Building PvP characters from scratch - any guides out there?

mordekai

I'm starting a couple of new toons shortly, specifically with the intention of getting some Shards of Conquest for the guild as none of my other characters are worth a ball of snot in PvP.
What I'm after is a resource that can offer guidance on some of the ways to navigate this mode of play as the character developes from the off, rather than one of the "This guide assumes you are L70 with 30+ Power Points and an IL of 3500 and lots of expensive enchantments, mounts, companions and artifacts at your disposal.
I've got a TR, GF, DC and CW at the moment so the next two will be from the HR, OP, SW, GWF classes.

Does anyone know where there might be some information on the initial, and ongoing, choices, rather than leveling as PvE, and then doing a reroll and major MAJOR AD/Zen spend?

sundance777

The idea behind the reroll is that leveling as a PvP spec can be rather difficult, don't forget, you can gain a retrain token from the sword cost campaign, so really there is no AD or Zen to spend on that. Look at the existing guides, plan out the race and starting abilities ahead of time so all you need to do is redo feats and powers.

The trouble you may have with this plan is winning PvP is very challenging if you are not 3500+ IL, and you are not going to get conqueror's shards from pre-level 70 PvP to my knowledge.

Companions don't go with you in PvP but a purple or higher mount is handy, sorry they are pricey and the enchantments and artifacts are $$. If you not going to spend a little AD on your character it is not going to be very easy to get wins.

As for free stuff, if you can get glory and wins, there is free gear that is very good for pvp. I am not sure how you get wins with no gear and no enchantments and artifacts though, they are crucial to the character and since everyone else is wearing them, if you do not you will likely not have much success, it is player (and their gear) verses player (and your gear)...at least that is the current set up.

mordekai

I understand all that, and have no expectation of getting anywhere quickly, but what I want is to establish the character, learn how the stuff works and not just go with someone else's mega build that will leave me with a 5th wheel character who won't be worth transferring till he's IL3500 in stuff that isn't even PvP spec.

I want to be able to build some Glory along the way and get the feel for a side of the game that seems to be dominated by very experienced players. I not only want the stats I want the experience to make use of them.

I don't feel I'll get that experience by simply following the PvE path and eventually rerolling using someone else's ideas when the stats finally meet the builds eligibility criteria.

What I really want is for, say I choose HR, an idea of which lower powers work best in the early tiers of PvP, when best to switch melee/ranged, which combinations work well together, and so on rather than the usual discourse on whether at all R12 it's better to go with Vorpal or some other mega enchant, and how if I follow the instructions carefully I will be doing 24 mill on a bad day.

I read one earlier today stating that 3 R12 Fey Blessed and 2 Dragon's Hoard should be used in a PvP build. I tried to find a justification of that, explaining why they would be more useful than speed in PvP, when its not like you are going to be getting dozens of kills to make drop enchantments worthwhile, cos to me speed would make more sense than an increased chance of a few enchantments dropping on the floor. Too often the builds just seem to be a list of cool stuff the writer has and not much "build" if you get my drift. It's hard to determine which of them make sense.

I understand the value of most of the mega build guides, (OK... some of them just seem like showing off...), I just want to know if there are any guides for people at the other end of the spectrum.

thedramacus

Do you get seals of triumpth from lower level PVP? If so leveling a character through pvp would be a good idea to help get that prestige armor as soon as you can. As well as the glory. You seem to be leaning towards a HR, and I totally say yes. The trapper build is great for PVP and PVE, you probably wont be getting the most kills but you will be helping hold the enemies in place so your team mates can get the kills. For nearly any other class it has seemed to me you need a very different build for PVP and PVE.

I agree on the utility slot. My trapper has lionsmane with darks on, and dragonflight with dragon hoards and stuff. I dont think its even possible to get enchants while in pvp matches. I think the reason they are using fey and stuff is for when they pve so the can upgrade thier stuff faster.

Life steal is your best friend in pvp, really anything that can keep you alive, but being able to gain from your enemies loss is great.

PVP is expensive, I would focus on your main PVE and have him fund your PVPer, dragon hoard drops are account bound and all.