What makes a good pvp build? especially damage-wise

Lyserus · March 2021

With the full respec I finally comes to a point where I say "f it" and stop looking for builds online.
Even if my build is less optimised, it would feel better cosmetic-wise and I know why I select each skill on my bar

However one thing bothering is, it seems that I put too many utility skills (since I feel like they are very useful and each can be very important for different scenarios) over damage skills.

And for the damage ones, I'm not too sure if I should have a spam one or multiple different ones (again, I feel like I will be missing out on many utility skills if I put too many damage skills)

And unlike PVE I'm not too sure if I should put too many damage over time or area damage skills, but without them there is hardly any rotation

Any good pointers?

LtClungeX · March 2021

it totally depends on the class, what class or classes are you running mate?

Kartalin · March 2021

Which class are you looking at playing, and are they magicka or stamina?

LtClungeX · March 2021

Kartalin wrote: »

Which class are you looking at playing, and are they magicka or stamina?

we asked the same question but you asked it better

Kartalin · March 2021

lol, I took a little longer to reply because I read through the whole post twice looking for any mention of specifics

SeaArcanist · March 2021

damage over time is technicly not a good test for damage in pvp.

an example being in a 60 second span in pvp arguably for 50-60% of the time (not accurate btw dont judge!) the enemy is avoiding you/attacking you back. while this happens you're using resources to heal as opposed to damaging thus lowering sum total dps as well as rolling, blocking, or just keeping out of LOS (line of sight). so really half the time yo ucant land a hit on people. so take average dps and do 1/2.

what you want in pvp is PEAK dps. your dps oculd be 15k/sec. but if for 12 of those 60s, your dps is 30k and like 10k the rest of the time. you can still land a kill.

you see pvp is about lining up your stun, whe nthe enem is low on reosurces and cant break free. THEN you line up for peak dps with the stun. so for 3s, ur dps would be 36k/sec. and they cant break free. so it's gg.

but learning what queues to act upon to get this tactic to work takes practice. alot of mind games in pvp, making ur enemy blow reosurces, then assumign the right moment to stun as wlel as lining up that stun with your peak dps preformance.

Vevvev · March 2021

Typically I go down a checklist.

Spammable
Delayed Burst/Powerful Ultimate
Reliable Stun
Heal Over Time
Burst Heal
Source of Major Resolve
Mobility Ability (Major Expedition, Gap Closer, or something like Mistform)
A few Damage Buffs
Way to pull Nightblades out of Stealth.

SeaArcanist · March 2021

so asking "what build does the best damage" isnt the right question, persay. regardless of damage. as logn as ur peak damage is decent, and you can line up a 2-3s stun. you can get them.

now i do see alot of epic 40k dps builds or w/e. but half the time they are aoviding you and blow another 25% of their reosurces healing. their window of oportunity is small. and for like 45s of the 60s. im taking no damage or healing. etc. and with such large gaps between being hit my reosurces are plentiful.

you want pressure in pvp. a slow burn if you will. so ur enemy is contantly using reosurces.

combined this slow burn method with the peak damage finisher. and u got urself a killer pvp build

Lyserus · March 2021

LtClungeX wrote: »

Kartalin wrote: »

Which class are you looking at playing, and are they magicka or stamina?

we asked the same question but you asked it better

hey you both:)

stamina templar for now, tho I do plan to plan for building other classes as well

MinnesotaKid · March 2021

well coming from PVE to PVP you have a couple different mindset changes you have to get through before it makes sense.

1. You don't worry about DPS, you worry about KDR. (kill to death ratio)
2. Because of #1 you really don't have a rotation per se but burst combos. The idea being to kill quickly and efficiently
3. You accomplish burst combos by splitting your bars into offense and defense. I usually run my offensive skills on the front bar and defensive skills on the back bar.

Now this is where it get tricky and where it gets creative. Unlike PVE, there is no META. Sure some setups will work better than others but PVP is much more skill dependent (player skill) and there's is a lot more diversity in builds.

So combos...
I use a keyboard/mouse so if on a controller you'll have to adapt to what's comfortable to you but generally it goes something like this.

back bar:
1. Self buff
2. self buff
3. shields ( barswap)

front bar:
1. de-buff on player
2. delayed skill
3. gap closer
4. spam skill
5. execute skill (barswap)

back bar
4. purge
5. heal

Ideally most of your front bar stuff should all hit within the shortest time possible to burst the enemy down and not give them a chance to heal.
If you get into a protracted fight you need to decide to either continue the assault or cut and run. Some people build to wear you down then try and burst you when your resources are low and resource management is key in these fights.
There is no shame in living to fight another fight.

Please keep in mind that I'm writing this from a single combat perspective, this will change a bit if in a group and you have a dedicated healer. In that case you can run two offensive bars if your heals are good.

One last thing....
YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!
A LOT!
That's just the way it is until you hone your skills and can read your opponents and react to what they're doing.