The Argent Tournament: Jousting and You
Aug 16, 2009 21:03:26 GMT -5
Post by Eonwë on Aug 16, 2009 21:03:26 GMT -5
This is to help out those who haven't tried jousting yet.
Let's start with the very basics:
1.)To joust, you need a lance. You can get these from the lance racks around the Tourney grounds, or you can get a quest that requires you to joust and you'll get a lance. At this point, one lance should work for all mounts you're able to ride at your stage in the Tourney.
2.)There are three levels of Combatants in the Tourney: Aspirant, Valiant, and Champion. You start out at Aspirant. It takes a minimum of 3 days to get to Valiant(15 Aspirant's Seals at 5 per day), and from Valiant it takes 5 days to get to Champion (25 Valiant's Seals at 5 per day). There is *some* overlap in this, since one of the Valiant quests is really one of three chosen for that day. If you become champion with one race and then choose another to starting working towards Champion, you'll get an extra Valiant daily chosen from the two you didn't get that day (the rest of the quests are the same, so you can't do two sets of those valiant quests in one day). In this way, you can become a Champion a day earlier with one of the races. You also have to complete a challenge at each stage when you turn in the seals before you can move to the next level.
3.)You must champion your own race first. After that, you can champion any race you want within your faction (Alliance/Horde). You start at Valiant for these other races. Doing so also opens up use of that race's mounts for jousting at that level.
4.) Once you become a Champion, you open up 4 "Champion" daily quests that award you 5 Champion Seals (one daily awards 2 seals. You also need to have dealt with the Black Knight). These quests also award you a choice of a Champion's Purse (that gives you 10 gold and has a chance to contain another Champion's Seal) or a Champion's Writ that you can trade in to one of the races of your faction to get 250 Rep with that faction.
5.)When you are exalted with all five of your faction's races, and with the Argent Crusade, you receive the title "Crusader" which you can then choose to display (i.e. "Crusader Auros"), and unlock 5 more dailies that award Champion's Seals. Thus, you can get 10 total Champion's Seals per day if you do only the dailies (ruling out luck from the Champion's Purse). If you do heroic Trial of the Champion, you get another 5 for a total of 15 per day.
6.) Champion's Seals are used to purchase mounts, pets, tabards, Bind to Account items, and other miscellaneous items you may or may not be interested in.
7.)While jousting with other players is an opton, at no point is it required by any of the quests.
Reputation Tip:
Each Valiant daily gives you 250 reputation (non-human) with the race you're championing (As well as 250 rep for the Silver Covenant). When you reach exalted (999/1000) with one race by doing the Valiant dailies, any further reputation gains with that faction from those quests will spill over to the next race reputation in your faction. Thus, after championing your own race, it's best to pick the reputation closest to exalted next. Avoid picking the writ reward from the Champion dailies if you can get to exalted with all races through the Valiant dailies.
Alternatively, if you're not in a hurry to get to the Crusader dailies, you can continuously do the Valiant dailies without turning in the Valiant's Seals to get reputation with all the races in your faction before moving on.
Jousting
When you have a lance, equip it and find a mount sitting either in front of the Silver Covenant Tent or in the Tourney's stables near the Champion's Arena. Hop on the horse.
You have 5 abilities on your horse, as indicated below by order and key number:
1.) Thrust (Melee attack, 2 sec cooldown)
2.) Shield-Breaker (Throws a javellin, removes 1 charge of Defend from enemy, 2 second cooldown)
3.) Charge (Charges at enemy, removes one charge of Defend from enemy, 6 second cooldown)
4.) Defend (Shield, 3 charges, 30% damage reduction per charge, 4 second cooldown)
5.) Refresh Mount (Returns mount HP to 100%, 1 minute Cooldown, cannot be used in combat)
6.) Duel (Obvious)
When you're engaging a player, you use Duel.
When you're engaging a Tourney jouster (NPC Aspirants, Valiants, and Champions), you talk to them.
When you're engaging an enemy, you attack them with one of your jousting attacks.
Movement
For jousting, I prefer to control my movements through the keyboard. I hold down the "q" or "e" keys to strafe so that I keep moving, then direct myself with "a" or "d". This keeps my left hand within reach of the "1" and "2" number keys so that I can attack with Thrust when in melee and Shield-Shatter when at a range. Occasionally I use the mouse to hit Charge, or to adjust camera angle to make sure I keep tabs on my target when necessary.
Preparation
Make sure you have 3 charges of Defend on yourself before you attack a target. At max charges, that's 90% damage reduced, and that will come in handy. Also, make sure your mount is at 100% health, or near enough (depending on how confident you are that you can win the next fight. For jousters, you want to be at 90% hp or above). If you have to wait for Refresh Mount to come off the cooldown, do so. Your enemy isn't going anywhere, and you don't want to have to go get a fresh mount if you don't have to :}
Attacking
a.) With a Jouster NPC, you should immediately go for a Thrust if you can get one in as he's running into the middle of the arena. It's just one extra attack you can get into the mix. Once he's gone a bit into the ring, he'll begin his attack, usually with a Shield-Shatter since he's at a distance too. Throw a Shield-Shatter of your own, then Charge.
b.) For an Enemy, such as the Scourge Commanders, you should use Shield-Shatter to get his attention, then if you have the chance, Charge him.
Try to keep your opponent within range of Shield-Shatter when it's up, and get in range of Charge when it's up. This is where the above section on Movement helps: You can try to keep a wide circle on him, closing when you're ready.
Your primary goal is to get and keep the Enemy's defend charges down to zero, while keeping yours up to 2 or above.
Any Charge should be followed up by a Thrust. Start hitting the Thrust button the moment you get to him.
Any time you're in melee range you should use Thrust. That makes him charging almost as dangerous for him as for you.
When charge is on cooldown, use Shield-Shatter and Defend, choosing first the one that is most needed at the time. If he has no Defend charges up, or you are out of range of him. and you need more Defend charges on yourself, use Defend. If he has a 2 or three charges up, or you have plenty of charges on yourself, use Shield-Shatter.
Post-Fight
Refer to Preparation.
That's the basic strategy I use for jousting versus both the Champions/Valiants at the Tourney Grounds, and the Commanders in front of Icecrown Citadel. When lag is low, this doesn't fail. If lag is high, there's not much that can save you but luck.
Questions/Comments welcome.
Let's start with the very basics:
1.)To joust, you need a lance. You can get these from the lance racks around the Tourney grounds, or you can get a quest that requires you to joust and you'll get a lance. At this point, one lance should work for all mounts you're able to ride at your stage in the Tourney.
2.)There are three levels of Combatants in the Tourney: Aspirant, Valiant, and Champion. You start out at Aspirant. It takes a minimum of 3 days to get to Valiant(15 Aspirant's Seals at 5 per day), and from Valiant it takes 5 days to get to Champion (25 Valiant's Seals at 5 per day). There is *some* overlap in this, since one of the Valiant quests is really one of three chosen for that day. If you become champion with one race and then choose another to starting working towards Champion, you'll get an extra Valiant daily chosen from the two you didn't get that day (the rest of the quests are the same, so you can't do two sets of those valiant quests in one day). In this way, you can become a Champion a day earlier with one of the races. You also have to complete a challenge at each stage when you turn in the seals before you can move to the next level.
3.)You must champion your own race first. After that, you can champion any race you want within your faction (Alliance/Horde). You start at Valiant for these other races. Doing so also opens up use of that race's mounts for jousting at that level.
4.) Once you become a Champion, you open up 4 "Champion" daily quests that award you 5 Champion Seals (one daily awards 2 seals. You also need to have dealt with the Black Knight). These quests also award you a choice of a Champion's Purse (that gives you 10 gold and has a chance to contain another Champion's Seal) or a Champion's Writ that you can trade in to one of the races of your faction to get 250 Rep with that faction.
5.)When you are exalted with all five of your faction's races, and with the Argent Crusade, you receive the title "Crusader" which you can then choose to display (i.e. "Crusader Auros"), and unlock 5 more dailies that award Champion's Seals. Thus, you can get 10 total Champion's Seals per day if you do only the dailies (ruling out luck from the Champion's Purse). If you do heroic Trial of the Champion, you get another 5 for a total of 15 per day.
6.) Champion's Seals are used to purchase mounts, pets, tabards, Bind to Account items, and other miscellaneous items you may or may not be interested in.
7.)While jousting with other players is an opton, at no point is it required by any of the quests.
Reputation Tip:
Each Valiant daily gives you 250 reputation (non-human) with the race you're championing (As well as 250 rep for the Silver Covenant). When you reach exalted (999/1000) with one race by doing the Valiant dailies, any further reputation gains with that faction from those quests will spill over to the next race reputation in your faction. Thus, after championing your own race, it's best to pick the reputation closest to exalted next. Avoid picking the writ reward from the Champion dailies if you can get to exalted with all races through the Valiant dailies.
Alternatively, if you're not in a hurry to get to the Crusader dailies, you can continuously do the Valiant dailies without turning in the Valiant's Seals to get reputation with all the races in your faction before moving on.
Jousting
When you have a lance, equip it and find a mount sitting either in front of the Silver Covenant Tent or in the Tourney's stables near the Champion's Arena. Hop on the horse.
You have 5 abilities on your horse, as indicated below by order and key number:
1.) Thrust (Melee attack, 2 sec cooldown)
2.) Shield-Breaker (Throws a javellin, removes 1 charge of Defend from enemy, 2 second cooldown)
3.) Charge (Charges at enemy, removes one charge of Defend from enemy, 6 second cooldown)
4.) Defend (Shield, 3 charges, 30% damage reduction per charge, 4 second cooldown)
5.) Refresh Mount (Returns mount HP to 100%, 1 minute Cooldown, cannot be used in combat)
6.) Duel (Obvious)
When you're engaging a player, you use Duel.
When you're engaging a Tourney jouster (NPC Aspirants, Valiants, and Champions), you talk to them.
When you're engaging an enemy, you attack them with one of your jousting attacks.
Movement
For jousting, I prefer to control my movements through the keyboard. I hold down the "q" or "e" keys to strafe so that I keep moving, then direct myself with "a" or "d". This keeps my left hand within reach of the "1" and "2" number keys so that I can attack with Thrust when in melee and Shield-Shatter when at a range. Occasionally I use the mouse to hit Charge, or to adjust camera angle to make sure I keep tabs on my target when necessary.
Preparation
Make sure you have 3 charges of Defend on yourself before you attack a target. At max charges, that's 90% damage reduced, and that will come in handy. Also, make sure your mount is at 100% health, or near enough (depending on how confident you are that you can win the next fight. For jousters, you want to be at 90% hp or above). If you have to wait for Refresh Mount to come off the cooldown, do so. Your enemy isn't going anywhere, and you don't want to have to go get a fresh mount if you don't have to :}
Attacking
a.) With a Jouster NPC, you should immediately go for a Thrust if you can get one in as he's running into the middle of the arena. It's just one extra attack you can get into the mix. Once he's gone a bit into the ring, he'll begin his attack, usually with a Shield-Shatter since he's at a distance too. Throw a Shield-Shatter of your own, then Charge.
b.) For an Enemy, such as the Scourge Commanders, you should use Shield-Shatter to get his attention, then if you have the chance, Charge him.
Try to keep your opponent within range of Shield-Shatter when it's up, and get in range of Charge when it's up. This is where the above section on Movement helps: You can try to keep a wide circle on him, closing when you're ready.
Your primary goal is to get and keep the Enemy's defend charges down to zero, while keeping yours up to 2 or above.
Any Charge should be followed up by a Thrust. Start hitting the Thrust button the moment you get to him.
Any time you're in melee range you should use Thrust. That makes him charging almost as dangerous for him as for you.
When charge is on cooldown, use Shield-Shatter and Defend, choosing first the one that is most needed at the time. If he has no Defend charges up, or you are out of range of him. and you need more Defend charges on yourself, use Defend. If he has a 2 or three charges up, or you have plenty of charges on yourself, use Shield-Shatter.
Post-Fight
Refer to Preparation.
That's the basic strategy I use for jousting versus both the Champions/Valiants at the Tourney Grounds, and the Commanders in front of Icecrown Citadel. When lag is low, this doesn't fail. If lag is high, there's not much that can save you but luck.
Questions/Comments welcome.