Best of Season 6

As always, with a new arena season comes new “cookie cutter” comps. This season, almost underway for a week has already seen the power of priests buffs and other class nerfs. Rogues are doing amazingly well, considering almost all other classes got

nerfed and they got a few minor buffs it puts them as one of the top classes this season.

Hunters and Warlocks make this section of the post. Warlocks didn’t get completely nerfed since destruction does a lot of damage and has survivability. Warlocks can no longer kill someone in a fear, have undispellable dots, and continually do damage out of line of site. You will still see some unstable affliction locks, but the population in top 100 will definitely decline. Hunters also took some heavy nerfs to survival. Playing with a hunter, they will be forced to wear raid gear to get their damage high enough to get a kill in. I expect both these classes to get some kind of mid season buffs.

2v2 Arena Tactics:

Priest / Rogue- This is the new paladin/dk comp. 44% of the top arena teams (sk-gaming.com 4/25) are running this comp. This comp did well last season if the rogue could wear full raid gear to burn

down a dk. Now, with all other classes nerfed and priests get huge survival/mana efficiency buffs this comp will probably be the majority of the 2v2 bracket until a future content patch.

Druid / Warrior- Warriors got huge buffs this season to arms including some nasty overpower changes that dominate healers. This team won’t be at its glory days of Burning Crusade arena but it will definitely be more popular this season in the higher ratings.

3v3

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Arena Tactics:

Paladin / Warrior / Death Knight- I’m not sure how well this comp will do later on in the season, but with everyone running melee cleave teams this one is pretty good. I have seen a lot of these teams at high ratings, if the paladin can coordinate his CC along with a warriors fear this team can be pretty deadly.

Mage / Priest / Rogue- Ever since season two this team has been a dominate comp. This season with almost all other classes nerfed and priest are buffed, they will definatly dominate. On sk-gaming this comp already takes #1 in popularity for 3v3 bracket. The team has heavy CC and turns the game into a 3v2, combined with amazing controlled burst from both the rogue and the mage makes this a very strong comp.

Season 6 Preview

Worried about the new system? Don’t worry, in case you haven’t stepped into arena yet you win 47 p

oints and lose 0. It seems you will continue this trend past 1k and won’t win less till around 1500 or so. To be exact at 1079 you win 45 points. It may take a couple extra games but don’t

sweat it, you will get there after a while. Remember the goal of the hidden rating is to go 50-50 whatever your team rating is. Also, you get to see your matchmaking rating now in the arena window, so make sure to check that out.

Healers:

Killing healers in a global has changed. With the increase in resilience and survivability buffs you can probably focus on getting healers oom before setting up a kill . Priest can penance themselves, Shamans have a 4400 shield usable while silences, Druids armor buffs in tree form.

Shamans get a 4400 shield from glyph of stoneclaw totem. Since totems are physical now you can use while silenced. Druids armory value in tree form was increased from 100% to 240% and barskin reduces chance spells will be dispelled by 60%

and reduce chance you will be melee crit by 25%. Priest can pain surpression themselves while stunned and penance is now usable on themselves.

Season 6 Tier 2 weapons:

Finally, what all the pvpers have been waiting for. Weapons that are equivalent to the pve ones. If you can’t get 2200, dont worry there are still tier 1 weapons available at 1850 rating. Season 5 was dominated by Turning Tides and Betrayer of Humanities, but you probably won’t see many pve weapons anymore. Also, the new pvp weapons come with gem slots.

Positioning in Arena

Rogue / Priest Strategy: Position Discussion Audio

One of the most important, yet most overlooked aspect of playing rogue / priest 2v2…or for that matter any arena team comp, is without a doubt positioning. Too often I think players and teams get so caught up in the ideas 100 other factors that they completely forget about their positioning.

Being in the right place at the right time isn’t an accident, in many ways it’s the only true strategy in arena. Knowing the type of strategy your opponents are going to attempt will allow you to develop a strategy to appropriately counter your opponents.

This is the very essence of arena position strategies, but believe me, learning how to do this is no easy task. It takes a lot of experience and practice, but by simply being aware you’ll have a keen eye for areas where you can exploit your opponents position and quickly take advantage of their mistakes.

I say all of this in preparation for the very first Zug Gaming audio strategy discussion. A few weeks ago I had a brief conversion (relatively speaking!) with a member of the Zug Gaming community. He had a some questions regarding different strategic aspects of rogue / priest as well as overall positional awareness factors in arena.

The following recording includes:

• Priest / Rogue strategy discussion
• Positional strategy points
• Healer / DPS movement factors of arena
• Among other points

Rogue / Priest Strategy: Audio Discussion

I’ll try to get an actual player up later this evening.

Rogue / Druid 2v2 and Zuggy 3!

As some of you may already know I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus this season as far as arena has been concerned. Part of this is due to all of my partners retiring / breaking till expansion at the end of S3 and partly due to just flat our boredom. After a couple of months without any serious arena I’m finally starting to get back into the swing of things and I’ve found myself a new partner.

Rogue / Restokin Druid Is Here!

My new 2v2 team, which will be my primary arena focus, is a rogue / restokin druid (that’s him to the right!). So far we’ve played 2 nights and quickly made it to 2055 rating. It’s a very interesting combo to play and truly unlike anything I’ve ever played before. More than anything else this combo requires a much higher level of communication. The more and more we play the more I really am starting to understand the absolute important of continual communication, target switching and well timed crowd control. It’s a great experience and I can’t wait to see how far we can take this team.

I’ve been hinting at Zuggy 3 for sometime, and I feel like I’ve finally got the right setup I’ve been looking for this video.

What Will Be In Zuggy 3?

• Rogue / Restokin Druid 2v2 Arena Matches
• High level strategy discussion and comp breakdown
• Detailed strategy write up to go along with the video
• Audio explanations of all fights

Coming to a ZugGaming.com near you soon!

Mage / Rogue Vs. Mage / Rogue 2v2 Arena Strategy

Ah yes, the mirror match. Mage / rogue arena strategy mirrors can be particularly difficult, as they require quick reaction time and well executed strategy in order to successfully gain the edge on your opponent. As with any double DPS team even the slightest of errors can quickly lead to a loss

Rogue Opener Strategy

Ideally you want to find the rogue and immediately open up on him. However, this is easier said than done. Chances are both rogues are going to have max stealth talents, so it’s pretty much a toss up that you’re going to get the opener. However, if you do happen to get the opener on the rogue you’re in a great position, you’ve immediately forced the opposing team to have to react to you.

If they don’t make the correct decision with an immediate crowd control they are going to be far behind and well on their way to losing.

Mage’s 2v2 Strategy Role

If your rogue does happen to get the opener then you need to be able to go right into action. If at all possible get immediate CC on the opposing mage and start dropping shatter combos on the rogue. This is where things start moving really quickly.

Side Note: Mage 2v2 Tips Compendium

What If I can’t find the rogue?

This is where things can get really sketchy. If the match timer gets to the point where the shadow sight buffs come up it’s probably just going to be a wash as far as the opener is concerned. Your only concern at this point is to not get absolutely screwed.

How can you get completely screwed you ask?

1. Both mages are going for the buff, your mage gets sapped, then the mage and / or rogue gets the shadow sight buff, finds you and the rogue opens on you.
2. The opposing rogue picks up the buff, vanishes and shadowstep + cheap shots you.

That said, these are the techniques we are going to try and use against the opposing team in order to gain the advantage. A lot of rogues will simply let their mage pick it up and trade the openers, and this is a fine strategy I suppose. But for me I’d much rather have the fight in my hands, so picking up the stealth buff and immediately going after the rogue is my game plan.

All the while my mage is either going for the other buff and / or keeping the other mage temporarily distracted and /or crowd controlled. If all goes well you’ll have the opener shortly there after and have a huge lead early on.

Game Pace and Reaction Time

More than anything else your reaction time and understanding the pace of these games is going to be a key factor in your success. If your a mage you’re prime goal early on is going to be keeping the other mage out of the fight so you can assist your rogue. Additionally, if you’re the rogue you need to do everything within your power to avoid taking damage while locking down and punishing the opposing rogue.

Rogue’s Crowd Control and Damage Avoidance

Always be watching for the possible crowd control trains on you. While most teams will just play the mage vs. mage CC battle some may go for a switch, especially if you are without a trinket (this should always be in the back of your mind because you can do the same thing to them!).

If the rogue makes a stupid decision on the trinket you can simply go blind into a sap combo and bomb on the mage. Even if you aren’t able to kill the mage you’re put him into an immediate defensive position, potentially allow your team to regen / bandage some life, and certainly made the mage go through a lot of mana kiting you.

Whether it’s damage or crowd control, as the rogue you have a lot of tools to really make the mage’s job hell.

• Vanish immune shatter combos or sheeps
• Cloak of Shadows shatter combos or sheeps
• Toss a gouge if the mage is within range to cut casts
• Toss a kick if the mage is withing range. Brief note here, using focus kick macros makes this incredibly easy, so you can conduct drive by kicks on the mage without even having to target him.
• Use blind to stop casts. Not always worth it, but sometimes necessary if you are close to dying.

Mage’s Crowd Control and Avoidance

Just like the rogue the mage has the ability to prevent / break many of the potential CC’s. Versus most 2v2 teams you’d want to use these on a bit slower pace, but in an arena matchup as face paced and furious as this you simply CANNOT take a full duration poly or blind. So be prepared to quickly use your…

• Ice Block / Trinket on sheeps and blind when necessary
• Help your rogue cut the mage’s casts via sheep and crowd control, especially on shatter combos

Using focus macros for your sheep and counterspell macros will really help you out with this, I strongly recommend you get comfortable with them as they are fastest way to making quicker decisions.

Looking for more strategies? Check out the complete rogue / mage 2v2 arena strategy guide!

Rogue / Rogue Vs. Druid / Rogue 2v2 Arena Strategy

Rogue / Rogue vs. Druid / Rogue is no easy match, typically any team with a druid is going to be a tough match for a double rogue team. That said, using systemic decision making and quick reflexes we can learn how to effectively counter these 2v2 teams.

Ideal Strategy, Jump the Druid in Stealth

Ideally what we’re going to try and do is find the druid in stealth and immediately open on him. This serves 2 purposes.

1. Gets you into combat and prevents you from being sapped
2. Puts immediate pressure on the druid

If everything goes as planned you’ll kill the druid straight up, but for any of you who have played double rogue for any stretch of time you know this is rarely how it happens.

The Druid is in Bear form, what do I do?

Often times druids are wise to double DPS teams and will immediately exit stealth as soon as they realize there are rogues and enter bear form. This is when this combo can be very difficult.

Let’s be frank, you probably aren’t going to burst a druid in bear form out. So you have a few options. First, and probably the most effective is going to be attack the open and drop a bomb on the rogue. If you get a solid opener and / or if the druid is out of position you can immediately red line the rogue. Make sure you have your rupture up on the rogue as you know he’ll be going for a vanish.

Once you’ve got the opener going on the rogue you need to be looking to crowd control the druid. Either via gouge, kick, or if the druid is dumb enough a blind / sap combo. Most games the druid is still going to get a few HoTs and the NS off, but this doesn’t mean you lose. Keep up the damage, evasion tank the rogue and keep working to get the druid out of the fight. You’ve got 2 blinds, a potential sap combo, kick and gouge to punish the druid with.

Is Switching Targets a Good Strategy?

I think many double DPS teams really are reluctant to try a target switch, in some cases this fear is rational. However, if a switch is handled in the proper way it can be very effective. For example, many rogues may panic when they see a two other rogues attacking them. In the event he trinkets a CS or  KS you’ve got him right where you want him.

What if the rogue trinkets my blind?

At this point you should throw the blind, which you’re going to transition into at least 1, probably 2 saps. This will give you a minimum of 20 seconds to have unrestricted damage on the druid. Even if the druid is sitting in bear form 20 seconds is a long period of time, especially if you can evasion tank the rogue for an additional 15 seconds after your crowd controls have ended.

Final Points on Avoiding Crowd Control

On a double DPS team every second counts, it is absolutely crucial you avoid being crowd controlled at all times. In the case of this team you are going to want to save your trinket for a blind, the only scenario you wouldn’t want to use your trinket on blind is if the rogue was just reeling on you and caught you medium / low health in a KS.

It’s very helpful to set the druid as your focus target, this will allow you to watch incoming crowd control on you so you can take the appropriate action to avoid being taken out of the fight. These actions include:

• Preemptive Cloak of Shadows on cyclone / root
  
• Vanish immune on cyclone / root
• Vanish immune on feral charge
• Preemptive evasion if you believe the druid may attempt to bash you
• Preemptive evasion if you believe the rogue is about to blind you (if your trinket is down, note: This is very hard to watch for, especially if you don’t have your focus on the rogue)

Looking for more rogue / rogue strategies? Check out the complete rogue / rogue 2v2 arena guide!

Mage / Rogue vs. Warrior / Druid 2v2 Arena Strategy

Oh man for every one of you guys out there, you’ll see about thirty of these. Some are competent, others face roll.

Rogue

See if you can find the druid in stealth. Before opening try to sap the warrior if possible. Do a KS lockdown to force the druid to trinket. Once you and your mage have a good CC train rolling on the warrior, Kidney shot again to shatter burst the druid.

Mage

Control the warrior in any way possible. Freeze effects, sheeps, whatever just take him out of the game and kill his carrier.

If the druid can’t be found:

Rogue open on the warrior(save premeditation) to force the druid to come out. Vanish and pull a switch to the druid, run cc trains on the warrior and win. It’s a good idea to not wait for the stealth detect eyes, as a smart druid will go into bear form at this point.

Looking for more strategies? Check out the complete rogue / mage 2v2 arena strategy guide!

Arena Position and Line of Sight Strategy

If there’s one aspect of arena that is most overlooked it’s without a doubt the influence of position and line of sight. Understanding the correct positional requirements to successfully counter a team is extremely important, as just one minor error could easily lead to a quick loss. That said, once you’ve mastered the basics of your position and line of sight healing, both from offensive and defensive positions, you’ll improve your level of arena performance significantly.

While I’ve done a few strategies, guides and tutorials related to line of sight, I’ve largely ignored it. Though with this inaugural guide I’d like to re-open the strategy discussions on positional awareness and LoS strategy.

In the coming days and weeks I’ll be covering both offensive and defensive positional strategies for every arena. With the hope that in learning these positional awareness factors and strategies will allow you and your teammates the chance to really push yourselves to that next level and take a slice out of the arena ladder.

Line of Sight and Position Strategies

• General Line of Sight and Position Strategy
• Blade’s Edge Arena Line of Sight
• Nagrand Arena Line of Sight and Position

This list will be added to in the coming days and weeks.

Warrior Guide

This warrior guide is intended to be a compilation of all warrior arena strategies, warrior pvp guides, warrior tips, warrior talent builds, warrior raiding guides and any other resources that may be useful to improving your game as a warrior in World of Warcraft.

This central guide will be updated as often as possible to reflect new changes to the class as well as updated information. If you would like to suggest a guide to appear on this warrior guide please post a comment below or post a note on the Zug Gaming forums.

Warrior PvP Guides

This section on warrior arena guides will incorporate as many arena team specific strategies in addition to other PvP guides related to the warrior class.

• Warrior / Druid 2v2 Strategy
• Warrior / Rogue / Druid 3v3 Strategy

Warrior Talent Builds

• Warrior Arena Talent Builds

Warrior Macros

• Warrior Arena Macros Guide
• Focus Macros Guide – How To Use / Build

Other Guides

• Hotkeys Guides – Building For Speed

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