Dirge in Battlegrounds
Battleground Mechanics
Strikethrough will strike through contested and uncontested versions of block. However, strikethrough does not strike through special avoidances such as dodge percent.
Toughness reduces X percent of all damage from a player.
Critical PvP mitigation reduces X percent of critical hit damage.
Strikethrough scales against your target's avoidance. So, with 5% Strikethrough versus enemies 10% avoidance, it is only a ~0.5% net gain for accuracy.
Toughness provides PVP Critical mitigation. At 30% Toughness cap, this gives a total PVP Critical Mitigation of:
* 15% pvp crit mit at toughness cap, adventure lvl10.
* 30% pvp crit mit at toughness cap, adventure lvl70.
* 45% pvp crit mit at toughness cap, adventure lvl80.
* 60% pvp crit mit at toughness cap, adventure lvl90.
PvP Critical Mitiation receives the most improvement from battleground "PvP Crit Mit" blue adornments.
Toughness has been changed to 30% damage reduction at max skill and will continue to provide PvP Critical Mitigation.
At level 90, you need 900 toughness skill to reach the 30% Toughness cap.
PVP In-Combat
Players can break a fighter's target lock very easy by moving outside of their line of sight such as moving behind an object or to the side of an object for a few seconds. When back in line of sight of the fighter, the target lock will likely reapply depending on the enemy.
Most abilities have a "PVP" check box located under the image in the ability's examine description window. Applying a check in the box will present how the ability changes when in PVP combat.
Taunts turn into "target lock on caster".
Detaunts turn into "clear enemies current target".
I am told the threat mechanic is useless in PVP combat. Please send me a contact if you know otherwise.
Abilities that reduce your threat position are entirely removed. For example, open your Evasive Maneuvers ability, click the PVP box, then you will notice Evasive Maneuvers becomes just a direct damage ability.
Dirge single target hate buff, Hyran's Seething Sonata, turns into a strength buff and a proc that forces enemy target to the hate buff recipient and prevents the enemy from changing target for 3 seconds. The proc triggers about 1.2 times per minute on any combat or spell hit.
Dirge's control effect spells have their duration cut in half including Stuns, Fears, Dazes, Roots, and Snares. However, the portion of the duration, or new ability granted, that is the result of an AA enhancement is not reduced nor removed.
Positioning does not change in PVP combat. Your autoattacks will more likely miss if you attack the front of the enemy. Your autoattack are more likely to hit if you attack the back of the enemy. Keep moving to remain at the enemy's back. Also, the enemy can only autoattack if you are in their front-180 degree vision.
In PVP combat, there are so many interrupts, stuns, dazes, stifles, that if you are going to do a Rhymic Overture routine, then you must obtain the Heroic AA tab, Rhythmic Overture enhancement to rank10. At this rank, you are immune to all control effects for the duration of Rythmic Overture.
Place the Sprint ability somewhere that is easily accessible. Sprint is a good remedy to catch up to the enemy when you are snared.
If you know you are going to die, then best to Sprint to your buddies or to your healer or somewhere safe. Each player death results in 2 points to the enemy in battlegrounds.
Self pot cure your self whenever you can cure. Debuffs is one big reason why players die so quickly. Potions have their reuse increased to 15 seconds in PVP. Also, healer's cures are given a longer reuse as well.
Dirge PVP Abilities
Dazes and stifles are not an interrupt. Stifles only disable all ability casting. Dazes only disable all autoattacking. If the enemy was casting an ability or autoattack prior to the daze or stifle, then the ability or autoattack that began prior to these control effects does not get interrupted. Also, these control effects wipe out any queued abilities only after these control effects land successfully.
Stun is composed of a daze, a stifle, and an interrupt.
Fear is a stifle plus an interrupt. However, the Fear has a 30% chance to break per each damage inflicted on the targeted enemy including damage ticks.
Knock backs, or throw backs, are just an interrupt.
Dirge's Hymn of Horror (hostile spell) and Round Bash (AA combat art) are a stun and extra interrupt. Hymn of Horror is an Area of Effect (AoE), up to 8 players.
Dirge's Garsin's Funeral March (hostile spell) is a fear, that is a stifle plus an interrupt.
Dirge's Lanet's Excruciating Scream is only a daze, no interrupt.
Dirge's Cheap Shot is a stun.
Dirge's Evade forces the enemy to clear their current target.
Dirge's Shroud forces the enemy to clear their current target.
Dirge's Cacophony of Blades allows the Dirge's group's autoattacks to be an interrupt for a duration.
Dirge's Tarven's Crippling Crescendo is a single target interrupt.
Dirge's Magnetic Note (AA benefial spell) locks the enemy's target onto a Scout ally or a Fighter ally.
Dirge PVP Combinations
Always cast the interrupt after a stifle. The stifle will cancel any queued abilites and disable their ability casting. The interrupt, after the stifle, will cancel their current ability that started before the stifle was applied.
Dirge can land their debuffs on a Feared enemy without breaking the Fear unless there is triggered damage that hits the enemy.
Dirge's Jael's Dreadful Deprivation can be activated when the enemy is more than 2 meters away. The root attached to this ability is very helpful to keep the enemy stationary. This root is not always applied and, once applied, has a 15% chance to dispel what the enemy takes any damage. If you and the enemy continue the tango, then just hit your Sprint to get a couple meters away and tag the enemy with this root.
Magnetic Note + Evade. When doing this combination, only apply Evade after Magnetic Note. Magnetic Note, 6 second duration, will lock the enemy's target and Evade will clear the enemy's target; this results in the enemy being permanently detargeted for 6 seconds.
When AA enhanced, Dirge's combat art health heals can do a noticeable chunk of healing.
Always keep moving to stay at the enemy's back.
Battlegound AA example. I will post a Beetny AA Calculator profile once it gets updated for Velious, which is in progress. Until then, the screenshots at bottom of page are available to present an example.
I will be updating these also when I get at 300 AAs.
