Don't throw in the towel

StreetChief said...
I wish I was as battle hearty as you :( I started playing seriously pretty late in season 2. Wound up getting to around 17-1800's. Oh well. I haven't found a good set of teammates yet. My character's name is Vauch(BWL). Got any tips?

I maintain that my best advice is practice, practice, practice.

it's pretty easy to get really frustrated in arenas. A lot times I end up screaming and yelling a lot and mentally worn down at the end of an arena-thon. Taint is my hardest coach for sure. We don't play coy when it comes to improving our game.

1) you probably won't have the best team matrix and will find that those who do will easily plow you over.

2) until everything is second nature to you in arenas, things will be tough. being unprepared and scared is a huge factor I run into a lot. this is where number of games comes into play...the more you do..the more you know and are prepared for. ie..this lock is probably going to chain fear me when the warrior is at 60% hp. or get ready to counterspell the pally when he goes for flash or holy light when his warrior is at 80%...10 secs is enough to blow him up.

3) you'll know you're starting to get somewere when you're blaming your execution of something rather than the whole WTF just happened?

4) find teammates who share you masochistic lifestyle.. it's no fun when you're practicing and failing...when one of your partners bails because "it's too frustrating or no fun anymore." Odds are you aren't learning anything if you're kicking ass. Failure is where you learn the most.

When I started 2v2s with warrior/pally...it was very very frustrating. I couldn't get heals off, I was constantly being cc'd or obliterated. I wasn't using line of sight right, I was moving to bubble soon enough or sometimes too soon, I dind't know to use seal of justice on a druid, I would panic a lot when I got focused etc...

We lost a ton of games on the first two days when I started to play. But as I kept practicing and getting to learn my class in an arena situation better, things got easier and easier. I started doing things automatically..like when to cast freedom or bop...when to waste the GCD on dispel rather than flash of light...etc

The same thing with my 3v3 team as well. 5v5 games won't teach you to optimize your class as well as 2v2 and 3v3s because you have to depend on yourself more than rely on other people. Often times, people are carried by a good matrix and then get the mindset that they're great at pvp and arenas.

For instance, one of the top 5v5 alliance teams on Boulderfist has characters who have 2v2 and 3v3 teams in the 1600s. This says a lot about them as an individual player...not that they aren't good, but that odds are, most of their skill comes from group dynamic rather than individual.

Practice not only makes you battle-hardened, it makes that group dynamic I just spoke of a work of art. You run up against 2k rated teams and you sware you're watching a coreographed ballet performance. No one fumbles, everyone is in LOS of each other, counter spells, fears, dispels...SPOT on...hamstrings up, freedoms on, heroism at just the clutch moment... no mistakes and TIMING is perfect! That's one of the hardest things about Arenas is finding people willing to put in the time for that level of performance.

Anyhow, I have a long way to go as well. I was happy to push all my teams (2v2, 3v3, and 5v5) to 1900+ last season but for Season 3, I'd like to hit 2k at least once. ;D
It's just a whole new ballgame when you hit that level of play.

Also, playing for fun can be great as well.. if you want to just hit the casual arena scene. From 1400-1650 is my marker for casual arena players. It gives you a decent amount of points for gear and you don't have to get into the nitty gritty of high level competition but just enough competition to feel the excitement.

ps. I almost forgot one of the hugest tips of all. COMMUNICATION. If you're too chicken-sh*t to yell at your priest for not mass dispelling fast enough or your paladin for holding out on BOP or not giving freedom fast enough...or if you're too afraid to confront your warrior for not getting hamstring or too timid to tell your warlock to not dot the rogue so you can sheep a target....you're gonna fall into the polite but fatal category of low growth.

Okay, I'm not suggesting you pick a fight with your team members.. perhaps "yell" is a harsh word. But if you can't communicate what everyone needs to improve on because you're too scared to hurt feelings.. you're probably not going to get very far in terms of group dynamics.