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Vap's 71 bird guide- build, gears and how to fight each class
DISCLAIMER: This guide is made purely for fun and a way to pass my time.
Hey everyone! Most of you won't really know me on forums since I'm not very active on here but I decided to make a 71 bird guide as I don't think one has ever been made. I am well aware that twinking especially at 71 is long gone but I have wanted to make a guide for a long time (just for fun really and I've got a lot of free time anyways). Regardless, I think it should be a good read and provide a nostalgic experience for old time pvpers. Anyone who pvps should find this interesting.
I will base my guide around the 2017 meta as ofc the current one is non-existent. My skill build takes into account recent nerfs such as bear's evade skill and this is explored later on in this guide.
I do not have enchants on any of my sets or QTR weapons so this guide is purely for clean sets (i.e. the way it was 2017 and before). Just think of this as a late guide or whatever. It should really have been made in 2017.
BACKGROUND:
Reasons why I think 71 is the best place for birds to pvp:
* You can use a talon set which is decent (talon set also looks pretty badass).
* Recurve bow eats bears (especially due to their dodge nerf)
* Recurve is very expensive so you feel smug by owning one
* Level 9 skills
* 66-71 community was quite vibrant. A lot of FFAs too.
* Leveling to 71 used to be hard so you felt proud once you reached it
* Mages can actually be beaten even with goddess wand sets (unlike 56-66 where mages outclass birds).
This is my bird below. It looks rather dashing if I do say so myself.
Attachment 188611
Another one with recurve (aka 'fear machine' as bears would say):
Attachment 188612
GEAR:
If you can, I would recommend getting the flying 5pc set because both talon and recurve are good. If you are tight on cash, I suggest buying only talon set. You can use the cheaper dragonspine longbow but it does not have the blind proc which the recurve does.
A 3pc ring would also be handy since most people use them and you don't want to be at a disadvantage.
Recurve has a blind proc which melts bear's hit. I've had fights where bears are right next to me and literally can't do anything to me due to having 10 hit.
The blind proc is so useful because it stacks with bird's blind skill (which already takes away a whopping 60 hit). The proc takes away -15 hit each time and activates frequently (one in three shots with bow I think?). You end up taking away 90 hit usually but even -75 or -60 (just from blind) can turn the fight in your favour. This proc hits more now since bear's have less dodge than before.
Talon set has more crit and h/s than recurve (just 5 more but I find it helps). It is also obviously way more tanky but even then I only use this set against goddess mages really. Talons set is also useful to counter angel talon birds since you do more damage than them.
Talon set:
Attachment 188613
And recurve set:
Attachment 188614
No amulets or rings were equipped.
BUILD:
Builds aren't too difficult to come up with at this level. All birds need max buffs, blind (jump from 8 to 9 is HUGE) and break (to nuke). They also need 5 avain as this is the only level that will free you from stuns,frost and roots. Any more into avian is a waste since as a bird, you're primary focus is to kite/
NOTE: I think avian is still very useful especially when a bear comes close. They've stunned me but when they come close, I can use avian to knock the back a little and stun them back (avian can stun).
A useful little combo is avian and repulse for insane knockback. This combo also seems to do some good damage for some reason.
My build is as follows:
Attachment 188622
As you can see, I have followed to mandatory set up while putting 7 points into shattering scream and a bit less into roots. The roots are quite low because bears dont have a lot of dodge anymore so there is no need to take much dodge away. Roots are used to hold your opponent in place so they cant come near you or run (I think the latter is very important because you dont want them to heal off your damage and regen which they will do if they are low on health). You do not want a bear close to you because if they hit crushing blow, they will severely debuff your damage and dodge as well.
The reason for using 7 shattering scream is its armour debuff. The debuff is decent at level 7 and as a bird, you want to maximise your damage output as much as possible. By all means go for 9 if that's what you wish. You could probably take some points from thorn wall (not as useful as thorn root due to longer cool down).
Another thing I want to talk about is having repulse at level 5. I have done some experiments myself and have found that 5 repulse gives the highest knockback. Anything more does not increase it.
You'll probably wonder why blast is also at level 6 instead of 9. I think that investing in armour debuffs is more important because you want all your skills to do more damage. Investing more in blast only benefits that skill alone.
FIGHTING OTHER CLASSES:
At 71 you'll see bears, birds and mages mostly so I will cover these classes only.
VS BEASTLY SCYTHE BEAR:
These bears are much easier to beat compared to 'hybrid' bears. I usually use recurve because, like I said before, the blind stacks and the bear essentially becomes a sitting duck.
Make sure you hit blind first at 12m and then you've pretty much won.
Never double root a bear because they can just stomp out of it and you have wasted your roots (because their main purpose is to hold the bear in place so he doesnt hit crushing blow). Use wall root and wait for him to stomp out.
After that, you use your other root and proceed to nuke him and make sure to get your blind proc off. My main nuking combo, after he's rooted, break shatter blast then blind again.
Should the bear get close, immediately avain then repulse because that will knock him back and stun him too if you're lucky.
The reason why I use recurve is because once a bear's got you trapped, his slashes are going to annihilate you regardless whether you use talon or recurve.
VS HYBRID(bears with dex pieces equipped to increase their hit):
I dont have much expertise in this area because these bears are much more difficult to beat due to their high hit. This means that blind doesn't have much of an effect as it did on beastly bears.
Recurve could work since stacking blind can get them down to 50 hit potentially but the drawback is that they can literally beck stomp you and you're finished.
Hybrids can easily be beaten when their iron blood runs out since this adds 150 armour.
I think that the way to beat them is to survive long enough until iron blood runs out but you want enough health as well.
So I would suggest using talon set due to greater tanking capabilities. You could use recurve if you kite the bear well.
In any case, you should try to juke the bear's beckon and avian away his hell scream. Your starting skill should be repulse to keep them at a distance and mitigate their beckon.
Thanks for reading if you got this far. It was quite a long guide but I hope it covers everything and you found it useful or at least vaguely entertaining to read.
Even though 66-71 pvp is all but dead, I am always online on my 71 bird. If anyone has clean sets, I am down for some pvp.
IGN: Cakenuked.
