DarkFact's views on the arena tournament:

Our second foray into Blizzard's Arena Tournament was within a 3 vs 3 Team, comprised of myself, Byron "Messiah" Murdry and David "Xerin" Piner. We opted to try for a new combo this time, consisting of a Priest, played by Byron, a Rogue, played by David, and a Warlock, played by myself.

Upon starting my Warlock, this time I was sent to Durotar infront of the now-usual vendors. I outfitted myself in Spell Penetration gear, knowing Resilience and Resists play a big role in dampening caster damage. I was given both Dreadweave and Felweave Merciless Gladiator Gear in my bags, and opted to leave Felweave in as I would be picking Affliction mixed with Destruction for my build.

I exchanged my Icon of the Silver Crescent for something similar, called Void Star Talisman. This trinket, a drop from High Astromancer Solarian in the Tempest Keep, allows me to boost my damage by up to 48, and also add 130 to my pet's resistances, a big plus if I was to keep my pet alive through our fights. Many good teams would focus my pet down and it having more resistances would help some in mitigating any spell damage.

Decked out in Spell Damage and Resilience Gemstones, bumping my overall resilience over 380, and ready to fight, I moved myself to Orgrimmar to begin our battles for the session. Hopping on voicechat with voice David and Byron, we queued for our first few matches.

It didn't help much that David was still somewhat inexperienced in playing a Rogue, so he got spotted quick by the enemies using Perception, outed and killed before we could do much. We fought many different combos, most of which included a Warrior and a Priest or Druid, along with a Rogue. Solid combos, for sure, but we did not see many of the "best" current combo, which is Priest, Mage, and Rogue.

It would not be long before when we fought a team comprising of a Shaman, a Paladin and a Mage. This team gave us some trouble, but using the Nagrand Arena Pillars along with our combined teamwork of fears, manadrains and heals, gave us our first narrow victory. I must say having a Healthstone available for your entire team really helps them out, making a Warlock just that much better an addition to any Arena Team.

Another memorable fight was when we clashed against a Warrior, Rogue and Druid, a solid combo for sure, alas, their healer took just a few more seconds than needed and let their warrior be focused down by our entire team completely before being able to heal him well. When it's 3 vs 2, the battle becomes considerably easier and better to manage.

The build I used allowed for many variants, including being able to deliver killing blows and high-hitting ShadowBolts within seconds, letting me hit my enemies for a high amount of damage in a low time while keeping lots of Damage over Time spells ticking on my other opponents, sealing the deal disallowing them to dispel them, lest they suffer from Unstable Affliction's Silence and Explosion effect.

Shadowburn is another addition I made sure to get, as it is one of the best finishing moves any caster can have, giving you an instant 800-1000 damage if you're in range. All of this, coupled with David's attacks, brought down a good amount of foes during our second session of Arena Skirmishes.

The 3 vs 3 mode for Arena Combat allows for more player skills to show, and gives players more of a chance to play their best class and do well against others. In a Tournament where only skill comes into play, 3 vs 3 is going to be very interesting to follow, as if there's an uneven class combo out there, you may still give them big trouble if you know the ins and outs of your class and play the best you can along with your own teammates.

All in all, Blizzard has created a fairly competitive environment based around the Arenas, and I am eager to see the results of their testing and perfectioning of their Player vs Player plans, now and in the future.


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Get in the bush with David "Xerin" Piner as he leverages his spectacular insanity to ask the serious questions such as is Master Yi and Illidan the same person? What's for dinner? What are ways to elevate your gaming experience? David's column, Respawn, is updated near daily with some of the coolest things you'll read online, while David tackles ways to improve the game experience across the board with various hype guides to cool games.

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