In Defense of a Node

I share this story, largely to set the stage for my next post. No way, not no how, should this post be interpreted as ego stroking or other such tomfoolery. I'm simply reflecting upon my own perception of the situation.

This weekend was Arathi Basin holiday weekend. I normally shy away from holiday BGs due to the unreasonable amount of idiots who flock to the holiday BG, however, the daily quest was also AB, both saturday and sunday, so I found myself playing quite a big of AB.

I'd just like to start off by basking in the glory that is 9 consecutive AB matches, each of which were decided by 200 resources or less, several down to the final 100 or even 50 points. Well balanced, nicely coordinated, PuG teams that had some truely epic battles. And winning 7 of those 9 didn't hurt the enjoyment factor either, but even the losses were classic.

KK, back to the point....

My normal opening move, unless somebody has proposed a reasonable strategy for the team, is to head straight out of the gate, sorta aimed at the Stable GY. In the first few seconds of mounted travel, I scan to get a general sense of where the pack is going. And I then steer towards Gold Mine or Lumber Mill, which ever seems to have the fewest ppl heading towards it.

Even with my slight hesitation as I wait to see the general trend of team movement, I'm still typically the first person to my chosen node.

Track Humanoids shows me any incoming Horde.

If there's one or more inc, I lay some snakes at the flag, fire off an anti-ninja flare, shadowmeld if time allows, and prepare for battle. If nobody's contesting the node, I cap it.

90% of the time (as measured by my intuition, not via empirical evidence), I end up capping the node, either through a very quick skirmish to defeat one or two incoming Horde, or perhaps after a more drawn out affair involving some nice support from my teammates.

If my initial node caps, I go on defense. I stand right at the flag, keeping a continuous Snake Trap and Flare up at all times. I cycle through Track Humanoids and Track Hidden.

When there's incoming Horde on my minimap, I used to always call it out.

Lately, if there's only one, I don't bother, because 9 times out of 10 (once again, intuition, not empirical) the node will still be mine after that guy is dead.

As he approaches, I refresh my Snakes and Flare, back up 10 yards or so, and Shadowmeld.

I roll with my boar Ruby, named for the dry rub I make from scratch with 12 herbs and spices for my baby back ribs, mmmmm, but I digress. Ruby can't prowl.

So what you normally see as an incoming Hordite is a flag with a flare and a trap, with a boar standing about 10 yards away. It feels silly, because it really must be obvious what's going on, but I think its so silly as to become confusing.

They then waltz on up to the flag, get all the nice little debuffs that my snakes do to them, plus they can't cap while snakes bite them. Then open up with Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot, Auto Shot, Multi Shot. And I've got a little range so I've got room to kite.

Typically, I hold the node.

If the same guy comes at my node again a short while later, I do the same routine, but then after backing up I put Ruby on Stay, and then strafe as far to the side as I can before I Shadowmeld, so they expect me to be by my pet again, and they charge the pet, only to get a spoon full of my opening barrage from off to the side.

If more than one guy comes to take my node, I call out for reinforcements. In a PuG, calling out for reinforcements is like a box of chocolates.

But, I'm able to hold my own against 2, 3, or sometimes 4 or 5 Horde. Long enough to keep the node intact until those chocolates show up. Kill one guy during Bestial Wrath, because they can't CC me for 18 seconds, and so much of PvP is reliant upon stuns and movement impairment. If I'm able to play Rogue and twitch around enough to confuse them, wing clip them all, and lay down some more snakes, I might take down a second guy. Usually survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive, if the box of chocolates has any in store for me to begin with.

Clearly, when there's good players or well coordinated enemy forces, I do down a drop quicker, but the overall feeling is that on WAAAAY more than half the time, I'm on top.

Bottom line is....No Soup for You. This is My Node.

Should they happen to turn my node into a drawn out epic battle where each side starts to send in streams of 5 or 7 players continuously contesting over the prize, I leave.

I then go on a killing spree tearing up some other node where there's not much action. On offense, I just kill everything in sight. Nodes with 2 defenders? np.

3 defenders and up? Depending on the overall battlefield, I'll often call out for ppl to concentrate on my new node, and then charge in. And last long enough for Alliance to realize that it's not just some silly ninja trying to solo a node, but an actual attempt at taking and holding some territory.

Bottom line is...No Soup for You. What was once yours is now My Node.

Consistently. 9 times out of 10, this is how my AB's have been going lately, and most specifically, all through this weekend.

The overall outcome of the match is still dependent upon the 11 other players and 3 afk'ers, but my little contribution to the effort is normally just as described above.

So from this all, what conclusion is one to draw?

A) 290 resilience is decent. Probably better than average.

B) I don't alter my spec, so I show up 41/20/0 ready to DPS the bejezus out of PvE targets :-) Seems to perform OK, if not stellar in a PvP setting.

C) In one-on-one settings, I've got a reasonable understanding of what to expect from the various opposing classes, and have the reflexes and situational awareness to dictate the pace of the fight and react to a dynamic environment.


Unless I'm totally mis-reading the situation, the conclusion that I draw from all this is that I'm a decent PvP player, or at the very least, above average.

So what's the point of all this rambling? Stay tuned for where this is all going....