and I love being a tank but it is so damn stressful in pve. With raids being more of the same things began get depressing.
THEN I began doing normal BGs and man I freaking LOVE it! I love how it laces an emphasis on the horde vs ally war and I do LOVE to hate the horde so am royally excited for Mists. I LOVE how just by hitting an enemy you get an honor point and I LOVE how nobody is yelling at me all the time and how whatever I do wil not ruin everything. I LOVE the fact I can be a bear tank and just guard an area and have sometimes been succesful too! And I love how each time ya try win or lose u get them points to slowly work towards getting a new section of pretty gear unlike how in dungeons and raids if ya do not finish it you get no points and even then its only a small amount.
So as a fresh PVP lover I love BGs and look forward to the rated ones and as a Worgen am really looking forward to the battle for gilneas. It makes my joy for wow so much stress free and more fun when focusing to pvp and of course questing but now I have an equally epic alternative to the stress filled PUG hell of raiding and dungeons.....at least until I out level them and can go through at my leisure which I also love ;p
Sorry for the blab fest but I just discovered how much fun and simple pvp can be for a soloist with disabilities. :)
And Olivia or anyone else, I just stumbled upon a daily at the gurabashi arena, I have never done arenas and probably never will, are there dailies for every arena and can they lead to arena ratings and titles and rewards? I am just thinking aboutt he gladiator twilight drake, is it only through normal arena matches? I know through rated BGs you can get that ridiculously sweet war horse, again total newbie to pvp here, any advice is most welcome! :)
Olivia Grace Dec 7th 2011 6:43PM
Hey Akawaka! Glad to hear you've come over to the dark side...!
I'm afraid the Gurubashi Arena doesn't award arena rating or titles, you need to join up with an arena team for that, they can be 2 people, 3 people, or 5 people, and the arenas which award conquest points, rating and titles are like instances - you zone in and out of them.
The Drake will only come from a Gladiator title (top 0.5% in your battlegroup) from normal arenas, I'm afraid!
While the Darkmoon Faire's in town, or island, why not check out the Deathmatch Arena!
Olivia
Mackeli Dec 7th 2011 7:09PM
Grats on joining the fold :D
I've only played Arena for the last two seasons and I am totally addicted, I have run BGs for ages but Arenas always scared me, my biggest advice is find someone that you enjoy playing with, get the honor gear available to you through BGs and then start queuing with them :)
you will lose a solid amount of the starting games because your rating starts at 1500 but as you lose more, your rating drops lower until you start to encounter players of a similar skill level, blizzards MMR system trys to (and is fairly successful at) making your win/loss ratio be about 50/50 after you've played for a week or two
good luck and I wish you many Honor Kills!
Bryan Dec 7th 2011 7:44PM
Olivia and Mackeli, thanks for the kind words. In fact I am craving to eventually switch my highest character, a feral who cannot wait to be Guardian Worgen Druid from Moonglade to Ravenholdt eu. An RPPVP server just sounds too sweet and I like a small population as it can hopefully lead to building a community together.
I like your advice Olivia in choosing what suits you, I think I will probably stick with BGs tho if I do encounter some friends doing arena does sound like fun. I am most interested in that War Horse, I love horse mounts incluidng my "plain" Gilnean ones!
I thought it was funny as I played soccer for eught years from age 5 and always played defence because I am no runner and also played like a rhino (kids kinda bounced off me as I just ran for that ball.) and belted the thing out my "territory". While doing Arathi I think it was and after clueing in to other team mates telling me to stay put and defend I suddenly gott his eureka moment of...damn dog I know my role at last!
One of my best memories and I have only begun pvp, was doing arathi with three other defenders and seeing that lil red title come sneaking down the hill but as I jumped out he ran away, that was more fun that any dungeon-esque encounter I have ever done! ;p
I can't wait for those PVE Scenarios, Blizz described them as PVE BGs that give valor, now that is awesome!
Marmeladova Dec 7th 2011 6:09PM
Have you been spying on me in Silvermoon? o.O
Rufin Dec 7th 2011 6:23PM
There's a LOT I could talk about, but here's a simple one I want Blizzard to fix.
When you enter an Arena or RBG, take off the Transmog.
In a battleground Mogging is ok; BGs are casual and aren't really meant for the upper echelon (not that they don't play it, it just isn't priority). Gear really doesn't matter much in them because most people are in a mix of PvP/PvE as is.
My problem is that in Arena it IS important what gear you have on (something I despise about WoW's PvP, but no matter). If I see that an enemy is in full S11, but his partner is in S9 still then it is a much wiser decision to go after the one that has less gear. Mogging doesn't let this happen, and as much as I hate the "Gear = Danger" role, I need to see who has less gear.
Obviously if you get up past 1550 you won't run into this problem, but for casual PvPers like myself it is a valuable thing to know your opponents gear.
Mackeli Dec 7th 2011 7:00PM
Generally PVP gear has a lot more stamina than PVE gear so you can tell from their health who has more pvp gear :)
pve health usually sits about 120k-130k (unless they're a tank) and full ruthless s10 gives you about 140k-145k
I'll admit it was confusing the first time but I'm already used to it :)
Rufin Dec 7th 2011 7:37PM
Sure, but HP Pools aren't all the same for different roles. A Blood DK's HP is a lot different than a Holy Pali's. And really, I'd rather not have to research how much HP each class has per role per gearing.
Just get rid of the Mog in arena, would make it a lot easier.
Mackeli Dec 7th 2011 8:37PM
While I appriciate your point, I don't see how it's much different than checking peoples buffs to see what classes are stealthed, you have to know what class has all those buffs and besides, you should already have your target before you are even close enough to tell what gear they have on and during target switches (which are generally every 30-60 seconds) you can quickly tell who is squishier.
Why should pve players get to choose how they look but we don't?
dodgeballer2005 Dec 8th 2011 1:39AM
It's called a bluff. Deal with it. Card games have them. Card games are PVP as well. All games should give the player the ability to bluff or show their cards.
Rakashu Dec 7th 2011 9:05PM
I'm really enjoying the fact that they have included Conquest points for winning Battlegrounds now. Mostly because I think it offers me and others the chance to continue playing BG's, something which I have only recently come to really enjoy. Battlegrounds for the most part are the only thing which hasn't changed over the past 7 years - be it from the layout of the maps, how the games are played, to even the players; whom despite being different users, are all the same. When you play for so long you kind of take solace in just what hasn't changed, and Battlegrounds seem to be a haven for that.
It would be unfortunate if I could accumulate all the honor I needed and be decked out in gear after a few short weeks of playing, but now that's changed. I can do my battlegrounds, and slowly work my way up getting conquest points to buy more gear. There's no road block like there was with justice and valor points where I would eventually have to raid in order to get tokens - instead I can go at my own pace, play how I want to play, and not have to worry about other people. If I make a few friends along the way - hey, all the better, but in the mean time I'm enjoying being able to do things on my own time.
Evelinda Dec 8th 2011 2:38AM
Kezzik is my favourite... i'm farming up s3 for my pally, and i'm going to start farming s2 for my priest and shaman... i love those sets!
Pazazu Dec 8th 2011 11:44AM
Kind of a specific question, but I play an enhancement shaman and I know it's not ideal, but I just don't want to play resto. With that in mind, what comp or comps would you recommend for 2v2 and 3v3. I've heard that enhance/arms/resto druid or enhance/subtlety/resto druid were reasonably good last season.