You could just say “Just practice” but that advice is like telling an artist “Improve your fundamentals” without telling them what to fix or learn.
So how do I or anyone wanting to get into PvP in AO start? especially with it being one of the most toxic and unhinged community seen from the outside.
learn how to block and parry, that helps ALOT especially when theres people running massive AoE making dodging near-impossible ( ive heard air dodge at high agility give i-frames but im not sure about that )
learn when to attack instead of just spaming your skill, Elius and Calvus probably should have taught you this tbh ( attack them while they’re still in their endlag basically or charging or running away, beam works really for this… at least in WoM )
finally, get good ping, if your ping is garbage ( like me ) just dont pvp cause you would most likely die before you can even do anything
On the topic of blocking and parrying, a good way to get into the mindset of it is whenever you use an ability in midair, unless you are planning something else, block while you are falling down to the ground. It often allows you to parry people who are punishing endlag.
My only other advice, since I’m not very good at PvP, is to watch what combos your enemy does, as they will usually try the same things (an example would be a mage using water pulsar followed by a snow beam to freeze you. If you get soaked by the pulsar, focus on avoiding the next attack more since you know it will be a beam that will freeze you)
Learn to block and parry. If an attack looks like it’s coming to your general direction, I’d personally start blocking, because desyncs are a bitch and sometimes something that looks like it shouldn’t hit you does (vice versa too).
Know what gear and enchantments you should run. Some gear is common between most builds, and you could ask forumers what gear they should use.
Learn how to punish. Some attacks are hard to punish effectively, but some, especially missed attacks or Explosions, are somehow free and have a 20% off deal.
Learn how to work with what your build has. If you’re a Mage, avoid going in water because your mobility is made worse than it already is, and if you used up your Leaps + you for some reason can’t climb other players’ ships, you’re already dead.
It helps to have Jewelcrafting up to Perfect. Most people use Energy Regeneration, although if you can, getting Golden Apples to make Blocking Power Jewels could help.
I appreciate for all the technicals, but how does a complete beginner find someone who would spar with them?
considering this part of community are the most sweat.
It’s much easier if you have fame, since other people with fame can’t lie in order to hunt you. Generally just ask random max level people if they want to 1v1. Surprisingly, people with high player kills may be best, since they would be more willing to pvp and might have some advice, as well as providing you experience with more skilled players.
Munera Garden. No need to thank me
Block and parry obviously are pretty important to get down. Aim as well, specifically your prediction skills so you don’t use as much time charging your attacks. Though I’d say getting good gear for pvping, at least 60 power and 1.5k health or so, is a fine starting point, as well as getting any other side stats which are important to your build (agility for mage, attack speed for a light conj, size for a magma warlock, etc.).
I look for people with tons of kills on the leaderboard (not the bounty one, the server one) and message them to ask if they want to pvp on munera.
You can find a good amount of casual players that are also around your skill level and looking to practice pvp by making a post here on the forums saying you’re new to pvp and looking for people to practice at munera with, and giving your server region and times of availability. You can also ask around in any AO servers you’re in (such as clan servers etc) or ask any AO players you’re friends with if they’d be down to spar sometime.
(That being said I’m also kind of looking for ppl to spar, what’s your region?)
I’m Asian, specifically A
South East Asian.
How about yours?
USE but AO ends up putting me in NA servers anyways so I’m kinda used to playing with terrible ping
once u figure out the basics the most important parts of more competitive pvp is having consistent movement, reading reacting, learning the counters to different moves and classes, and learning to mix up ur movements and attack patterns.
im a rushdown mage but still have beams so i can hit ppl from far but not usually with blast bc my magic is slow. I run 85 power 104 agility 1400 health, and 64 attack size, relying mostly on punishing people missing projectiles which happens alot 104 agility is a decent amount of speed. i can gain the edge quickly but closing the deal rely’s on me predicting there movements. other wise tables can turn fast.
how i counter different classes
warrior: Most of them rely on aoe, but there is plenty exceptions. in the beginning of a fight ill charge beam if they’re far or use pulsar if they’re more mid range. This is assuming they dont have musket or dagger if uk they run musket/dagger dont use moves with alot of endlag, just chip down them down with single beam, blast, and eventually combo them out of a snare when they get close.
zerkers: u have to be pretty crafty with ur movement throwing in different patterns of attack like t jumping and charging a beam attack for one sequence, then t jump again come all the way down with out charging beam and punishing them while theyre assuming u would went for another beam attack. Its possible to beat them at close u just want to avoid staying in one area because if they land a grab they can get off 600+damage ez. The hardest part about fighting zerker is if u do get the edge on them they will try to fly away making it hard to close the deal.(this is getting patched)
warlord: is very similar to zerker but they have some ranged options. they tend to be very airstall heavy, you’ll find urself chasing them around the arena alot because if ur decent at movement and parrying they wont land much on you and will just fly around trying to land piercing gale and dagger. if u manage to chase them down self explosion and snare are ur best friends, i find trying to chip them down like u would a warrior more difficult because they just tend to airstall more and are harder to hit that way. if ur playing a warlord who doesn’t airstall very rarely are they hard to beat .(they dont run any agility so they’re very ez to hit)
conjurers: I personally love playing against conjurers(w class) they’re a healthy class not to op and not weak either takes a decent amount of skill to be a conjurer. u could use any of the above tactics i mentioned but they’re fighting styles vary and are more diverse than other classes. i usually play pretty rush heavy and try to not let them get into a groove because they can be pretty annoying once they get into a rhythm.
Mage: there are basically 2 kinda of mages there are the ones who rely on attack spd, and the ones who rely on aoe, either way try to stay off the ground and use t jump and leaps to keep urself in the air ur harder to hit in the air than it is to hit u on the ground. there are lots of different approaches to fight a mage, I like to feel them out from afar to see wt magic they have. (just trying to land beam from afar) If they’ve got a faster magic ik i have the advantage at close to mid range preferably mid range u dont want to get hit by they’re snare. fighting aoe (rushdown) mages is only hard if they have unpredictable movements, u have to be pretty patient, chip them down from far and mid range, they tend to have self explosion ult that can 300-600 dmg, wt ever u do dont let them get above you they will spam the hell out of every attack they have and deplete ur health faster than u can blink. rushdown mages usually have the most dps potentail at close, but get out matched by players who can out wit them by mixing up movement and attack patterns.
I dont play many vitality classes i’ve only fought two ppl who were skilled at them(shout out worthy “NYASKITTLES” he doesnt even main vitality builds but he’s pretty good with them, be patient expect the fight to last about 3-5 minutes sometimes longer. chip them down with wt ever tactics u have and if they’re an intelligent player, its like playing a 5 minute chess match trying to predict each movement and attack patterns. keeping pressure is KEY. they heal faster than you do so drawing out the match is in their favor, but u also down want to rush to much because that makes u easy to punish. just make sure ur landing attacks consistenty with out getting punished.
im sure there are plenty other tactics out there, but these personally work for me. and i think this is also decent rundown of how each class plays. some of the tactics i mention can be mixed and matched to be used against other classes asw.
New copypasta just dropped 
First things first for the basics of basics.
Learn how to properly aim your attacks and predicting the enemy (WITH PLAYERS OR BOSSES, NORMAL NPCS SUCK/UNPREDICTABLE) the rest of beginner’s tips are what everyone else is saying.
Oops, I still spam everything
i usually just jump into as many fights with the strongest people i can find until i stop losing
practice timing your blocks and attacks, practice aiming, and mainly just jump into as many fights with max levels as you can without worrying about bounty/fame
I don’t like just jumping into rando’s without consent or wanting to, that’s why I ask looking for someone to spar rather than hunting random players who you might not know is just a PVE enjoyer that explores
yeah asking them is probably better since you dont get the advantage of getting the jump on em