BG errors and stupidity – EotS

I died, a lot, during my BG runs yesterday. Oddly, I think I learned some things while I was at it.

Since it was Eye of the Storm (EotS) weekend, that’s where I did almost all my runs. As a reminder I’m looking for ONE piece of gear to start — the trinket, so I can quit being QUITE so subject to fear and other minor frustrations.

Digression. The more I examine it, the more I think I should have picked that up a long time ago – at least the lower (5 minute cooldown) version. It’s just got too many uses even in PVE. Sure, you sacrifice stats, but there are these bosses every so often where, well, Fear Kills, Stats just delay things a bit.

So… The first thing I discovered is that most people don’t really understand where the points come from in EotS. I was, at the start of the day, the same way. I got frustrated with nobody giving an answer – not to mention all the chaotic running back and forth (more on that in a bit), and did some research. Allow me to summarize.

The battle is won, just like Alteric Valley (AV) [Correction, Arathi Basin (AB)], by the first side earning 2000 points.

Owning towers ticks for points every two seconds. You earn 1, 2, 5, and 10 points per tick for 1 through 4 towers respectively.

Capping the flag – that is, capturing it and taking it to one of the towers you own – earns points based on how many towers you own as well. Again respectively for ownership, it’s 75, 85, 100, and 500 points.

One more point before we go into strategy. It takes 10 seconds to pick up the flag (you know the gear wait drill). A FAST carrier (ghost wolf, sprint, etc) can get the flag to a tower in about 25 seconds in a perfect run. This means if everything – EVERYTHING – is going your way you can cap a flag every 35 seconds.

Obviously if you’re both holding towers it’s better to be the one capping the flag. But is ‘just capping the flag’ the best strategy? 35 seconds… let’s call it 36 so we can get a solid 18 ticks, ok? That’s a “perfect” run. We’ll be hitting that again in a bit.

Let’s have both sides grab both towers simultaneously. Now, you let the other side do perfect runs. Meantime you spend runs grabbing (and holding) a third tower. Let’s walk the points a minute, shall we?

The instant you grab the third tower, the new point-scheme takes effect. The other side is earning 18+75=93 points every 36 seconds. You are earning 90 points in the same time. If the other side can do perfect runs all the time, they win. But there’s only a 3 point difference. How much time do you need?

If you can delay the runs by one measley tick, you get: Them – 94 points; Us – 95 points.

Let’s run another concept. What if we have two and we keep swapping ownership of the third. That is – 30 seconds unowned, and 16 seconds of one side or the other? No, let’s make it 18 seconds of ownership for some “perfect flag run” intervals. They get 9 ticks at 2 points — 18 points — and 27 at one each for a total of 45 points from towers. We get 9 ticks at 5 – 45 – and 27 at 2 each – 54 – for a total of 99 points.

If they get one run in there – regardless – and we get none, then they win that sequence. If we trade runs, we win. Over time, we can afford to be SLIGHTLY less efficient at running – especially if we can get a cap during our three-tower period.

And so we see the conflict. If both sides hold two towers pretty much consistently, then the side that’s better at running the flag wins. If, however, one side’s second tower is contested then the other side can be slightly less good at running and still win. And if one side can hold three towers for most of the battle, then as long as the other side can’t make perfect runs (that is, takes more than 36 seconds between caps) then the three-tower side wins.

A great strategy, then, goes as follows: One group splits 2-2 and takes the two nearside towers. The second group plus one person from each of the other two groups goes for a third tower. The third group (less one person) goes to contest the flag. Subsequently, the two ‘attachments’ to the second group stay at the third tower, and the remaining four people of group 2 become a reserve assisting whichever tower the other side attacks. Or, if opportunity presents itself, attacking the fourth tower. (This is really, really hard even for pre-mades.)

So, what’s the heal-priest’s role in all this? Healing, obviously (grin). More seriously… You can be part of the flag team, in which case you’re healing the battle to take the flag, then healing the carrier. If you’re part of the tower assault team, you’re a party healer. Expect to go out of mana. Stay as unnoticeable as possible – range and terrain will help here. Consider NOT using the frisbee – it’s distinctive and tells (or reminds) everyone that there’s a heal-priest over there. Alternately, what I wound up doing (finally) was putting the frisbee on myself. Once I’ve been found and hit I can be pretty sure some of the other side will talk. (“Fresh Meat here.”) If you’re part of the “hold the tower” team, you are healing only when attacked. Be advised that one attack is to sneak in a rogue to occupy you so your partner can be overwhelmed. Alternately, they’ll tie up your partner so no rescue is possible and swarm you. Either way, it would not be amiss to keep your frisbee in constant play ‘just in case’ – again, on yourself might be as useful as on your partner.

Also, for both flag and tower teams, don’t forget your Mass Dispel. It’s an almost perfect opportunity, and especially at the flag battle pretty much everyone will be in range. Accept the pain of a Warlock’s Unstable Affliction.

So, I said I had a lot of errors and stupidity. Some of it’s implied above — those are painful lessons learned, the things like when to send the frisbee. (Four horde suddenly turning from their respective foes and charging me was entertaining in some ways.) By the way – if you hear the zziiinnng of the frisbee going off, it means there’s a priest close-by. Nothing wrong with turnabout being fair play here. Anyway, I’ve got a few more lessons.

Never be alone. Seriously – never. If you are, head for other players even if it means abandoning a tower you’re the only one occupying. Staying in a tower only makes sense if you can delay the seizure long enough that reinforcements can stop it. You are squishy – 10 seconds is a long duration against an assault. If you stay anyway, you are a tripwire. YELL IN RAID the instant you’re attacked. In fact, go ahead and write your first raid comment – “xx tower under attack.” If you get time to add “## attackers,” great. But if you’re typing you’re not running/fighting – and you do have some things to reach that 10 second point.

If you haven’t done so, go ahead and buy an elite ground mount. Yes, I’m guilty of this – cheapskate that I was. The problem with doing without is, well, see “never be alone.”

Don’t waste time dismounting. When you cast a spell your dismount happens automatically. Take advantage of this fact.

sigh – always. ALWAYS. Inner fire. Go ahead and shield just before you mount – odds are it’ll be gone before you need it, but every so often you get this really skilled horde. Shield should also be the first spell you cast when you rez – graveyards can be camped, and that instant of time can make all the difference in the world. My pattern on rez was shield, IF, buff (x3 – I have IDS, fort is obvious, and shadow has saved me more than once), mount. Yes, it ate mana. By the time I got to the battle I was usually close to full again.

Psychic scream will probably not work. Don’t make it your first button on panic. In fact… Shield and nuking myself with heals kept me alive a lot more when it was anything but a rogue. (Warriors hate it when you do that – I became a favorite target in one battle, and he never, ever got me to zero before help came round.)

Last – most important. MOST IMPORTANT. As in if you do nothing else DO THIS….

Talk.

Communicate.

At a minimum, find a warrior or other tank-type and send a tell, “Wanna team?” You don’t have to run the thing, just start reporting: “3 inc BT over bridge.” “Lck, War, Hnt at flag.” You get the idea. And as I discovered about the fourth game, when YOU start doing this – and do it early enough – then so does everyone else.

Oh, by the way? How to know if you’ve found someone trying to lead? If the groups start changing. It’s the first clue you might have joined a pre-made. It doesn’t take much of that to discover things are going your way.

~ by Kirk on February 11, 2008.