PvP is GREAT - My Perspective

[Chopsmash]

First of all, I am not a hardcore PvPer. I have played arena in WoW for 2 seasons (only got up to 1800 rating) and done some Rift and SWTOR PvP. I do PvP in FF14 by myself as a Scholar (not even my main class). The only time I go in as a premade is with a random warrior who I discovered was from my server after a random solo queue match.

At the start of 2.1 I was complaining to guildies about how I could never get a cast off and couldn't keep anyone up besides the 6 lustrates that I get at the start. I checked the official forums and the FF14 sub-reddit on an hourly basis in the hope that someone would post up some advice or tips about PvP but all I ever saw was complaint after complaint after complaint.

My initial record was 15 wins out of 50 games played. However I stuck with it and now I am 186 out of 260 (135 wins out of 172 this week). I know this is not spectacular but it certainly shows that it is not one-sided, especially since I am solo-queue and not using a FotM class/comp. The common complaints that everyone seems to be crying about all have a way around them. I will address them with my perspective:

- Jump/Bunny hop
I make an effort to never jump/bunny hop in the arena because I think it is a cheap tactic however I have gone up against healers who have done this and we have yet to lose a game against one. While I agree this should be "fixed", it is merely a quality of life change. A jumping healer cannot heal. Have a DPS go on his teammate and wait until he stops to heal, stun him and do your damage then. I've been in a game where the healer was the last guy left and he just ran around jumping. Eventually our tank's cds came back and we stunned and killed him.

- BLM/SMN
I agree BLM and SMN are strong right now. But I see non-BLM/SMN players complaining that BLM and SMNs are op. And I see BLM/SMN players complaining that they can't cast. I have gone up against many BLM/SMN comps and have won more matches than lost. This is playing with just a WAR and 2 random DPS (most of which are not pvp geared). It is a strong comp at the moment but there are ways around their sleep and rez. One tactic I've noticed a DPS on my team used is: if you're being focussed, purify the dots and debuffs early. That removes a big portion of the SMN damage. I will cover sleep further down. In addition, from all the games I've played, I've noticed that BLM/SMN are far from the most played class. I see much more DRG and MNK than BLM/SMN. And I've seen high damage from every class, often higher than BLM/SMN damage.

- Inability to cast due to interruption
At first constant interruptions were a pain in the ass (my main rage-inducing factor when I started PvP) but I've come to realise it really is just a quality of life change. If SE were to remove this, it'd just make healing and casting too easy. I've found that as I played more and adjusted, I can get a cast off in many ways: by running around a corner and getting a quick cast off, surecast, swiftcast, equanimity and in between attacks (there is a delay) if there is just one person on me. This is useable by all casters if I read the tooltips correctly. I have also seen BLMs and SMNs on the forums say that there are instant spells you can cast while on the run anyway (I don't play BLM so can't say much there)

- Class diversity
While I like the idea of being able to play with whatever comp you want, again it is just a quality of life factor. I understand SE's decision in this aspect. It guarantees that every class can be played. If any comp could be selected, tanks would be neglected and players who chose a tank class as their main would not be able to PvP. You might not like the team comp, but the other team has to play with the same basic team comp too.

- Gearing curve
While not a major concern, I have seen posts complaining about the costs of PvP GEAR (I agree the respec cost is too high). I personally like to work for my gear. It makes getting a piece feel so much more rewarding. And it really is just to drag out the content until the next patch. I'm sure within a few months the cost of pieces will be reduced so newer players won't be disadvantaged. For now though, while everyone has started on equal grounds, I support the high gear costs.

- Premades
I have never played with a BLM/SMN premade but I have played against many. With the correct tactic and teamwork, it is not impossible to win against. With just a warrior partner I have beaten many 3 man premades thrown at us. However I have to admit it is unfair. There is really no way around it that I can see though. You can't make 3-man premades join their own queue. Where would the last person come from? And it would make the current queue times longer. In my opinion, after games just keep an eye out for people from the same server and group up with them. Make friends and play with them.

- Insta-rez
Again, another quality of life factor. Annoyed that the other team's healer is rezzing? Hey, your healer can do it too! The rezzed person has a hp debuff (unless Divine Breath was used) and very little hp. There are many ways you can deal with this, pressure the heals so they can't top the rezzed person up, hard switch to rezzed person and explode them, miasma. I've had games where other healer rezzed 3 times (swiftcast, divine breath, swiftcast) yet we still prevailed. Just another thing to get used to and have tactics around.

- Sleep
I have to admit, at first I thought this was op. But after playing some games, it really isn't that bad. I have lost against teams where the BLM just stands back and sleeps EVERYONE except the focus target. It is annoying. VERY annoying. But there are ways around it. As a healer I make sure I don't stack with my team so that we can't get aoe-sleeped. I also put their WHM/BLM on focus so I can see when they're casting sleep and los it. As long as the heals can avoid sleep, they can cleanse it off their teammates. I can even cleanse with people on me, the cast is that quick. Again it is just one of those quality of life things. I wouldn't mind it being reduced to 8/6/4 seconds though but I won't cry if it remains unchanged.

- PvE gear
I started off PvP with mostly Darklight, 2 pieces of AK gear and relic weapon. Now I have most pieces of the Warwolf set. While I agree people should not go into the arena with fresh 50 gear on (I have lost many a game with a 2.9k hp DPS with AF1), at this early stage I don't think it is game-changing to have to have ilvl 55 gear on instead of a mix of Darklight and ilvl90 gear. Personally I'd rather heal a 4k hp Darklight player than a 2.9k hp full ilvl55 player who is going to get blown up quickly anyway. Let people play a bit and get points for a few pieces before demanding that they have to be in full pvp gear, PvP is still young.

Overall, I believe Square Enix has done a wonderful initial job with PvP. Despite what people have been saying, every class is represented well in the arena. Every class has their ups and their downs. If someone who has never excelled at PvP can rack up some wins, I'm sure everyone can with enough games played to get accustomed to the FF14 PvP system.

At the end of the day, you win some, you lose some.