I am hoping to use this blog as a platform to get what I have learnt over the years about World of Warcraft and PvP to more people. I warn you in advanced, I am not that skilled with the English language, even though it is the only one I speak.
I originally thought of making one big guide, but I instead have chosen a blog. This will enable me to post smaller bits of information and let the updates get pushed to you via RSS feeds. If you have not yet set up RSS in your browser or smart phone, please do.
I am far from an expert at PvP. I am really obsessed on the other hand with efficacy and optimization. This likely comes from the fact that I have a really poor internet connection, and to play at any decent level I needed to improve it. This is what started me on the journey to optimizing the "tools" to increase my level of skill within the game.
My first post will be basic UI improvements and ways you can modify your PC to increase your spacial awareness around you and across the whole Battleground/Arena map.
Camera Zoom
One thing that will greatly increase your spacial perception is zooming your camera out. This should not be done Excessively but just do you can see what is behind you. It will take some getting used too, but will greatly improve your play.
Create a Heads Up Display
In the thick of a fight you are usually focusing on the middle of your screen. It makes seance then to move the vital information to the middle of your screen too. In the above screenshot you can see my health bar, my target, my targets target, my cast bar and my healing bars. Blizzard have recently enabled you to easily move your health and target bars by right clicking them. This should be done and moved out of the top left corner of the screen. You can also enable target of target in the interface menu.
Nameplates
If you do not have name plates on by now, then why not? They will show you where enemy's are, what class they are, there health and even what they are casting. Sound useful, I thought so. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, so I will let this post explain the rest.
My advice is to turn on the nameplates of enemy's only. This lets you very easily distinguish who is hostile in your area.
The Zone Map
The zone map can be key bound and toggled on and off. Is displays a small map that can be moved around and locked in place somewhere on your screen. It has the option to show all your team mates which is why you NEED it on at all times. Knowing what is going on at all times and who is at each base will help you make smarter decisions when you move around the game field.
This is me in Stormwind ungrouped. See that it shows my location on the map, along with any one else I group with.
Latency
Latency is the time it takes your PC to send information to a server and back again. The Agamaggan server for example is located in Paris France. This time can be improved through different means that for most people should be simple to implement.
Wireless Connection
As convenient as wireless connections are, they can cause unpredictable latency. Ideally install an Ethernet cable from your router to your PC, this is usually not an option for most people though. The next best thing is to make sure your wireless connection is working at its best. Wireless in the EU is split into 11 channels. bands of radio frequency are shared with other devices like cordless phones and car key fobs. This website will let you download a program that can scan your surrounding networks and show you what channels are being used. You will need to move the channel of your router to a channel that will receive the least interference from other channels. For example if I see that my neighbor are using channel 1, 3 and 10, I will use channel 6. This will take some trial and error but eventually you will get a stable connection with less interference.
Leatrix Latency Fix
This will change some settings on your PC and decrease the time it takes for your PC to send packets of information to the WoW servers. This will greatly increase the amount of network traffic you have so some trial and error will be needed, especially in areas like raids where you might get some excessive disconnects.
These are just some basic thing you can do right now to improve your game play. In my next post I will approach the topic of addons. List some vital addons I think everyone should have and how to generally set your UI up to be as informative as possible without giving you information you don't need.
Untill my next post, ask your self after every death:
"What could I have done better there?"
- Sunyin
