Alliance Battles (and other PvP)

[soul]

Well, currently RB sits at second last of the alliance as far as faction goes, being only a few thousand above the next.

Now, I don't suppose it is a huge deal in itself, a lot of people don't have factions yet, aren't too far into the game, aren't too into PvP, but I think it'd be pretty cool to have our alliance own a town, but it probably won't happen without some RB contribution.

So, how about we set a day to do some PvP?

This Monday could be good, perhaps have an all day thing going – not necessarily doing the FvF all day long, but rather than set a time, which could/would exclude members in different timezones, everyone could expect to play some PvP. Perhaps anticipating doing it will help everyone be more into it, instead of wandering off into the PvE areas?

Having no experience at it isn't an excuse. It'd be fun just to get out there with others in the guild, and get some practice. Don't think we need to worry about winning right away, and you'll never get any experience if you don't try it sometime.

Alternatively if we lack enough with factions, we can always try out the TA, and Scrimmages can be pretty fun.

Who's interested? (And has Factions, as it's kind of needed for the FvF battles.)

Edit: update

[Havral]

I may be wrong, but I think the reason why we're the lowest contributor to the Luxon alliance is because most of us are Kurzick players.

As such, we have an excess of Kurzick faction, and little Luxon.

[FoxBat]

Alliance battles are pretty close to the same experience no matter which side you fight for. Though it's not really the most efficient way to farm faction either, compared to some of the mind-numbing repeatable quests or challenge missions.... and the luxon navigator in our hall won't be so friendly if your kurzick faction exceeds your luxon.

I'd like to know what the current cheapest luxon town is before even trying to go down this path... the whole thing reeks of stupidity. Encouraging mind-numbing farming activities FTL anet, especially for getting into "elite" missions.

[KingOfPain]

Current price for a town is +1 mil.

Not that we have to FARM faction for the alliance, but we should contribute to the cause just the same - At least have an increasing faction tally most of the time. I don't think it will require us to do anything un-fun to beat the 10% decay.

I like SF's idea. Not that we have to commit to a set time or grouping, just that when we meet up, we are mentally prepared (including some clue of what to do and have a character prepared). I know there are times I want to join in certain activities, but are not mentally prepare and too lazy to re-spec. Those with more exp with FvF might want to post some hints of what its about, what to do, and as much as some basic builds for each profession. The builds need not be complete, just list a few essential skills one would want to bring then we can fine tune it individually to our play style and to supplement each other.

It doesn't have to be a grind. It can be fun! I am up for mondays!

KoP

[Swiss Mercenary]

To earn anything meaningful, it does have to be a grind. A grind for very large alliances.

Cavalon, for instance, is sitting pretty at 9 million faction.

[Lurker Wyrm]

Our ventures into Alliance battles so far have been more or less ad-hoc groups that were poorly planned. I've been hearing a lot about certain TA builds that work well in ABs, so maybe we should try those out next time. To be more specific, I found one over at the team-iq forums that seems to be doing pretty well when it goes in, so I thought I'd copy/paste it here. Credit for the build goes to Speciou5.

E/Mo
12 Smiting
11+1+1 Energy Storage
6 Protection
Draw Conditions
Smite Hex
Judge's Insight
Balthazar's Aura
Strength of Honour (or sub)
Lifebond (for the monk)
Ether Prodigy
Rez Signet

OoB Boon Prot
12+1+1 Divine
10 Blood
8+1 Protection
Boon
OoB
Mend Ailment
Reversal of Fortune
Guardian
Signet of Devotion
Holy Veil
Contemplation of Purity

Gale Axe
12+3+1 Axe
11+1 Strength
5 Air
Gale (or Drain Enchantment with W/Me)
Evis
Rake
Exec
Distracting Blow
Sprint
Frenzy
Rez

Bunny Thumper
12 Hammer
10+3+1 Beastmastery
8+1 Expertise
Irresistible Blow
Hammer Bash
Crushing Blow
Tiger's Fury
Ferocious Strike
Call of Haste
Charm Animal
Rez

The only change that I would make would be that since res skills have proven somewhat pointless in AB (no dp and you're never on the floor for more than 15 seconds) would be that the res sigs could be replaced with another attack skill or something for self preservation.

[KingOfPain]

I think I can get Jinni to take up the Gale Axe without buying skills. Will check on it later.

Half Moons have all the skills listed for the Boon Prot. I will try that out too. She does ok with her normal Healer set up, and recently fitted Unyielding Aura on her skill bar for ABs. it's cute, but that also mean OoB or MoR for energy is out of the question...

KoP

[FoxBat]

I'd go so far as to say that AB is really a different animal from TA.

All the rage on the Basin boards seems to involve two sword warriors with "charge" and two monks abusing air of enchantment and zealot's fire. In any case, having at least one "charge!" around is fairly key to moving quickly between control points... and of course sticking close enough to the warrior to benefit from it.

[Lurker Wyrm]

I'd go so far as to say that AB is really a different animal from TA.

It is, but there are still 4 man builds that transfer over well. Most pressure builds probably will, whereas most builds that rely on the boon prot taking all the damage while the others do their thing won't. As I've played in it more and more, I've noticed that, like randoms, the boon prot isn't a very good choice since that's geared more towards self-preservation rather than the preservation of all. Right now, my guess is that a more HA-themed monk would work better but I have no idea.

[soul]

It is, but there are still 4 man builds that transfer over well. Most pressure builds probably will, whereas most builds that rely on the boon prot taking all the damage while the others do their thing won't. As I've played in it more and more, I've noticed that, like randoms, the boon prot isn't a very good choice since that's geared more towards self-preservation rather than the preservation of all. Right now, my guess is that a more HA-themed monk would work better but I have no idea.

I have to agree with this myself. From my own experience playing a monk in FvF, boon-prot seems much less effective than in PvE (haven't tried it in any other organized PvP so I can't really comment on that).

Perhaps a straight healing/boon healing build might work out a bit better but I almost think it may be better to run without a monk (healer, at least), and everyone using their own self-preservation skills. May not last as long in a head-to-head with another team that has a monk, but FvF strikes me as fairly chaotic, with a lot of small fights going on than always whole teams fighting against each other. It's really quite easy to get separated from your team as well, especially if you die away from a res shrine, and that makes it hard for a monk to keep up with everyone.

Maybe I'm wrong on that impression, and dedicated healing is just as important as any other organized PvP, but it feels more like RA than TA. Healers help there, but I've seen, and been a part of teams without them do very well.

To earn anything meaningful, it does have to be a grind. A grind for very large alliances.

Cavalon, for instance, is sitting pretty at 9 million faction.

While I don't disagree it is a massive grind anyway, Cavalon, I believe, is the most contested location, which kind of skews things. Might be hard for this alliance to make even the faction to take one of the others, but it isn't as unlikely as taking Cavalon.

I believe the alliance has its eyes set on Zos Shivros Channel (still under 3 million faction), as I believe it is named after the leader guild. That goal is still quite a ways away, but I don't really think it is impossible to reach if the alliance keeps growing.