[pimpstick]

Ok so I have never played pvp in this game or any other but im thinking about starting a toon on pvp.

What I would like to know befor I get rid of one of my unplayed alts to start on pvp is.....

1. What are the basic mechanics of pvp play?

2. Is there any sort of perc to being on pvp other than being able to kill some dink thats pissing you off?

3. How hard is it to live in the low lvls on a pvp server? i.e. am I going to be geting ganked by high lvls just cuz they find it funny.

4. This one im sure will get a lot of diferent answers but what is every ones opinion on what the best pvp class('s) is/are.

Thats about it for now may have a few more after some of these are answerd.

[Demonix]

Originally Posted by pimpstick

Ok so I have never played pvp in this game or any other but im thinking about starting a toon on pvp.

What I would like to know befor I get rid of one of my unplayed alts to start on pvp is.....

1. What are the basic mechanics of pvp play?
I'm going to assume that you are talking about the FFA server based on your questions. And to answer that question, there aren't any. Kill or be killed. You only do 50% damage in PVP, though healers still heal for a full 100%.

2. Is there any sort of perc to being on pvp other than being able to kill some dink thats pissing you off?
If you are higher level than your opponent but within 120% of their level (if they're lvl 10 and you're lvl 11 which is <= 12) you will take 15% of their coin when you kill them. If you are lower level and outside of somebody's range (you and 5 of your friends are lvl 15, another guy is lvl 20) you and your buddies can corpse camp him all day long until he's broke and he can never get his money back. Of course, everybody banks all their money so you never actually get more than 5s from somebody unless you gank them while they're at the Exchange (which is all too common).

3. How hard is it to live in the low lvls on a pvp server? i.e. am I going to be geting ganked by high lvls just cuz they find it funny.
Yes and no. If you travel in a group and don't make any enemies you will probably be fine. If you RPK people (especially guilded ones) you will have people after you whenever you're seen. Since at least one high-level guild botted and macroed their way up, they're often seen ganking everyone they can and then log off if there's a chance they might die. Why care about your reputation when you can just bot another character up to 50?

4. This one im sure will get a lot of diferent answers but what is every ones opinion on what the best pvp class('s) is/are.
There's already a thread on this with people ranking their favorite classes. Theoretically from the devs in beta this is supposed to be about group PVP and in FFA if you're soloing you will probably get ganked a lot anyway so I would think more about what you think a class brings to group PVP than whether or not they can solo. For instance, a psion takes a fairly long time to kill somebody on their own, but in group PVP they can AoE mez the entire enemy group and then lockdown the healer until you've wiped out the other people defending him. And for solo PVP, psions can ALWAYS choose to fight or flee with mez + invis, assuming they survive the first hit, or better yet, travel while invised. Think outside the 1v1 box.

Thats about it for now may have a few more after some of these are answerd.

That all said, you can definitely tell PVP was added in the later stages of beta without much testing. Maybe some day it will be decent. Everytime I log onto my old DRK on Varking (Team PVP) to buy something on the Martok exchange for another character I have to deal with this same stupid punk gnome sorc that is always camping the exchange hoping to get some easy money. The joke is on him though because of the level range thing (my DRK is 11, he's 16) and my wonderful harm touch. Still, there's no repercussions to being a dick and camping the Exchange other than that anybody that has been to Martok wants to kill him...but he's on the other team, so they all do anyway. So really, there's no consequences for him being a complete dick.

*waits for AoC and Darkfall*

[Founder Apache]

1. What are the basic mechanics of pvp play?
You want to be roughly same level or higher with lots of burst dps. If he can't heal and you do massive dot damage and hae a get away car then that works too - if he can heal then you need more dps. Present broken state of the game is your damage is 50% in pvp of what it was in pve. Heals, however, are not at 50%. This means you can take someone to near 0 and with 5% of their mana bar be at full. If you don't want to try to 50% out dps their 100% heals, then I'd suggest a cleric. Play one, you'll see why.


2. Is there any sort of perc to being on pvp other than being able to kill some dink thats pissing you off?

A very tiny amount of coin (most folks bank consistently) is your only reward other than "I pnzwered him."

Infamy, a measurable characteristic (numerically valued) cannot buy skill upgrades or gear...it is just this number that over the time of winning and losing grief contests, goes up and down like a bipolar girlfriend's personality - and like both, has no rational point.


3. How hard is it to live in the low lvls on a pvp server? i.e. am I going to be geting ganked by high lvls just cuz they find it funny.

I'm doing it again for the 4th or 17th time now - can't recall which. I die less now because the population is a near ghost town - at least on Varking. Best you get is someone will find out a hyatet shaman has an overpowered nuking bird pet and that the class in general gets, run speed, spell haste buffs, heals, mediocre dots and weak nukes- so they make these and pick on lowbies in starter areas. Most of the rest of the time is spent with /shout taunts after 2 20s camp a couple of 12s. Sometimes it's really exciting and a level 50 comes through just to squash whomever for a bit. Guards don't respond to pvp so vulmane for example can tear up humans..all..day...long. You can level though - just expect a lot of it to be solo (yes more pk deaths guaranteed).

4. This one im sure will get a lot of diferent answers but what is every ones opinion on what the best pvp class('s) is/are.

LOW LEVELS:

Cleric (after 16) more for survability then outright damage but can outlast you

Druid (after 18) outright damage and supreme kiting abilities mediocre heals

Ranger (after 18) good dps, mediocre heals (potentially great kiter with a few nifty items)

Shaman (after 16-18) mediocre damage + decent damage from hyatet pet = good damage overall. Above average heals. Decent kiting ability

Dreadknight (after 12) I've seen three shot by same level ranger, have also seen them 2 shot whatever in medium or light armor.

Necromancer (after 30) They get some form options that change how they take damage, and the pets at this point are really coming into their own (scary class).

END GAME:

Cleric
Druid
Rogue (with hide/sneak gear +50 at least on each) (has the tools at this point to lock someone down and drop a ton of dps into them).
Shaman
Dreadknight
Sorcerer
Necromancer
(Didn't include ranger here because I don't have experience in their end game viability vs similar levels - I'm hearing bow damage goes to crud while melee dps still stays fairly solid. Endurance issues seem to always be a problem.



If I had to pick 1 overall pvp class (providing I'm playing to just kill people) I'd have a toss up between the druid, rogue, or necromancer.


Good luck /salute

[Echonaz]

Varking is kinda funny lately. Level 45+ kewl doods tearing up southwatch becuase they cant cope with fighting people their own level.

One the other day would /shout "PlayerX has fallen to the shadow" every time s/he one shotted someone.

Seems sociopaths like to roleplay too!

[jonyak]

Originally Posted by Echonaz

Varking is kinda funny lately. Level 45+ kewl doods tearing up southwatch becuase they cant cope with fighting people their own level.

One the other day would /shout "PlayerX has fallen to the shadow" every time s/he one shotted someone.

Seems sociopaths like to roleplay too!

seems like most of the people who play pvp are sociopaths. At least most of the ones that are left.

unfortunatley they shoot themselves in the foot because noone will group with them. then the get level locked. and then they get bored.

[BigPapaBruno]

Originally Posted by jonyak

seems like most of the people who play pvp are sociopaths. At least most of the ones that are left.

unfortunatley they shoot themselves in the foot because no one will group with them. then the get level locked. and then they get bored.

That is the part of the game that people don't see. Most people will just say they don't care there are plenty of other groups to be in but in the end it does affect them. Don't get me wrong though, I love the pvp and the server would be boring without rpkers, just don't expect favors later on. That's a big reason I love playing the cleric because you're the most needed class and if you don't want somebody in your group they aren't going to be in it or I will just choose another one.

[VChateau]

the missing part of a group in order for it to function is the most needed class, and there are a variety of group makeups besides the common one. Clerics being upper tier in PvP would lead to many of them being on the PvP server. And don't forget about bloodmages, who are preferable over clerics in some or many ways. Since the title says it's for ?'s.. Which server is better btw? The ffa or team? Which is more populated and has the best feel to it from those who have played on them. former daoc here btw.

[Gecon]

If you really want to start PvP, Vanguard is, sadly, no good choice. That is because class balance is almost nonexistent, and many classes have a good chance to oneshot, or twoshot, their victims (Sorcerer, Druid, Necromancer, Phoenix Shaman, Bloodmage are all reported for that).

If you really want to try out PvP, I would suggest either:

1. Choose a good class. ATM that means choose any but Monk. Find out which classes are hard for your own class, and try to avoid those. If you really want to have it easy, play Rogue. Thanks to their Sneak, they can go everywhere, and they can choose their prey.

2. Make a crafter and keep him strictly below adventuer level 7, so nobody can attack you, ever. You'll definitely make a ton of game money this way, and you'll definitely be loved by everyone, as crafters are rare on PvP servers. Make him a Bard, as they already have Runspeed at Level 6, which is really a nice thing to have.