Need help. I need to learn to play.

[Angel.3916]

Hi all. I am a fairly new player.

I wanted some advice. So I am playing a holosmith engineer and it is fun and easy.

My problem is that if I were to do spvp - I don't know the other classes spell animations to know what to dodge.

I know it's a learn to play issue but do I have to roll and play all 9 specs to know what skills everyone is casting ?

My biggest weakness is thieves. I don't know much of their skills so I don't know how they play.

I know my class but not other people's classes. I am not in a guild but maybe I need a sparing partner or a YouTube guide to show me what spells each class does that is dodgable.

I know I need more experience and comfort understanding the other classes animations.

I think if I knew how every class played, I'd be one of the best PvPers in the game.

Any ways. Yea I struggle with fighting other classes because I don't know what skills they are casting. I also realize that a lot of classes go for pure damage and try to burst me down.

I don't like dodging because I feel like I do no pressure while dodging and engineers don't have aegis or strong defenses.

Also I think that if I knew the animations of other classes, I could save my dodge energy and soak up most of their damage skills that are irrelevant.

Anyways. I guess it's not a good idea to main 1 class on this game huh.

I don't know how I will be able to have knowledge in every skill and animation of every class and spec so I feel comfortable fighting them.

Thanks for hearing me out.

[sephiroth.4217]

best way to counter a class is to learn that class.

if you don't want to do that, pay attention to what killed you. learn from mistakes.

holo is a strong class, press all the buttons!

[Vagrant.7206]

Or just play in unranked/ranked until you start to learn the tells. I can't stand playing mesmer, but I know most of the tells by experience. It's not a bad thing to be new! Just don't play too seriously, or it may suck.

Also, dodging will save your life, quite literally. Don't be afraid to stop exerting pressure -- sometimes it's better to not take a big hit than to keep exerting pressure.

[Ryan.9387]

@Angel.3916 said:Hi all. I am a fairly new player.

I wanted some advice. So I am playing a holosmith engineer and it is fun and easy.

My problem is that if I were to do spvp - I don't know the other classes spell animations to know what to dodge.

I know it's a learn to play issue but do I have to roll and play all 9 specs to know what skills everyone is casting ?

Pretty much.

My biggest weakness is thieves. I don't know much of their skills so I don't know how they play.

Play thief and you opponents will glady show you how to kill thieves.

I know my class but not other people's classes. I am not in a guild but maybe I need a sparing partner or a YouTube guide to show me what spells each class does that is dodgable.

This is harder and only extended dueling with you focusing on the animations will teach you proper dodging.

I know I need more experience and comfort understanding the other classes animations.

Play the class to learn the skills to dodge, then duel players

I think if I knew how every class played, I'd be one of the best PvPers in the game.

Any ways. Yea I struggle with fighting other classes because I don't know what skills they are casting. I also realize that a lot of classes go for pure damage and try to burst me down.

High level players do tend glassy to snowball games, but there is a surprising amount of defense they can summon out of thin air.

I don't like dodging because I feel like I do no pressure while dodging and engineers don't have aegis or strong defenses.

This must because A) your build is bad or 2) you aren't landing skills. If you CC and they have stab, no value. If you burst and they dodge it, no value. Timing is critical. Not dodging is guaranteed death in this meta.

Also I think that if I knew the animations of other classes, I could save my dodge energy and soak up most of their damage skills that are irrelevant.

Guaranteed death. Auto attacks are hitting for 2-3k in this meta.

Anyways. I guess it's not a good idea to main 1 class on this game huh.

Having a main is fine, but multiclassing is fun, teaches you, and gives you perspective on matchups you only see from one side. You don't need to do an even split, I only have a couple hundred games on most classes, but thousands on mains.

I don't know how I will be able to have knowledge in every skill and animation of every class and spec so I feel comfortable fighting them.

Play 10,000 games. Serious. Your competition at the highest levels are sitting at around that mark or higher.

Thanks for hearing me out.

[Ralkuth.1456]

@"Angel.3916"Ryan is miles better than I am so I dunno if my input means anything. I am at most plat1-gold3 with some game knowledge. Actually, his commentary in his streams helped me with understanding Holo.

Try this PvP discord, it’s mostly EU with some NA coaches willing to give advice, and there are useful links in there for you to read up as well.https://discord.gg/6a2uWzU

Start on one class with a meta build. Holosmith (Elixir Rifle variant) is one of if not the top meta spec at the moment; it can do a bit of everything and do them well. You have plenty of dodges, and more defenses on your utility bar. You have access to a lot of CC and good uptime on CC immunity.

One of the highlights of this game is its dodge mechanic; you maximise its value by dodging key skills to avoid massive damage or follow-up with said damage. With Holosmith it’s also a part of your mechanic since it helps you with Photon Forge heat level management.

Not dodging so that you can aggressively win “trades” is possible if you have your Photon Wall up, or when you have the knowledge that your opponent has nothing (and perhaps sitting in a CC). This requires that you understand the workings of other classes.

If you have this one class you can’t beat, fight it more and see what mechanics it has, roll one to try it out, and fight your main class with it and see how others deal with you. People might not have time to hand-hold even if you ask nicely, but they will be more than ready to show you the result of their training and experience.

It is actually the requirement to get good, in that you need to understand how every class works, or at least their meta builds so you know what to look for, avoid, counteract, count CDs. Something simple as dodge the one skill or kite around a big CD can change the outcome of a fight.

From personal experience, if you have not nailed down your current build with lots of practise, you will end up using more CDs when you don’t need to, be slow to react to moments requiring clutch play, and lose skill-matchups (as opposed to hard-counters) where your prediction and skill determines whether you win the exchange or not.

It’s the same in fighting games, I was told: (1) know your character, (2) know their characters, (3) beat them in mind-gaming.

[NorthernRedStar.3054]

The best advice is to just keep playing.

No one's getting good at this game without actually putting effort and hours into it. You can hasten this process by creating characters of all the professions and seeing for yourself how they function.

[Angel.3916]

Thanks all. I am a bit excited to have many classes with 1 type of builds. I will need lots of character slots.

Yes I got to play every class and spec and get good. Nice solid advice you guys said.

I used to play wow pvp casually and learning other classes by playing them was pretty key.

Thanks all and goodluck.

[cyberzombie.7348]

Dueling servers is a good area start. Although it isn't as prevalent as it used to, people there can be willing to teach specific mechanics, strengths/weaknesses, and tricks of different classes and builds at a flexible pace.

[Bigpapasmurf.5623]

If you are N/A, I main Mesmer/druid (or soulbeast) and used to main Daredevil. I would be more than happy to gear em up and spar with you. Im not anywhere near the best, however it will give you some experience.

[kraai.7265]

Just uninstall and go play something else, if you are looking for pvp this is not the right game for you, devs are completely out of touch with the game, balance is a joke and all they want is to push pve content and sell mount skins. Pvp and wvw are neglected since the last 4 years.

But if you insist on learning the game, you can watch youtubes from each class, i recommend watching vids from this guild called "cake walk" they play outnumbered mostly with every class in game, and they can kill giant groups with just 5 of them.

[H a z Z y.1762]

Obviously playing each build is the best way to learn, but something that is also helpful is to read through these various pvp class/build guides to get a basic understanding of how the meta works: https://metabattle.com/wiki/Conquest

[Dajas.4715]

If you don't want to reroll all different characters I would suggest going to a duel room and practice there. That way you don't have the clutter off other people getting in the way, there is a vast range off skill there and you'll soon get to know regular faces that you soon start to duel with on a regular bases.If they are kicking your ass you can ask them how and why, you can also spectate depending on the rules off the room.