Well, in my humble opinion, this is the funniest part of the game. Being able to size up your skills and powers with your same is an amazing experience, and you won´t find that exciment ( and nervousness) anywhere else in Norrath but when dueling. Also, you´ll make mistakes that you wouldn´t otherwise make in a mob fighting, and in a PvP, those mistakes mean most likely death.
First of all, these PvP guide has been dessign on blue servers dueling enviorment rather than in actual PvP servers. In those ones, rules are compleatly different and some other tactics could apply.
The most important thing in duels is to keep in mind who are you about to fight against. Every class needs a different combat strategy, and you gotta adapt yourself (due to your wide spells range) to the enemy´s class fighting way. Each class has got some weakpoints, and you must be smart enough to exploit them to the end.
In the equipment section I stated that your main equipment issue would be to reach 200 Intelligence. Well, that´s not 100% accurate when talking about dueling a spells caster class. Then, magic resistance bonus items should be what you´re looking for. Heat and cold items too. Poison and Disease are important while dueling a Shaman or another necro.
Of course, no need to say that you should cast everysingle buff and shielding spell you´ve got in your spell book on you. Also arm and buff your pet up, and med up both mana and HP till full.
In spite of the fact that your pet is one of your main weapons in any monster-hunting, they won´t be so crucial when dueling. Remember that your adversary is no brainless mob, and therefore he won´t waste his time and HP dealing with your pet but you !! So don´t rely too much on your pet and just consider him as one of your DoTs. And don´t worry if the guy fights him and kills him. Believe me, that would be the best that could happen : a moron wasting his HP or mana against your pet. So, don´t heal the pet and don´t recast if he dies either.
Tip : As a necro, you need plenty of space to perform your powers, no matter if hunting or dueling, so only accept duels in open-field non-KoS zones. You´ve been warned. Main reason for this is because Shadow Step is one of our mayor PvP spells, and it´s only useful outdoors
Tip 2 : Before starting a duel, when you cast your buffs, don´t cast the best ones at the beginning. Cast two or three shit ones (like grim aura, deadeye, etc.) and then cast your valuable buffs (shieldskins, mayorshielding, spirit armour,etc.). Once done this, cancel the shit ones (click on their symbols). Hence you´ll have few empty slots up at the top of your screen. What for? Because in those empty slots where be placed your adversary´s nasty permanent spells (DoTs, root, blind, snare, etc) and since Cancel Magic spell dispells one by one the spells from the top to the bottom, you won´t need to cancel all your lovely buffs in order to get rid of his DoTs. This is very important, it can safe your life when dueling against casters !!
Tip 3 : Beware of tricky players when dueling within zones with ponds, lakes, rivers or seaside. Why? Because there is a bug (or I believe it to be a bug) about not being able to cast on players underwater if you are outside, and viceversa. And this applies even if only your feet are in the water. With this, they would step outside the water, cast the hell on you and step back in afterwards when it´s your turn to cast away. No damage will be taken. If you notice any adversary playing this game, shout it out loud and make him feel ashame of himself.
Now, I´ll list different ways to face a duel againts different classes. If you´re worth your salt mate, you should learn them all up by heart !!
PvP : How to duel a warrior-rogue-monk, a paladin, a Shadow Knight, a druid-ranger, a wizard, a mage, an enchanter, a shaman, a Cleric, a Bard and a Necromancer.
1. Dueling a warrior-rogue-monk :
Theese are mellee classes, specially the warrior. But, at any rate, they all need to be within mellee distance to beat your butt. They actually lack of any other fighting strategy apart from the slash, hack, kick, bite and spit. And that´s your main advantage : They need to be close to you. Thanks God we´ve got a lovely lv 8 spell called Shadow Step (check spells list for more info) which is a random teleportion within a 300 feet radius circle. Its main adventage is that is 1 second-long casting spell, so it´s virtually instantaneous. Besides, it´s almost mana free to cast. This spell will be the key to succees against mellee classes. Watch out cause this spell can easily drive you out of the casting distance, so you might have to walk back into it : )
Don´t accept the duel being any close to the adversary. Get plenty of space between you two. If the guy doesn´t give you that space, cast Shadow step immediately after accepting the duel. With this, you´ll get that gap needed and also the guy will be confused for few secs trying to spot you out. Now cast quickly the lvl 24 spell Screaming terror (check spells list for more info). Its a fast 2.5 secs casting spell, so you´ll be able to cast it before the guy reaches up to you. It´s a brief, short version of the enchanter´s spell mesmerize. It makes the target to stand still for 10-15 secs without any control of himself (he won´t cast, move or attack). In those 10-15 seconds, your job is to cast every single DoT you´ve got on him (starting from the low resistance rate ones). Afterwards, send pet on him and run away. Once he brakes free the Screaming terror´s effects, he´ll be headed towards you like a maniac ( if he sticks to your pet trying to get rid of him quickly, he ain´t got a clue what a duel is about). Just run in circles untill the DoTs wear off. Some other necros would try to Fear the guy away, but in my own experience Fear gets resisted much more often when dueling than in normal combats. Not sure why. Once the DoTs effect has worn off, wait for him to get close to you and cast once more Shadow Step. Again, he´ll be desorientated and you will have gained a safetly gap between the two of you. And now start all over again : Screaming terror followed by DoTs, and run away : )
Doing all this written above, I have won duels without being hit even once.
There´s another variety of this very same strategy. Whenever you know in advance you´re gonna duel some lad, just bind yourself at any hidden spot not very far away from where the duel will take place (within the zone, of course). Best idea could be to get bound inside any small hut, or behind a large rock, or on the other side of that hill, or whatever spot you could think of. After having cast all your DoTs and sent pet on him, Screaming terror should be about to wear off, but you´ll still have time enough to cast the 4 secs long casting lvl 4 Gate spell (check spells list for more info). Hehehe I love this : Your adversary will be desperatly looking for you while you´re sitting down listening to the chart hits on the radio and medding mana up. On top of that, DoTs are doing their job. If for some reason you got beaten up, and therefore your shieldskin series spell (check spell list for farther info about this series) is off now, recast it. Once DoTs wear off, show up, spot the guy, re-DoT, re-Gate, re-listen to the chart hits. Believe me, this could really piss the guy off, but hey! this is a duel to death ain´t it? Fuck the honour. You are a smart ass and therefore you win!! If, by fluke, the guy finds your lair, Shadow Step and run the hell far away (with the lad chasing you several yards behind). Say you get to the other corner of the zone. Just shadow step again and gate back. Hehehe. Too lovely to be real, isn´t it? There´s one main drawback : the dude will probably report you for being too annoying : )
If during the duel, he gets on you slashing you ass hard, Shadow Step is your best defence, or even have harmshield ready to cast if you don´t know what to do. This´ll give you 10 secs to cool down and think clearer. Just remember, keep him full DoTed and away from you, and you´ll win. Don´t cast DD spells or lifetaps (this only if really needed) since tank classes have loads of HP and you´ll need your whole mana bar in order to cast DoTs (more mana efficient than DDs). Do not forget to have always the dark pact series up, because tanks have got loads of HP and you´ll burn most of your mana on them.
And what about the rogue? He´ll always try to wear his camouflage on (invis effect) and snake up on your back to stick his tiny dick into your butt ( high damage backstab attack). So, first of all, have Dead eye spell cast on (sees thru invis. Check spells list for more info), and don´t worry too much about them circling and spinning around you looking for your back, you can still cast while turning yourself in circles, or just Shadow Step away and Screaming Terror afterwards. It´s very important not to let them hit you, ´cause they grease their weapons with poison, and it will deal good damage to you. Also, don´t root them and step back thinking your safe. They are skillful with bows and throwing knives too. So, Shadow Step away and cast ST from the distance.
They say rogues and rangers are the weakest class in Norrath, and I´m affraid they speak truth.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Warrior-Rogue : lifetap spell (rather a quick, mana efficient one), your two most powerfull DoTs, Screaming Terror, highest shieldskin spell you got , Harmshield, Shadow Step and Gate.
Well, well. This will be undoubtly tougher tank to fight against because they can cast damn good PvP spells : blind, healing, root, Fear undead, shielding buffs, cancel magic etc. Besides they can stun you from the distance and they´ve got an special hability : Lay on Hands, which is a once-per-hour-only massive healing. I´m telling you, not a nice lad to mess with.
The DoT-Gate technique won´t work out since they´ll dispell your DoTs with cancel magic. Also you can´t DD them off ´cause with so many HPs and healings and shieldings and stuff you won´t have mana enough. Also, forget about your pet since they´ll defiantely fear it away or blind it (pet walks around like a head-chopped chicken unable to make his blows good). On top of that, they can stun you, then root, then walk into mellee distance and slash you to a shapeless bloody pulp on the floor. Finally, many tanks tend to have a egg-shaped pumice, an item that dispells every buff on you and the nasty ones you´ve cast on them.
Ok now, stop it, don´t bray around thinking you ain´t got any change against this adversary. It´s indeed an awful dude, but let´s think something up. The only way to beat them I can think of is to not let them use their defensive spells (healing, cancel magic). So I´m affraid we´ll have to be quite agressive this time. Let´s just hope he hasn´t got a high Magic Resistance bonus gear.
Start off, as usual, the battle with lvl 24 Screaming Terror spell (check spells list for more info). Cast your 2 most poweful DoTs, forget about minor ones. Now, in order to have him away of Cancelling our DoTs, cast fear and lets hope it holds on him. Ok now, if it does stick to him, you´ve got about 10 secs to deal large amount of damage : cast Shock of Poison (lvl 24 spell, check spells list for more info) the hell away few times. Then, stand still ready to recast Screaming Terror again when Fear wears off. It´s a fast 2.5 secs long casting spell, so you should be quicker than any of his spells. And again DD him few times, recast Fear, and again burn all your mana on him. I know this is not the way a necro should play since our DD are not very mana efficient, but there´s no other way to fight this guy. He has got just too many HP (considering several healings and Lay on Hands). Actually, if you let him use his healing skills, it´s like if you had to take down 3 times his whole HP bar, and you just haven´t got that much of mana.
In the other hand, let´s say he got free of our Screaming Terror and Fear spells and he´s on us. He doesn´t have offesive spells, so as any tank class, he needs to mellee in order to win. So, once more, if he has rooted or blind us, Shadow Step will be our best deffence.
Let´s say you have done a good job and you eventually inflict lots of damage to him, but, in the last moment he resorts to Lay on Hands and gets his HPs bar back to full. Of course, after such a combat you´ll be low on mana. Well, don´t worry, use the previous explained tacnic to Gate to a hidden spot (see how to duel a warrior-rogue section above). Then med up HP and mana, and of course let him do the same. Then, let´s start the combat again, only difference is that now he won´t be able to use LoH because it can be used only once every 70 minutes.
The main issue while fighting paladins would be to have them under the effects of either Screaming Terror or Fear so they can´t use Cancel Magic nor healing spells, and meanwhile let DoTs run thru them and blast them down very quickly. Another tip is to have all your spells macroed in hot-buttons, so if they happen to blind us, we´ll know which keyboard to hit for the beloved Shadow Step and Gate spells.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Paladin : Lifetap spell, Shock of poison (if you don´t have this one, the highest lifetap you´ve got), your 2 most powerfull DoTs, Screamimg Terror, Fear, Shadow Step and Gate.
Shadow knights are and hybrid class, a cross between a necro and a warrior. They usually have our same spells, just 2 circles later (at lvl 29 they get most of our lvl 20 spells including pet). This makes them, in my opinion, absolutly useless casters. Only thing that can irritate you is the Fear spell, but do not worry much about their pet (yours will destroy his very quickly) or attacking spells (they will fight you with Heat blood when you´ve got boil blood, or even venom of the snake. Anyway, have Cancel Magic ready against his minor DoTs) or even their Shadow Step ( we are no mellee class, so no need for us to get toe to toe with them). So, this leads us to a mellee class with Fear.
Honestly, I don´t see too much to worry about when dueling with SKs.
Just as usual, lvl 24 spell Screaming Terror (check spells list for more info) at the beginning, use your 2 best DoTs and send pet in. Now take some distance and check his strategy when ST brakes free : If he decides to Darkness-Fear the pet at first to get rid of it, just recast quickly Screaming Terror. You´ll have your DoTs and pet dealing good damage on him. This way, you´ll make him forget about your pet the next round and have him headed towards you (that´s what you want). Since Screaming Terror burns little mana (only 60), and is quick to cast (2.6 secs), just keep it on him due to avoid his Fear since it could really screw you up. If he Fears you, he´ll get into mellee distance and hack and slash you very hard. Also he´ll use his best attack, the once-per-hour-only Harm Touch, which is as devastating as a mage´s nuke for that lvl. But they have to be next to you to cast it out, so just keep them away !!
Screamin Terror, get good distance, let Pet / DoTs deal damage, recast Screaming Terror and walk back again. Renew DoTs as needed and everything will be just fine. Piece of cake.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Shadow Knight : highest lifetap you got, 2 most powerful DoTs, Screaming Terror, Cancel Magic, Harmshield, Shadow Step and Gate.
These classes´most important adventage is speed (they have SoW and super SoW), and believe me, that´s exactly what they´ll try to perform. They´ll snare your pet (slow him down) and will run away willing you to follow them, hence having your ass far away from your pet-bodyguard. Or, alternatively, they´ll snare you down and run away with your pet on them to kill him easily away from his master. Do not play the druid´s game, don´t chase them. But if he does get to SoW himself away with your pet on his back, just dispell snare with Cancel Magic and run in the oposite direction !!. Have your pet in the target screen (hit F1 button twice) and whenever the pet dies, sit down, memorice pet spell and recast a new one. Cast your highest HP-to-mana transfer spell ( check the spells list for mor info), sit down, re-memorize your previous spell and wait till full mana. By the time he finds you, he´ll go breathless watching a brand new pet, a full mana adversary and his own mana bar a nice chunk down wasted against your former pet !!
I´d bet their first spell will be snare. It´s not an damage spell, so it won´t brake your concentration while casting your ever-battle-openning spells Screaming Terror (check spells list for more info). As usual, DoT his stinky ass with your two most poweful DoTs. Now, you can´t just gate away ´cause if he is worth his salt, he´ll use the same dispell technique much alike yours with Cancel Magic spell.
Since you can´t gate away, and since you can´t give him 1 sec either or he´ll cast Spirit of Cheeta (super SoW spell) rushing the hell away as quickly as it gets, I´m afraid you´ll have to do pretty much the same like you did against the Shadow Knight : I call it Total Harrassment Tactic : ) Just be damn ready to re-cast Screaming Terror before he casts super SoW, escaping away with your pet along and then canceling your DoTs and healing himself up. If you manage to ST him again, blast him the hell off with chain casting shock of poison.
Keys against a druid : don´t chase him around, don´t let him get away your casting area with super SoW spell and don´t let him heal himself.
If you see that he gets free (or resists) ST and he starts casting some DoTs or nukes (their offensive spells are very powerfull too !!), have ready a quick lifetap spell (lvl 20 siphon life is a good one) and chain cast it. It´ll brake his concentration and you´ll get your HP back. If you see that you do cut off all his spells, just keep lifetapping (I´ve won some duels just chain lifetapping). If, in the other hand, you see that you are running out of mana, as soon as you are full HP, Shadow Step and Gate away. Both of you would have wasted plenty of mana by that time, but your allure of death works marvelously. So once you pop up safely, cancel his DoTs with Cancel Magic and med mana to full. It´s very important you have your binding spot not close to the dueling area, or he´ll track you out where ever you are hidden. You´ll get full mana much quicker due to the Allure of Death effects and because now that you´re gone, he´ll waste some mana killing your pet. Run back again to the dueling area and start all over again, but now you´re full mana and he´ll most likely be 50 % or even less.
Some druids or ranger, just preffer to mellee against casters, expecting to stop your casting while inflicting good amounts of damage. If he decides so, you know what to do, don´t you? Shadow Step and straight away cast Screaming Terror, and he´ll be all yours.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Druid-Ranger : Quick lifetap spell (siphon life is good one. It takes 70 Hp and is only 3.1 secs long casting spell), Shock of Poison, Two best DoTs, Screaming Terror, Cancel Magic, Shadow Step and Gate.
Wanna know most wizzards´s tactic against us ? Root the pet still, back off, stun the master and boom, boom, boom. Ashame of it, they are so full of themselves : )
Ok, first of all I gotta say that I believe wizzies as the easiest class to beat in a PvP enviorment. Why? They care too much about your pet, so they´ll waste their precious first seconds casting root on pet and walking few steps back away from him. That gives you 4 secs of advantage, and that´s all what you need : Screaming Terror, 3 DoTs (Poison, Disease and Heat blood. This will be enough to kill them), and a fast lifetap chain casting (lvl 20 siphon spell recomended for its faster casting time which will brake their nukes casting). An experienced wizzie would cast stun first on us, and then deal with the pet later. But, if your pet has been fully buffed and armed up, he´s got the chance to keep braking the 2-secs-long-casting root spell casting.
But beware fellas necromancers, wizzies got our very same Shadow Step spell (just called someother way) and their nukes, as the ultimate magic users, have got a huge distance range. Some of them Shadow Step the hell off and tend to nuke you down from miles away. If you see that something like that is going on, just run to the farthest corner and wait for them to seek you, and belive me they will if you have DoTed them. In stead of using only 2 DoTs, use 3 since Heat Blood can be dispelled (Poison and Disease don´t, unless he´s a high level and got already Nullify Magic) and because wizzards have got very few HP, so they should be enough to kill them if they Shadow Step away.
But belive me, you can take down a Wizzard if you quickly cast few DoTs and keep lifetapping on them. Also, if you can, cast a Screaming Terror on them in the middle of the battle and targeting on your pet, cast Cancel Magic in order to nullify wizzie´s root spell. This will make them panic, ´cause pet can brake their concentration whilst spell casting.
Tip : In the middle of the battle cast Harmshield. If he doesn´t notice he´ll waste a nice portion of his mana bar on you with no damage dealed.
Piece of cake.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Wizzard : Lifetap (a quick casting one. Lvl 20 siphon life is ok), 3 DoTs, Screaming Terror, Cancel Magic, Harmshield and Shadow Step.
Well, a mage can be a bit harder than a wizzard due to the fact that they´ve got a pet too, and a stronger one I´d remark !! That means that in the long term, his pet will definately kick ours´s ass. So, you know, lets finish this off quickly.
Steps to follow : Screming Terror, 2 most powefull Dots on mage, another 2 DoTs on his pet (both pets will be fighting each other), and chain lifetap casting on mage. He´ll straight off cast away his powerfull indeed nukes the hell on your butt. If you notice that you can´t keep up with him with your lifetaps, cast screaming terror once more on that´ll give you time to cast few more lifetaps on him and get back some HP. But at any rate, remember that you cannot hold a nuke-power-face-to-face-combat against a mage, he´ll just outdamage you.
Tip: Whenever you two are one-to-one casting, and if you see that battle is quite balanced, cast the harmshield spell (check spells list for more info). It´s a brief invulneravility for about 10 secs. Hopefully, he won´t notice it and will cast 2 or 3 heavy mana nukers with no effect on you. If a mage runs out of mana, he is a dead mage ( pretty much the same like you ).
If it turns out that you haven´t gotten the mage down yet by the time your pet dies, beware !!. Mages´s pets are casters too, and it can be a pain in the ass. Let´s pray this doesn´t happen, but if it does, click on the pet and Shadow Step away like a wimp. And from the distance, cast few DoTs on him. Then run the hell away, if posible between some mountains of buildings or something since mages need to have a sight line to cast away his nukes. So, if he can´t directly keep visual contact with you, he won´t be able to cast. Doing this, the pet will eventually die. Then, if you´ve got any mana left, it´s time to cast Screaming Terror, 2 DoTs and med up mana in any hidden place if you are out of mana. Check the gate-away-to-your-personal-Lair strategy. I know, I know. This is not a honourable way of dueling, but hey, fuck it !. The only thing that matters is your name in yellow letters proclaiming you as the winner of a battle to death ! Once you both are free of the pet risk, you should be on top of him. Anyway, cast up another pet before going back into the battlefield just in case he has done so !!
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Mage : Lifetap (a quick casting one. Lvl 20 Siphon life is a good one), 2 DoTs, Screaming Terror, Fear, Harmshield, Shadow Step and Gate
Oh boy !! Here we go !! A bad ass this class is !! Why? Well, remember how do we necros open up most duels with? Yes, with Screaming Terror spell (check spells list for more info). And now, what if I told you that this spell is just a nerfed warmed up version of the echanters´s Mesmerize spell? Yeah man, you got it right, this can screw you all the way till the end.
Before accepting a duel with an enchanter, you better know him as a honourable adversary. I mean, enchanters with charm spell can really do evil PvP duels. I´ve seen enchanters charming the other guy as a pet, casting levitate on themselves, and walk you to the middle of any lake for a ´swim´. Of course, they didn´t cast levitate on you so you drown. Or even worse, to a lava pit, where you won´t ever be able to recover your toasted corpse back !! Or what about having you to jump off a cliff? Also, they can charm your butt and have it to punch that bulky grimmy-looking red conning guard. All these ways of dueling are extremly evil since you´ll definately lose exp, and since no server-wide message will be typed proclaming the enchanter of any duel. If you ever are target of any of these shits, petition it straight away. Do not let it go. If many people report this unfair duels, Verant will undoubtly nerfed down Charm spell in duels (they have already done so in PvP servers, pretty much like our Fear spell), and that´s the way it should be.
Ok now, let´s consider the enchanter is a fair player. Still they are the toughest PvP class in game in my opinion. They´ve got mesmerize, stun, manatap spells (same as our lifetap spells, but mana tapping), powerfull DD spells, Fear, blind, Nullify Magic, pet, Charm, buffs, Magic Resistance debuffer, etc.
First of all, it´s most important when dueling to enchanters to have a high Magic Resistance bonus gear because of their Magic Resistance debuffer Tashani spell, and hence you won´t resist any of their spells.
Second thing. Against enchanters is better not to have a pet. Why? Because they´ll charm it against you !!
We have only 1 very way to win enchanters in duels : Fear spell. I know I have told you that is far too often resisted, but believe me, no other way around against this fellows. Now, the first seconds of the duel will determine the winner, no doubt about that. It´s important to know the different ways enchanters open up the duel : a) with Tashani debuffer. b) casting the 2.5 secs long casting mesmerize spell on you. c) wait till you begin to cast and straight off casting back stunning spell (takes only 1 secs to be cast away and stuns you for fews secs).
a) If they start with tashani spell, and therefore drop your Magic Resistance to floor, they´ll cast right afterwards mesmerize. This is the best turn things could take, because that second they waste casting Tashani, is your only chance to hold your Scream Terror on them. ST lasts only about 10 secs, so cast the highest Fear spell you have to prolong their lack of control on themselves. Now, cast your 2 highest DoTs (the quickest to perform their total damage. Lvl 34 spell Venom of the snake is perfect) and chain cast Shock of Poison till you kill him. Trick is to finish them off as quickly as you can. Enchanters are THE masters of control, so if you let them think, you´re a dead necro.
b) If they open up with mesmerize spell, then it´s all about whose spell lands first, either his mesmerize or your ST. Or who resists the best (that´s why a high magic resistance gear is so crucial against casters, specially against enchanters. Also our charisma stat is important since ST does a check on charisma). Pray you are quicker, or you´ll be in deep shit. They´ll probably suck your mana while you´re mesmerized, and they´ll be ready to stun you as soon as mesmerize wears off, hence gaining some more seconds and starting all over again. When you´re mesmerize, keep hitting the Shadow Step button, and again pray for it to be a long distance one.
c) If they decide to hold on for you to begin to cast away, and they inmediately cast the 1 sec long casting stun spell, I´d say you have already lost the battle mate. Once you´re mesmerized, they will suck all your mana and then you´re out of it !! Only solution I could think of is to cast Shadow Step the first (it takes the same casting time as stunning spell, and since they waited for you to cast first, you´ll make it), and again, pray God for the Shadow Step to drive you out of the casting distance range.
I know it really sucks, but whereas soloers none can match a necro, when it comes to dueling I´d state that enchanters are the one to beat.
So, how to open up a battle against an experienced enchanter? If I was one of them, I´d definately go for the last of the duels opening up strategies shown above. This leaves as with 1 very only solution : Shadow Step as our first spell, expecting it to take us the hell out of the casting distance. If it does, aproach to the battle area step by step, and between steps hit the screaming terror button. Once you have landed it on him, you´ve got few seconds to cast Fear till it holds, and then just run closer, DoT him twice and nuke him down with shock of poison or your highest lifetap spell.
Believe me fellow necromancers, these guys are tough. I consider myself a fairly good and experienced dueler, and I have lost several battles against enchanters.
Tip : Before dueling an enchanter , cast on yourself your lvl 1 disease spell (check spells list for more info), AND your best Dark Pact series spell. This small amount of damage that you´ll take eack tick (each 6 secs), will brake the mesmerize free, so it´s really worthy to deal with that minor damage in order to gain control of yourself once more after being mesmerized for only 6 secs. Guys, this can save your life against an enchanter.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against an Enchanter : Lifetap ( the highest one), Shock of poison, 2 DoTs, Fear, Screaming Terror, Shadow Step and Gate.
Well, fighting against a Shaman is a weird experience. Why? Because they use our very same way of fighting : ) Their DoTs are as nasty as ours, based on poison and disease. If your are below lvl 39 (where you get Nullify Magic), these DoTs are not magic based spells and therefore can´t be dispelled off with Cancel Magic spell. Thanx God we´ve got cure disease, but no cure for the poison on our spell book.
Before I mentioned that they use similar duel fighting tactics than necros : They DoT you and run with SoW fast off your grip (we use shadow step followed by gate, but is the same point). Once the DoTs effects have worn off, they just step into the casting distance range to recast DoTs, and step outside again. So what to do? Screaming Terror will again be the key. Don´t DoT him right after ST spell. In stead cast Fear untill it gets hold on him. Then you´ll cast your DoTs and finish him off with few Shock of Poison casting.
Basically, a shaman is a similar class to druids. Only difference is that druids have a wider spell range, but shamans´s DoTs are far more powerfull. But, at the end of the day, is the same story. Use your screaming terror spell, it rules.
You´ll see some shamans trying to melee you. These guys are not experienced duelers and don´t know how to get the best out of their characters. Just Shadow Step and cast ST. Or even you might try to cast ST between blows too.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Shaman : Lifetap ( a quick casting one. Lvl 20 siphon life will suit you), Shock of Poison, 2 DoTs, Fear, Screaming Terror, Shadow Step and Cure Dissease. (If you got Nullify Magic, mem it in stead of Cure disease and use it for both poison and disease DoTs)
Fool players would state that a cleric would never be a good PvP class. Smart ones would give it a second thought before accepting the duel against a cleric, specially us necros due to the cleric´s spells vs undead (either fear or DD vs undead) that can push our pet out of the game inmideately.
The reason many people say clerics are weak duelers is because their offensive spells aren´t that powefull. They don´t have DoTs, and their DD spells suck as much as ours do : ) So where´s the catch? They have stun spell and blind spell (both very quick casting spells, 1.5 secs). On top of that they´ve got root, loads of deffensive buffs (like for example our Harmshield, check spells list for more info) and specially healing spells that heal their HP bar up for large amounts of HPs. I remember first time I dueled a cleric : I would keep renewing on him my very painful heavy mana DoTs, and he would keep dispelling and healing himself up. Eventually I run out of mana and he took me down in melee combat !!
They will probably open up the battle with the fast casting stun spell, then either root or fear the pet off, then walk into melee distance (where they would beat us everyday), then back off for a sec and re-stun, followed by a quick healing, and back again into melee after renewing root on pet. Also, they would try to blind us just in case we have been foolish enough not to have set up your spells macroed in hot buttons. And from time to time, cast a reasonably harmful DD spell.
Since Screaming Terror takes slightly longer to cast than stun, again I´d advice you to Shadow Step first willing to both confuse the cleric and wasting some of his time trying to spot you out. Of course, if after casting SS you´re still inside the casting distance range, hit hard the Screaming Terror spell button, followed by Fear till it holds on him. Then DoT him and chain cast Shock of Poison, or even better lifetap series (the highest one you´ve got) because they are unresistable. Clerics´s ain´t got a pool of HP, so few high level lifetaps and 2 DoTs should be enough. Don´t let them brake free of your grip or they´ll stun you straight away, cancel your DoTs (cancel magic for heat blood series and darkness series, cure disease and cure poison for disease and poison based DoTs), heal himself and root your pet.
Not as hard as enchanters are, but still a Cleric can be a tough fellow. All these control-power classes (necros among them) are a pain in the ass, so the quicker to beat the crap outta them, the better. Pretty same as I stated above in the enchanters section, the trick is to not let them perform their quick stun spell, or they´ll have the control and timing of the battle, and you don´t want that.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Cleric : Lifetap (highest you have), 2 DoTs, Screaming Terror, Fear, Cancil Magic, shadow Step and Harmshield.
Ok now, this class is, along with enchanters, the ultimate PvP class. If played for somebody who isn´t a nut, bets will be always against you.
Bard´s main stock-in-market ain´t spells but songs, which have 4 adventages over spells casting classes : Don´t burn mana, can be performed while running, can play few songs at the same time, and as long as the bard plays them their effects will be up, no need of any re-casting.
Do you want some examples about what kind of songs the can sing? DD song, DoT song, mana drain song, stunning song, mermerize song, charm song, snare song, self-speeding up song, HP regeneration song, buffs song, MR (Magic Resistance) song that will increase their MR up to absurd limits, Fear song, etc.
And besides the can perform few songs at the same time. Most of them will tend to use a DD song, a charm song (sending your pet against you), a mesmerize song and a mana drain song, running around you while constant amount of damage is inflicted (both from DD song and from your own charmed pet) and your mana bar plummets down. Besides you won´t be able to do anything due to the mesmerize song. They can also try to melee you, adding some more wounds to your already beaten up ass.
Or. alternatively, they might set themselves on deffensive position, using a combination of MR buffs (at high levels this will boost their MR up to almost 100!! ), while draining your mana and charming your pet. With such a high MR, not even 1 of your Spells will stick on them.
They only way you can beat a Bard in a PvP enviorment is to establish the following rule : Bard cannot start the duel with his songs already being sung. If the bard is already playing his instruments when you accept the duel, I´d say that you´ve lost it. Besides, it´s a fair rule since we can´t cast our DoTs on him before the duel has started. This will give you very short secs to do your job : Screaming Terror, send pet, 2 DoTs and chain casting lifetaps.
Don´t give him a break or he´ll use his damn fast selo´s accelerando (faster than SoW) to escape away, coming back later with all his song 100 % operative. Besides, 2 DoTs won´t be enough to kill a bard, so a bit of nuke work will be required.
Tip : a Bard´s songs distance range is not as wide as our spells casting distance range is, so basically they need to be relatively close to you. A good way to open up the duel could be Shadow Step, as well as a fleeing away metod if you´re getting too beaten. My advice would be to start off with Screaming Terror, and if it doesn´t hold on him (he resists), Shadow Step away and recast ST from the distance. But remember, with selo´s accelerando he´ll catch up with you soon, so probably you´ll have to SS a second time. Do not let the bard getting any closer that a 100 feet radius circle from you, or his songs will land on your ears like a deadly requiem.
Tip 2 : Same as against enchanters, using your pet could end up not being really a good idea due to their charming skills. If he can turn your pet against you, you could be in serious problems, so don´t risk it. Besides, if he has charmed your pet and you Shadow Step, he just need to follow him in order to find you out.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Bard : lifetap (the highest you have), 2 DoTs, Screaming Terror, Shadow Step.
Well, well, well. So you´re about to fight your brother-in-believes, aren´t you? I can´t really give you any advice when dueling a nec because your adversary will already know all your tricks. Only thing I´ll tell you is to open up with Screaming Terror. Not all necros use this lovely spell while dueling. Most of them preffer the higher resistance rate Fear spell. This is because they don´t know how to duel with their own character. Land ST, 2 DoTs and keep casting the highest lifetap you´ve got on your spell book.
Most of the times, while dueling another necro, pets nullify each other and everything turns out a lifetapping battle between the masters. If you have DoTed him in advance, that extra damage will lift you as the winner. If in the middle of the battle you see that you are loosing while lifetapping, cast a Harmshield, wait for him to cast few times on you (burning valuable mana) and cancel the invulnerability (left click on the symbol) just right afterwards his spell has harmlessly landed on you, and straight away lifetap him back.
Not really much else to say. You know how a necro works, just figure out the way to annul him. But you´ll see by yourself how everything will be about to non-stop lifetapping each other. In this chaos, if you have ST and DoTed him before, you shouldn´t loose this duel mate.
If, in the other hand, he has cast nasty DoTs on you and there´s no way you can keep on with the battle, Shadow Step away, Cancel Magic the magic based DoTs ( Heat blood and darkness series) or Nullify them all (if you´re above lvl 39). Then Lifetap some low level zone inhabitants to regen some HP back, cast Allure of death and med till he finds you out.
Spells to have memorized when dueling against a Necromancer : Lifetap (last version you got), 2 DoTs, Screaming Terror, Cancel Magic, Harmshield and Shadow Step.
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