B Team goes LIVE

Tonight at 10:30pm eastern time.
Warrior Priests and Archmages Unite!

The idea for this team is simple:
Create an UNKILLABLE group who know how to focus fire the enemy.

Choo choo! Assist trains are so much fun! I'd like to thank DAMIHDEZ for introducting me to the 'calling' mod. ---Be sure to have this installed! :)

Bring your Rank 1 Warrior Priests and Archmages to Norland, and /join Vaia.

(Recently Threynos scheduled a Lost Vale run that occurs at the same time as this event. If you are torn, worry not! Attend the Lost Vale group because it will not be hard to create a Lowbie and catch up to us in Rank. :) )

I installed the calling mod...now I just need to take the time to figure out how to use it

It's not nearly as tricky as I first thought. :) After you enable the ‘calling’ mod, go into the Layout Editor. ---Then you can move those boxes out of the middle of the screen. ---(I completely shrunk down the ‘Death List’ box and kept only the ‘Calling List’ visiable.) Within the Calling menu (reached by right clicking the mod’s icon on the mini map) there is a button for ‘Priorities’. ---Set the First Priority as “Target Archtype” and then the box below for ‘Healer’. To run this mod all you need is to drag and drop the two macros, “Call” And “Target” into your hotbars. RECOMMENDED: Bind your “Target” macro to a Mouse Button for super-fast assisting. That's it! luckily it comes with a simple lil tutorial. :)

I couldnt figure out how to get back to the calling menu.

I was thinking of spinning a new toon since I have no T2's left, but I was thinking of doing another tank; IB or SM. Is in ok for me to join you all tonight with a tank? I can guard you then :)

Yup, the blue Target icon your mini-map is for Calling. :) That icon is also movable in the Layout Editor, and it should be moved or else it will block the 'Scenario Party' icon (looks like a To-Go Cup from a gas station, hehe) when you enter a SC.

GREGO: Definately welcomed are strong IBs and SMs to queue and fight beside us! :) There is always more than one group in a Scenario. :D Other units could be comprised of the 'real' classes, where as the first are all the Hybrids. Of course we'd all be in one happy warband between queues fighting PvE and the like.

Thanks for organizing this event, Ainwe. That was a blast. I'm sure a lot of T1 people were scratching their heads that night after seeing us, 5 AM (with 4 of them naked) and a WP (also naked), going DPS without healing them.

Thanks for coming! That was fun!! I was pleasantly surprised that in the two hours I expected us to play, we got a LOT done! Got Calling to work, Three PQs, two SCs and Rank 4.5! It was a beautiful thing to see our target with soooo many DoTs on it. <3 Before I lagged out at the end there, we did a great job focus firing on the Destro. Their health just gooooes doooown. :) Well done! Hope to get a chance to do it again. ..Next Monday perhaps, if that works for everyone? (10:30pm - 12:30am EST) And now that six of us have the Calling Mod...we can use it on our mains too... :)

hehe Sorry Arcatus I didn't make it 5 AMs and a WP nekkid. I just couldn't strip off my lowbie robe and run about in my skimmies! :) Maybe next time. ....After a glass of wine. :P

Women! We men have no problem taking our clothes off and looking ridiculous in our boxers. =P By the way, for this team to become really imortal we need to stack hots in whoever is being hit. Stacking hots is pretty effective. If you stack both your hots, even better. Dunno how I feel about the healing duos rules, I assisted anyone, anytime. Healed the heck out of any yellow square at my screen. =P Offense - I usually assist the called target with my dot. Then I dotted every enemy I could find on range, then switched back to called target, dot again and dd. Always trying to keep my dots up on everyone. It might be more effective to always have like 3 targets called and we all keep our dots up on them, focusing the first on the list. Just my 2c - since that is how I got my big numbers in our SCs. =P

I too assisted those that needed healing. I think the duos have their purpose but nothing says you can't aid in healing someone else that really needs it. When we get to my WP level I can switch but I got to tell you. I have problems playing him and tips on playing a WP are greating welcomed.(see my guide post)

I noticed with the calling mod I was occasionally getting a bit of lag on the calls. It would be useful as Pul says to get a few more targets to cycle DoTs on, really that is our major/most effective damage dealer and you have to wait some 7+ seconds on the first one before placing another is effective. Cycling a few offensive targets would be ideal to DoT DoT switch DoT DoT switchback 2s DD. I noticed I was playing the AM a bit too BW like and not focused enough on healing, though C had an easy time of it. I just need to reset how my Squared/Pure is setup to better work for the group. Should be easy enough. Though I may switch over to a WP to get the balance back, we will see at R9 if its still needed. Might be able to convince the Wife to join the craziness. We need to work on our grouping as well, though without the WP/AM combos its a bit hopeless and massing is the easiest. I would imagine with the WP/AM combo we would want to stick near our buddy, and that pair stick near the other group, and remember we have a 100ft range on a lot of our DoT/HoTs.

Before you got a purple book and group heal you should focus on lots of STR, a 2-hander and melee healing. Divine Assault is probably the best burst healing in the earlier tiers if you have enough str and a big weapon. It's fun and it's effective before the cripling CC of T4. Going melee and is tricky, tough. Very chaotic, but fun. Tip to every healer that doesn't want to suck: GET SQUARED. GET SQUARED. GET SQUARED. PS. If you don't suck you will do better anyway with squared once you customize and get used ot it.

That was much fun last night. I'm definitely up for Monday again. The WP is different. I've played a lot of healers in the past but never had to run straight at the enemy and hit them with my hammer to be able to heal before. Thanks for setting it up Ainwe.

hots are 150ft, aren't they? anyway... another important tips (for ranged mostly): 1) Don't stick together. Keep an optimal distance from each other. Close enough to assist/heal. Far enough to not have the whole group AoE'd to death. Far enough to KNOW when the train is going after you. Which leads us to... 2) LEARN TO KITE! Run away if you see a melee train going after you. Really run away. But keep yourself in healing range. 3) KILL THE ASSIST TRAIN! While one is kitting he should call the squishier/most dangerous attacker as target and let the others assist kill while running around like a crazy chicken (always keeping in range of mates). If attacker switch target, the new targeted healer should do the same. Rinse and repeat. Discuss.

Stacking HoTs on a injuried groupmate is always a good idea! I have my IShealbot set so that when I click a person's name in my WB(using Squared), I auto-throw a HoT on them. <3 Pulitzer: Great idea on the assist train! Playin on a SW has taught me how to strafe in circles well. Gladly I'll scamper in a circle when I'm under attack. Good thinking! :)

KEEP IN MIND: :) If we all are under attack at the same time… …..We’ll ALL be locked into healing mode. Bad, Bad! Out of the Two in a healing duo, only one should be an enemy’s target. Our goal is to pick the enemy off at the edge of their fighting force. Try to flank the Destro for easy pickings, instead of meeting them head on. Let the other members of the group rush in first (when possible). After we take care of our own…. …..of course we can spare a few heals to the pug members of our SC. (At Rank 20 the entire SC force will be virtually unkillable with the addition of the GROUP HEAL ablity. <3 ) The first decent heal comes at Rank 8 so just do your best until then. We're already about halfway through T1. :)

Do you guys have any specific career in mind for our AM group? Because I think (since we're mostly doing RDPS/Healing) it might be a lot of fun to tinker around with Balance Essence and Arcing Power tactic -healing through damage. This way, we could also focus heal on our kiter while we focus fire on the assist train. Of course, I'm not an AM expert so I don't know if this will work smoothly in-game as much as it looks good on paper.

If we all are attacked at same time we all can survive just fine by ourselves. hehehehe. It means destro is not assisting and that will be an easy SC win. You can keep a group alive and dot the hell of everyone in range in a group of AMs. I.e. Vaia is running from 2 choppas. I toss a HoT and start dotting the bunch. If everyone do the same Vaia prolly will survive to see the end of it. And we will have 2 dead fungi.

Arcatus: Perhaps Gimba or Daghdre can impart their superior knowledge of the Archmage Class to help us decide specs. (I actually haven't even looked at the master lines yet. >< hehe) As Daghdre lead us in battle last night (a w e s o m e T4 run everyone! :D), he revealed that he merely throws his HoTs up on the WB, mighty powerful HoTs. Maybe if someone in our group gets hit, we can all stack a HoT on that injured groupmate, then resume DPSing as Pulitzer said. But if that injured Groupmate is still hurting faster than the HoTs can heal, their healing partner uses their real heals on them. I'm just so fearful of all us getting stuck in straight Heal mode, >< hehe, so it's good to try to think of ways to avoid this. Healng buddies is the base of my idea. But stacking HoTs, DO it! :) Pulitzer: YES! YES! YES! DoTing up the enemy in mass Is totally what we should do. Each calling target would have to be up for five seconds or how long is needed to throw our DoTs up, then switch, repeat as you said! Spreading our DoTs in such a focused way....Our damage would be like a Plague among them. :) On calling targets with low health, we can DoT -and- DD.

Something likethis Build is focused on group heals all around. Though the two second cast on Balance Essence is against my cup of tea as I would rather direct damage with that 25% chance to heal than slow cast. Switching it around you get this build at the cost of Balanced Essence, Forked Lancing & Asuryan levels [slight heal increase]you get the Dispel Magic which allows all damaging spells a chance to remove a buff and cause additional damage. Remove the other guys focus fired HoTs anyone?

had a play with a bit of endgame renown as well for the archmage. The Build

edit: I meant defensive target heals while damaging, basically constant healing even when throwing around the dam DoTs so you and your partner are always getting some benefit and help to stay on your feet.

How are you imbedding links here..need to figure that out

[ url = link url ] link text [ / url ] without the spaces. or if that doesn't work as I can't check via preview or edit. Look at this reference chart for BBCode Tags.

I wanna B TEAM again. kthxbye.

Same here. It was just fun and crazy to play with a bunch of AMs that night. I bet people will start joining our guild if roll out in T1 oRvR as well.

I would also like to B Team again! I would not oppose to doing it twice a week (so long as it does not conflict with other events). :) Today it's Thursday...I'm hoping to have my computer alive by Saturday. :D Hang in there!!! Wait for meeeee! hehe

My god! How long it takes to fix a PC? Get it done already, I order you! But don't worry, we will wait... a lil. ;)

As of Sunday Night my comp is back up. :) Just in time for tonight's Event! I'll be there right around 10:30pm EST when I get home. Yay!

Cool. I have some stuff to do after work but I will be home by then. See you all there.

This looks like a blast (Pun intended). I hope to join you guys the next time the B team goes out to play.

Our Second session was great! Yay! We're getting some more skills. Already Rank 6, and maybe next time we'll finally get our first decent heal (Rank 8). :) :) :) Next Event is scheduled for Monday, 07.06.09 @ 10:30pm - 12:30am (EST)

Looking forward to our next session. Already rank 6 as well and I'm loving Transfer Force. I was kinda rusty and confused when we started though. I blame Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for that. That movie is so mind dumbing, and Megan Fox is just mesmerizing.

Next Monday? We should try to play before main events or something. Like 7PM/8PM EST. I have too much healing instincts for being a great DPS'er as an Archmage. Can't stop throwing hots at everything that moves. I think I healed a squig once.

It was the exact opposite for me, Pul. I've been throwing DoTs at everyone, even at Enadar.

mm.. tasty DoTs. On the plus side there was a good bit of focus firing, my secret love for the golden wind as a BW is eeking out into my current playstyle. When I focus on healing I seem to do well on both healing/damaging though we end up getting all sorts of frazzled and separated, or I just do great calling out fire for effect targets and get a good damage set though the healing slips at that point. Might change with Transfer Force. Beam o' Death though is o so sweet to watch. Especially when more and more beams start hitting the same target. Here is one back at ya shaman o' doom.

I'm gonna hafta turn on spell effects for my party...I want to see 6 Searing touches on a target! :) Pulitzer, this week I am unavailable on Thursday and Saturday Nights. After this week though, I should be quite available any night you want. (My new job does not require working nights, Yay!) :D Maybe before the event on Friday we could run the B Team? Depends on how many can make it. I like that so far we've been able to have a full group. <3

"After this week though, I should be quite available any night you want." Ainwe, hony... don't compromise us!!! lol. =* Friday is kinda hard for me to play, but I'll try.

hony == honey. [edit]

Don't stress yourself, forget Friday! I can wait until next Monday. :)

So far I have proven I can't play healers well. Lets see what happens when we hit 7 and can switch to my WP.

Well, if you wanna join us with your R7 WP in our next session it's close enough - now that we are mostly R6, almost R7 also. Will be nice to have a frontline. WPs are so much better while being guarded... I still think this group would be a lil better with a 2-4 formation. Tank + WP upfront (WP will be our train magneto and survive because of guard) and 4 AMs focusing laserz from behind.

Not that we are going to change the dynamics but would that tank be a KotBS or IB?

KotBS for the auras.. though a dedicated RP instead of a WP would be a better match at that point. But that kinda defeats the purpose of the premade healer only group. We need to see what effect the group heals are going to have.

"We need to see what effect the group heals are going to have." ---Ludoki I agree! That is one of my big curious questions in this little experiment: '...What would it be like to have an entire group that Focus Fires their Target, and All six using Group Heal?' :) Can't wait to see!

Well, group heals + focus firing WPs would do better - since they heal with Righteous Fury and Smash skulls with AP. But I'm enjoying laser pew pew pew. It's a nice change of pace =)

One of the nice things about pairing up a WP and a AM is that instead of needing the tanks 50%Dam Guard you get a pocket healer capable of making the damage go away 100% via heals instead of just getting transferred over to the local meat shield.

Yeah, but trust me. When Pulitzer was R11 I would rather have a tank guarding me than another healer. No way an AM could make me alive against 2 FGs assisting in Nordenwatch. Remember, guarding dont use any AP. It's passive awesomeness.

Was there a B Team last night? Sorry, if there was. I didn't make it because I have to go out and bring dinner to my GF.

Nope. I don't think so. I logged 3 times and there was no B TEAM to play with.

nope. I logged into vent and it seemed like it was just t4 doing the hunt.

OK cool. Because I thought you guys were owning stuff or something. But, as much as I hate it, I have to retire all my characters (except for my T3 Knight and Aethenbrior) once Aion goes live.

I think B will be dead once Aion goes live.

Pretty much. I know Ainwe and Pulitzer are already itching for it. I would itch for it too if not for Champions Online keeping me occupied.

GLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE!