S5 - Week 5; the new patch has broken arena ratings

Hey folks,

So this week was another arena improvment for me. My 2's and 3's team went to 1495 and 1510 respecivly and I felt we were making progress. But the major news today is the following blue post

With the release of patch 3.0.8 we have implemented a new matchmaking system for arenas that will improve the overall system and help ensure that players will be matched against others of equal skill. The new matchmaking system uses a rating that you cannot see, and is separate for each of the arena brackets.

The rating changes at the end of each match are affected by this new system, and as it just came out, there may initially be some odd behavior in rating changes, but these will straighten out fairly quickly.

We will monitor this new system and update it as needed to help provide the best experience possible in arena matches.

The forums are lit up like a Christmas tree with people saying their ratings are going all over the place, some are zooming up others zooming down... and I mean WAAY up from 1600 to 2200...or way down from 1500 to 1300 and everything in between.

Also each person a team is affected differently.. in 2's you could go up 20 while your partner goes down 5...it's pandemonium.

I only read about it this morning so I don't know how it'll affect me. there's calls for rollbacks, fixes etc. Bliz has not responded so no one knows if this is a bug or an intended consequence. No one knows how the new "hidden" system works so we can't say for sure.

Here's my recommendation to anyone sitting under less then 1600.... Get out there an try. Worst case scenario you flush your rating to the 1300's; in that case you still don't qualify for better gear and you've lost out on maybe 50 arena points for the week.

HOWEVER if your score goes up you'll suddenly qualify for Hateful or even DEADLY gladiator pieces because your rating has shot up. If they roll back the ratings to 1500 you're not going to qualify again so GET THE GAMES IN NOW and take advantage of the mayhem to get better gear then you were able to get a week ago.

EDIT / UPDATE: Blizzard has annouced that arenas are offline while they look at what's going on. (as of around 1pm pacific time)

S5 - Week 4, you suck I suck we all suck

Hey guys,

So I've been swapping teams again and wound up in the 1470's on both my 2's and 3's team. I would have been higher on 2's but left my 1524 team to help out a friend who's team was at 1400.
But at this low of a rating who cares.

The sad thing was that I was pretty happy to hit 1473 in 3's....Happy? WTF! I was sitting pretty in 1650-1750 last season and was even pushing the low 1800's after the infamous pre-wrath "patch"... and now I'm happy to be seeing a sub 1500 score?

Yeah, that's bad.... but as it turns out many people must be feeling the same way, no one's posting about it (I think they're embarrassed) but the numbers verify it.

On my battlegroup the 1479 score put me in 1,292nd place out of 2,342 or just under the 50% mark....Out server, i'm on page 3 of 7 telling me I'm actually just over the 50% mark... yeah, receiving a 1479 on the Antonidas server gives me a better score then half of the people playing.

Let me put it another way, Here's the score you would need if arena titles were handed out today:

• Gladiator = 1953
• Duelist = 1777
• Rival = 1645
• Challenger = 1505

Atmidedly the numbers are rough, I don't have a good way of removing inactive teams, but they're close.... I mean 1505 for a TITLE OF ANY KIND? WoW (and not the good kind)

S5 - Week 3

The improvements I've been waiting for.

This week I could tell all the new gear I've been picking up has helped tremendously. I went from the worst rating I've ever seen up to about 1574 before settling in at 1542.... The last few games my partner for the week had a screaming child to deal with and we just wound up calling it a night due to extended "breaks" for the child.

No worries at all, I see the slow progression taking place. In fact I think I'm going to save the arena points this week and just pick up a hateful cloak. If we can cross the 1600's barrier I"m up for a few core hateful gladiator items.

My only concern is that I keep swapping partners, which makes it hard to settle down and get thing synched up.

S5 - Week 2

Oh the humanity!

Week two ended on Monday night and was very light on arena action. I ran 30 games total 10 with Kyllia, 10 with Clagg and 10 with his Clagg's DK alt. The results were pretty horrible with us slipping well under 1500.... We did not get together for 3's or 5's.

Really more of a let's get minimal points week. We were just focusing on getting all the characters their minum games for the week. I expect bigger and better things this week. Namely I plan to focus with the DK in 2's. I've also switched my main weapon from the Brutal Gladiator sword to the Titansteel Destroyer. The DK also has the Destroyer so we should be good DPS wise this week.

Time to come out swingin' in 2009!

Vault of Archavon and Daily PvP quest

Hi folks,

So last night I managed to get into a PUG group for both the 10 and 25 man Vault of Archavon. Sadly no drops for me which is a horrible, horrible, horrible shame because I really could use a Hateful or Deadly piece of arena gear!

I wanted to share two important things that I found out
while talking to a GM this weekend.

I thought something in my game was bugged, turned out it was not I just didn't know about the following:

#1) The Vault of Archavon resets every Tuesday not on a regular day based timer. So you can run him Monday night and then again Tuesday, or if you already beat him Tuesday you won't be able to run it again untill the following week.

#2) The Victory in Wintergrasp daily PvP quest shares it's slot with the daily "win in a specific BG" quest. Once you accept one of them the other will not be available. So, if you accept and turn in Victory in Wintergrasp, you cannot go up to an NPC and get Victory in Allterec Valley (for example)... and if you turned in Victory in Allterec Valley earlier that day you won't be able to pick up the Victory in Wintergrasp later that evening..... These reset the same as all daily quests so they'll be available again tomorrow but you'll have to pick one or the other, not both.

For those of you not familiar with The VoA read on... those that are turn to page 54 this is the end of the blog post for you! (that's an old choose your adventure series joke)

If your faction controls wintergrasp you have access to this raid instance which consists of 4 guardians and the main boss. Assuming your group doesn't wipe it usually takes longer to form the group then it does to do the instance.

People say this is the easiest raid you're going to encounter for WOTLK, I don't know as i haven't done any other raids but it sure is the fastest. It's pretty much spank and tank but the boss is on a 5 minute timer - if you don't kill him in 5 minutes he goes into berserk mode an one shots everyone.

It's a good idea to try and get a group going as this guy drops DEADLY gladiator gear on 25 man and HATEFUL gladiator gear on 10 man. In the 10 man you'll want 2 healers 1 main tank and one off tank. The rest DPS.

S5 - Week 1

Hi folks,

The first week of season 5 arena has come and gone. Here's how my ratings wound up
2v2 - 1544
3v3 - 1421 (yeah that's not a misprint)
5v5 - N/A

Drunkenclod, what' brought you to this lowly state? Weren't you solidly in the 1600's - 1700's and even hitting the 1800's bracket last season?

Yes, I was and there's 3 main reasons for the lower rating.

1) Gear - My gear is no longer even close to top of the line, in fact all 5 man and 10 man PvE gear is better then what I'm using and a lot of folks are wearing that. I don't normally PvE (more on that in a later article) and my play time is about 2 hours per night; not leaving much time to acquire gear. Lack of resilience is also a huge factor in 3's
1a) Also I've found lack of +HIT on gear to be extremely frustrating. Stuns not landing, judgments missed, GRRR.... All S5 gear is devoid of hit rating, the excption being misc items like neck, cloak, etc. You'll sacrifice +CRIT rating for it, but it is critical that you get back to the 5% hit cap for PvP. This will improve as I'm able to grind more honor for more gear.

2) Research - Every class has new spells, abilities and heck even the new DK class to work with. I have started looking into some of the new abilities for other classes and how to counter them, but research takes time AND then you need to practice it in the arena and BG's

3) We're rusty - Not doing PvP for a month has gotten us off our game. We've just started to mesh again, teaming up on stuns, focusing the correct targets at the correct time and working out new counters to opposing team makeup.

I fully expect this to work itself out in the upcoming weeks, but I will definitely need to start out with Savage Gladiator gear, and work my way up to hateful. It sucks because it's that much more honor and arena points to grind out but I won't be getting 1650-1750 without some better gear!

Strand of the Ancients - Get that Honor

Hey folks, this weekend I found myself doing a bit of BG... specifically the new Strand of the Ancients. Since I'm alliance no one answered any of my questions and as soon as the team started loosing the insults began flying.

After a few matches I got it figured out, but I figured I'd save some people from contributing to a loss and looking like noobs. So first of all let me give a brief overview of how this works.

There are two rounds, each lasting a maximum of 10 minutes (so the match is a maximum of 20 minutes long). Upon starting you will either find yourself on a boat which means you're attacking or on a platform/hill which means you are on defense. At the end of 10 minutes or the capture of the relic the round is over and you're automatically reset. If you started out on D you are now on O.. if you started on O you're now on D.

The side that captures the orb in the least amount of time wins! Honor is typically around 1,000 for the winning team and 500 for the loosing team. I've seen it as high as 1500/700 and as low as 900/400.... Still that's about 1,500 honor per hour for loosing and 4,000 honor per hour for wining C R A Z Y !

Before I start off on Offense or Defense take a minute to look at the map. (Taken while I was on Offense). Note the multi-colored gates and the horde GY's.... click to zoom in. Take it all in and reference it because it'll make the explanations easier if you know the layout.


OFFENSE (part 1)

So you've just ported in and you find yourself on a ship. You're on offense. You will be in one of two ships. Each will pull up in front of either the blue or green gate. Two siege canons will be waiting in front of your ships and if you're quick enough you can hop in one and control it. If you want to be a team player let the melee classes take the tanks and ranged classes follow.

Drive your tank up towards the gate use the special vehicle abilities to aim the canon and blast down the gate. Canons should focus only on the gate and the ranged people can work on shooting down the offensive turrets....OR once the canon blasts thru the gate ride like mad towards the nearest GY and take it. If you canon is still alive keep going to the next round of gates.

OFFENSE (part 2)

OK, hopefully you've blasted thru the first gate and taken the GY. As soon as a GY is capped the goblin workshops close to the GY will start producing more tanks. At this point anyone that wants to do so should grab a tank and make their way to the next gate... BUT BEFORE YOU HOP IN THE TANK grab a seaforium charge one of these acts the same as a hit from a tank. It's also the only way a person not in a tank can damage the doors....they look like little barrels next to the goblin workshop.

Just run up to the door drop the charge and it will go off in 10 seconds. (the horde can disarm it within those 10 seconds if they have the time to do so).... Keep grabbing tanks and breaking the wall untill you breach it.

OFFENSE (part 3)

Now make your way to the last (yellow) gate. Bring in as many tanks as possible and anyone not in a tank should be carrying a seaforuium charge to help with blasting the gate. Once this gate goes down make your way thru the courtyard and blast the doors of the keep down. Get inside and take the large orb. Once you take the orb the match is over and you're reset to Defense..or if you've already played D the game is over and whichever team grabbed the relic in the least time wins.



Defense (part 1)

So, if you find yourself on a hill you're on Defense. Get yourself to either the green gate or the blue gate. You'll see a set of stairs going up to the top of the gate. Run up and if no one is sitting in a turret (aka gun) you can Mount it. The controls work the same as the siege weapons. Aim and shoot. If both turrets are mounted hop onto the beach and help slow down the horde by killing enemy players or attacking the siege weapons As soon as the enemy leaves the boat start hitting the siege weapons. Kill them before they destroy your gate. If your gate is breached get off the gun and run to the inner wall.

Defense (part 2)

OK your wall has been breached, usually if the enemy tank got thru they're almost dead. Finish off the tank with a hit or two and either rush to your inner gate or to the GY (depending on where the horde is going). If no one is manning the inner gate turrets look for a glowing platform and hop on it.. this will transport you to the top of the wall so you can get in the gun and start wailing away... If the guns are manned stay below and help kill the tanks before they destroy the gate. If your 2nd set of gates are smashed retreat to the Yellow gate and repeat the process.

Defense (part 3)

The stinkin' horde have broken thru the yellow gate and are in the courtyard. Get everyone on your team in the courtyard and mow down the tanks as soon as they show up. DO NOT let them breach the door to the keep. Do whatever you have to do to destroy those tanks. Keep an eye out for the enemy planting the seaforium charges at your door and click to disarm them if they are planted. At this point either time will have run out or they have broken thru and got the relic. The match is over and you're reset to Offense..or if you've already played O the game is over and whichever team grabbed the relic in the least time wins.

!! IMPORTANT TIPS THAT WILL STOP YOU FROM LOOKING LIKE A NOOB !!

Offense

1) It's best to shout out before the match starts and pick a gate. I noticed the Green gate seemed to be the default in my BG's yesterday. If you arrive on the other boat drive your tank to the decided gate. Focusing on one side will help you team win quickly, If you win in under 4 minutes you get an achievement (got mine :).

2) Take a GY as soon as possible, no GY means no tanks, no seaforium charges.

3) If you're in a tank focus on the gates, unless you find yourself getting slaughtered quickly don't waste your time with the guns. Just blast thru the door ASAP.

4) Tanks work best in groups. Two tanks are 4x times as effective as one tank. A lone tank will be focused on by both turrets and any enemies on the ground. Two or three are a LOT harder to kill.

5) If your tank is destroyed you automatically hop out and do not die. You're probably close to the gate anyway take a minute to plant the seaforium charge

6) If a wall has been breached do NOT take precious time out to kill empty or manned turrets just drive on thru.

Defense

1) If both turrets at a gate are not manned, get in there and man it. For inner gates use the defenders portal (the lighted platform underneath a gate) to get in there.

2) Try to hang onto the GY's as long as possible. THIS IS CRITICAL... CRITICAL to wining. Once the opposing team takes the GY they have it for the entire round, you cannot take it back. They will gain control of the goblin workshop and tanks will start appearing. If you can keep the GY's under your teams control you're almost assured to keep your relic and win.

3) If you see the horde skipping your gate and going to the other one (ie you're at green gate and their going to blue) make sure to communicate that so your teammates can move their resources there. If it's clear they are totally skipping your gate get off the turret and help out your other gate.