Guild Wars 2

Hi everyone!

So I’ve been consistently playing spvp for about two weeks now, starting out as a complete noob. Since then, I dedicated myself to practicing and improving, and to becoming a good player in the long run. Coming from a semi-professional Starcraft2 background I am very eager to learn and I enjoy improving strategically and consistently. Let me briefly describe what I’ve been doing so far:

I picked up one of the current Warrior meta builds, which is Axe/Bow with a Celestial ammy. Then I basically tried as hard as possible to l2p. I did 100 hot join games to get a feeling for the maps and to practice the build over and over. After that, I felt confident enough to join a guild with, let’s say, “ambitous casuals”. I immediately noticed that strategic behavior, such as observing where oppenents are heading and sending out teammates for support accordingly, is much more important in tpvp than in PUG skirmishes I was playing before.

But now, after about 250 games, I feel like my progress has hit another plataeu. Although I feel confident in 1on1s and in making judgement calls about where I should go and where I’m most useful at a particular time, I still feel like there’s a lot more I could do better. Basically, I am looking for some kind of input or guide written from the perspective of an experienced player which is specifically targeted at intermediate players. Let me point out that by that, I don’t mean tips like “practice your rotations” or “stay inside your cap if they’re attacking it”, but I am more interested in what exactly seperates these thousands of mediocre players from the few really good ones. I think the only way to become as good as them is to model what they’re doing and practice it over and over.

Any help on that topic would be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Read these and have a think?

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Heavy-PvP-practice-What-are-the-essentials/first

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/A-Guide-to-sPvP-0-Beginners-Guide/first
This says Beginner’s Guide. Wait, don’t go “pfffft” yet, there’s stuff here that you absolutely have to keep in mind at all times.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/A-Guide-to-sPvP-1-Teamcomps-and-roles/first

what I did was whispered some nicer high tier players about cool tips about the class i play and what good rotations/practices in team fights are. I’d do that if I were you and its how my team (sharks) went from a scrub team worse than gasm to at least a recognized team (finals in tog)

It kinda sucks for you that most of those high end pvp’ers went dark as far as twich is concerned. But, a lot of their videos are archived. It is probably a good place to start.

First make sure you are running a meta build:

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Category:Meta_Conquest_Builds

You said you have an axe. Have you ever tried a hammer ?

anticipate ur opponent, and punish them for every move they make.

The main thing I truly felt made me an exceptional player was trying to play other classes with the perspective of figuring out what their weaknesses are.

I know it’s a lot to ask, but knowing every spec and every skill in the game and being able to react to when someone else uses them is what makes players go from decent to great. Once you learn how other classes operate, fighting them becomes a whole lot easier.

For example, when the game first came out I found it really hard to figure out if a mesmer clone was actually a mesmer or not. After a lot of frustration I finally decided to roll a mesmer and try it out and found it was a lot harder than just spawning a bunch of NPCs. In the process, when I played engi against a mesmer I found it five times easier to kill a mesmer because I knew what they were trying to do to me and how they were going to try to kill me.

If you think a certain class is beyond overpowered and you feel like you’ve already mastered your first class, walk a mile in their shoes and you’ll be a much better player.

Ostricheggs.3742:

The main thing I truly felt made me an exceptional player was trying to play other classes with the perspective of figuring out what their weaknesses are.

I know it’s a lot to ask, but knowing every spec and every skill in the game and being able to react to when someone else uses them is what makes players go from decent to great. Once you learn how other classes operate, fighting them becomes a whole lot easier.

For example, when the game first came out I found it really hard to figure out if a mesmer clone was actually a mesmer or not. After a lot of frustration I finally decided to roll a mesmer and try it out and found it was a lot harder than just spawning a bunch of NPCs. In the process, when I played engi against a mesmer I found it five times easier to kill a mesmer because I knew what they were trying to do to me and how they were going to try to kill me.

If you think a certain class is beyond overpowered and you feel like you’ve already mastered your first class, walk a mile in their shoes and you’ll be a much better player.

This is by far the best advise…

A lot of people get angry by other class simply because they do not know their intricacies and weaknesses… Warrior excels in many roles within PvP, and is capable of shutting down other roles from the enemy comp – but you will mostly find this out when playing other classes…

That, and it is a ton of fun – the combat feels more alive when you tried nearly everything, you know the vibe, you know the thrill of the “close” matches and whatnot…

Have fun good sir

Follow ostrichs advice. With your current level of games played there is no way you know every skill/class in game.

That being said you need… well a few thousand more games. Several thousand in fact.

Not trying to depress you but people have over 2+ years more experience than you.

Another good point though,

Watch the top players stream.
Not many do constant streams but at least watch the ESL and MW 5v5. Both are Thursday.
Watch the major tournaments. This will give you the best look at strategies. In game solo q or hotjoin won’t help you at all for strats.

twitch.tv/jebrounity
twitch.tv/blu42

Duel. This might sound rather different but the way I got good at the game was by dueling every single class, learning every single mechanic possible. Back when I was still average I used to sit in dueling arenas for most of the time I played and I would duel everyone. It really teaches you about the game in a way that SoloQ and even TeamQ doesn’t. You can learn rotational skill just by watching people, but mechanical skill is something that you have to develop. If you’re on NA and you want help I’d be willing to duel you a few times on any class and teach you stuff, just hit me up in game.

Also one other thing, pick one class and stick with it no matter what. If I hadn’t switched between ele mesmer and thief for my first 5-6 months of playing I would be significantly better at thief. Every class can fill many different roles. Especially since you’re playing warrior. No matter how much you get nerfed, just stick with your class, ultimately skill>class.

Also watch thelordhelseth and Sizer on twitch they’re the best players in the game :P

Also a good idea to practice meta builds from other professions. That way you get a better idea of what their roles, strengths, and weakness are as well as your own strengths and weaknesses relative to the rest of your team and yes, stick to your class.

I’ll echo a lot of the advice that has been stated already by Ostrich, Jin and others, since much of it is fundamental and applies to other games as well (heck, even life in general).

Play the game and persevere
There is no substitute for practical experience. You’ll get better at the game by playing the game, both in terms of personal mechanics and in terms of game awareness. Achieving mechanical proficiency is not hard, whereas positioning, timing and map awareness are things that some players never master. There are times when you’ll feel your progress stalling or even degenerating, but this is normal and happens to everybody. Don’t get discouraged.

Know your enemies and your match-ups – streams can help
Play every class and their meta builds so that you understand how they function and consequently how to best counter them or at least limit their potential. Know which fights you want to take and when to disengage. Watching streams of top players can be a significant boost to your gameplay and help you raise your personal game. Unfortunately many top players are currently not streaming, because the World Tournament Series is coming up and they want to keep a few tricks up their sleeves. Silly buggers. For specific Warrior tips & tricks, I would ambush ROM in his stream chat. He’s usually pretty helpful in sharing class knowledge.

Have the right mentality, be humble
You seem to have this covered, since you came to ask for advice in a constructive manner. Realise that you can always learn more and be better. Take ownership of your mistakes and don’t try to externalize faults or make excuses for bad plays.

Last and most importantly, have fun. As long as you’re enjoying yourself and surrounded by likeminded players, life is good.

1) Do not act on emotion.

2) Know your enemy like the back of your palm. Figure their build, their gear, their weakness, can they counter your build? Are they weak against you? Take time on this.

3) If a player is superior to your skill, admit defeat and plan on disengage from fight. Do not die fighting.

4) Learn the art of taunting, baiting, and luring.

5) Do not act like Rambo.

4) Never stomp a Thieve, hack them till death

5) Read your enemy’s attack pattern (are they moving offensively or defensively, figured why), combo, break stun cool down, know when to hit hard. Etc; Once a Mesmer used up Blink,Phase Retreat, Distortion, they are pretty much a free kill.

I can’t think of any for now. Hope these help!

A good way to improve also is joining a team that has equal skill to you. This way you can bounce feedback off of each other without egos getting in the way. Esports maybe called a form of “sports” but it is also a competition. Having the right mindset for competition at a high level in this game is just as important as learning and developing mechanical skill. As to learn how to have the right mindset, look up real esport player’s interviews and try to imagine your self as that professional esports player as you read through the interview.

Take a look at my buddys youtube channel,he has vids about pretty much everything you need to know,from positioning to playing with multiple classes etc.

https://www.youtube.com/user/DeniedGamingz

He’s still active,and still making vids.