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The Art of War(craft): Introductory guide to fighting paladins
Zach writes the weekly Battlegrounds and world PvP column The Art of War(craft). He is also a career Paladin who has played the class in all its iterations in various RPGs. He attempts to live high, live mighty, and live righteously. Ah, Paladins. Otherwise known as the game's God-class. Paladins, next to hunters, arguably have the lowest skill to success ratio among all classes in the game. This means that many players with low familiarity with the game can pick up a paladin and play the class with relative ease and have moderate success in the battlegrounds. Retribution paladins, in particular, are so easy to play that it can be addicting. Many players easily get the delusion that they're good. This is what prompted Blizzard to call out the spec, saying that it is successful in lower Arena brackets but significantly less so against tougher competition. Paladins also enjoy a significant psychological edge against a lot of players because of their reputation, giving them an advantage even before the fight begins. Well, today we're focusing on how to fight paladins in our series of guides aimed at teaching players basic strategies against particular classes. We've discussed death knights, druids, hunters, and last week, mages. After the jump, we'll break down a paladin's strengths, discuss their frequently used skills, and eventually their weaknesses. As fearsome as paladins can be in combat, they suffer from glaring weaknesses, too. As long as you keep those weaknesses in mind, you should fare better against them on the battlefield.
The Art of War(craft): Introductory guide to fighting mages
Zach, who's obsessed with PvP, has sworn off playing his high level characters until Razer releases a Mac version of the Razer Naga driver v2.0, which allows key mapping. Because the Razer Naga's awesome and key mapping is badass but gaming on a Mac sucks. Mages are a slippery bunch. Don't be fooled by those pansy dresses and flimsy wands. Mages are fearsome opponents on the battlefield, possessing wondrous abilities taken from the pages of classic fantasy -- they can hurl gigantic fireballs, pop from one place to the other, turn opponents into critters, and even make their own food and drink (which is why it's important to make friends with one)! Nowadays, they can even disappear and make copies of themselves, making them even trickier and more dastardly. Today, we'll figure out some basic things to consider when we're fighting a mage. In the past weeks we've discussed how to deal with death knights, druids, and hunters, so today we'll turn our attention to the archetypal caster class of the game. Some classes will have an easier time with mages, particularly those who can interrupt spellcasting and shrug off spell effects, while others will fall prey to their considerable abilities to snare, crowd control, and their remarkable burst damage. Mages are one-third of one of the most efficient, complementary, and successful 3v3 Arena comps and for good reason. A closer look at what Christian Belt proudly calls, "the best class in the game" after the break.
