Introduction
This is a guide for players experienced with PvP who would like start being more competitive. I’ve been playing competitive PvP since launch and have been in the top 200 players in both NA and EU since the leader boards broke. I’ve also been bunker guardian for 3 PvP teams. On with the guide.
Team Composition
GW2 does not require a specific class by class team composition instead there are 3 categories of players on PvP teams. I have included what builds fit with which category
- Team Fight Oriented – These win you your team fights using AoE effects.
-Bunker Guardians
-Shout Bow Warriors
-Staff Elementalist
-Power Wells Necro
-Grenades Engineer - Roamers – these guys are made to help allies kill fast, they have increased mobility. They’re weakness is holding a point.
-Dagger Pistol Thief
-Shatter Mesmer
-Power Ranger - Duel Oriented – This guy is made to win a 1v1 or hold a 1v2 until he can get support from a roamer.
-D/D elementalist
-Engineer
-Stance Warrior
-Celestial and Minion Necromancer
-All Condition Builds
As long as you have one of each type your team composition is doing well, however having 2 roamers is not always ideal as they usually do not deal well with prolonged fight pressure.
People and Their Psyche
Finding a team of 5 players with each role isn’t enough you must share a similar mindset. Some teams just want people to play with others aim to be the best. Some players want to play everyday others a couple times a week. All functional teams must should have shared views of how they want to play. What I suggest is playing as a team for a week and see if you are all having fun.
ok im done with the simple stuff
Rotations
Rotations are the life and blood of the GW2 matches and I can not stress their importance enough and I have yet to find a good guide on how they work so I am creating this one.
- What are Rotations?
Rotations are a players placement on the map and change constantly depending on the position of the enemy team. They happen with good communication and reaction to said information. - Why do we need Rotations?
Rotations allow players to fulfill their roles to the highest potential. They are as important as player skill to win a PvP match. - How do I use Rotations?
Think about where the enemy is and where there is an opportunity to score points while fulfilling your role.
EXAMPLE: you’re a thief in a midfight 4v4, a fifth player comes into mid point from the enemy team, analyzing numbers you go as fast as possible to far and decap it
A rotation analysis for each part of the team composition will come later in the play style section.
Communication
This is the basis for rotations, the best way to know where you should be. When you accomplish something, state your accomplishment then ask for a report elsewhere. If someone asks for help while not downed far from you off point always go! It’s not worth causing the argument of if you had helped me we could have won. Successful communication is always happening in close games.
- EXAMPLE While the thief decaps far he states “I have decap far need help mid?” and the Bunker replies “2 enemies low mid”. The thief decides once the point is decapped he will go to mid to create a kill
Play Style
Your Rotations must match your play style this section is an in dept look at rotations for every category of player mentioned above. Rotation decisions differ from one build to the next but this looks at a generic overview.
- Team Fight Oriented – These must always try to be fighting in 2v2 or more and on points. Points create a concentration of players that the AoE from these builds takes advantage of. Many people think Bunker’s should hold points, this is not true, a Bunker or Shout Bow is twice as useful if another player is present. However with lowered Mobility these guys are usually not so great at chasing down or quickly joining an ally.
- Roamers – These guys always look for open points to decap point neutralization is more powerful than capping as it happens twice as fast. Their next train of thought should be to aid the 1v1 players and create a quick kill, in any 1v1 fight there will be some survivability on cooldown after 30 seconds or so which is a great opportunity to score a quick kill. Finally these are the only types of players who should fight on cross roads and only to finish players.
- Duel Oriented – This is the hardest class on which to know what to do, your 1rst goal is to hold points, your second is to distract as many players as possible without dying. Fighting in a 1v2 may require assistance from your roamer so you may want to call that out but it is entirely based on your judgement. This guy has it down on where you want to be fighting
from SaveTheQueen.3265
*Fighting on a contested/uncaptured point in a 1v1 – Neutral (no advantage or disadvantage for your team)
*Fighting on a point captured by your team in a 1v1 – Advantage
*Fighting on a point captured by enemy team in a 1v1 – Disadvantage
*Fighting a 1v2 on your enemies captured point for a long period of time – Advantage (even if you don’t have the point, fighting a 1v2 for a long period of time is beneficial because it allows your team to fight 4v3 for the other two points)
*Fighting a 1v2 on your own captured point for a long period of time – Huge Advantage
Final Thoughts
Dying is still bad, in fact a rotations worst enemy is death as it gives the enemy 30 seconds to overpower you elsewhere. With the exception of team fight oriented builds, if you know you will die by staying in a fight and have the cool downs to make it out alive run elsewhere, by the time you make it to another encounter your cooldowns will have returned and you can help the team hold the next point. One death can create an avalanche of outnumbered fights and is how you make a turn around happen.
Champion Paragon
(edited by D best.3547)