Several PVP Questions

[MystinaValeth]

Okay so I have several questions about PVP, more specifically about frontlines and white mage. Any help would be most appreciated ^^

1. Does the FC action 'The Heat of Battle' increase the amount of PVP EXP gained?

2. I want to eventually get the ilvl 100 PVP armor (which requires a PVP rank of 38) and I'm currently rank 17. About how long will it take to reach rank 38?

3. I play white mage in PVP and I was told to wear vitality accessories, is this true?

4. I just got a full set of ilvl90 direwolf gear for my white mage and I noticed in the description of Carteneau Flats it says "Item Level Sync:80 - While synced, all item stats are adjusted and materia bonuses are ignored". Since my gear is going to get synced since it's 10 item levels above what is allowed, should I not bother with materia because it is going to get ignored?

5. Does regular materia work in PVP (such as +vitality) or only PVP materia (such as +stun resistance)?

6. If materia doesn't get completely ignored in frontlines (which is the only PVP I'm interested in), what should I slot into my Direwolf armor as a white mage? Should I go for more vitality? or go for stun resistance to try to prevent my spells from being stunned when I'm using Surecast/Equanimity? Or something else?

7. As a white mage which PVP actions/traits should I get? (I currently have 2 in Sacred Prism, 1 in Equanimity, and 1 in Purify. I'm planning to get Equanimity maxed, then Divine Breath, and then eventually Focalization.)

8. Any other tips or things I should know?

[Silvershae]

1. No, Heat of Battle does not increase PvP experience.
2. It will take you quite a few battles to reach 38. At least a few hundred. The more you play obviously, the quicker you will get there. But realistically you are looking at several weeks.
3. VIT accessories are not a bad idea. The more HP you have, obviously the better your chances of survival. But again, gear syncing down to ilvl 80 is the biggest limiting factor here.
4.-6. Materia has such little effect in PvP (FL) that I have never really worried about it. Concentrate on streamlining your rotations and teamwork abilities. These will help you contribute much more than any materia.
8. Play and enjoy. A lot of inexperienced PvPers will be with you and you will lose a lot. Dont get frustrated and keep working at getting better. Healers are the PRIMARY targets in Frontlines and therefore a lot of Healers get frustrated and want to play other jobs.

[MystinaValeth]

Awesome thanks for your reply, very helpful ^^

[Vandril]

Let me expand on a few points.

2. Another user made a very detailed spreadsheet on PvP EXP and Rank data. Check that out if you want to know more precisely what you're looking at as far as how much further you need to go. (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-s-PvP-Tool-V3)

3. Many great WHM/SCH players will wear VIT accessories. Generally speaking, healing is potent enough with the bare minimum MND granted from ILv80-synced gear and MP is not usually a big problem in Frontlines so most don't bother worrying about PIE. That leaves VIT as being the more important stat. Since, in PvP, healers are almost always hard-focused, a larger health pool can be essential to survival, as it allows you to...live longer. With more VIT, you can survive longer spans of time where you've not been able to pull off a heal than you would otherwise, giving you more of a cushion to survive beyond stuns and the like. In addition, remember that attacks will not interrupt spellcasts while you're effected by an absorption effect like Stoneskin - Stoneskin will become stronger for you and last longer if you stack VIT, which can buy crucial time to freecast, even if only one or two GCD's worth. Beyond that, there's also the fact that stacking VIT as a healer can allow you to eat a Limit Break 2 from a melee and still survive, where as if you stacked anything else, you'd be dead in one shot from full. I don't play a healer in PvP, but if I did, I'd definitely stack VIT.

4-6. Not only would materia not make much of a difference if you had it, but materia doesn't work at all in Frontlines to begin with. At any point in time where there is an active ILv. sync, even if your gear is not over the threshold to be synced, materia is completely disabled. This means that Frontlines, the ILv80-sync Wolves' Den, and multiple level 50 dungeons all completely ignore materia. So, as of right now, PvP materia is 100% useless in all PvP except for level 30, 40, and 50 no-sync Wolves' Den queues.

[DenariusJay]

2. I want to eventually get the ilvl 100 PVP armor (which requires a PVP rank of 38) and I'm currently rank 17. About how long will it take to reach rank 38?

Not long at all as Maelstronk.
It's basically 'Load in 4 wins'. Queue times may suck though. Biggest tip I can give you is to have fun.

[MystinaValeth]

That link was extremely helpful Vandril, with my average XP per frontlines and XP required till 38, I'll need to do 300 more matches to reach rank 38, which isn't too bad. Seems like it'll take me about 2 weeks to reach that goal at my current rate.

Already started buying the direwolf accessories of fending. If I were to make my white mage strictly PvP only, should I also change my bonus attributes and put 30 into vitality? or maybe 15 into mind and 15 into vitality? During a frontline match I heard someone say that white mages should try to reach at least 5k HP, but with full vitality accessories I only get to 4.9k HP.

[MystinaValeth]

Not long at all as Maelstronk.
It's basically 'Load in 4 wins'. Queue times may suck though. Biggest tip I can give you is to have fun.

Queue time hasn't been too bad, donno if it helps that I'm a healer since I haven't tried queueing as a DD. And yeah it has been quite fun, I was at the OP by myself and a ninja tried to take it over, warned my party and kept the ninja completely locked down with bind and sleep for about 30 seconds while I waited for backup, was pretty funny. Also love nocking people off the middle with Fluid Aura lol

[Vandril]

Already started buying the direwolf accessories of fending. If I were to make my white mage strictly PvP only, should I also change my bonus attributes and put 30 into vitality? or maybe 15 into mind and 15 into vitality? During a frontline match I heard someone say that white mages should try to reach at least 5k HP, but with full vitality accessories I only get to 4.9k HP.

I'm not sure, to be honest. I mean, I probably would. I'd try it out with full VIT allocation and see where that leaves me, then adjust to taste.

Also love nocking people off the middle with Fluid Aura lol

I love it when WHM try to do this and just toss me onto a ramp, leaving me having taken next to no damage. XD

[MystinaValeth]

VIT accessories seems to be working pretty good on WHM since I usually get focused by the opposing sides, though I have notice quite a bit of a drop in my cure potency.

I have come across a bit of a mystery that my friends and I can't figure out. Sometimes one of us will get more PvP EXP than the other, Definitely not from the challenge log. It's only by small amounts like 20-40. Anyone know why this is? It has happened to us about a dozen times in the last few days.

[Vandril]

You get a pitty-prize (as I call it) if you're on a losing streak. Every time you get 3rd place, you get a small, stacking bonus to PvP EXP and Wolf Marks until your next win. Something around 10% bonus per loss, and I think it goes up to 50% total. 2nd place losses are effected by this bonus but do not progress it. 1st place wins are also effected by the bonus, but then reset it back to 0%.