Arena strategies wanted!

[Bluepants]

Hi

So... I dinged 70 a little while ago (4shammies) , and decided to try the arena, brought a priest friend and had a go.
Everything went.... ok, kinda, considering i have under 100resil and under 400spelldamage.
Then i met Kayb (Drheal) with his 5 shamans.

Thing is, my strat has always been: Run out set up camp, and then go for a target suitable.
So i did as usual, ran out was just about to set my first totem set, and then BOOM!
He basically raped me so hard it was embarrasing, my priest didnt even get 1 heal off before 2 of my guys were dead.
Now i admit hands down he beat me fair and square, it was not the fact that he had better gear.
The strat he used was the oppsite of mine.. He went straight across the field, and insta CL on the first suitable target, leaving the other team shocked.

Are there any others that use any particular strategies? Maybe some strats for different maps?

Oh and @kayb thx for letting me know when u went in so i didnt get embarrased again :love:

[Boylston]

I have heard a couple folks, notably Caleb, recommend a rush strategy early on when you're a bit undergeared in arena. The hope is that you can plow into them and kill 1 fast enough that it causes mass confusion on their end. I have not tried this much, but here's what I can see are the pros/cons:

Pros:
* Getting a quick first kill is good for a variety of reasons, including putting them on their heels, not giving them time to figure out what they're up against, and generally demoralizing them.
* You may be able to better concentrate DPS on someone if you charge in and take out the range (and potentially LoS) issues
* You may be able to avoid a coordinated rogue/melee charge on your team since the rogues tend to "go wide" and set up in stealth

Cons:
* You may likely draw "first blood" and still get very badly beated in a 5v4 sitaution
* You don't have much totem defenses at first, fearbomb/AoE/etc
* You will likely have one of your team CCed as you're charging towards them

The rush strategy is likely to work better against undergeared/uncoordinated opponents. But then again, playing it safer with a totem farm is likely to produce good results against those teams as well.

[Bluepants]

I actually have problems pulling of any of the tacs ;(
Im so undergeared its a shame ;)
But it will get better :)

Just thought it might actually be a good strat to rush, for those out there that have most PVE gear, considering the higher DPS you put out in that first rush.
The EM-NS-CL is sick damage with 1000+ spelldamage... Maybe even enough to kill 2. (in lower brackets where most of fresh MBers reside)

[twobztwop]

Hit the arenas for the first time last night with 5x shamans -- and yeah, I got my teeth kicked in. As a fresh 70 I expected as much, even still, it was pretty sad.

I tried both the hang back with my totems strategy and the mounted "rush in" strategy. I probably had more success with the "rush in" strat, though I'd judge success as me killing at least 1 player on the opposing team. Next week maybe I'll try the "dance on the bridge" strategy.

Seriously though, once I get some gear I'll try to hook-up a healer and spec for NS. That should help.

[Gallo]

I'm not 70 yet, but let me put my 2c into the conversation. I don't mean to be rude, but did you honestly expect to Ding 70 and kick ass in the arenas? Why don't you try running BGs for the next 2 weeks to gather up S1 gear and a decent weapon. THEN you can go into the arena and maybe not get your "teeth kicked in". I don't think Arena was ever meant for fresh 70's.

[crebble]

first week i just tried to win by waiting them to attack me.
now im kinda still doing the same but with bigger success.
wait with popping bloodlust EM NS CL untill they really are attacking. many try to fool you by runnin back and forth dotting 1 up or something like that. just wait em out.

/stick

[Ellay]

I'll make a note to make a mini movie detailing the 'sweet spots' of each map and what to do to maximize your potential in them.

[Mosg2]

Ellay, that would be wonderfully helpful :)

I had been farming points off of my friends 3's team for my girls until they had decent gear, so this week was the first week that I played some "serious" fives games... 17-6, not too shabby. We lost three times to a full vengeful/hand of a'dal team that was selling, and then twice to a 2 priest/3 warlock team lol.

[twobztwop]

I'm not 70 yet, but let me put my 2c into the conversation. I don't mean to be rude, but did you honestly expect to Ding 70 and kick ass in the arenas? Why don't you try running BGs for the next 2 weeks to gather up S1 gear and a decent weapon. THEN you can go into the arena and maybe not get your "teeth kicked in". I don't think Arena was ever meant for fresh 70's.No offense taken. I said I expected to lose. I'm like the Miami Dolphins.

But to put it in perspective, why wait? 300 arena points per week for losing every single game is only 44 points less than you'd get holding a 1500 rating and wining a few (or 150 less than 1600). It's perfect for fresh 70's. That's why they give you points for losing.

[Zzyzxx71]

I approve of this thread and am intensly interested in seeing more peoples input in this.