Section 3: Chosen RVR-Manipulation and Direction

The Chosen have a role as a tank class unique to them in my opinion within the game. Our abilities focus on not only single target control, threat and damage abilities, but also area effect abilities as well. These include our various auras, ranged knockdowns, area effect bursts around us, etc. The trick, the real challenge is to not only use them, but use them in a way that makes your opponents close to you regret it, and those at a distance very inclined to keep their distance. Your job is to make it very clear that where you are is the last place they and their party want to be, and make it clear that they have to get through you to get to the people you intend to protect.

To accomplish this, first and foremost you need to see what you're facing and decide on the aura's that will benefit you the most in the encounter. Is it a melee heavy group? A strength/toughness combination would likely be best. Casters mostly? I would use resists/backlash aura's. If it's a mix of both, in my opinion you can't go wrong with resists/toughness. The beauty of the aura system is that in most cases, what protects you the most from your opponent will usually debuff their strengths against you. What's a caster to do against a Chosen who has increased his resistances and guaranteed retribution damage against all spells, while lowering the caster's resistances in the process? How much damage is that melee dps class going to do to you when you've increased your toughness and strength, while decreasing their toughness and strength in the process? These are the basic tools of the trade, linked into a mechanic called twisting.

Twisting is simple in concept, but can prove difficult in practice. The idea behind twisting is to keep two aura effects going on yourself at all times. The way this is accomplished is built into the mechanics of the aura's in that they persist 12 seconds after the aura is canceled or a different aura is activated. But their cooldown time is 4.5 seconds. What this means is you can keep alternating two aura's as they begin to fade in their 12 second lingering duration, and keep them going on you at all times. Now there is a lot of debate on the practicality of this technique and how much benefit it really gives. I'm not going to say there's a right or wrong here, if you don't want to do it, don't. It won't necessarily cripple your ability overall. I do when the situation calls for it. Generally speaking, I tend to leave toughness on all the time until I get into direct combat, and after identifying my primary threats, I twist a second aura with it to counter my opponents. This technique becomes even more viable later with one of our core tactics which makes aura's have no AP cost whatsoever.

Now that aura's have been covered, its time for tactics! The fun stuff!

I'd describe the job of a Chosen in RVR as a mix of flailing hooligan, unwavering guardian, and tactician all in one armor clad package. Regardless of the job variation mentioned previously the ultimate goal is to prevent your opponents from doing their job by doing your job. Block those close quarter fighters from getting where they need to be. Knock that pesky healer to the ground, or bat him away entirely. Charge those casters and keep them focused on you and not the members of your team that can burst damage them into the dirt. Snare, stun and cripple the tanks that are doing all they can to make it to their team members in time. Be aggravating, persistent and relentless. Remember, every enemy player you goad into a death wish of killing you is -not- killing anyone else, and that is exactly what you want.

Section 3-A: On the Offensive!

Don't let anyone by you without a snare, a dot, or any other horrible affliction you can bestow upon them when charging at an opposing enemy charge. If any one of them turns to take you on in retaliation that's one less member who is a threat to your team. Remember, you can take the punishment, they can't.

Give the enemy tanks a reason to pay attention to you! Keep their toughness and resistance down with your aura's, nail them with snares stuns and cripples. Anything to make them deal with you. The more you have their attention, the less likely that tank is going to notice the Marauders, Witch Elves and other nasties of destruction going by.

Don't be afraid to go to great lengths to stand out as a tank. Dye your armor ridiculous colors if you have to. The more people are looking at you the more they're inclined to attack you. If you charge into battle as the bright yellow and pink herald of tzeentch I promise you the enemy attention is going to be on you for standing out like a sore thumb, and just think how easy the more squishy players on your side will be able to find you like that too!

Change your aura's to suit the strengths of your team when a mass battle erupts! Lower the toughness of your enemies when they're dealing with melee dps, drop their resists if your team is mostly casters. Reduce their healing by 25% if you spec'd for it when their health starts to drop.

Ambush, Ambush, Ambush! Wait behind rocks, buildings, cliff sides, anything that can block their line of site to you where you expect them to have to travel. Once your victims come through, find the squishy and lay into them. You'll be amazed how many places you can hide simply because many players do not look behind them much or at all.

Timing is key. It's very easy to get in a no cooldown ability spamming fest when fighting someone, but knowing you have the ap to land a stun against that opponent in the key moment is just as deadly if not more so in the right moments. Don't be afraid to have reserved AP in the middle of a fight. Having the use of your abilities when your opponent is all but empty can make the difference in a victory or death.

Standards! No, not the moral variety, the flag kind! Chosen make, in my opinion, the best possible standard bearers. With our aura active prior to deploying the standard, your group can enjoy both buffs while the rest of your allies receive the banner bonuses. Don't be afraid to bring a banner out in the scenario battles either. 30% ap regen can make or break a stronghold defense team's ability to hold off an enemy attack.

When on the offensive with a fellow tanker, don't be afraid to pop guard on each other. At 21, and with a guild chosen at 20 with me, with guard up we stood fighting at the enemy flag stand of Pheonix Gate for 8 minutes straight supported by a single lvl 16 shaman. With our combined mitigation and guard spreading the damage it went on forever, and proved to be extremely effective in tieing up an entire team against us and allowed for many flag captures during that time.

On the subject of Guard, at any point that you're attempting to capture an objective that requires an uninterrupted channeling to achieve, it's in your best interests to drop guard on your current defensive target. The damage they receive can and will stop your capture, and that can make a huge difference in the outcome of scenarios and objective capturing.

Realize that your ability to completely negate and reduce the damage that is directed to you is such that you can survive dropping into the midst of a large group of enemy players and cause all flavors of havoc, while still having the staying power to make it out too. Disrupt those pockets of enemies that are on the edge of charging in. The fact that they aren't just means they already are unconfident in their success in doing so, and startling them with a quick aggressive maneuver into the midst is often enough to send them running. Especially if you kill their weaker members in the process.