Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Childrens week PvP achievements



So I completed the dreaded School of Hard Knocks achievement. I had almost given up on it until I saw my friend Heem complete it, then I became determined to knock it out. First I went to my bank and took a look at my gear to determine the best survivability gear that I could muster. I pulled out Deadly Gladiator's Silk Handguards, Deadly Gladiator's Silk Raiment, Glacial Waistband, and Glacial Slippers, and Medallion of Heroism. Then I went to the auction house and bought some resilience gems for the PvP gear, and spell power gems for my Sapphiron gear, and finally I went and bought Medallion of the Horde, since I knew I'd be needing it. I was all set to enter the battle grounds.

I entered EotS first, since it was the holiday battleground, and I thought it might be fairly busy. It took me some time to get used to my keybindings, I rebound Z,X,C,V and G to some of my 'get out of jail' abilities, e.g. Blink, Medallion of the Horde, Will of the Forsaken, Ice Block, and Medallion of Heroism. The first time through I was pretty confused with my new key bindings, and I attempted to cap the flag as much as I could, but I was repeatedly foiled by a shaman that kept knocking me off the middle, and even got MC'ed off the edge once as well. We lost, so I queued again, determined not to give up. This time through I got the second cap of the game, and I earned some achievements.

Next up, Arathi Basin. I really didn't stay in Arathi Basin for long. I had incredible luck, as I got thrown into games that were near the end. The first game I didn't even have time to run the the mine before the game ended with a loss. Second try I made it to the mine, along with a hunter, and there was a lone DK guarding it. It was depressing really that it took both of us focusing on the DK to take him down, and I had to use Ice Block to get his attention on the hunter or I would have died there. So we both survived, DK is dead, and we both rush the flag with our orphans at our side. I end up capping and about a minute later the game ends with another alliance win.
Next up WSG. (I figured save AV for the last as it'll take a long time) I queue and immediately am in a match. I take position above the flag room on the platform to the right, and just wait for the alliance to come for the flag. Our first attempt was horrible, alliance just steam-rolled us, and I think I may have taken down only 1 of their flag runners. Second WSG, same strategy, a bit more even of a match, and I take down two or three runners, but still don't return the flag. Third try, absolutely amazing this time. We steam-roll the alliance, I downed at least 5 flag runners, and I got the achievement this time as well as a perfect win 3/0 against the alliance and pick up a couple of WSG achievements along the way.

Last up was AV, which I wasn't looking forward to. First attempt I get into a match where the alliance basically own us. I look at the map and there is no red to speak of, about 2 minutes later the game ends in a win for the alliance. I queue again and this time I get a fresh game. I make a run for Stonehearth Bunker, and it's already been capped, so on to Icewing Bunker. I arrive with only one other Horde there who has already taken out several archers, so I cast invisibility and sneak up to the flag. I start capping, and an archer plugs me with an arrow. The awesome DK who is with me jumps on the archer and I begin capping again. This time I finish and voila I have the achievement. I wasn't real motivated to finish the AV, so at that point I left, having got my achievement, but I am a little intrigued by PvP now. This is probably the best I have ever been geared for PvP, and with the right trinkets, and key binds, I was a lot more survivable than ever before. I still wasn't using a PvP spec or the right glyphs, so there is still even more room for improvement, and when I finished the whole thing I realized that I had a Scroll of Enchant Chest - Exceptional Resilience sitting around in my bank. So now I'm planning my next foray into PvP, and really considering giving arenas a try. I know there are several good players into PvP in my guild, and I might just see if we can get a 3v3 team going.
Also to Euripedes at Critical QQ, my sympathies, perhaps you should take the week off of battlegrounds?