Introductory PvP Guide

[Notturno]

Thanks for all of the positive feedback everyone, I really appreciate it!

The scatter scope is actually a FAR superior choice here IMHO, or at least a comparable one. It adds x.85 Movement Accuracy. The scope isn't much of an issue at all on fraggers, and after next week's patch.. I dunno why you wouldn't use it.

I'm personally the type who quickly scopes in to tighten the spread of pellets with shotguns, so I should have been aware of my rather quirky play style. I've updated that section to reflect your feedback, thank you.

A great guide for rookie players, though you'll need to modify it when DLC comes out (especially regarding Scopes)

This certainly isn't the end of the guide, I'll be adding more content and information as ideas come to me. I'm also planning on updating this based off of what I find useful in the first DLC.

I recently upgraded my internet connection and I have a new rig. I'm currently capable of streaming at 720p, and I've been streaming Defiance the past few days for a couple of hours while I PvP. I'll be streaming on my TwitchTV page whenever I can. I can make some specific learning oriented events if people are interested in that sort of thing.

So my question is this; is anyone interested in this sort of thing?

[Jice Corvus]

Great stuff Notturno, very helpful for players new to the pvp scene.

Worthy of a sticky even, though I doubt it will happen.

[Heinzlee]

Hey Notturno,

Thanks for the great guide.
Please don't take the below comments as critisims of your guide.
Just thought I'd mention the bits that seemed odd to my personal experience.
Good chance to see if my experience is skewed or not.

The VOT Mazu Blast Rifle can also be used to great effect in a similar role.

You sure you don't mean just the normal VOT Blast Rifle that shoots 3 for 1?

The FRC Sawed-off Scattergun is a good alternative for close range engagements

In my testing, the Nanofragger had a tighter reticule. Which should make it easier to land more pellets?
The one that fires two shots really quickly isn't bad either with the radiation nano. If you proc radiation on the first shot, the second will have increased damage.

The VBI Invader is an automatic variant of the Infector that relies on bug damage as well, instead of purely damage over time. The VBI INF-27 Immunizer is a long range option, with a three round burst. Both of these alternatives should utilize the Strain Mitigator as a barrel option.

I was advised to use Viral Accelerator for all infectors that don't spawn extra bugs.
Not that I've done the sums but this seems different to what I've seen others do.

The Stingray has the longest link range of all the available BMGs

Are you talking about secondary links?
As for initial link, I think Telespanner has the longest - although that one only links to secondary targets with +1 link bonus. Wouldn't the initial range flexibility of the telespanner outweigh the longer secondary link range of the Stingray?

It has a listed quicker drain on energy, but the amount seems to be negligible.

When levelling BMG on the hulker I found that the Telespanner had a significantly longer charge duration compared to the Stingray. I specifically tested with like bonuses on the weapons. However I have not tested Stingray compared to other Spanner variants so that could be where you found the difference to be negligible.

[Notturno]

Hey Notturno,

Thanks for the great guide.
Please don't take the below comments as critisims of your guide.
Just thought I'd mention the bits that seemed odd to my personal experience.
Good chance to see if my experience is skewed or not.

No offense taken, I would rather be proven wrong and called out on it so we can teach more people the best way to PvP.

You sure you don't mean just the normal VOT Blast Rifle that shoots 3 for 1?

Corrected.

In my testing, the Nanofragger had a tighter reticule. Which should make it easier to land more pellets?
The one that fires two shots really quickly isn't bad either with the radiation nano. If you proc radiation on the first shot, the second will have increased damage.

Doesn't the Nano Fragger have a larger horizontal spread? I wouldn't know what people are using, since I tend to stick to my courier. I've taken your suggestion and changed it anyway.

I was advised to use Viral Accelerator for all infectors that don't spawn extra bugs.
Not that I've done the sums but this seems different to what I've seen others do.

Again, based on my (limited) experience and unfamiliarity. I have tried to steer clear of Infectors, and I'm obviously not brushed up on them as much as I thought. Fixed.

Are you talking about secondary links?
As for initial link, I think Telespanner has the longest - although that one only links to secondary targets with +1 link bonus. Wouldn't the initial range flexibility of the telespanner outweigh the longer secondary link range of the Stingray?

When levelling BMG on the hulker I found that the Telespanner had a significantly longer charge duration compared to the Stingray. I specifically tested with like bonuses on the weapons. However I have not tested Stingray compared to other Spanner variants so that could be where you found the difference to be negligible.

I was just messing around with the healing range, which I assumed was the same range as the damage range. The differences seemed to be negligible to me. However, like I have said before... not my forte in this game. If your research suggests otherwise, then I'll take you at your word. Adjusted.

I'm just trying to get data out to people, and I'd rather have someone tell me I'm wrong so I can fix it. Hopefully this makes the guide better! Thank you for the contribution and information.

[Dracian]

Oh, there's something I was thinking about yesterday evening that could fit in the "About improvement" part : always turn off aim assist in the game options. That feature only works in PvE and definitely doesn't help improving one's skills in PvP.

[Heinzlee]

Oh, there's something I was thinking about yesterday evening that could fit in the "About improvement" part : always turn off aim assist in the game options. That feature only works in PvE and definitely doesn't help improving one's skills in PvP.

And turn off motion blur.
And to keep that setting when you re-log, change your graphic setting to custom.
If you leave it on High, it will apply the High settings and turn motion blur back on.

And this might be going to far for some...
But I've turned combat and ambient sounds WAY down so I can hear footsteps and sound effects better.

[Necrophia]

Thanks for this guide. I wish I had found it earlier, because I learned many of these things the more painful way... haha but yes, I still learned a few things I can now employ. I saw you playing with the Charge Blade and Blur in Shadow War; I'll be curious to see your findings on this experience.

[Agonist]

Try a burst mod on the vot techmag pulser and get back to me. Recently started playing again and curious if they did anything to this weapon while I was gone.

[Valaska]

You should pair the tachmag to cloak as well, Decimas and I use cloak and tachmags, they allow you to drop multiple oponents faster than a shotgun, especially now that the VOT Fragger is broken.

[Razer]

I've watched a some of your latest videos and one thing I want to ask is: What are you using to get the auto-aim feature to work on the sniper rifles? That is some wicked quick aiming.
And yeah the learning events would be great, going to have to start doing more pvp to finish more pursuits and those events would probably help.