How to win 1v1's/Duels?

[SamuelW.2685]

Title, I have ZERO CLUE how to win duels and idk where to start.

Sometimes I'll go into the arena in the pvp lobby and just duel people, but most of the time I lose and when I win idk how I managed. I get by in WvW though, I mostly stick to zergs but sometimes I'll find myself in small groups of a dozen or less and I fare fine in those too, even in 2v2's or 3v3's I do well, once I won a duel too but again, idk how.

I play Thief and Mesmer in PvP if that matters, in case there's classes that are better or worse for duels, I also plan to level Rev to use Dragoo - I mean Vindicator as my next class

Edited July 15, 2022 by SamuelW.2685

[Newholiday.8103]

26 minutes ago, SamuelW.2685 said:

Title, I have ZERO CLUE how to win duels and idk where to start.

Sometimes I'll go into the arena in the pvp lobby and just duel people, but most of the time I lose and when I win idk how I managed. I get by in WvW though, I mostly stick to zergs but sometimes I'll find myself in small groups of a dozen or less and I fare fine in those too, even in 2v2's or 3v3's I do well, once I won a duel too but again, idk how.

I play Thief and Mesmer in PvP if that matters, in case there's classes that are better or worse for duels, I also plan to level Rev to use Dragoo - I mean Vindicator as my next class

Well, you're playing thief and mes so there's your problem.  Neither is great in 1v1.  From what I hear, vind is hard to learn but great once you learn it, so prepare to suck for a while.  Play harbinger if you want easy mode.

Edited July 15, 2022 by thepolishman.2348

[Sahne.6950]

3 hours ago, SamuelW.2685 said:

Title, I have ZERO CLUE how to win duels and idk where to start.

Sometimes I'll go into the arena in the pvp lobby and just duel people, but most of the time I lose and when I win idk how I managed. I get by in WvW though, I mostly stick to zergs but sometimes I'll find myself in small groups of a dozen or less and I fare fine in those too, even in 2v2's or 3v3's I do well, once I won a duel too but again, idk how.

I play Thief and Mesmer in PvP if that matters, in case there's classes that are better or worse for duels, I also plan to level Rev to use Dragoo - I mean Vindicator as my next class

guildwars classbalance is not made with 1v1 in mind. Some classes are without a doubt stronger in 1v1s. For example a d/p Daredevil will have a VERY hard time winning any 1v1s in pvp. You need to jump on a "sidenoder" build or anything specifically with 1v1 in mind. if you want to  play thief.... go for Condispecter with sceptre/pistol. Its pretty brutal for a 1v1^^.

In this duellarena, its the same 50 people fighting and duelling there FOR YEARS! no shame in loosing to them when you are just starting out!

Personally what helped me the most going from "topkek" to a somewhat competent dueller, is learning what the others play. When you know how the 2 or 3 big hitters from the enemy look and how their CC skills look... your gonna have a easier time dodging those skills, thus winning more fights.

My advises to you:

1)get a good build suited to actually winning 1v1 fights. Condispecter is a blast and ezpz. Harbinger is also ez and probably your best bet here.

2)Learn what the enemy is playing. Dont just mindlessly fight over and over again. Soak up their rotations, animations and playstyle. When you die, try and identify why you died, and next time... avoid it. (I am sorry... dying over and over again is part of becoming better) Best tip: JUST ASK YOUR ENEMY IF YOUR UNSURE WHAT JUST HAPPENED. ask them to do their CC skills or heavyhitter on you, so you can actually see it and remember the animation. Every build has a few core things they try and do. for example a Dragonhunter will try and kick you thru the outer rims of their trap, cuz this outer rim HURTS! You just gotta know stuff like this... no way around this... ask your enemy how to counter their build, most people will gladly teach you what to look out for!

3) Watch streamer/Youtubers play your own build, AAAND watch videos of builds that you struggle against.

4)Learn your "Top 10" builds. There is probably about 10-15 popular builds that you see everywhere. Learning to identify them and know what to watch out for when fighting them is 50% of winning tbh. I cant stress this enough, you can NOT make good decisions or dodge properly... if you dont even know what your up against.

gw2 pvp is just trail and error... keep on playing and you will get better with every death, aslong as you are seeking for you mistakes and try and avoid them next time. When you have made and learned from every possible mistake... you will be a good dueller.

Hope that helps.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Sahne.6950

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

First thing is, duellers use dedicated builds that often have all zerging or support elements removed.

 

Second thing is, you won't win versus someone the first time. you have to fight them repeatedly, learn their build, what skills they use and at what time, what their rotation is, etc. They've been playing it alot longer than you've been seeing it, so don't be surprised if it takes dozens of matches to beat a specific player.

 

You'll probably have to adjust your build constantly too, the same build won't work against everyone or even against the same player in more than a few matches. They'll learn it.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Mariyuuna.6508

[Vinny.7260]

It's definitely a matter of practice and experience.

Having played Mesmer off and on for 9-almost-10 years... It takes a lot of practice.

Look up guides on how to improve your movement, know their skills, all that.

Some match-ups are doomed from the start. If you don't have Inspiration or don't use Elusive Mind on Mirage against a condition damage setup you're going to struggle for example.

As other people recommend, try using builds intended to 1v1/side node.

Untamed (Lots of buttons and lots of fun), Catalyst (Less buttons and lots of fun), Harbinger (Even less buttons and kinda sleepy), and Specter (More than Harbinger, less than Catalyst but more fun).

[Paradoxoglanis.1904]

Learn sidenode builds. They dont really kill things unless you are vindicator but you can resustain forever and learn what to dodge and when you can attack without getting punished. Then learn matchups and what counters what. Then swap classes whenever you get countered because there is no point trying to learn losing matchups anymore.

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Paradoxoglanis.1904

[Avatar.3568]

Mesmer and Thief are actually fine for 1vs1, you can be good With any class in 1vs1 .

There are some simple Rules in 1vs1 that are Key to win.

- watch your enemys Animations and try to remember them 

- don't Attack into Blocks

- Count dodges to secure your CC

- don't waste your Blocks and dodges on nothing 

As well Check your build Out, some traits and utilitys are different in PvP and WvW.

Can you maybe Show your builds? Maybe they Just don't fit into a 1vs1 and Just Work in 2vs2/3vs3 better.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

I'm not a duelist, but I do get in a lot of 1v1 fights while I'm pip farming in WvW.  Aside from the basics of "don't get hit, hit them until they die," the really complicated part of learning to duel is learning the strengths that every profession has.  To be more specific, learn the strengths of your own profession, then learn what other professions have in advantage over you.  Once you know yourself and your enemy, then you will not fear the outcome of a hundred battles.

I'll take for example, Celestial Weaver (me) vs Marauder Daredevil (enemy).  The advantages to the Weaver are cleanses, greater effective health, and also relentless AoE damage.  The advantages the Daredevil has is stun spam, stealth, burst damage, and mobility.  Clearly, if the Daredevil charged forward and attacked the Weaver they'd just get clobbered.  So, the strategy is to use hit and run tactics: launch a few attacks behind choking cloud while defending yourself with smokescreen, then retreat away and leverage the initiative system to repeat the process again.  Doing this over and over again can potentially wear the weaver down, or even catch them off guard and burst them down quickly.  

[cyberzombie.7348]

Thief is a class where you have to learn other classes mechanics to know when to burst and when to go defensive. Other than that its mostly practice.

[Azure The Heartless.3261]

5 hours ago, Avatar.3568 said:

Mesmer and Thief are actually fine for 1vs1, you can be good With any class in 1vs1 .

There are some simple Rules in 1vs1 that are Key to win.

- watch your enemys Animations and try to remember them 

- don't Attack into Blocks

- Count dodges to secure your CC

- don't waste your Blocks and dodges on nothing 

As well Check your build Out, some traits and utilitys are different in PvP and WvW.

Can you maybe Show your builds? Maybe they Just don't fit into a 1vs1 and Just Work in 2vs2/3vs3 better.

 

This is correct. 

 

Thief and mes both have a learning curve, but you can 1v1 with them.  You'll just need to learn mechanics harder than some of the other classes. 

[Eddie.9143]

Play meta, pillar hump to reset cooldowns, run away when they burst, don't dodge useless stuff, play tryhard af