Here's a series of questions: what makes and breaks hundreds of matches a day, is the foundation of even more QQ posts and is deemed "working as intended" by Blizzard itself? The answer? No, it isn't Warlocks, it's Line of Sight. LOS. Chances are, at least once in your WoW life, you've had a spell being conjured up and the moment it is about to be sent flying, it's cancelled and a nice red message appears on your screen: Target Not in Line of Sight. Yea, it sucks, but the great thing about it is that it can be used to your advantage, as well.
One the greatest things any 1900+ team relies on is positioning. If they aren't, then they are just outright lucky to have gotten into their rating. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times the position of my warrior, or our paladin, in a moment of chaos has spelled victory or doom for us. I think the best way I can explain this is to give you a case-in-point example:
You're a Warrior and you're up against a 4dps team -- right out of the gate you know what your options are: hide or die. But hide where? Die how? Depending on where you stand in an arena can either make you a glaring red target for the other team, or on the flipside, an annoying pest. Let's say this example takes place in Nagrand -- as I'm trying to apply MS to one of their players, I see their mage begin to cast Frostbolt. What can I do in this situation? I can stand there and take it or I can take the initiative and begin to move towards the nearest physical obstacle: the poles. There are 4 poles in Nagrand, USE THEM. Stopping even one cast from the opposing team can keep you from dying in many cases.
Above is the most simple of maneuvers to perform in any arena: the swing. If you're being focussed, you stop what you're doing and you run into the corner and come back out on the side. This simple, 3 second long jog will stop countless casts, give your healer time to knock you back up some and, most importantly, it'll split the ranged from the melee on the other team. As a warrior this can be HUGE, because, simply put, if I can pull a Rogue into a 1v1 situation with me, I win. Plain and simple.
Additionally, as a Paladin, Priest or Druid, running around a pole in circles can sometimes take out key players of the other team if they are not wise enough to pick up on what you're doing. Priests, most importantly, can completely fool a Rogue and Warrior into chasing them around the pole as they still bubble, dispel and heal, yet at the same time completely take an opponent out of the fight -- how important in a match this can be I cannot even begin to describe, but the next time you make an opponent's MS Warrior run around a pole as you kill off his entire team, you'll be saying to yourself "Wow, what a hooker I am!"
Another way of using the poles to your advantage -- as a Hunter, Warlock or any other classes that utilize quick, instant-cast abilities -- is by simply kiting the entire fight by running behind both poles, exposing yourself solely to do your job. In the case of a Hunter, a common 5v5 focus target, this will make or break the fight. I've killed too many hunters that have stood in the middle of the arena trying to do their job, and likewise have yelled at my own for the same reason. During high-level play where you stand will dictate your usefulness in the battle.
Naturally, your healer should always be in on these tactics, as they should be dropping at least a heal or two on your during a swing. If they aren't, while still helpful, you will not be utilizing the effectiveness, as a whole, of the move.
So in short: use the walls and objects in each arena to your advantage -- they aren't there to make the maps look pretty, they are there for you to use them as obstacles for your opponents. The next time you see a Warlock queuing up a juicy UA in your direction, simply step to the side, behind a pole, and enjoy the view of DoTs being removed from you without your healer taking a 3k crit to the face.
Enjoy, good luck and make sure you're getting tipped when you're rubbing up against the pole.
One the greatest things any 1900+ team relies on is positioning. If they aren't, then they are just outright lucky to have gotten into their rating. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times the position of my warrior, or our paladin, in a moment of chaos has spelled victory or doom for us. I think the best way I can explain this is to give you a case-in-point example:
You're a Warrior and you're up against a 4dps team -- right out of the gate you know what your options are: hide or die. But hide where? Die how? Depending on where you stand in an arena can either make you a glaring red target for the other team, or on the flipside, an annoying pest. Let's say this example takes place in Nagrand -- as I'm trying to apply MS to one of their players, I see their mage begin to cast Frostbolt. What can I do in this situation? I can stand there and take it or I can take the initiative and begin to move towards the nearest physical obstacle: the poles. There are 4 poles in Nagrand, USE THEM. Stopping even one cast from the opposing team can keep you from dying in many cases.
Above is the most simple of maneuvers to perform in any arena: the swing. If you're being focussed, you stop what you're doing and you run into the corner and come back out on the side. This simple, 3 second long jog will stop countless casts, give your healer time to knock you back up some and, most importantly, it'll split the ranged from the melee on the other team. As a warrior this can be HUGE, because, simply put, if I can pull a Rogue into a 1v1 situation with me, I win. Plain and simple.
Additionally, as a Paladin, Priest or Druid, running around a pole in circles can sometimes take out key players of the other team if they are not wise enough to pick up on what you're doing. Priests, most importantly, can completely fool a Rogue and Warrior into chasing them around the pole as they still bubble, dispel and heal, yet at the same time completely take an opponent out of the fight -- how important in a match this can be I cannot even begin to describe, but the next time you make an opponent's MS Warrior run around a pole as you kill off his entire team, you'll be saying to yourself "Wow, what a hooker I am!"
Another way of using the poles to your advantage -- as a Hunter, Warlock or any other classes that utilize quick, instant-cast abilities -- is by simply kiting the entire fight by running behind both poles, exposing yourself solely to do your job. In the case of a Hunter, a common 5v5 focus target, this will make or break the fight. I've killed too many hunters that have stood in the middle of the arena trying to do their job, and likewise have yelled at my own for the same reason. During high-level play where you stand will dictate your usefulness in the battle.
Naturally, your healer should always be in on these tactics, as they should be dropping at least a heal or two on your during a swing. If they aren't, while still helpful, you will not be utilizing the effectiveness, as a whole, of the move.
So in short: use the walls and objects in each arena to your advantage -- they aren't there to make the maps look pretty, they are there for you to use them as obstacles for your opponents. The next time you see a Warlock queuing up a juicy UA in your direction, simply step to the side, behind a pole, and enjoy the view of DoTs being removed from you without your healer taking a 3k crit to the face.
Enjoy, good luck and make sure you're getting tipped when you're rubbing up against the pole.
Written by: Syrrage on September 23rd, 2007
Notes!
Something will be here soon, I promise.