Introduction

Hi, I’m Charry and I’ve reached 2600 rating in 3v3 in Shadowlands S1. I’m an “OK” player, I’m by no means a pro so take everything here with a grain of salt.

I’m also a “Gladiator” so i can say that i’m glad you’re reading this. Ha ha.

This document is aimed at the players who are just starting with pvp arenas in Shadowlands Season 1.

Useful tools

These are mainly tools i use to analyze the ladder;

When i start a new char, it’s easier for me to just copy how pros are playing before i try out new stuff

https://www.arenamate.net/ - tool for viewing the ladder, it archives players and their games above 2.3k rating.

https://www.pvpleaderboard.com/ - a statistics tool for analyzing the ladder, see what talents/conduits/stats/covenants people are playing

https://luduslabs.org/ladderdex - a nice tool for comparing yourself to the current ladder

https://luduslabs.org/2v2-comps - see the most played comps per rating for your spec for 2v2

https://luduslabs.org/3v3-comps - same thing, but for 3v3

PVP urban dictionary - Dont try to memorize it, but it’s good for checking wtf is someone from the LFG looking for. In example “rogue lf RMP”, ”LF Shadowplay”, “LF Mongolian Earthworm Cleave“, “LF Harry Potter cleave” can become quite confusing.

Hogwarts Cleave =/= Harry Potter Cleave !!

Addons

Must Have (or find alternatives)

* GladiusEX - better arena frames interface; useful for tracking cds/drs/auras (i.e. bubble/stun); you can customize everything, from how it looks (position, size for anything) to what it tracks. I prefer this over gladius/sarena because you can also easily see your teammates’ DRs, CDs etc. without having to customise other new addons. DRs and CDs are extremely important to keep track of for both teams (i.e. in how much time do they have shadowblades? When can they cc me with a full stun again?)

* GladiatorLosSa2 - a voice which tells you everything the enemies are popping in arenas; must have for being aware of what the enemies are doing, without being forced to only look at one place. Their default settings are good, you can also customize which spells to track.

Weakauras

* Kill the pod: https://wago.io/Wi5b8_TmZ

Nice to have

* BigDebuffs - see much clearer debuffs on your enemies/parties above their heads

* OmniBar - track all important spells in a single spot (i.e. all interrupts in one place; all win conditions (combust/shadowblades/incarnate) in another place. You can have multiple bars, each tracking any set of spells you want

CCs

CC Cheat sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-C209RouPyL_CagAXDbMvyUGZKKzuedpjEuVNcjPwA0/edit

Some macros

http://www.skill-capped.com/app.php/macros/show

Their purpose is to react faster to stuff. Most pros only use mouse for movement or for targeting totems/pod etc. You can bind targeting arena1/arena2/arena3, but i prefer having all of my important spells with @arena1/@arena2/@arena3 modifiers

An example:

```

#showtooltip Storm Bolt

/cast [nomod] Storm Bolt; [mod:ctrlalt, @arena3] Storm Bolt; [mod: alt, @arena2] Storm Bolt; [mod: ctrl, @arena1] Storm Bolt

```

Rating inflation

Tldr: the later it is in a season, the easier it is to push rating. The ladder rating gets inflated in time.

https://old.reddit.com/r/worldofpvp/comments/ijx1rd/rating_inflation_a_thing_or_right_now_higher_then/g3gjzof/ (also read the top reply)

Comps

Each comp has their own win condition which you have to play around.

I.e. generally, if you are playing a heal/dps in 2v2, a rogue/mage will want to create a setup, force some of your defensives, reset, then setup again etc., until you’re left out of defensives.

Each comp’s win condition might also change depending on what team comp they are facing. Learning them comes with practice, there’s many viable comps i don’t fully understand because I haven’t faced or played them enough. And for many matchups you will have to theorycraft your own strategy. So go spam the LFG ^_^ !

Streamers

It helps to see what pros are doing. I recommend those who also comment what’s happening in their arena while playing.

Some of them also have very informative videos on youtube; some examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ9mfXtbHSk - must watch for any caster, pay attention to how he’s positioning himself relative to the enemy ww and healer when he’s the target.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwAbc0N1K0I - playing against RMP and disrupting their setups

A list of streamers: https://old.reddit.com/r/worldofpvp/comments/9bjra3/list_of_all_pvp_streamers_organized_by_class/

I recommend watching streamers regardless of the class they’re playing. Even if you are a paladin, watching a rogue streamer will help you to further understand rogue’s weakness.

(I personally love watching Chanimal, Bicmex and Xaryu)

General tips

Play to learn and to have fun, not for rating. It’s also the best way to improve and get rating in the long run!