Good PvP Tricks: BGTSCC Style

[samb123]

So... what are some good PvP tricks?

I know, I know. Be a HiPS Wizard.


Now that we got that out of the way, give me some tips & tricks for increasing PvP survivability.

[Asmodea]

Wands are really powerful; some examples: Mantle, Dimension Door, Mirror Image, Silence, Breach.

[KOPOJIbPAKOB]

Toggle hostile and immediately use Isaacs Greater Missile Storm (Maximized) in the middle of the conversation, works perfectly.

[chad878262]

How much are you willing to spend? A wand of Least Mantle can be spammed each round until a caster runs out of spells which, when combined with other protections (mantles only protect against spells subject to spell resistance) can give you a good chance against spell casters. Deathward should be a given, as should Lesser Mindblank. Energy Immunity can be very good if you come up against a bard using hymn of requiem. Super high AC plus mirror images and ghostly visage/darkness/displacement/deez's repulsive shadow barrier makes you basically immune to melee/ranged attacks for several rounds (longer depending on how often you can reapply.

There are two main factors in PvP outcomes, player skill and preparedness/willing to spend gold. In many cases the player willing to spend more gold wins. However, if you come up against a superior player with more knowledge of how to get around the 'usual suspects' of tactics then it probably wont matter how much you spend. PvP boils down to how much you know about the various attacks and defenses against attacks vs. how much the opponent knows. If both parties have equivalent consumables and knowledge of those consumables then it will come down to things like build and luck. Majority of the time build is not as important as many make it out to be, only coming in to play when player skill and consumable access is equal.

Least Mantle is something that will save you from the majority of caster wizards because most of them really only know one tactic (bigby 7 or 9 followed by IGMS spam). However, if coming against a caster that actually understands magic system they will find multiple ways around your mantles spam.

[Valefort]

Getting loads of consumables and not being greedy are usually safe bets, wands, potions, scrolls. A decent HP pool is important, being able to detect sneakers is another obvious one. Having plenty of escape plans (running away fast (super effective !), invisibility, etheral, teleport ..) is also good since sometimes PvP can be absolutely one sided, the more the better ! After that it depends too much on what kind of character you and your opponents are playing.

[aaron22]

all that above and more heal pots than your opponent.

[Deathgrowl]

Good PvP tactics is to never care about winning and caring only about how the story develops regardless of the result.

[metaquad4]

Spam toggle hostile works well, as it interrupts your target's actions. You can always say "sorry, wasn't sure" or blame it on lag. This tactic is used by a few PvPers to moderate degrees of success already.

Wands of Dimension Door, (good escape tool) Least Spell Mantle (blocks epic spells as well as many other pesky ones like Bigbys and IGMS), Lesser Spell Breach (demolish DR spells), and Mirror Image are always handy.

Wands of Animate Dead could have questionable use in body-blocking enemies (summons a lot of very weak entities), though you'll be outed as an evil tr8t0r if you use it.

Have a scroll of teleport handy for a quick evac if things go south.

If you are lucky enough to find a Gem of True Seeing, that'll negate displacement and mirror images with the new changes.

Wands of Silence, when cast on the ground, mess up both bards (it forces them to re-do their inspirations and turns off their requirem) and spellcasters.

Heal Potions heal roughly 100 health per pop, and are as such very good to spam.

That covers things anyone can do, with UMD and gold. As long as you grind at-least a few times a week (covering most of the server as you do), you can support this playstyle.

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Never use ranged touch attacks against a shapeshifting druid. Wildshape AC is nearly all dodge AC (and dragon-shape, the apex of druid, has really high DEX on top of that) and it'll easily block most, if not all, RTAs.

If you see someone casting vampiric feast and you've already expended your actions, back up. It has a surprisingly short range. Turn and run away, if you can.

If you have AoEs (including whirlwind attack), don't be shy when it comes to using them against Ethereal-ed targets or HiPsed targets. Alchemical Fire Flasks are great here.

[Deathgrowl]

Spam toggle hostile works well, as it interrupts your target's actions. You can always say "sorry, wasn't sure" or blame it on lag. This tactic is used by a few PvPers to moderate degrees of success already.

Oh wow. I don't even know how to address this...

If you have AoEs (including whirlwind attack), don't be shy when it comes to using them against Ethereal-ed targets

This is also some serious abuse.

[metaquad4]

Spam toggle hostile works well, as it interrupts your target's actions. You can always say "sorry, wasn't sure" or blame it on lag. This tactic is used by a few PvPers to moderate degrees of success already.

Oh wow. I don't even know how to address this...

Suggest finding a way to not make it interrupt actions?

If you have AoEs (including whirlwind attack), don't be shy when it comes to using them against Ethereal-ed targets

This is also some serious abuse.

You could make Ethereal make one immune to any form of damage, but I doubt anyone wants that. Even as a caster I wouldn't want that, it'd just be far too easy. Or well. . .I mean, if its on the table. . .why not, right? That tactic is, for most characters, the only way to counter-play ethereal.

This is exactly why we need a DM ruling to make all Ethereal spells into a "no save sanctuary effect" instead. So that this argument can no longer by applied, when it comes to the RP-side.

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Good segway into another PvP tip. If you do have enough UMD, the ethereal spells -should- be up on the breach list. Grab a for mords scrolls, and force them out of ethereal. Be careful though, if they are a savvy player they can still move. Not as many people are as wise to moving around in Ethereal as they should be, though.

[Aspect of Sorrow]

Spam toggle hostile works well, as it interrupts your target's actions. You can always say "sorry, wasn't sure" or blame it on lag. This tactic is used by a few PvPers to moderate degrees of success already.

DMs love screenshots of people using this.

[samb123]

Barring the obvious abuse suggestions (Come on, folks; I ain't dumb...), pretty solid advice. Thanks, all.

[Steve]

Apologies for the aside, but:

If you are lucky enough to find a Gem of True Seeing, that'll negate displacement and mirror images with the new changes.

Is this really a thing? Does it also entail reducing the duration of True Sight as well?

[Hendrak]

True Seeing Spell Wiki entry:

https://wiki.bgtscc.net/index.php?title=True_Seeing

"When a target has active mirror images or concealment spells then that spell's casterlevel + d20 is compared to true seeing's caster level + d20, each round. If the True Seeing caster beats the check concealment effects are negated for 1 round. The same check is made in a separate roll for mirror image, if the detection is successful the mirror image user incurs a -5 AC penalty for 1 round."

-> negates Concealment (e.g. Displacement, Greater Inv.), reduces effectivness of Mirror Images

[Steve]

Well, that’s not so worrisome! Cheers Hendrak.