How To Guide: PvP v2

[Yabeyabe]

I'm bored, so I figured I would write and post an extensive guide on how to PvP for any bureaucrats still out there that are ambitious (or foolish) enough to give it a try.

There's a lot to being successful in PvP on a bureaucrat--rare(ish) items, lots of levels, and most importantly, lots of practice. Tip: knowing which targets to pursue and when is the fundamental start of good PvP as a 'crat.(or any profession, really )

Let's start off with the easy part, levels!

Leveling and Strategically Picking Opponents:

• Use levels to get your kills. This may seem silly, but a 220 bureaucrat stands a much better chance against a level 200ish <insert profession here> then a 210 'crat, or even a 215 'crat with many perks stuck in useless xp lines.
• If you do not intend to level to 220, lower level pvp might be in order for you crat. Per the new PvP level restrictions, levels 175 and up can be attacked by 220 players. You do not want to be alpha'd by a 220 player as a 175 'crat, so best to use helpbot and figure out a good level to twink.
• This may seem like a joke to most 'crats, but if there is anything that comes easily for 'crats, it's getting in good teams and leveling fast, so take full advantage of it as you plan your twink, and don't be satisfied with 218 or 219--go all the way and reset your perks / get the 220 pet.

Items / Weapon Choices, Some Easy To Get, Some Not As Easy:

Part 1, Weapons!

• Items and perks are where it's at for 'crats & PvP, as we aren't very gifted in PvP naturally. (Adv in a med suit anyone? )
• First you'll want to select a good weapon that uses Aimed Shot. Yes, AS is cliche, but it's the only way to go as a bureaucrat. Before I get to the weapons you'll want to use, understand that you want to get the lowest possible recharge on AS.
• Determining what will get you the fastest AS is somewhat complicated... (to me anyways, lol) First off, the recharge on the weapon is used to determine how easily you can cap the AS recharge. Secondly, the attack speed of the weapon, can be used to determine exactly how fast you can actually cap the recharge. (Special thanks to Xiaojian for correcting me here, and for more information on the math behind it all, check out her post here.) But, basically, it's hardcapped at 10 seconds + the attack speed.
  
• Here are the most popular AS guns and small explanations of the pros and cons of each:
• For the Rifle wielding 'crats, your two best options are a Zastaba or an Alsaqri. Some also use a Fiddle rifle, but it is probably better left to lower level twinks. The Alsaqri is the best option imho, because it has a higher crit bonus then the Zastaba, and does chem damage. To make an Alsaqri, you need to loot a Sealed Weapon Receptacle - Alsaqri Chemical Rifle it will come out the QL of the tradeskill item, so you need a 200 + the receptacle. You can find a guide here on Anarchy-Arcanum.
  
• For the Shottgun wielding 'crats, your two best bets are either an Ithaka or a Onehander. The advantage of using a shotgun, is you can use either a MAW or an AI shotgun in pvm, and still do decent damage. *UPDATE* with the addition of a nifty new stun proc in LE, the onehander/pistol combo is much more attractive. Duel wielding and getting to 1/1 means that lovely stun proc will go off more often than using any other aforementioned option! CDR or an AI Pistol. Either can be found in missions.
• For the Bow wielding 'crats, (has there ever been a bow weilding pvp 'crat? O.o lol) you'll want to use a Sapphistic Bow. Like several of the already mentioned weapons, its highest ql is only 181, so be sure you can pull exactly that ql mission if you intend to roll one on clicksaver. A strong advantage of the Sapphistic (which is most commonly used by MA's) is it's fast equip and de-equip time. So if you've decided on using another type of weapon (and have the IP to do so) it's easy to hot swap back and forth. A disadvantage, is it's recharge is 1.48 seconds, which means *around* 1600+ AS skill is needed to cap the recharge. If you can, however, get the recharge capped--it has very reliable aimed shots.

Part 2, Items!

• The most crucial item you'll need to get that AS recharge down, is fortunately the cheapest. (sorta!) Most will opt to get a ql 270+ VE which can be found as chest loot in missions pulled by a fixer. Just find a fixer friend and calm your way through the mission, be sure to have a little B&E to open the chests, and with some luck you'll find one. This item adds a whopping 300+ AS skill and 9% crit, which makes it especially nice for PvPers, but helps in pvm as well. If you can't be arsed to blitz missions in hopes of finding one, you can usually buy one with some looking for *around* 30-70 mil. The price fluctuates greatly, as the item isn't sold very often and is somewhat rare.
• If you are fortunate enough to be blessed with deep pockets, or are an old timer, you might think about getting a ql 200 ELLTS. These have not dropped in AO for a very long time, so expect to pay a bundle for one. Don't let the -800 inits part fool you, its 15% crit and 300 AS skill is clearly superior to anything else for a 'crat.
• There are other ways to increase AS skill as well, such as Sharpshooter's or Commando's armor. Sharpshooters is no doubt the better armor for 'crats because of the evades mods, and the fact that all the extra AR won't do PvP 'crats much good once you've reached the MBS on your weapon of choice--which is fairly easy to do without even maxing the chosen skill.
• You can also get a Ransacking tower, if your org is fortunate enough to posses a good ql LCA. They add 30 AS at ql 200 and go up from there. They will also add 30 rifle/shotty/bow, which will give you some extra AR.
• Aside for AS Skill, while you're calming missions looking for those 270+ VE's, make sure you get some ql 275 First-Aid Kits. These require 1126 First Aid skill at ql 275, but heal for 1075-1150 every 40 seconds. I cannot tell you how many times a FA kit has saved me in PvP, so make sure not to slack on these!
• Virus Scanners and Purifying Rods are also quite handy. A decent QL Scanner will whipe UBT and other nasty debuffs from your ncu if you are sitting down and not under attack... which usually means zoning before use, but an advantage is the quick recharge. Purifying rods may be found in Inner Sanctum or the Temple of Three Winds, and will whipe out DoTs, UBT, etc... but with the disadvantage of a 10 minute recharge--still very handy if you can't get to a zone, and you can easily purchase stacks of them fairly cheaply for around 100k each.
• Speaking of Inner Sanctum, every good PvPer must have a Might of Revenant and Corrupted Flesh. These nifty items drop from the bosses on the 3rd floor of IS. The MoR will add damage and make you completely resist all roots/snares/stuns/calms for 15 seconds, and has a recharge of 12 minutes, while the CF will give you a nice little 500 point absorb for 30 seconds. (on a 20 minute recharge, but separate from the MoR) You can also wear these items on your shoulders for added root/snare resistance, but with crats insta casting deroots/snares, maybe a GoC or two or an HP adding shoulder pad would be a better idea.
• You should be quite familiar with IS by now! Hopefully you've already looted a Ring of Eternal Night which blinds an opponent on use. (don't wear it, just click to use it in your inventory or put it on a hot bar)
• For rings to actually wear while you pvp, I suggest a Ring of Luck and a HH@B. (Can't beat AAD, Run Speed, and NR!)
• You can also get reflect bracers in missions and from smuggler's den. A Melee Bracer is great for absorbing perk damage from MA's, Reaver professions, etc. and an Energy Bracer for absorbing aimed shot damage from most people. (or a Projectile Bracerfor Shotgun AS users) Radiation for the Soldier alien AS gun, but why a 'crat would stick around and take such a beating is beyond me. If you have one of each it's easy to quickly swap them out depending on the situation, and, whether dueling self or using with rrfe, they make a big difference. In the L-Wrist slot, you might want to go with an Arul Saba of some type, (hp or whatever damage type your weapon is).
• For your back slot, consider getting a Modified NotuComm Mesh Trenchcoat, they can be quite a hassle to make, and semi expensive to buy, but the +64 evades is a very nice addition to our AddAllDef. You can also get some of the +evade items from pand, if you're patient. Alternatively, I would suggest an RBP/Shell/Burden for more HP. HP is very valuable!
  
  

[Yabeyabe]

Continued...

Part 3, Imps & Symbs!

• Imps and Symbs will make a huge difference in how well you pvp. There are several things to consider, but first and foremost, you should be concerned with three things: Evades/AddAllDef, AS Skill, and Nano Abilities.
• Evades/AddAllDef: download nanonanny and make these imps as high of a QL as you can manage, preferably 275+. AddAllDef clusters are pretty rare anywhere near the right QL for these imps, but if you take the time (or spend the money) you'll find some eventually, and it's worth every bit of it. If you're lazy, just make as high a QL evade clusters as possible and pretend a better alternative doesn't exist. TIP: slots for AAD are: L-Arm, R-Arm, Feet; slots for evades are: Leg, Waist, Feet.
  
• AS Skill: prioritize AS skill over AR, and in most cases anything else... if you aren't already capped at an 11 second AS. Again, shoot for ql 275+ imps if you can manage them, these should be much easier to make then the AAD imps. TIP: slots for AS are Eye, R-Wrist, and R-Hand.
• Nano Abilities: this one is easy, the higher QL symbiants you can get in for your skills, the better off you are. Especially nano skills, because as a caster prof, it will check your nano skills vs your opponents NR skill and level to determine if the nano lands. The most important skills are PM/SI for landing Contemplation, and Stuns, and PM/TS/SI for roots and snares.

Perks and General Strategies:

Part 1, Perks!

• AddAllDef is a Bureaucrat's best friend in PvP. So as soon as you can, kiss those XP Perks goodbye, and start training up the following lines!
• Bureaucratic Shuffle, Careful in Battle, and Commanding Presence. Basically are the most important lines for a PvP 'crat, make sure to max all of them. *UPDATE* It's also very handy to get at least AI 23, this will afford you to train both Loophole (for a nice +500 AAD / 450 NR) buff, and Nano Champ, for two nice damage perks). This will leave you with 10 perks left over at 220; my recommendation for how to spend them is to train them in either Enhanced Health, Genius, or Enhanced DNA. (DNA gives a nice little hot, which can be very handy for a profession with no healing. Therefore it is my recommendation, but what ever suits your style best is fine)

Part 2, Strategy!

• Max Conceal and Perception. I cannot stress this enough. Conceal has saved my life so many times in PvP, and with Perception maxed + adv buffs, you can see most everyone except high level agents, which gives you a distinct advantage no matter what the situation, in finding weak targets or seeing potential threats before they see you. Bureaucrats have one conceal buff, Face in the Crowd, that ups conceal by 86 points. Use conceal wisely, some people will be able to see you, mostly fixers and advs, but sometimes MA's, Keepers, and Agents will train perception as well.
• Make sure you have the top roots/snares, both single and AoE, and the top de-roots/snares. (You'll only use the AoE de-root/snare in mass pvp) Use the self only nanos for yourself in pvp, they'll cast fastest and be the most effective, but try and have the other nanos as well for derooting allies. Some of those nanos are dyna loot only, but don't slack on them, using the top ones are of a big help.
  
• Keep at range! I repeat, stay away from your opponent as much as possible! AS weapons and our nanos have nice ranges on them, so take full advantage of it on melee players. If running dangerously low on health, don't be too afraid to sit for a few moments if your opponent is rooted and snared well, with a good heal delta and stims you can often recover quickly while sitting.
• For some professions, it actually helps to only attack with AS and then stop attacking until it recharges, and spam Contemplation in between shots, this can slow regular hits tremendously or slow healing / debuffs. TIP: use the highest malaise you can cast, if you have time to cast it, also look for the improved red tape nano! Combined, the top malaise and improved rt will debuff for almost 1k inits + damage and other possible debuffs! It's no UBT, but it's certainly helpful in slowing and disabling an opponent, and can help greatly inbetween recasting Contemplation.
• Try casting Rule of One, if it lands with some success, it can make a good addition to AS damage if an opponent is rooted. (Be warned, it doesn't land very often on most people).
• Use your defensive auras! Heroic Measures adds a whopping 310 AAD and 100 AR--making it the best choice. You can also try using the offensive speech, Certainty of Defeat, for its -11% crit chance (for other players) but it has a very low range.
• Always recast your pet as soon as you pop the first one. (Before PvP). It doesn't take much to alpha our bots, so, many frustrated and rooted players will take settle for your bot instead of you, being able to instantly replace it only adds to their frustration.
• If dueling an Engi, if he instantly pops out new pets from the inventory, /pet terminate and recharm. If dueling an MP make sure to AoE Calm the heal and calm pets as soon as you charm the damage pet, and watch out for NSD!
• Always play on full defense. (Disclaimer: ok, maybe not always, but pretty much all of the time spent on a PvP 'Crat will be full defense, anything else does not take full advantage of our AddAllDef, and you should instacast nearly everything anyway, even UBT'd. The only times I come off full def, is if I absolutely need to recast bot in a hurry, or when buffing comps in a backyard!)
• Outside Buffs are sometimes scorned by upty pvprs with bio, tms, acrobat, super healing, etc but on a bureaucrat, (unless dueling someone self buffed), you should always get at least RRFE (from a soldier, it will cut max hits on you down to 28% of your total HP), and a GSF and HoT (from a fixer, running fast is nice and 'crats have dark blue run speed, the HoT can help outheal AS damage from other players greatly if you decide on a lower HP bureaucrat). Some other nice buffs to have are Behe/FI/CS (hp, absorb, shield) from an enf, Sloughing Field (3 specials absorb) from an Engi, and TTS (AS) from an agent. With some experience, you'll soon find out which buffs you like most, and what will suit you best. Just don't be lame and try and duel with them, blitz a ql 200 Boosted Reflect Graft, slap on a reflect bracer, and cross your fingers.
• I have not addressed mass PvP as much, but the keys there are mostly to spam AoE roots and de-roots, while assisting the caller and ASing away. If you don't have Carlo yet, try charming a 220 engi or MP pet!
• Maximize HP. Especially now, since reflects and absorbs do not help as much with cutting down big special caps, there is no reason in the world not to maximize HP. My opifex crat has 15k self HP wearing nearly a full set of CSS. It will save your life many times over having that extra 4-5k, trust me! Yes you will see some 5-6k nasty AS's now and then, the you'll also survive many more alpha attempts if you have a little bit more cushion. The rule of thumb that I go by is that generally, AAD or Evades or AS > HP for any given slot, but my setup floats and changes depending on what is going on. It's pretty easy to hotswap about 2k-3k worth of HP, so make sure to give yourself some options.
  
  

That about does it for my Bureaucrat How To Guide on PvP! I get a lot of tells ingame when I play Sterva regarding the things I've posted in this guide, so hopefully this will help any would-be aspiring PvP 'crats find their niche.

PS: Here is a link to a video of me PvPing a bit as a 'crat! And here you can find many other videos with some of the most talented PvPers from RK1! The best way to learn is to watch experienced players fight, and to just get out there and try it! Don't worry if you die...a lot, as a 'crat, eventually you'll get the hang of it and it will come easier for you. Last but not least, remember tip number 1! Careful who you chose to fight, it'll often make the difference between titles and wins / losses, but moreover, if you're always picking fights with docs and advs, you'll probably just get frustrated and give up.

Hope you enjoyed reading this guide, and find it helpful in your endeavors, GL out there! Any Tips or Corrections are appreciated!

Edit: I have moved the part about how to pvp vs. different professions to the end of the thread so that I have more room to stick important updates on the first page. You can find more detailed information about how to pvp each profession here.

[Burrstin]

avon will your write my school essays please? :O

I stopped readin after how to level to 220, all I wanted to know!

[Powerranger]

Bring Back Pooncrat!

[Nova]

Very nice post.
Thanks for making it.

[xiaojian]

wow great guide! awesome information, inspiring too!

Before I get to the weapons you'll want to use, understand that you want to get the lowest possible recharge on AS. The recharge for AS is hardcapped at 10 seconds + the recharge on the weapon. (So if the weapon has a 1 second recharge, the fastest you can cap it for is 11 seconds)

A very small correction to a truly brilliant guide -> While AimedShot recycle prior to capping is based on the weapon recharge and your AS skill, the AimedShot recharge -cap- is 10 seconds + the attack time of the weapon.

So weapons with faster Recharge Time will generally cap at lower AS skill, but weapons with faster Attack Time will ultimately have faster AS recycle when capped.

Brilliant guide! Thank you for sharing your extensive experience and such great information with the rest of us - and thanks too for the work that went into writing such a detailed and helpful pvp guide.

[Yabeyabe]

A very small correction to a truly brilliant guide -> While AimedShot recycle prior to capping is based on the weapon recharge and your AS skill, the AimedShot recharge -cap- is 10 seconds + the attack time of the weapon.

hmmm, I checked with some people, and the word is it's recharge, not attack time, but I'll do some more research just to be sure.

Edit: I stand corrected, fixed the guide a bit.

[Mezzzz]

Awesome Guide, recently stopped playing my crat at 213 just using him to farm creds for my agent/advy/ma, but your guide made me want to lvl him again

[Facadefx]

u forgot one of the main ingredients, EXPIRIENCE EXPIRIENCE EXPIRIENCE. Gotta die a few times and control those nerves that can come . Sux when i first started and couldnt hit the right nanos/perks hehe.

Oh and at 220, always good to hit the dodge the blame perk for the initation of battle, so none of those alphas land (<3 how it can evade mongorage alphas) and then throw in the evasive stance for the regular bashing

Atm, for anyone who cares, im going Pistol + Onehander just so it balances pvm and pvp a little bit, and its also nice to have glory going during pvp from the kyr pistol

[Yabeyabe]

hehe, my PS on the last post is pretty much saying just that. also, using dodge right away in a duel isn't *always* the best idea, as sometimes the more experienced pvpers expect a crat to immediately throw up cib/dodge and save their MR alpha for later... it all depends I guess. In my experience, lots of PvPrs have patterns to how they fight. Some always try a full alpha to start with, and others usually save it... trying to keep track of who does what can help sometimes.

[securitywyrm]

My PvP advice for non-PvP crats who find themselves in PvP. PvP can be fun in this game, but ONLY if you 'twink' a character to be as powerful as possible at a certain level. I personally think PvP in this game is broken. To put it in a counterstrike analogy...
In other games, a twink can pick whatever he wants, and the non-twinks just have a pistol. The guy with the pistol still has a chance (a slim one, but a chance), and a team of guys with pistol can take down the twink. The ammount of power of a twink is 3-4x that of a non-twink.
In this game, especially with alien equipment, you have a player who is flat out immune to anything less than AWP headshots (BIIIG sniper rifle). The ammount of power of a twink is 10-20x that of a non-twink. When non-twinks can not scratch a twink, it's bogus.

So here's my advice for bureaucrats who go to PvP unwillingly. Your org asks for your help in a tower war for example.

1. DO NOT wear your crat suit, or any item that clearly marks you as a bureaucrat. Briefcase, having your pet on follow, etc. Let's face it, while some twinked bureaucrats can moderately hold their own, there's more than a few abilities out there which will turn you into a smear on the wall. If you can get armor that makes you look like another profession, even better.
2. Commanding precense will probably be your biggest contribution, as it will help your teams 'twinks' against the other teams 'twinks'. Heroic measures isn't so good unless you're hanging back with a ranged character, as it will also affect that enforcer who runs up to give you something steaming and hot, and it's not coffee. Your robot is probably the secondary, but just throw it on hunt and forget about it. It will do more good as a distraction than a damage dealer.
3. HIDE. If you're just doing a little PvP, you might want to buff up your concealment (hey we do get a concealment buff) and find a rock to hide behind. Your commanding precense will still be active (Since it's a team and not area based aura). If you get spotted, RUN.
4. Be prepared to flee. If the tanks go down, you will be a prime target. Have burst of speed stims, coffee, whatever you can get your hands on to increase your runspeed in case you need to evacuate. It is worth it to pick up a gridspace freedom so you can sprint to the next zone. Don't be afraid to use a nearby playercity whompa.
5. When fleeing, check out who is chasing you. The 'twinks' will probably not even pay attention to you unless they run out of other targets, because you probably don't have a title worth taking. This means that you will likely have the 'non-twink' players from the other team trying to earn themselves a starter title, or just get at least one kill 'their own'. Your snares and roots actually come in handy in this situation, the SL roots in particular. While they break on attack, they land fairly well. Spam it as you run.
6. (UNCONFIRMED) I have heard that commanding precense works from a yalm, but haven't tested it out yet. If this does work though, in an intense battle you might as well just be hovering over the tank and go vertical if you get attacked.

It's not an elegant way to do PvP, but this advice is designed more to 'avoid getting ganked' than to 'be a high titled PvP crat'. Just offering another perspective.

[eaze]

Very impressive guide

[Labelslave]

have you guys gone crazy? Literally raining guides here

[Saetos]

have you guys gone crazy? Literally raining guides here

Just shows that we care, that's all

The ONLY complaint I can muster is necessity of outside buffs; I don't like to duel with my opponent having outside buffs - that just means they won because of something they don't have. But I can see that you might need HOT's and RRFE's if you're going against a veteran PvP'er... then I can understand.

Otherwise, this guide being rooted was an awesome decision.

[Yabeyabe]

necessity of outside buffs;

err, sorry if I didn't clarify enough in there somewhere, I wasn't suggesting ever using ob's in a duel. that's just lame, I meant in general whompa/nw pvp.

[Omniphase]

Glad to see some INTERESTING pvp guides from a proffession that still interests me muchly. Hopefully once I level my crat a bit I can mess around with the ideas you have here. Shame that more people don't come up with these, does nobody else find it a challenge to try pvping with a supposedly lesser class like NT, MP or crat.

Maybe I'm just too much of a masochist

[Czarina]

I love to PvP on my crat...

Just that I do more NW's and less Whompa Wars...

there are a few of us out there, hopefully LE will give the opportunity for a lot more to get involved... It's easy to PvP the best PvP profession... but to do one that isn't going to alpha kill and takes effort is real reward.

[Iyraclea]

Really Nice Guide

Just one question:

How much AS-skill you can get with 220 ?

is there any chance to manage the 1633 needed for capping those lovely Razorback ??

[Yabeyabe]

is there any chance to manage the 1633 needed for those lovely Razorback ??

I think so,yes...

a 220 'crat should have around 815 base AS skill.

815+ellts (300) + SS (210) + exp (20) + tts (130) + Imps (250) + ransacking (45) = 1700+ AS skill

It certainly would be fun exploring sometime, as it's definitely a solid PvP weapon. It has a really nice MBS of 1600, + a high dmg cap, and ofc an extra special. (Though without agent crit nanos, fling isn't as effective in pvp).

[Iyraclea]

Yeah i know the fling is not as effective as with an agent, but the as should make up for all the trouble with the skills getting this weapon on.

I use it on my Agent on rk3 versus Biococoon opponents due to projectile damage and projectile damage of the agent perks.

Just startet a new opifex-crat on rk1 (dooh just had forgotten how bad this game is at start without any money and higher alts :P)

Intending to use the razorback in the end