Best ways to not noob around

[Arterra]

I came across a team yesterday "practicing for the elite dungeon" by not using pots. Mind you it was lv 34-37, so don't freak out thinking mynas lv50's here.

Got me thinking... what is the exact system for awesomeness? Here is my guess... after playing some swamps and Skeller with a str bird, not taking a scratch, you get a nice chance to just look around...

1) Watch out for teammates
MAGES
-It should be obvious that you wont be able to kill LeChomp if your tank is out cold. I see mages just standing there, and only (if at all) rev AFTER the fight is over... or they die. this honestly goes all the way, all levels. I would hope that by swamps they learned it, but... look, your mana is better spent revving them RIGHT when they die than using a few skills, just to die yourself. spread the word, this is by far the worst nooby behavior.
-ps: heal. a lot. the reason l33ty bear tanks are so grumpy to mages is because of a bad lvling up period, where they were surrounded by enemies over and over again, but no healing from mages. just... auto attack...
BIRDS
-These guys are the king of hurt, more so than that King of Pain in the Skeller campaign (lolz) so please find out how to hurt even more. Simple trick: use, in this order, focus, break armor, shattering scream, blast shot. maybe even skip the fist two, but just makeing that combo is the important part. Extra info on shattering scream, plan ahead with a bear to use a shattering scream, then their hellscream. actually triggers terror, which might be even better for bosses.
-talk to mages, and teach them the nature strike combo. any form of roots closely followed by lightning will cause massive damage. if they turn out to be dumb, then just watch out for yourself, time how and when they use lightning, and use your roots accordingly. you will be able to tell, like when charging into mobs and such.
BEARS
-Your job is to keep the enemy stunned as long as possible, while everyone else pounds away with stronger skills and weapons. best tactic, trust me. keep your usages of iron blood and evade for when you need it, and you will survive anything with a few good potions.
-dont give up on Beckon; it starts weak, but ends epic. It's like a freaking Jedi pull (copyright to Royce). in conjunction with stomp, you can send you target anywhere, but most notably a corner... because grouping all the enemies together is the best way to get the most out of your aoe (area of effect) skills and debuffs. You use some wall or corner so they cant just disperse. works wonders to beckon them all in, and move a little out to stomp them all the way into the corner, then have mages and birds blast away. rinse and repeat as skills cooldown.
-I feel that crippling slash is not given enough credit. If you use it on a boss, and DONT MOVE HIM, he is actually completely immobile. It's a saver for a group full of weaker mages and birds. one level is enough to keep the enemy out of the glass canon's hair.


I want feedback, and do feel it should be stickied. very strongly thank you.

[addiekai]

As a whole, this is a real eye-opener for players here.

First point I liked is with the mages.

"the reason l33ty bear tanks are so grumpy to mages is because of a bad lvling up period, where they were surrounded by enemies over and over again, but no healing from mages. just... auto attack..."

The point that Mages were given this skill is for this purpose. Birds would be more likely than not dodge their behinds out of the way, or just run around the enemies.

[CanonicalKoi]

Well, baby tanks might get irritated with baby mages, but be fair. You get Heal at level 2. With one point in it, it costs 30 mana each use. Without getting a better robe (just using the one you start with), you have a mana pool of 306--10 uses and it's depleted. You also have a starting regen rate of a whopping 1, there's a 12.5 second cool-down and it only heals 30 to 61 damage. Depending on your level, your armor and what you're fighting, a low-level Mage isn't going to be able to be your sole means of healing, even if he/she is spamming heals as fast as they can. We do what we can (well, most of us, anyway), but let's face it: the game starts baby mages out having to use offensive spells constantly to survive either alone or in a group. You get conditioned to having to attack and, to be very honest, it's a heck of a lot more fun than standing around, looking decorative while spamming heals and awaiting your chance to cast Rez as a change of pace. ;) Which is why my level 50 Mage spends much of her time inactive. I really don't want to respec to a pally and AO3 is not fun to play as a pure Mage.

[shadywack]

I love this post :)

[AzureSoul]

I'm a Mage and I hardly use any health potions at all...not to b rude but I'm a hybrid n well I have not died in a long time. Heck I'm not even level 30...I think the weakest of all are the birdies...all they do is poop arrows...

[shadywack]

I like the point about revving. REV for crying out loud! I see this all the time too. It's a domino effect, the party starts dropping like flies and the mage is standing there trying to stay alive. The best way to stay alive is to resurrect the slab of meat on the ground so that it's now standing between you and the big huge monster trying to kill you.

[jonboy]

birdies...all they do is poop arrows...

going in my sig.

[Arterra]

Well, baby tanks might get irritated with baby mages, but be fair. You get Heal at level 2. With one point in it, it costs 30 mana each use. Without getting a better robe (just using the one you start with), you have a mana pool of 306--10 uses and it's depleted. You also have a starting regen rate of a whopping 1, there's a 12.5 second cool-down and it only heals 30 to 61 damage. Depending on your level, your armor and what you're fighting, a low-level Mage isn't going to be able to be your sole means of healing, even if he/she is spamming heals as fast as they can. We do what we can (well, most of us, anyway), but let's face it: the game starts baby mages out having to use offensive spells constantly to survive either alone or in a group. You get conditioned to having to attack and, to be very honest, it's a heck of a lot more fun than standing around, looking decorative while spamming heals and awaiting your chance to cast Rez as a change of pace. ;) Which is why my level 50 Mage spends much of her time inactive. I really don't want to respec to a pally and AO3 is not fun to play as a pure Mage.

well maybe the first 18 levels, but as soon you start finding m/s regen gear it gets better. mind you, I admit that most low level dungeons just don't prepare mages for the role of being support characters... apart from ranged bosses, anything can be soloed by any class down there if careful.


I'm a Mage and I hardly use any health potions at all...not to b rude but I'm a hybrid n well I have not died in a long time. Heck I'm not even level 30...I think the weakest of all are the birdies...all they do is poop arrows...

I think you find it so easy because you are so low right now... everyone before AO3 had perfect k/d ratios, but after... mages where hit hardest, simple as that. birds too, but at least Warbirds (str) stood a chance unlike paladins... ps i think u be hatin on birds too much. dex is best stat in the game, and there is no replacing the pure dex bird in pvp. PvE is all about the tank in reality, and a Warbird is just a heavily armored nuke with legs...

[CanonicalKoi]

I'm a Mage and I hardly use any health potions at all...not to b rude but I'm a hybrid n well I have not died in a long time. Heck I'm not even level 30...I think the weakest of all are the birdies...all they do is poop arrows...

No, no! Surely you've mistaken arrows for pure, unadulterated awesome. ;) (Sorry, you'll have to forgive me; I just built a birdie the other day and have him up to 32. Other than going through a ton of mana pots, he's been loads of fun. And he survived going toe-to-toe solo against Bastet in AO1 at level 31--way better than my Mage or tank did ever did.)

[Arterra]

No, no! Surely you've mistaken arrows for pure, unadulterated awesome. ;) (Sorry, you'll have to forgive me; I just built a birdie the other day and have him up to 32. Other than going through a ton of mana pots, he's been loads of fun. And he survived going toe-to-toe solo against Bastet in AO1 at level 31--way better than my Mage or tank did ever did.)

I approve of trying out bastet, nice! though i bet you where decked out in total frozen lol, otherwise... ps it shouldn't cost too much mana. max out meditation, and watch skills!
maybe I will edit in a skill thing...

[Kingofhurtz]

BIRDS
-These guys are the king of hurt

I like how you think :)

[CanonicalKoi]

I approve of trying out bastet, nice! though i bet you where decked out in total frozen lol, otherwise... ps it shouldn't cost too much mana. max out meditation, and watch skills!
maybe I will edit in a skill thing...

Please do! In the archer's forum, maybe? It would be very helpful. Not to drag your thread further OT, but nope on the gear. Pink Sniper's Avian Helmet, pink Shivering Frozen Bow and green Assassin's Frosty Leathers. Sank a lot of health pots, but it was fun. :D

[Xymorg]

Great post! You are spot on with the advice. Bears should also pay attention and not move a boss out of another tank's good pin just to use a skill. I can't stick bosses on purpose yet, but I'm aware enough to see when it happens and leave it be. That was a noob learning point for me.

And with all due respect to Royce's apt Jedi comparison, I always think of Ripley's line to the Hive Mother at the end of Aliens when yanking a boss off my mages.

[dirtball]

Agree with crippling slash for bears. I soloed Ryloxx in Plasma Pyramid using crippling slash and hellscream to stun. He's completely powerless if you continue to use the two.

[shadywack]

any form of roots closely followed by lightning will cause massive damage.

No, hitting the weak points causes massive damage!!!

[Arterra]

I like how you think :)

Lol I love this kind of thing... You got a good name.

[Teflon]

Nice work. I'm in full agreement. Hope others read and learn some of these tactics to help improve their collaboration and gameplay.

[Pharcyde]

MAGES
-It should be obvious that you wont be able to kill LeChomp if your tank is out cold. I see mages just standing there, and only (if at all) rev AFTER the fight is over... or they die. this honestly goes all the way, all levels. I would hope that by swamps they learned it, but... look, your mana is better spent revving them RIGHT when they die than using a few skills, just to die yourself. spread the word, this is by far the worst nooby behavior.
-ps: heal. a lot. the reason l33ty bear tanks are so grumpy to mages is because of a bad lvling up period, where they were surrounded by enemies over and over again, but no healing from mages. just... auto attack...

I'm one of thoughs leet mages :D. I use 4 fingers while playing. 1 blasts attack (I took auto off because in ao1-3 its basicly a waste of damage and time). 1 finger is constantly tapping heal whether its recharged or not. 1 is moving. 1 is blasting all spells. I have 29 mana regen so I can basicly cast every spell every time it cools down without ever needing to use a potion.

MAGES!!!!!

You can be the freaking #1 player in your party!! Tanks and Birds may be leet causing mass chaos while your lil weak group attacks are inflicting "100-400 damage". BUT You got insane group spells! If you make your stats right you can be the coal to the train! The energy to the lightbulb! The Nuclear material that is NUCLEAR! You have the power to buff the entire group in both attack and defense. You have the power to cut enemies abilities up to HALF! You have 2 spells to stop enemies to save you or your parties butts (Freeze and fireblast). So learn how to be a sucsessful mage and you will most likely see your parties efficiency will increase dramatically!



That was my glory speach for mages everywhere :P

[Melange]

1 is blasting all spells.

That must be really annoying for any team trying to combo, or draw everything to the corner, or melee fighters having to chase their targets all over as they keep getting pushed around.

[Lapinsalaingr]

Excellent post. Like the part about combos - wonder if they are described anywhere in this forum ?

As for the Mage thing, I have to admit my ambition is to be a bit more than a moving healing pot. Even a nice looking one.
And, as read somewhere else in these pages, I'd rather die myself than rez for the 50th time the rude bear that sticks to a simple "heal" or "rez" during the whole game, without any "ty" or any other dialog whatsoever.

[CanonicalKoi]

Seriously, where did all the used car salesman come from (no offense intended to any actual UCS playing)? "No thanks" or "sorry, nothing to trade" means I'm not interested. It's not an invitation to spam me with trade requests or bunches of hard-sell messages. I'm trying to not waste your time or insult you by offering way less than your items worth; I simply can't afford it. Move on.

[shadywack]

Seriously, where did all the used car salesman come from (no offense intended to any actual UCS playing)? "No thanks" or "sorry, nothing to trade" means I'm not interested. It's not an invitation to spam me with trade requests or bunches of hard-sell messages. I'm trying to not waste your time or insult you by offering way less than your items worth; I simply can't afford it. Move on.

No kidding. I was checking out a laser wand and the guy asked 100k. Funny thing is, they sell quite often for 50-70.

Greedy a-holes man. Car salesman is right.

[addiekai]

Caveat emptor... :p

[Superzarop]

I decided tolvl my mage a bit today.
I was level 27 and joined a fathom crypt group of 2 birds and one bear. The birds were pooping out arrows and doing no damage an the bear was was pulling mobs out of the room while trying to kill them one by one. I was like "Back off!" and charged into the room and destroyed all the mobs in an instant. Why wouldni heal my teammates when all they do is stealing my kills and moving mobs out of range of my aoes!

[CanonicalKoi]

Yup, nothing like one character runs off this way and one runs off that way leaving you with six nasties to deal with your own. You've been self-spamming heals to stay alive, they come back with their one kill apiece, down a very minor number of HP and get all cranky when they have to wait for your cool-down to finish. Love it. :p

[dirtball]

I decided tolvl my mage a bit today.
I was level 27 and joined a fathom crypt group of 2 birds and one bear. The birds were pooping out arrows and doing no damage an the bear was was pulling mobs out of the room while trying to kill them one by one. I was like "Back off!" and charged into the room and destroyed all the mobs in an instant. Why wouldni heal my teammates when all they do is stealing my kills and moving mobs out of range of my aoes!

Way to teach them the wrong way to do things. When they get to AO2 and AO3 they'll try this and die many times before realizing they can't just rush in and destroy everything. It may take longer but the tank was using his beckon and taunt the way he's supposed to. Mages can rock in earlier levels but stand no chance in higher ones.

[Arterra]

I was out running to the group that had already reached Deadeyes, and right before I arrive they all die. So some guy says "go ahead San, solo him!" (was on Sangaroh) and I say "ok then" and proceed to do so with mucho gusto, before the rest of te team arrived back.
I think they listened to me after lol. I live for str birds... With titanic hammers...

[Branwyn]

Here's what kills me...literally: I'm a level 34 Int Mage (thinking about doing a dex or str re-roll). Yes I know I'm a noob to the game, but I would think that when the group has only one or two mages, it would be best for the bears and birds to make sure that the bosses don't chase them so they can Rez and heal. Too often in a group, I go against a boss, keeping my finger off auto attack (learned that one pretty quick!) just healing and buffing and the boss freaking chases me. It ends up like Hamlet(everyone dies) and we all do it over again. I never get a chance to shoot off my mad skillz and I spam heal potions like a motha between cool-downs. I'll run in and die to res you, just make sure you don't run off and leave me in the lurch with the one-shot-wonder bosses.

On a side note: the downtime is freaking killing me. I wanna plaaaaay!

[mugen]

well said arterra this should be required reading when starting PL !

[CanonicalKoi]

And big, bigger, biggest kudos to two bears and a bird I played with today. Playing my under-level-10 at the time Mage with the baby bird and bears. Bird was flying all over the place, not standing and getting whallaped. Bears were using taunt To hold aggro and all three were coming back to get stuff off me. It was loads of fun and the teamwork was great. I can only assume the other players were also experienced and running newer chars. And, yes, I was spamming heals like a bad dog.

[AzureSoul]

Way to teach them the wrong way to do things. When they get to AO2 and AO3 they'll try this and die many times before realizing they can't just rush in and destroy everything. It may take longer but the tank was using his beckon and taunt the way he's supposed to. Mages can rock in earlier levels but stand no chance in higher ones.

i totally agree.... mages are suppose to heal n attack nit rush in and kill....if u rush in only thing u'll get is death. without a mage everyone will just die. they need the revive and healing spells. dim wit.