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 )

Why PVP ?

For fun, for victory points (Battlestations) and for showing off a shiny title next to your name: duel, solo or team.
Those titles are grinded with kills or duel won, there are 10 levels for each. The most interesting title for us is the solo title, which is unique for each profession.

Our titles are:

1. Receptionist,
2. Assistant,
3. Supervisor,
4. Manager,
5. Leader,
6. Chief,
7. Administrator,
8. Executive,
9. Director,
10. Chancellor

Now 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!

[Yabeyabe]

Edit: Adding a small section to explain how I personally approach pvp vs each profession. I don't have the space to go into great detail, but I can point you in the right direction.

Adventurer: Wait out their bio, don't bother wasting specials on bio, just let it run out naturally. Also, you probably will not keep a pvp adv rooted or snared very well, so for the most part just kite around in circles, most advs are melee nowadays so it's easy to stay out of range, just be careful of grafts+alphas. The only way to kill them is to interrupt their healing, many advs will attack without even getting rrfe, because they think you're an easy kill. The best way to interrupt an advs healing is to stack malaise+irt and then land Rabies. Between AS's, Rabies, and the pets, the adv will have to concentrate more on healing than trying to kill you (yay), and with 1kish init debuffs running, the pets actually stand a decent chance of interrupting and your stuns will make a much bigger difference. Overconfidence is their biggest weakness. If you're trox, perk freak strength and MR, you can stun them for 20 seconds or so by starting with the stun nano, chaining freak strength, and ending with the stun nano. Otherwise, I (as an opifex) can still land freak str on most all advs if acro is down, and can land it through acro if I blow SB. Advs are far from invincible! It just takes time...

Agent: Special blockers and freak strength if they are in doc, the pets will take care of the rest. And or, if they are in soldier, pop evade perks, run in and snare/root them, and run out of sight.

Doctor: Doctors are a walk in the park, it's just about timing. Get them to about 2/3's hp, then start your stun combo and spam specials in between stuns. You have to be very precise with the stuns or they will heal between them, defeating the whole purpose. Keep rods on you to break dots if you fail the first couple times.

Enforcer: AS them down. If they try and MR perk you and evades aren't up, stun them and run.

Engineer: AoE calm everything, including the engi. Don't bother with charming his pets, just kill him. If you charm he might be able to pop new ones out. Be careful though, some engies know how to uncalm pets, so you might have to calm twice!

Fixer: root them until you get them low on hp, save your specials, then land your stun nano. Very effective. Or, if you are on a battlestation and you know that they won't evac, just spam snares/RoO and AS. Try and keep your pets unsnared as much as possible.

Keeper: simply root and snare them into submission. Eventually they will run out of heals and bio, then it's fairly easy to kill them.

Martial Artist: Keep out of range. Might be hard to keep them rooted, and usually impossible to stun them, so just work on them slowly. After their heal perks run out, try keeping them rooted as much as possible, and between the pets and AS, you'll win eventually.

Meta-Physicist: AoE calm before nsd.

Nano Technician: Freak str stun / alpha, keep em rooted and keep them away from your pets. Or, with most NT's, you can probably get away with just using the stun nano. *UPDATE* another extremely helpful tip is that most NT's do not ever actually attack most people. This might seem like an advantage in their favor at first, since you rarely get a warning before getting hit by a tripple or a blind, but it can actually work to your advantage as well. The next time an NT hits you with a tripple nuke out of no where and you see yourself at 2k life with calmed pets and no way out, try concealing. Most NT's don't have enough perception to see a bureaucrat if they're self buffed, and there's nothing like sneaking away from impending doom right under a frustrated nt's nose.

Shade: root non NR shades, blind NR ones, TURN when they alpha you and run in different directions. Don't be predictable, and you won't get perked.

Soldier: I have alpha killed several 220 soldiers just by chain stunning them with nano+freak str, if that doesn't work, then snare them and keep out of range until AMS drops, then run in and stun alpha them again. Stunning minimizes the damage they can do to you and makes it possible to kill them. Get an AMS timer macro, ie:

go to Start --> Run --> notepad
/text AMS TIMER STARTED
/delay 60000
/text AMS HALF UP
/delay 40000
/text AMS DOWN IN 20
/delay 10000
/text AMS DOWN IN 10
/delay 10000
/text AMS DOWN!!!

then save the script in your ao script folder as something easy, like "ams" (with no file extension), that way it's easy to type it out ingame, or make a macro for.

you can add colors or what not to make it more visible, but you get the idea.

Trader: Revised: uncalm your pets if need be stun the trader to death... freak strength helps a lot, as do roots! keep them on the defensive and you'll win.

Edit #2: Since a lot of people have asked, here is a quick explanation of how to uncalm one's pets.

1. Get a flag. It's handy to have Alien Probes around incase you need to flag yourself on the fly.
2. Do damage to the CP. The easiest way to do this is to trim the CP. (IE: Trimmer - Divert Energy to Avoidance) The ql doesn't matter, because 1 point of damage breaks the calm. The recharge is 4 minutes or so, OR every time that you zone. *
3. Send the CP to attack Carlo, this will only work if you are flagged, hence point #1.

Unfortunately, it's not possible to do this on Battlestations anymore, since FC changed the rules about how pets work up there, however the trick works fine under most circumstances.

*Alternatively, if you are on a battlestation, try running in next to a bunch of people in APT's. Often times someone will be stupid and hit carlo specifically, and you can usually get him uncalmed and back out of range before they kill him.

[Yabeyabe]

Updating some more later today, and reserving this space!

[Yabeyabe]

ok, if there is more than 5 full posts needed to say about pvp, then I will not be the one to say it!

ps: luna, do your thing! and tyvm for this. it's always so annoying trying to update the guide since I didn't leave myself enough room the first time around.

pps: your guide is closed but not rooted yet, might wanna fix that. (its not finished so its not rooted so I dont confuse ppl to much -Luna)

[Lunaspell]

stupid forum insist on merging in chronological order

trying to find a way around it

[Dabouncey]

is the zastaba rollable, i tried for sometime and nothing, ive seen the other rifle mentioned drop in missions from boxes, but didnt loot >_< typical. hehe

[Lunaspell]

no its boss drop, I hunted dynas for weeks and all I found was a ql182, and I never seen it drop from a mission boss

[Dabouncey]

well i got hold of the other rifle, the Advanced Alsaqri Chemical Rifle
, and was rather dissapointed by it,

You hit A***** for 757 points of Aimed Shot damage.

and another person

You hit M***** for 757 points of Aimed Shot damage.

so its doesnt seem that impressive to me,
i dont have much add damage items, anything that thats a choice between damage or nanos/hp ive opted for the latter 2, it is on the other hand fast
i have it at 15 seconds, but i was expecting around 1k as or it doesnt seem worth it, its more of a dot than a special, any ideas about this ?

[emiron]

do you have AS and rifle skills capped (especially AS)?

[Sterva]

well i got hold of the other rifle, the Advanced Alsaqri Chemical Rifle
, and was rather dissapointed by it,

You hit A***** for 757 points of Aimed Shot damage.

and another person

You hit M***** for 757 points of Aimed Shot damage.

so its doesnt seem that impressive to me,
i dont have much add damage items, anything that thats a choice between damage or nanos/hp ive opted for the latter 2, it is on the other hand fast
i have it at 15 seconds, but i was expecting around 1k as or it doesnt seem worth it, its more of a dot than a special, any ideas about this ?

You need to have very high AS skill to get enough multipliers for it to do good damage. You also need as much crit adding items as possible. shoot for around 1600-1700 AS skill.

[Mathmatikus]

well i got hold of the other rifle, the Advanced Alsaqri Chemical Rifle
, and was rather dissapointed by it,

You hit A***** for 757 points of Aimed Shot damage.

and another person

You hit M***** for 757 points of Aimed Shot damage.

so its doesnt seem that impressive to me,
i dont have much add damage items, anything that thats a choice between damage or nanos/hp ive opted for the latter 2, it is on the other hand fast
i have it at 15 seconds, but i was expecting around 1k as or it doesnt seem worth it, its more of a dot than a special, any ideas about this ?

1250 as and I use zastaba, while not the best as in the world, I get 1.5-3k average in pvp. Far better if you don't have high as/crit like me : ).

[HannuK]

Nice quide m8 Wery usefull imo xD ill try this out and hope if i can lvl fast to 220^^

[Racatti]

Good fixers you'll never root for much.

[Malaxia]

Time to add some tips for duels ? ^^

[Sterva]

yeah... this needs lots of updating.

I have two essays due this week, but I'll post some updates for you to edit in next week.

[Malaxia]

A couple suggestions here :
- Last minute negociation against pet user can confuse them (trying to remove that calm and losing time)
- Use Improved Rule Of One against NR twinked opponents (hurts quite a bit too)
- Use Overrule against casting professions.

Some tips against few professions i duelled:

- agents (fp doc) : snare, nuke once with init debuff, dd perks, stun right before he heals.

- soldiers (FA) : Get an AMS timer, use whatever you can to survive during AMS -> use evades perks (start with Overrule because you can re-use it when ams is down) and sit so your healdelta keeps you alive, use nm absorb if you can, stun the soldier, Freak str, then when AMS is down, he will go down pretty quick (pets, procs, dd perks, AS if you have). Use TTB when low on hp to prevent the final alpha. Resnare if needed (in case he wants to kite)

- docs : Use red tapes first, they can't be removed, then nuke with init debuff, then stun. Get a couple purifying rods to remove the dots and a spare shell if your pet is ubted. Stun procs will make a difference too....

[Sketchyfix]

Great guide but mentioned little on lowbie pvp...

[Malaxia]

Lowbie pvp could be mentionned here if we had a lowbie player willing to give hints

It is easier to wriite on high level pvp because you'll find more ppl sharing experience.

[Sketchyfix]

Im gonna reroll my 49 enfo as a 49 crat and ill write a guide in my spare time