You know, my favorite articles are analysis of what to get for chest, or if a recharge / spender event worth doing or not. Lately, I'm not recommending recharge / spender events, for 2 simple reasons. Every such gift pack is bigger and bigger, so the more you wait, the more you will get. Also, the sad fact is, there are many negative processes in the game lately. More and more uncorrected bugs, more and more nerfs and bad changes. Like the developers don't care about the players anymore. The same events repeat over and over since many months. So right now, I'm a bit unhappy about how the developers and the publisher disregards us players. There is really one way to make them listen, by not paying.
But of course you didn't come here to hear about my complaining. You came here to read something useful. Today I try to focus on the main aspect of the game, combat.
Many player says that in combat, whoever has higher BR wins, so it is actually irrelevant what skills you use in what order. Of course, BR is important. You can't beat someone with twice as much BR as you have. But if there is a lesser margin, you can turn the tides.
Combat has some main components: what runes and skills you use, when you use them, when you sylph, and what resists you have.
1.) Resists. Previously, you could reduce damage through resist by up to 90%, this way it was possible to kill even 100K USD whales by mere mortals. It was a fun age, but it is over. Also, you could get as much as +20% damage with resist reduction. These caps have been shifted, the max., damage resist converges to 60% (although with extremely high resist you can push this to 61%, 62%...) and the max extra damage can go much higher as well, converging to 60% (but can go to 61%, 62%... if you have lot of resist reduce via adv. and extended dimensions). This gives back the edge to the whales, but still. If you have +60% dmg vs your opponent, and he have -60%, you have a big advantage. Please note that resist works differently in sylph and non-sylph form. If the attack is non-sylph, the resist used does not check against the opponent's sylph, it check based on your resists (average? highest? I never tested). In general, I would recommend dark, light and electro resist for pvp, since these 3 are the most popular sylphs. But in Battleground, after a few tests battles, you might switch light and/or electro for fire and /or wind if you see several strong opponents with these.
2.) Runes. Since eudaemons, chaos rune became even more powerful. It is as good as a 3-round stun which you can use repeatedly, and you can even use to counter the opponent's heal spell. There is one simple way to protect yourself fully against chaos rune: do not use eudaemon. People overvalue eudaemons because their huge false BR. The truth is, in combat, most damage is dealt in sylph form. Before that, not much is happening if both players are strong. But, your eudaemon can never sylph, so he wont help you as much as his BR would suggest. All he will do is make you kill yourself with chaos runes. I do not even use the chaos rune anymore. If my opponent use the same strategy as me, or if the combat lasts longer and the eudaemon dies, its not so great. And if I have go 1 vs 8 in arena, one chaosed opponent wont make as much difference as a heal or guard rune.
Yes I use these two, they always serve well. In arena, if I have 2 or more opponent, I start with guard rune, and begin aoeing the opponents, killing their eudaemons while I take almost no damage. If all goes well, I can use it again after sylph.
Amnesia worth mentioning here. Amnesia is bugged, if you use it after your opponent used a skill, and that skill is banned, then your opponent will be helpless for 2 turns. This makes it very strong. Also, knights has no guard rune, so for them, I would recommend amnesia to replace guard rune. If you lucky, you can disable your opponent early on as much as with chaos, and if you disable delphic skill after awaken, you are in good position. But it's very hard to time it well, and not useful vs multiple opponents.
3.) Skills. Each class has it's preferences, and I'm good only with mage skills. Lately, I do not use suntoria, it's too slow, and it's too much subject to chaos. I rather focus on damage and use runes for protection, because they can't be chaosed. After guard, I used to open with delphic hell thunder. Besides dealing insane damage, it can stun opponents. Rain of fire next to finish off eudaemons, then frost bolt to try stun one opponent. Maybe restoration to keep myself at max life vs a strong opponent. Having high influence is very important, stunning your opponent can win you the match in many case. Especially, if you time it well. Best to stun the opponent after he sylph, or, if you know he have chaos rune, and you need to heal yourself, stun him first so you can safely heal yourself.
4.) Sylph choice. Although Hecate is the strongest sylph, you should avoid using it - because everyone have dark resist - unless it is twice stronger than your other sylphs. Any other sylph can be good, in my experience people stack random resists besides dark. Maybe water resist is the only one which no one uses. But I advise against Poseidon, unless you are in a party. The game is about dealing damage, not healing. Playing with and vs Poseidon is boooring and disgusting. (Btw, Nightbloom of ToK nightmare, please, stop logging out with Poseidon! You make tok much longer...) Also, when you are alone, chaos rune can hurt you only when you heal. My favorite is Medusa, because its PATK as well, so I can remove equipment from Hecate and borrow it to him while I do pvp.
5.) Sylph use. Some people like to stall sylph awaken, thinking if they can survive the opponent's sylph phase, they will easily destroy him during the 50% dmg increase when they reverted. This can be a good strategy, but it's very hard to survive the opponent's sylph phase with awaken, if he is as strong as you. So I suggest to sylph relatively soon. Before the 50% dmg increase, even sylphs don't do enough damage to kill the opponent. So you should time your awaken sou can can cast delphic the exact moment when the timer switches to 60 seconds. Delphics have a cooldown, so best sequence is waken, use a sylph skill, then guard rune, then delphic. Fight outcome often depends on who can counter the delphic with guard rune, and who can't. So you have to be ready to adapt, if your opponent cast guard rune when you are about to delphic, you better wait until it wears off. If you see you can't kill your opponent while in sylph form (neither he can kill you), you should revert back to normal form sooner, so you sylph first during the next round.
6.) Teamplay. Most of what I wrote refers to 1 vs X combat. When you are teamed up with friends, you need to consider additional things. In this case, there is no point leaving eudaemons home, so you have to prepare for chaos. Best to have a mage with a purify, and a knight/archer with a purify rune, if the mage gets chaosed. Put the mage in the bottom line so if he gets chaosed you can see it, and wait with the purify rune a bit. Using chaos rune yourself is great too, if you chaos multiple opponents, you usually win. So I use chaos+guard rune. You will need one player with a poseidon, so you can heal even in sylph form. In team, things are usually very laggy, you can use less skills than usual. I can just use a chaos, a purify and a group heal before sylph. Group heal is important so your team goes into sylph phase at full health. The archers death star, to stun the opponents and keep up the pressure. Buffs and debuffs also make big difference in team play (incendiary shot, apollo) if your eudaemons can do it for you, that's the best. When your team faces a big whale, you can give yourself a chance if you can amnesia him, so have 1-2 player pack that. Marriage resurrection is an insane advantage in team play, try to "marry" someone with whom you regularly play with. Eternal hearts are now easy to get.
Combat is often a "dance", watching your opponent's actions, and reacting to them. You see he is going to rage steal, don't do delphic hell thunder then, because it will fizzle and you just lose a round. Try to guess when he wants to delphic and use guard rune before that. Time both awaken and cancel awaken well. Etc etc. PVP is the most enjoyable part of the game, despite low rewards, I still enjoy doing BG and arena. When in arena, if I meet 4 people, with 4 eudaemons, with all 4 player having 2-4 star orange sylphs, it feels a real achievement when I beat them using only a 1-star orange Medusa (and this happens quite often). Of course, I never have chance vs real whales, but the other day I killed a guy who had a 5-moon sylph, that felt cool.
** will add pics soon so this does not look just a boring wall of text ***
But of course you didn't come here to hear about my complaining. You came here to read something useful. Today I try to focus on the main aspect of the game, combat.
Many player says that in combat, whoever has higher BR wins, so it is actually irrelevant what skills you use in what order. Of course, BR is important. You can't beat someone with twice as much BR as you have. But if there is a lesser margin, you can turn the tides.
Combat has some main components: what runes and skills you use, when you use them, when you sylph, and what resists you have.
1.) Resists. Previously, you could reduce damage through resist by up to 90%, this way it was possible to kill even 100K USD whales by mere mortals. It was a fun age, but it is over. Also, you could get as much as +20% damage with resist reduction. These caps have been shifted, the max., damage resist converges to 60% (although with extremely high resist you can push this to 61%, 62%...) and the max extra damage can go much higher as well, converging to 60% (but can go to 61%, 62%... if you have lot of resist reduce via adv. and extended dimensions). This gives back the edge to the whales, but still. If you have +60% dmg vs your opponent, and he have -60%, you have a big advantage. Please note that resist works differently in sylph and non-sylph form. If the attack is non-sylph, the resist used does not check against the opponent's sylph, it check based on your resists (average? highest? I never tested). In general, I would recommend dark, light and electro resist for pvp, since these 3 are the most popular sylphs. But in Battleground, after a few tests battles, you might switch light and/or electro for fire and /or wind if you see several strong opponents with these.
2.) Runes. Since eudaemons, chaos rune became even more powerful. It is as good as a 3-round stun which you can use repeatedly, and you can even use to counter the opponent's heal spell. There is one simple way to protect yourself fully against chaos rune: do not use eudaemon. People overvalue eudaemons because their huge false BR. The truth is, in combat, most damage is dealt in sylph form. Before that, not much is happening if both players are strong. But, your eudaemon can never sylph, so he wont help you as much as his BR would suggest. All he will do is make you kill yourself with chaos runes. I do not even use the chaos rune anymore. If my opponent use the same strategy as me, or if the combat lasts longer and the eudaemon dies, its not so great. And if I have go 1 vs 8 in arena, one chaosed opponent wont make as much difference as a heal or guard rune.
Yes I use these two, they always serve well. In arena, if I have 2 or more opponent, I start with guard rune, and begin aoeing the opponents, killing their eudaemons while I take almost no damage. If all goes well, I can use it again after sylph.
Amnesia worth mentioning here. Amnesia is bugged, if you use it after your opponent used a skill, and that skill is banned, then your opponent will be helpless for 2 turns. This makes it very strong. Also, knights has no guard rune, so for them, I would recommend amnesia to replace guard rune. If you lucky, you can disable your opponent early on as much as with chaos, and if you disable delphic skill after awaken, you are in good position. But it's very hard to time it well, and not useful vs multiple opponents.
3.) Skills. Each class has it's preferences, and I'm good only with mage skills. Lately, I do not use suntoria, it's too slow, and it's too much subject to chaos. I rather focus on damage and use runes for protection, because they can't be chaosed. After guard, I used to open with delphic hell thunder. Besides dealing insane damage, it can stun opponents. Rain of fire next to finish off eudaemons, then frost bolt to try stun one opponent. Maybe restoration to keep myself at max life vs a strong opponent. Having high influence is very important, stunning your opponent can win you the match in many case. Especially, if you time it well. Best to stun the opponent after he sylph, or, if you know he have chaos rune, and you need to heal yourself, stun him first so you can safely heal yourself.
4.) Sylph choice. Although Hecate is the strongest sylph, you should avoid using it - because everyone have dark resist - unless it is twice stronger than your other sylphs. Any other sylph can be good, in my experience people stack random resists besides dark. Maybe water resist is the only one which no one uses. But I advise against Poseidon, unless you are in a party. The game is about dealing damage, not healing. Playing with and vs Poseidon is boooring and disgusting. (Btw, Nightbloom of ToK nightmare, please, stop logging out with Poseidon! You make tok much longer...) Also, when you are alone, chaos rune can hurt you only when you heal. My favorite is Medusa, because its PATK as well, so I can remove equipment from Hecate and borrow it to him while I do pvp.
5.) Sylph use. Some people like to stall sylph awaken, thinking if they can survive the opponent's sylph phase, they will easily destroy him during the 50% dmg increase when they reverted. This can be a good strategy, but it's very hard to survive the opponent's sylph phase with awaken, if he is as strong as you. So I suggest to sylph relatively soon. Before the 50% dmg increase, even sylphs don't do enough damage to kill the opponent. So you should time your awaken sou can can cast delphic the exact moment when the timer switches to 60 seconds. Delphics have a cooldown, so best sequence is waken, use a sylph skill, then guard rune, then delphic. Fight outcome often depends on who can counter the delphic with guard rune, and who can't. So you have to be ready to adapt, if your opponent cast guard rune when you are about to delphic, you better wait until it wears off. If you see you can't kill your opponent while in sylph form (neither he can kill you), you should revert back to normal form sooner, so you sylph first during the next round.
6.) Teamplay. Most of what I wrote refers to 1 vs X combat. When you are teamed up with friends, you need to consider additional things. In this case, there is no point leaving eudaemons home, so you have to prepare for chaos. Best to have a mage with a purify, and a knight/archer with a purify rune, if the mage gets chaosed. Put the mage in the bottom line so if he gets chaosed you can see it, and wait with the purify rune a bit. Using chaos rune yourself is great too, if you chaos multiple opponents, you usually win. So I use chaos+guard rune. You will need one player with a poseidon, so you can heal even in sylph form. In team, things are usually very laggy, you can use less skills than usual. I can just use a chaos, a purify and a group heal before sylph. Group heal is important so your team goes into sylph phase at full health. The archers death star, to stun the opponents and keep up the pressure. Buffs and debuffs also make big difference in team play (incendiary shot, apollo) if your eudaemons can do it for you, that's the best. When your team faces a big whale, you can give yourself a chance if you can amnesia him, so have 1-2 player pack that. Marriage resurrection is an insane advantage in team play, try to "marry" someone with whom you regularly play with. Eternal hearts are now easy to get.
Combat is often a "dance", watching your opponent's actions, and reacting to them. You see he is going to rage steal, don't do delphic hell thunder then, because it will fizzle and you just lose a round. Try to guess when he wants to delphic and use guard rune before that. Time both awaken and cancel awaken well. Etc etc. PVP is the most enjoyable part of the game, despite low rewards, I still enjoy doing BG and arena. When in arena, if I meet 4 people, with 4 eudaemons, with all 4 player having 2-4 star orange sylphs, it feels a real achievement when I beat them using only a 1-star orange Medusa (and this happens quite often). Of course, I never have chance vs real whales, but the other day I killed a guy who had a 5-moon sylph, that felt cool.
** will add pics soon so this does not look just a boring wall of text ***
