How to: PVP MageFollow

I have looked around the stickies and, while i got my build there (thanks!), I havent seen a good inclusive thread on general tactics against specific classes. I saw one of these in the rogue forum for how to compete vs. specific classes as a shadowstep rogue, but suggest a thread for the same here.

If any great PvP mage wants to take the time to make a sticky (I know thats asking a TON) that would be awesome, but more realistically, if experianced mages could post their general attack plans/things to watch out for against specific classes, even on a one at a time basis, I think that would help me as well as a lot of others.

I think including classes we are strong against, such as warriors and rogues, to the thread with things to watch out for (like spell reflect) would be a bonus. I am not above hearing the best way to beat even the easiest of opponents=P

Thanks in advance and I almost forgot...PvP as 17/0/44 because theres no other way=).

I'll add my 2cs even though I'm a lowly 48. Unless you see no totems down, open vs shammies w Arcane Missiles or scorch or Ice Lance to kill their grounding totem. Then it's just a matter of nuking an enhancer from afar, or counterspelling the nature spells of a elemental or resto. They're all easily kited, they have no way to escape snare other than trinket. Easy kill unless they get the jump on you. Never let an enhancer get w/in melee or you could be one-shotted.

I had so much trouble killing pallies I rolled a pally and here's what I discovered -- they are kiteable.

Blessing of Freedom is on a 25-sec cd But it only lasts 10 secs. So theres gonna be 15 secs during which you can kite em.

So the trick is getting them to blow BOF early, while you're at distance. Run/blink while they're unsnareable, and watch for the buff to vanish. Then FN, CoC, whatever you've got left, and you have some free nuking. If they bubble, no biggie, run to range, bandage/drink/evocate and start over.

Also, always blink out of Hammer of Justice, since Ret does huge damage against stunned players.

Again, take w grain of salt since I only have lowbies.

Ret pallies eat me alive. My hunch is it's for two main (and related) reasons:

1) I encounter them so rarely that I just don't get much practice against them, and
2) I know very little about them. Blessing cd's, gear choices, hell what their primary dmg dealer is...

For example, I had no idea retadins did extra dmg against stunned targets. I really need to dust off my prot pally, respec ret, and see how that nonsense works.

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On to a couple things I do know about. This isn't comprehensive by any means, but just a couple thoughts on a couple classes...

Shamans
- Don't waste mana killing totems with AM. Ice Lance does more than enough dmg to take care of them

Hunters
- Ice Block through Bestial Wrath
- Forget sheeping the pet unless you're in melee range already (helps to have S3 gloves)
- Stay as close to hunter as possible. The deadzone is about the size of a thimble now so you're going to take some dmg in there but that's nothing compared to their ranged atks
- Very, very difficult fight

Rogues
- If you can't outrun their Cloak of Skill, Ice Block through it. CloS is god-mode for them against casters
- Kite kite kite. Nigh impossible to do ANYthing once a maces rogue gets ahold of you. Don't be in a rush to nuke 'em down. Kite 'em from Dun Morogh to Hammerfall, hitting Ice Lance when you've got them frozen and Rank 1 frostbolt when you need them slowed.

Warlocks
- I can't beat them unless I get a big jump on them (i.e. a double shatter crit to start the fight and a well-timed fear c/s), so I'll not pretend to know.

I'm glad you put that qualifier at the beginning there, because blowing nova then blink is a real quick way to make sure you lose every single time against any mildly competent Warrior or rogue, as the War will then proceed to trink (or just wait for FN to break) intercept you, and smash your cloth wearing face into the ground, and the rogue will sprint/CoS and do the same. The moral is, SAVE BLINK for when you need it, don't blow it early and DIE.

As for pallies, I find them to be the easiest fight a mage has, you just basically will have to kill them twice.



This is pretty much the clinch, I would recommend NEVER pre-silencing a pally, as they can and will just bubble out of it, you MUST hit them while they're casting, but once you do, they can do literally nothing but swing their weap while you massacre them. Also make sure not to blink until they drop hammer of justice.



^^^ important note, if they blow BoF before they have taken much dmg, sheep em and wait 15 secs. Otherwise as soon as they blow it start running until you spell steal it, then turn around and lay on the hurt.

Now, shamans are pretty simple also, just watch for grounding to icelance, steal earthsheild if they got it, then make em hurt. Shammys are another class you can cripple with a well timed CS, as lightning is nature, as are their heals...

Druids are pretty straight forward unless they happen to be resto, in which case its gonna be a mana fight that you can't really win.

Locks are prolly my favorite fight, because you have to just zerk the **** outta them as soon as you see em, and while you likely will be using mostly instant casts, if you wait to use nova/combustion until after you cs their shadow tree, you can get some good scorch spam/ shatter crits out.
*IMPORTANT: if they are drain life spec, do your best to not let them get any benifit from it, Iceblock, CS, or even ice barrier/ mana shield will save you from having to work so hard to killem :).

Priests, easy to burn down if they are shadow, horribly tedious otherwise, I would suggest this would be a class you want to sheep first, so you can get in a few good shots at the start to keep them on the defensive.

Mages are pretty much mirror fights, just remember that a mage with Ice CS'd can't iceblock and is essentially helpless, and spell steal can steal any dmg buff you don't want them to have, as well as ice barrier and wards.

And last and least.. hunters. Used to be fun /w deadzone kiting, now basically impossible for a mage. The only advice I can give is to be moving in and out of melee range while casting instants, and try to get behind them as much as possible, like you were playing a Melee char.

This post is way too long already but i really only scratched the surface... if you ( the OP or anyone else ) want more detail on fights concerning specific classes with specific builds (your build and theirs) , ill go further into how I deal with it.

Btw, i have been playing the mage class off and on since the game came out, so I feel pretty confident in my own competence.

And if they don't blink, you have 6 seconds of beating on them...

-_-

You can't blink out of repentance, a ret pally talent. It's an incapacitate, like gouge, not a stun like cheapshot/intercept.

Also ret pallies will blessing of freedom themselves, cleanse your snares instantly, they can bubble and attack you with immunity to damage for 10 (12?) seconds, plus they run at +15% speed through talents. They are a tough fight and a tough class to kite.

You have to try and spellsteal BoF, but they usually have ~5 self buffs up so if you get unlucky you can blow 3000 mana trying to spellsteal BoF, which would also take 7.5 seconds of GCD's. In the meantime they're running at least 7% faster then you (if you have +speed through boots or meta) or 15% faster otherwise.

Sorry I've been dueling alot of ret paladins lately ^^

We have some good ones on my realm, 2000 rated with vengeful swords and they HURT.

Are you joking? 6 seconds of stunned beating on me by a retadin is immense damage. Are you in greens or what?

a drop on anyone is a drop. if pally has full CDs, you will lose. if you play how a mage should be played...from behind the lines, you will be successful.

if you need to go toe to toe with a pally, use ice block to regain CDs...not when life is at 10%. just kite as normal.