Want to PvP? Basic stuff you should probably know!

I want to try and outline some basic things people should know before stepping into the PvP arena, so as to avoid total failure/frustration and increase participation :)

If there's anything I've missed, feel free to point it out!


Super Basic: How the Arenas Work


Character Level
There is no minimum level for merciless PvP. How much your level matters varies greatly depending on your build and your opponent, but in general if you're queuing before level 70, you're probably going to have a bad time.

If you're serious about PvP I'd recommend getting to around level 80 at least. This will put you within 5-10 levels of almost everyone who PvPs right now, and the difference between 100 passive points and 105 passive points is often negligible.


The Cannot Be's
These are important items or passives you should have, without which you may automatically lose to certain opponents. The first two are the most critical. You don't have to wear these all the time, but they are integral to a good PvP inventory.

Cannot be Stunned: Or the Unwavering Stance passive.


Cannot be Frozen:



Cannot be Life Leeched From:
Or the Bloodless passive.


Cannot be Shocked:


The chest armor Icetomb gives "Cannot Be Chilled" which is very powerful, but the defensive stats of the armor are incredibly terrible for Merciless PvP.

Having disgusting quantities of HP via Kaom's heart can also make you effectively immune to these effects (except leech), depending on the opponent's damage capabilities.


Warding Flasks
I cannot overstate the importance of having these. Curses are incredibly powerful; for example Temporal Chains nearly cuts the effectiveness of your character in half.

You want to have it on flasks that will run for a fairly long period, so mana/life flasks can be good or bad for it depending on your build, as once your are back at full mana or life the warding effect ends. Quicksilver is always a good place for it though, guaranteeing you 6 seconds of immunity.

Other flask effects such as Staunching, Heat, Dousing etc are potentially very useful, but are situational, and you can build up a stock of them as you see fit. Warding is pretty much mandatory in every match.

Be careful of wasting your Warding charges! Don't just use it whenever a curse shows up on you, but save it for when you actually need it.



Bear Trap
Unfortunately I have to talk about Bear Trap specifically due to it's power and universal applicability. You may intentionally not want to use Bear Trap, or only use it if the other guy starts using it (there are a few people who fall into this "won't use it if you don't" category). But you will see it, and need to have ways of dealing with it.

First you need to be able to move while Bear Trapped, otherwise they can be chained into you and kill you in short order. Leap Slam or Whirling Blades are the ways to do this (with leapslam usually being superior). If your main weapon cannot perform either of these, you will need a secondary weapon set that can. The best secondary weapon for this is Brightbeak with Leapslam linked to Faster Attacks.

Secondly you need a way to kill Bear Traps. Any ability marked "AoE" can do this, from Firestorm to Cyclone. One of he most effective spells is Arc, which automatically seeks traps out and destroys them. Further anti-trap protection can be provided with an Arc spell totem. Lastly, objects you create such as totems can also trigger the traps.


Be Prepared to Adjust
PvP is not a place where you can stick to one strategy all the time like PvE. Almost everything has some sort of counter, and an opponent you beat in round one can easily change tactics and destroy you in round two.

Adjustments may extend beyond merely how you play, but what gear and skills you use. Keeping some useful alternate skillgems in your inventory can be a good practice. The full awesomeness of POE's massive skillgem/support variety is only seen in PvP. PvE can be figured out and optimized: PvP is forever variable.

Warning: careful of dropping stuff when swapping gear/gems. Your opponent can pick it up, and while most people are nice and won't steal your stuff, there are always assholes out there.


Have Patience, and try Multiple Gateways
Unfortunately at this time PvP activity comes and goes, and you must wait in town while in queue. Until GGG gets around to fixing this, getting some decent PvP might test your patience. It is a good time to try your luck with Trade Chat though >.>

Another thing you can do is try different gateways. This is selected when you log in, and is a choice between America, Europe and Singapore. You can only fight people who are logged into the same gateway as you.

nice guide for beginners man. +1

One thing I'd like to add is that running multiple clients is not only very useful in this game, but it is allowed by ggg. I sit in the pvp queue on my dueler while I farm with my high level. When I hear the match start I just port to town and take a min to duel. Combine this with active trading and crafting and you will definitely be entertained.

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Suspended wrote:

One thing I'd like to add is that running multiple clients is not only very useful in this game, but it is allowed by ggg. I sit in the pvp queue on my dueler while I farm with my high level. When I hear the match start I just port to town and take a min to duel. Combine this with active trading and crafting and you will definitely be entertained.

This is what I do lol!

I like the guide, especially the bear trap section because so many people complain about it when it can be countered pretty easy. Totems can also be placed on bear traps or cold snap. Also if u have enough AOE on cleave or cyclone it will clear beartraps.

Nice work man.

Thanks for this. I also agree with GrindcoreTHRALL on the Bear Traps section.

Anyways, good to see such a thread :)


best regards

Ah yeah added the bit about totems activating traps.

The multibox thing is cool, but seems a little advanced, plus probably only applicable to 28 pvp since I don't think most people have multiple accounts with high lvl characters :)

You forgot alpha's on the cannot be frozen :p

You forgot Kaom.It's bis for 2h.Also nice guide thanks.

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cala wrote:

You forgot alpha's on the cannot be frozen :p

Oh! Hm now I have to find one to borrow so I can link it.

Kaom's sort of strays into specific build advice. And I don't really want to give people the impression that they must have Kaoms before pvping (well, I guess yes, a 2h needs kaoms to fight me, but not to fight everyone)

So...how do you counter Tempest Shield then? Reasons I stopped PVP--

1. Bear Trap
2. Bear Trap
3. Tempest Shield
4. Tempest Shield

If you have not run in to it you will.