I’ve always been a big fan of PvP, the unpredictability of each and every match or encounter is something that never gets tiresome and is always exhilarating. You gain a real sense of achievement for successfully destroying another player or team, and even more so when you work as a well oiled team to achieve amazing “against-all-odds” victories. So it is good to know Bioware are dishing out the love in this area of the game.
Thinking back….
I remember reading something from Bioware (which I can’t find at the minute) saying they were big fans of the combat and PvP in Warhammer Online. If you ever played WAR it will be clear, once you see what Bioware have introduced, were big fans of WAR, and the PvP style found within.
WAR failed for a few reasons, but one thing I can assure you was the PvP was truly awesome, offering some of the most enjoyable, satisfying and rewarding gaming experiences I have ever had. I Really miss the long pitched epic battles, battles that would see tank walls holding a mobile organic defensive line, instantly turning into a perfectly timed and co-ordinated charge attack, pincer movements, counter-attacks, decoy tactics, holding choke points (like bridges) or objectives against overwhelming odds until back up arrived – it worked really well and was awesome to be involved in.
Some of the mechanics that made WAR PvP so much fun have been adopted and evolved in SWTOR. These include; a guard system for tanks, dynamic crowd control immunities, large health pools and the removal of ridiculous one or two shot kills, tactical and strategic combat, taunts that have PvP uses, PvP levels just like regular leveling and teamwork focused combat. More on these points further down.
So if you’re a PvP fan, and never experienced the PvP in WAR (or like me miss the great combat found in WAR), you are in for a treat with SWTOR.
Here is the rundown of what we have learned so far…
PvP Servers and Open World PvP?
It has been confirmed PvP servers will be available at launch. Open world PvP will be available in both PvE and PvP servers.
PvE Servers
PvE servers will have designated PvP areas with goal driven objectives etc (similar to Warhammer online were the PvP zones were marked by a red translucent lake on the mini-map) – in these areas you will always be flagged for PvP. Outside of these areas you will need to flag yourself for PvP.
Bioware are not releasing any details on the goals associated with these areas yet.
PvP Servers
These will still have the designated PvP areas but you will also be PvP flagged outside of these allowing for open conflict throughout the planets and zones within. Bring it on…
Specific PvP Builds
There will be builds that focus more on PvP in every Advanced Class (AC), offering roughly a 2% competitive edge in PvP.
I like this approach as it should give PvP focused players PvP specific abilities while not ruling out PvP for PvE spec players.
Will PvP be Skill Based or Gear Based?
Bioware strongly state that with the dynamic matching and bolstering system players should always be on a competitive playing field. Both Skill and Gear will have parts to play in encounters, but the gear portion will never give more than a 10% edge, leaving player skill as the overriding factor in the majority of encounters.
In real terms you could have 2 players of equal skill and level etc, one with their full PvP gear and one donned in their full PvE gear – the PvP player would have about a 10% edge. Again, we are not sure about this one until we get some serious play time in, 10% could work out to be hardly noticeable or it could be a massive advantage – our bet is riding more with the latter.
Feel The Power of the Dark Side… Muahahahaha…
PvP Abilities and Mechanics
I’m going to cover how crowd control works, whether insta-deaths are viable and what abilities and mechanics govern these aspects.
Crowd Control (CC)
Has always been a major issue in MMO’s, there is nothing worse than stun, fear or disarm followed by 2 hits and death. While CC does have a part to play, it must be governed predominantly by player skill. By that I mean ustilising short timers, with CC that breaks on damage – forcing players to use it wisely at the correct times, on the correct targets. Out of all the MMO’s I’ve played WAR achieved the best balance in immunities, activated breaks, damage breaks, and no fears or polymorphs of any kind.
So it’s pleasing to know Bioware have adopted some of the best mechanics for Star Wars:TOR:
CC Immunities
Bioware are introducing a Resolve Bar which fills as a player is subjected to CC abilities, and subsides over time. Currently 1 second of CC will increase your resolve count by 100, once it reaches 800 you will be immune to CC.
They are definitely on the right track, but from my experience 8 seconds is way too long to be CC’d for, especially if your a healer. I understand most CC abilities will break on damage but this will still not help when fighting against a well co-ordinated team who could take out a healer for nearly 10 seconds. I know this is unfair from personal experience – because my group used the exact same tactics in WAR to gain a way overpowered advantage – until they changed it. Personally 4 – 6 seconds should be the very, very maximum CC you can be subjected to, with any CC over 2-3 seconds braking on damage. Hopefully this will be tweaked as the game progresses.
One Shot Kills
You will not see ridiculously high critical hits, ones that can decimate a player in mere seconds. One-on-ones will be a tense affair, requiring player skill, intelligent ability combinations and tactics to overcome an opponent. Team battles will see the need for smart target selection, coupled with co-ordinated and focused attacks, and on-the-fly tactical changes in order to bring enemy players players down.
This type of tactical combat works well in MMO PvP, leaning the focus towards skill and team work rather than it being dependent on who is able to get the 1st hit, crit or stun in.
Tanks Guard Ability
All tanks will be able to place a guard on any teammate, this transfers 50% of the damage from the teammate to the tank as long as they remain with 15m of each other.
Again, this was first really seen in WAR. It offers a great dynamic to encounters and makes tank builds an essential requirement in PvP. Clever use of the Guard ability can be used to toughen up DPS classes – which is brilliant in many damage focused, offense orientated groups. It is also great when used to beef up your healers, but it’s at its best when employed by an experienced tank in a well organised team, who is able to switch the Guard round as the battle evolves. The damage a tank redirects (known as “Defense”) is tracked and offers rewards and benefits just as damage done or number of kills does.
Taunts
Taunts for tanks will reduce the damage the target player does on everyone else except the tank.
De-taunts for classes with weaker armor and less hitpoints will reduce damage they take for a certain period of time (as long as the don’t attack).
Again variations of these abilities were seen in WAR. They worked really well and, if used wisely with other abilities and tactics, could mean the difference between living and dieing.
PvP Rewards
Bioware have confirmed there will be a number of PvP related rewards, currency, ranks etc. Let’s look at these in more detail…
Leveling in PvP
You will gain experience towards your standard level while participating in PvP. Leveling solely in PvP related activities is completely viable.
PvP Ranks/Levels – Valor
SWTOR has a Valor ranking system (similar to Renown rank in WAR) that runs along side your normal level rank. You will gain Valor XP which increases your Valor level as you participate in PvP, giving you access to more titles and other PvP privileges. The example given is that the player with the highest Valor rank in a Warzone would be the leader, having access to mark targets etc.
This is a great system and one that I find works really well. I anticipate some of the Valor rank privileges not yet disclosed may include access to certain abilities, mounts, gear and items.
PvP Currency
In PvP you will earn Valor tokens to purchase PvP armor, PvP consumables, and other types of PvP items. Bioware have stressed the majority of these will not be restricted by Valor rank – meaning if you can buy it you can wear it.
Commendations
Bioware have introduced something unique here. Basically at the end of a Warzone everyone will be able to place a “commendation” on another player which will increase their Valor rewards.
A nice addition, that will hopefully contribute to players acting as more of a team. They have introduced a system to stop premades Valor power leveling their buddies.
Badges
Players will be rewarded badges for acts of skill and achievements within PvP – i.e. kill “n” players, get multi-kills, survive overwhelming odds, defend players, capture/defend objectives, badge streaks and so on. As badges or streaks are awarded they will be posted in game to notify teammates of your success and highlighting you as a target for the enemy. Badges will also increase Valor rewards.
A nice addition (seen in more basic terms in Rift), one that works well in FPS and should work well in MMO’s. Bioware have stressed badges will be awarded for a multitude of reasons, reaching well above just kills. They want to encourage players to work as a team, play tactically and not just be lone-rangers or kill farmers.
Warzones
About Warzones, some insights, we have learned:
I Can't Wait To Face Off Against The Republic…
What Level You Can Join Warzones
ALL Warzones can be joined when you reach level 10
Do Different Warzones Carry Level Requirements
No, once you reach level 10 you will have access to all Warzones.
Can Players with Large Level Gaps Join Warzones Together
Yes, a level 10 and 30 (or any combination) could join up together – the level 10 player would get bolstered.
With No Level restrictions How Will Players be Matched and Balanced?
Bioware have stated they will be using dynamic matching calculations that pit matching level ranges against each other, premades against premades, number of healers against number of healers, half-premades against half-premades, solos and half-solos and the bolster system, among others.
How Bolster Will Work
After the above matching criteria has been met, players are bolstered. Bolstering will always increase a players power to 80% of a higher level player with better gear. The remaining 20% is divided equally between gear and level.
I will wait to see exactly how bolstering and the removal of level brackets in Warzones works in practice. From my experience bolstering never works as well as it sounds. Lower level characters have less skills, and the skills they do have are significantly lower in power and then the gear difference between a level 10 and 40 would be too much. However, from what Bioware are saying, these factors are taken into account and meaning should always be AT LEAST 80% the power of anyone else in the Warzone.
Warzone Stat Tracking
Bioware have introduced a highly detailed stat tracking system, one that will reward all archetypes for excelling with their class. The tracked stats include Commendations, Damage Done, Kills, Killing Blows, Defense, Deaths, Healing, Objectives, and Badges.
Each of these top level stats will house further stats. Highlight “Damage Done” for example and you will also see the largest hit, DPS, and more – really giving players a everything they need to assess their own performance, their teammates performance, their opponents performance and award a deserved commendation.
Well that’s all I have on PvP at the moment, and as an avid PvP player it is all good news. Good work Bioware, keep it up.
Look out for an update a couple of weeks after release for the update on how PvP actually works.
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Now I have no experience with WAR, but I truly enjoyed the pvp in WOW. It was fast paced and yes, the first hit mattered greatly, but shouldn’t it? I mean stealthed classes really count on the first hit. If the first hit while stealthed doesn’t do enough damage, then they have little chance to recoup in the fight.
I haven’t played WOW since BC really and I know it’s changed a bit, but pre-BC battlegrounds and general PVP was always intense from what I experienced.
I just hope the amount of health every class has isn’t ridiculously enormous in terms of pvp encounters.
I definatley see where you are coming from, I thought the same. I was a long-time WoW player too. I thought the PvP was ok, that is until I experience how it should be done (in my opinion). In WAR and TOR It’s not about 1-on-1 fights (although they will be awesome fun) – it’s about working as a team to take people down and beat the opposing team. Let’s look at the stealth example further, WAR allowed massive hits/crits from stealth etc but they gave players a chance to escape. These came in the form of stuns and CC effects lasting only a very short time, CC breaks, immunities and diminishing returns, knockbacks and de-taunts (reducing damage for a limited time), and tank guards which reduced damage taken by 50% (great for both healers and dps orientated teams). This stopped the awful problem of a stealth class (and/or nuke classes) stunning a healer, and then killing them in less than a few seconds – awful mechanic that ruled in WoW for a long time. WAR also introduced combat rez as standard for all healers (as TOR is). These measures meant the playing field was a lot more even and success came down to playing your class well, working as a team and adapting to the battlefield.