PvP Lessons (Part 1)

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Mass PvP in ArcheAge is relatively simple in theory but requires practice to implement well. For maximum effectiveness, a certain raid composition is needed, as well as the ability to move together as one and weave abilities around one another.

The most important thing to remember in any PvP engagement is: Follow the heart. Stick with the marked raid leader at all times, like glue, and the raid will be exponentially stronger. Many guilds have practice sessions where they do nothing but run around following the heart, in order to ingrain the habit.

Note: Abilities are noted below by row then column (so “1-3” is row 1, column 3).

Mageball 101

A tanky, well-geared initiator (usually raid lead) will act as the marked dive target. The entire raid needs to dive into the enemy as a single unit, usually by gliding in, and continue to move around in the raid as one. Keep an eye on the heart to make sure you are staying with your raid as the fight evolves. Even ranged DPS and healers should stay close to the mageball, or they will be picked off. The center of your friendly mageball is actually the safest place to be.

Mages should be Revenants (Sorcery/Occultism/Auramancy) and Skullknights (Defense/Occultism/Auramancy). Execute your AoE abilities with the dive target as the center. The order of moves for mages is as follows:

  1. Fortress (Def 4-4), Liberation (Aur 1-3), & Redoubt (Def 3-2)
  2.  GLIDE IN
  3. Vicious Implosion (Aur 4-1)
  4. Hellspear (Occ 3-1)
  5. Begin “weaving” God’s Whip (Sorcery 4-3) with the other AoEs
    1. God’s Whip
    2. Summon Crows (Occ 1-2)
    3. God’s Whip
    4. Chain Lightning (Sorc 1-3)
    5. God’s Whip
    6. Flame Barrier (Sorc 2-3)
    7. God’s Whip
    8. Freezing Earth (Sorc 1-2)
  6. Use Shrug It Off (Aur 4-2) and Conversion Shield (Aur 3-1) as needed throughout the fight.

Meanwhile, melee should be Darkrunners (Shadowplay/Battlerage/Auramancy) and a couple Abolishers (Defense/Battlerage/Auramancy).

  • They should use Sunder Earth (Batt 4-1) and Whirlwind (Batt 3-1) to damage and debuff the enemy raid.
  • They should also use Lasso (Batt 1-2) to pull the enemy healers into the center of the mageball. Imprison (Def 2-3) is also useful to isolate the enemy healers, but must be used with care to avoid disrupting your own raid.
  • Another of their primary focuses is to use Lasso to “peel” enemies off your friendly healers and back into the mageball.

Healers have a variety of classes from which to choose. In general, the healers should form a semicircle around the friendly mageball until targeted. When targetted, they should quickly move to the center of the mageball.

  • Only 2-3 Clerics (Vitalism/Auramancy/Songcraft) are needed per large raid. They have the highest healing power and also play songs to buff the raid. Remember that only Ode to Recovery (Song 3-2) stacks. Clerics tend to be squishy.
  • Templars (Vitalism/Auramancy/Defense) are the tankiest of the healers, and their main job is to soak up damage while healing.
  • 1-2 Soothsayers (Vitalism/Auramancy/Shadowplay) are needed to do nothing but sneak around in stealth and resurrect those who die.
  • Tomb Wardens (Songcraft/Auramancy/Defense) are offensive healers, using Dissonance (Song 4-1), Startling Strain (Song 2-1), and Thwart (Aur 1-1) to debuff the enemy raid, as well as Leech (Aur 2-3) and Bull Rush (Def 3-1) to interrupt their casts and debuff.
  • Hierophants (Vitalism/Auramancy/Witchcraft) are tanky if they take the appropriate Witch passives (4, 6, 7, and 8 point). They dive with the mageballs and execute Banshee Wail (Witch 1-3) for a “fear bomb” AoE. Fear bombs are also an excellent defensive counter to being mage balled.

Raid Communication

  • As previously mentioned, a tanky initiator should be marked as the dive target.
  • Additionally, two shot-callers should be named prior to the beginning of the engagement, one for melee and one for ranged. The raid should Track Target on their shot caller, so they can quickly select the shot-caller’s target at any time.
  • During an action, VOIP comms should be kept clear except for useful information. For example: “OMG these guys hit hard” or “HAHAHA I wrecked him!” do not contain information. Say it to yourself, not over comms. “Focus Superhealer420” or “Uberpwn is on our healers” do.
  • When calling for help or passing location information, call out your raid frame. For example, if you’re in Team #2, 3rd one down, your raid frame is 2-3. “Heals on me!” or “The raid is over here!” don’t help, because it takes too long to locate a name in a raid list. Say instead “Heals on 2-3” or “Reds at 2-3”. Get in the habit of checking your raid frame before entering an engagement, and confirming it periodically in case the positioning is adjusted mid-fight.

Additional Info

  • Ex-Haranya Hero Channie made a humorous diagram visually demonstrating some of what I detailed above.
  • 10 minute Forestcrow video demonstrating pretty decent mageballing.
  • Pots and buffs needed for raiding as a simple image macro and in more detail as a spreadsheet.

Last updated June 6, 2016
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