How about some friendly PvP?

[Twisted Sister Jane]

Ok, I am no PvP fanatic, and am not particularly good at it, and hope I never ever take it very seriously. But I have tried the random arenas on the islands reached via Lions, and actually, it can be a lot of fun.

For those who haven't tried before, PvP is just another way to play this game, and it can be very hectic and uncomfortable if you take it too seriously. But if you just play it for the fun of it, it opens up a new dimension to this game. You can try various skill combinations, and various combinations of primary and secondary professions (you take a res signet, not rebirth, so you don't need to be a monk as secondary).

For myself, I have tried being illusion Mesmer as a warrior killer, and as trapper ranger. But these builds are more or less successful depending on what the rest of the team is, and who the opponents are.

The random arenas are 4 against 4, and who you get teamed up with is random. And that is not so good because you cannot match the skills you take with what your teammates are taking, and because there usually is zero teamwork and communication here.

If we had a team of 4 of us who wanted to give this a go, we could go right to the team arenas and play as a team. Then we could have a bit more coordination in what we equip and who we attack when. Imagine Jane setting traps and the rest of the party leading the enemy into them! Imagine Lulu taking down a warrior while the team warriors bash the opposing elementalists!

Anyway, its just an idea for another way to have fun. If it ever would get so serious that we start to fight and bicker over our performance or builds, then I would stop.

[Jaxx Skraxis]

I too like to putz around in the random arena just for something fun and different. I think I have gone to the team arena with some Scouts but none of us really had much PvP experience at the time and it turned out almost as bad as the GvG match we tried during the March '05 beta. I still wouldn't mind giving it another try, as long as it's still fun for all involved as you say. I think it would give me personally a better chance to try out the other professions in a more controlled way, as the RA is just too random for that type of thing.

[Twisted Sister Jane]

If for nothing else, the team and random arenas are great for just trying out new things. The battles can be short and sweet, if you wind up in a bad group (random arenas) or have chosen a really wacko build, then it is over in no time ;D

Only risk with experimenting too much is that the random PUGs might get annoyed if they find out what you are equipping is really wierd. But so what? The 4x4 arenas should be for fun, not for serious contest. If we try with a friends or guild group, then even better, since we should be doing it for fun and whatever we try shall be forgiven (won't it?).

[Lago Mortis]

Sounds like fun idea!

I have played a little in the random arenas, with varying success. But only twice in the team one, those two were short and painful, hehe. So was my only try in a Hall of Heros PUG as well.

Lago Mortis

[Dawnstar Elyra]

I used to play in the random arenas a fair bit. Hmm, I really should update my build for that to account for the fact that I now have *all* monk skills available... ;D Anyway, I usually played as Mo/E, with Armor of Earth for tanking the stupid sword-wars and Gale to pick off the idiots who try to run for an hour.

Edit: No offense intended to any sword-wars in our guild, but my experience at least at that time was that I could tank 3 sword-wars for like 2 min, giving my teammates plenty of time to pick them off.

[hadus]

I don't think anyone takes offense to any comment when you back it up by referring to the Scouts of Tyria as our guild...

That candle is still burning Dawnie !! When you get home sick, the key is under the mat out back

[Volitar]

I'll join you all in some PvP. I prefer going into Hero's Ascent though if you all would like to do that. Maybe we can get to the Hall of Hero's and win it. I find Hero's Ascent much more enjoyable than 4v4 because you have many different maps with different objectives. However, I'll join you all in 4v4 if you want. I've done a good deal of PvP in Hero's Ascent, but it is always with randoms though.

[Master Scout Kaia]

i'd rather get some practice in the team arenas before trying hero's ascent again

so yeah lets do it

[Twisted Sister Jane]

Great! There is some interest! And I for one would love to start out in the team arenas because I definitely need some practice! Not only to find out what skills to take, but how to play a bit more calmly than I usually do when I am in there (clicking away like mad at whatever gets near me).

Would be fun with some coordination of skills. Like I said, as Mesmer I can take down one warrior at a time, but then need team help against spellcasters. Or I can adjust to block the spellcasters, but then would be open to attack from warriors and rangers. As Jane I would love to do some trapping in there, but would need the party to use those traps, or it would be fun to take some pets and spirits (darn its hard to target a real human when the enemy has spirits and pets) or as a poisoner/interrupter. Wow, the possibilities!

[Volitar]

Well, I can try and help for coordination and skills for Mesmer.

I have played as a Mesmer q lot in PvP and anti-warrior builds have never been of much use to me. Warriors are generally nothing more than a nusance. The monks are what you should probably go for. As a monk, I find the most annoying opponents in PvP are the energy denial/blackout Mesmers. They run around casting energy denial spells like Signet of Weariness, and then run in and and put blackout on me. Combine that with a sword warrior who uses Hamstring and the monk is immobilized. Works great for 4v4 where there is only one monk. You can also bring Shame with you too (I think Shame is the right one. Shame or Panic. I forget.)

I've got lots of energy denial builds that I use. One is where I use Energy Surge, Signet of Weariness, Energy Burn and then throw in Ether Lord at the end. Then I have Leech Signet and a few others to quickly get back my energy. My other is using Wither and Malaise.

I also have grown quite fond of using Migraine. Just cast Migraine, cover it with Conjure Phantasm and then use a ton of Interrupts.

Hope that helps to get us started on some coordination for PvP. I hope others post some stuff too.

[Twisted Sister Jane]

Mistress Kara Rahl uses the energy denial build for a Mesmer and has been quite successful with it in PvP. I myself tried it only once, so I need more practice in what to do with the various skills. But I just enjoy whopping a warrior or ranger! Especially since a lot of them don't expect it.

And this is where the coordination with a team would come to play. A shut down mesmer combined with an anti warrior mesmer, then perhaps a good monk and either a Warrior tank or a good ranger with traps, poison, a tanking pet or whatever. I don't believe any combination of 4 would be optimal for every combination that the enemy team would have, but if the PvP play is "just for fun", then it would be neat to just try different things.

One thing we should definitely try is an all monk smite team. Kara experienced that in the halls, with 8 per team, and the monk smite enemy team seemed invincible. Another would be an all ranger pet/spirit team. It would just be fun to see what works and what doesn't!