BlazeMystic
02-04-2011, 07:26 PM
Teamwork guide
First a little rant to set the scene- Now I don’t consider myself particularly a noob, but I do get slightly irritated by noobs who accuse and criticise the more experienced player during a game (not that I’m a pro or anything). For example, this evening during an AO3 level, this player (below L 50) kept dying and accused me of not healing. Now as my main player is a mage, I do try very hard to keep healing and reviving where possible; but there are limits. I had to point out to this player that “Heal” has a cool down and so I cannot cast it constantly (therefore you may need to use potions, heaven forbid!) and secondly if you keep running on ahead and getting killed, then don’t expect me to keep chasing after you all the time to keep healing you - You are not the only player in the game, so take some responsibility. Rant over!!! This has led me to construct the following guide on teamwork:
Some VERY basic take home messages for players working in a group:
1. Learn your own character well and their limitations. There are plenty of guides on the forum to learn more about your chosen character. With experience and time you will come to predict certain circumstances that could lead your character to have an early death. Knowing your own chosen character inside out will benefit the team as a whole.
2. Learn about other character’s skills and abilities as well as your own as this will enhance teamwork.
3. Learn to work well in a group and use skills and try out the following:
Generally, bears should be at the front, not behind! At this point other players should let the bear get in front! When up front use the abilities Taunt to gain agro and Beckon to pull enemies in together. Following this, bears please don’t go straight for stomp or use beckon inappropriately, as it just scatters mobs around. Mages get in behind and try out novel ways of dispatching mobs quickly. A couple of examples - such as a mage can use ice storm/frostbite + firestorm. Alternatively Birds could use thorn root/wall, followed by mage’s lightning, or the birds own combo, Shattering scream + Blast shot. Or the Mage can cast ice storm followed by bears using stomp.
Very important is not to forget to use buffs and debuffs at all times. These will significantly affect the effectiveness of the team, so take some time to learn them well.
Common mistakes that impairs good teamwork:
Bears: are not using Taunt enough to take the agro away from other players. Although the skill doesn’t work all the time, bears have good health and armour in order to take the agro. So use it!
Mages: I see time and time again, fragile mages are always trying to get up front (birds are just as bad). Result – death! Obviously, if there is no tank, then someone has to go in front!
Mages appear to forget/don’t realize that mana is in plentiful supply. It will rarely reduce to zero (apart from when using mana shield) – so don’t rely on the wand/staff to deal damage. All too often I see mages hardly ever using their skills. – use your skills all the time to deal damage.
You should be using heal frequently, even if you are not damaged, your team members might be, so heal them! It cost’s so little. Other players need to realize that heal and revive have cool down times, and so they cannot be cast constantly. Heal becomes even more important against bosses. So use heal even more frequently to keep the team alive, and in between times, other players should be using potions. If there is a team fighting a difficult boss, it is completely insane to believe that if there is only one mage in the group, then that mage should be able to keep all players alive! This is virtually impossible. Very likely more often, in poor teams, the mage will be taking agro and will probably be struggling to stay alive themselves.
Birds: Birds are especially helpful against bosses and so please remember to especially use these skills: break armour/thorn root/blinding shot.
Birds are also very good at setting up combos (eg. The combo Thorn root/wall and lightning). Birds sometimes appear to be doing nothing in a team until they face the boss (where they come into their own), please bear in mind that there are plenty of other skills you could be using for the good of the team (e.g. the combo Shattering scream + Blast shot).
Other points to remember are to make use of elixirs, particularly against difficult bosses.
Eg. Overlord – often requires the use of Tanker’s Ale Elixir (this is a controversial topic in itself)!
4. Rushing on ahead of everybody else frequently results in deaths (in difficult levels) and makes it difficult for mages to revive. When fighting difficult mobs, stay close together and deal with the surrounding area before trying to move on. It is not a race. You may be surprised at how little damage you take when you stick together.
5. You are working as a team (not independently), so try not to think that you have to win by outdoing others. There are other places for that.
6. The group should ideally have a leader who directs the others (usually the host). The host should ideally make it known asap what their aim’s are in that game.
7. Host to use boot constructively and fairly; with the aim that it will aid the rest of the team and not just themselves.
8. Try not to criticize and berate others, as this can be hurtful and is seldom helpful or useful. Never get angry or abusive (it is after all only a game and you could get banned)
9. If your character is dying frequently during a game, then all to often, players blame each other. Think about the following points before making these accusations:
a. Are there too few players in the game?
c. Are the mix of characters hindering the game. For example, when facing Gurgox, it is pretty naff having one mage try and do all the reviving or having four bears against the keeper.
d. Are players using abilities appropriately?
d. Are players too low in order to cope with the required level of the map? If so, this could potentially put strain on other players
e. Are you are taking too many risks during the game?
f. Do you think you know how to play your character well? Are you using combos? Are you using potions/elixirs? Are you circling the bear/mage? Are you using freeze related abilites etc?
g. Do you have the best equipment?
h. Have you correctly placed attributes points and allocated stats appropriately?
The above points will enhance teamwork!
10. The easiest solution is to inform your group that it is not working and to attempt to resolve matters, or more simply to just leave!
Like I mentioned earlier – very basic! Sorry it turned out much longer than I anticipated. lol.
First a little rant to set the scene- Now I don’t consider myself particularly a noob, but I do get slightly irritated by noobs who accuse and criticise the more experienced player during a game (not that I’m a pro or anything). For example, this evening during an AO3 level, this player (below L 50) kept dying and accused me of not healing. Now as my main player is a mage, I do try very hard to keep healing and reviving where possible; but there are limits. I had to point out to this player that “Heal” has a cool down and so I cannot cast it constantly (therefore you may need to use potions, heaven forbid!) and secondly if you keep running on ahead and getting killed, then don’t expect me to keep chasing after you all the time to keep healing you - You are not the only player in the game, so take some responsibility. Rant over!!! This has led me to construct the following guide on teamwork:
Some VERY basic take home messages for players working in a group:
1. Learn your own character well and their limitations. There are plenty of guides on the forum to learn more about your chosen character. With experience and time you will come to predict certain circumstances that could lead your character to have an early death. Knowing your own chosen character inside out will benefit the team as a whole.
2. Learn about other character’s skills and abilities as well as your own as this will enhance teamwork.
3. Learn to work well in a group and use skills and try out the following:
Generally, bears should be at the front, not behind! At this point other players should let the bear get in front! When up front use the abilities Taunt to gain agro and Beckon to pull enemies in together. Following this, bears please don’t go straight for stomp or use beckon inappropriately, as it just scatters mobs around. Mages get in behind and try out novel ways of dispatching mobs quickly. A couple of examples - such as a mage can use ice storm/frostbite + firestorm. Alternatively Birds could use thorn root/wall, followed by mage’s lightning, or the birds own combo, Shattering scream + Blast shot. Or the Mage can cast ice storm followed by bears using stomp.
Very important is not to forget to use buffs and debuffs at all times. These will significantly affect the effectiveness of the team, so take some time to learn them well.
Common mistakes that impairs good teamwork:
Bears: are not using Taunt enough to take the agro away from other players. Although the skill doesn’t work all the time, bears have good health and armour in order to take the agro. So use it!
Mages: I see time and time again, fragile mages are always trying to get up front (birds are just as bad). Result – death! Obviously, if there is no tank, then someone has to go in front!
Mages appear to forget/don’t realize that mana is in plentiful supply. It will rarely reduce to zero (apart from when using mana shield) – so don’t rely on the wand/staff to deal damage. All too often I see mages hardly ever using their skills. – use your skills all the time to deal damage.
You should be using heal frequently, even if you are not damaged, your team members might be, so heal them! It cost’s so little. Other players need to realize that heal and revive have cool down times, and so they cannot be cast constantly. Heal becomes even more important against bosses. So use heal even more frequently to keep the team alive, and in between times, other players should be using potions. If there is a team fighting a difficult boss, it is completely insane to believe that if there is only one mage in the group, then that mage should be able to keep all players alive! This is virtually impossible. Very likely more often, in poor teams, the mage will be taking agro and will probably be struggling to stay alive themselves.
Birds: Birds are especially helpful against bosses and so please remember to especially use these skills: break armour/thorn root/blinding shot.
Birds are also very good at setting up combos (eg. The combo Thorn root/wall and lightning). Birds sometimes appear to be doing nothing in a team until they face the boss (where they come into their own), please bear in mind that there are plenty of other skills you could be using for the good of the team (e.g. the combo Shattering scream + Blast shot).
Other points to remember are to make use of elixirs, particularly against difficult bosses.
Eg. Overlord – often requires the use of Tanker’s Ale Elixir (this is a controversial topic in itself)!
4. Rushing on ahead of everybody else frequently results in deaths (in difficult levels) and makes it difficult for mages to revive. When fighting difficult mobs, stay close together and deal with the surrounding area before trying to move on. It is not a race. You may be surprised at how little damage you take when you stick together.
5. You are working as a team (not independently), so try not to think that you have to win by outdoing others. There are other places for that.
6. The group should ideally have a leader who directs the others (usually the host). The host should ideally make it known asap what their aim’s are in that game.
7. Host to use boot constructively and fairly; with the aim that it will aid the rest of the team and not just themselves.
8. Try not to criticize and berate others, as this can be hurtful and is seldom helpful or useful. Never get angry or abusive (it is after all only a game and you could get banned)
9. If your character is dying frequently during a game, then all to often, players blame each other. Think about the following points before making these accusations:
a. Are there too few players in the game?
c. Are the mix of characters hindering the game. For example, when facing Gurgox, it is pretty naff having one mage try and do all the reviving or having four bears against the keeper.
d. Are players using abilities appropriately?
d. Are players too low in order to cope with the required level of the map? If so, this could potentially put strain on other players
e. Are you are taking too many risks during the game?
f. Do you think you know how to play your character well? Are you using combos? Are you using potions/elixirs? Are you circling the bear/mage? Are you using freeze related abilites etc?
g. Do you have the best equipment?
h. Have you correctly placed attributes points and allocated stats appropriately?
The above points will enhance teamwork!
10. The easiest solution is to inform your group that it is not working and to attempt to resolve matters, or more simply to just leave!
Like I mentioned earlier – very basic! Sorry it turned out much longer than I anticipated. lol.