[Open][28] Level 28 PVP vs Open PVP and some Issues/Suggestions

After having spent a few days playing Open PvP after which I levelled a toon to 28 to try out my build idea in Level 28 PvP, I must say:

Level 28 PVP is a heckload of fun!

Some observations on the whole
The issue with Merciless/Open PVP at the moment is that there are plenty of inadequately geared characters in Default Merciless. I believe Hardcore probably boasts a better proportion of adequatetely-geared and properly built characters and might not face the same problem as the Default league players, but in Default, due to the huge number of glasscannons, the gear discrepancy is huge and a large proportion of my battles end by one-shots. That said, I have faced a few opponents so far who have impressed me by being able to withstand a number of hits, but the majority cannot.

In short, Open PVP is extremely gear-dependent.

Level 28 PVP on the other hand is a thing of beauty. I'm completely addicted to it!

The possible gear discrepancy between Level 28 players will not be as huge as compared to players in Merciless/Open PVP due to the availability of a lower spectrum of mods that can spawn on items. An intelligent player who focuses on having a well-balanced build but who doesn't have the best gear can still compete with a well-geared character.

In short, Level 28 PVP is much more competitive

I believe most of the current issues with merci pvp and possibly level 28 pvp, especially the one-shot kills/wins will probably be solved come the option of matchmaking, where you'll only meet opponents of a standard similar to yours, thereby making one shot duels much rarer.

Personal opinion regarding certain skills used in L28 PvP
I believe there're some skills that perform much better than others at this level:

1. Viper Strike
2. Elemental Hit (Very strong skill, but underused. I'm surprised)
3. Bear Traps
4. Flicker Strike

The reason is because the bonuses/added dps they provide or offer (for the first 3) are independent of the gear that one is using and hence is much better than most of the other skills that are available, at least for a non op-geared character. Flicker, despite it's nice burst of damage, isn't as OP as most people think it is. It's just a utility skill.

I've realised that it tends to be those with <400 HP who suffer the most from the abovementioned skills. For those that build their character intelligently however and stack life and end up with >700 Hp, they tend to do much better and don't have that many problems.

In other words, I believe that the way those skills are currently scaled for PvP are balanced, and for those of you who don't think so, get more HP!

Is there anything that is OP at the moment in L28 PvP?
Curses I feel are heavily used, but that's only to be expected. Just because something is essential and is used often doesn't mean that it's OP. Face it, Temporal Chains has already been balanced once because it was so heavily used.

What I feel is OP is the way Hex Master and Whispers of Doom are so powerful at Level 28, especially more so because they just provide benefits and do not provide any negative aspects to it.

If there is any issues to be balanced, it should be the above keystones. For example, perhaps make it such that players who take Hex Master have a cooldown for casting curses for instance?

Once again, I have full faith in the developers that they'll find a way to balance PvP without affecting PvE and you guys should too! So if you want to offer suggestions/feedback, please try to think of some that will not affect PvE but will improve our PvP experience.

I'm looking forward to hearing some constructive ones!


P.S Just because I'm an Alpha Member doesn't mean that whatever I say or whatever suggestions I give regarding possible changes to keystones and passive nodes will definitely or are going to be implemented. Most of them are just what I think and not due to any inside information. So I hope you guys don't take any of my personal ideas/opinions that seriously. :)

I would have to agree that both bear trap and viper strike poses problems.

From my experience in legacy open bracket I can just apply 3-4 viper charges and wait for the end. I have 45% increased duration from passives but still feels a bit unfair because there is absolutely nothing people can do about it. 4% life/s marauder couldn't even survive my lvl 18 viper strike. Add that with a fast weapon and attack speed support that takes no time at all.

Bear trap is ridiculously powerful. With zero spell damage I can drop it at opponent feet for 1k+ damage. Give it to a spellcaster and its a 1 hit KO skill. I have 2.7k life and got one shot by a bear trap a couple of times. To be fair I'm an evasion based character with 0 armor but considering that spells already ignore evasion it feels a bit off. As an evasion character all you can do against it is 20% chance to avoid instant death with the help of Phase Acrobatics. Although I am not sure if it applies to traps even though they are considered spell damage.

Elemental Hit is overall a very strong skill but I think it is pretty well balanced by it's mana cost. For maximum effect you have to link it with Weapon Elemental Damage which has a whopping 1.7x mana cost multiplier on an already high cost skill.

P.S. I am the annoying ranger that wouldn't die easy, I think we'll have to do a rematch on legacy sometime next week. I got a few ideas how to try and finally kill you :)

Is there a way for 2 people like you two to actually do a match against each other specifically?
To choose each other as the opponent?
If not, I think its a feature they should implement.

"

Dreamer000 wrote:

Is there a way for 2 people like you two to actually do a match against each other specifically?
To choose each other as the opponent?
If not, I think its a feature they should implement.

I believe it will eventually be implemented :) just not in the current patch

Forgot the implementation of the warding mods on flasks. Has anyone found them useful?

I know Hexaste has managed to counter me a few times by using those flasks

Edit: also just wondered as to the possibility of implementing dispel viper strike flasks. I imagine they would be pretty popular in PvE as well!

I guess they help, it's always cool to clean the fucking chains and use your real attack speed...

A chaos resistance / anti-venom flask is going to be a must-have, either that or some kind of (PVP at least) mechanic to shrug off/avoid chaos damage.