During the Battle

You did everything you could. Checked the zone, got a team together and moved along carefully, not bothering anyone and getting quests done. Still, a group of well known gankers around your level decided they didn't like you rolling in on their turf:

• Communication is key. Using a voice over IP to call out targets is probably the quickest way to flawless victory. Three people working together on one target at a time will beat a group of six all doing their own thing more often than not.
• Keep your healers safe! Keep your healer in the back and run back towards it for heals instead of the healer having to go into the fray just to keep you up. If you are the healer: Move, move, move! Only stop to cast a spell. Nearly all of your healing spells don't require you to target someone only to be near them so run, heal, run, heal and repeat. A still target is easier to CC and neutralize. Just be sure to gravitate in a general area so others know where to run back to when they need heals.
• Take out soft targets first. Healers, Assassins, Necromancers and Spell Weavers should be your first targets. CC everything else and take out the weak targets first, then high damage targets and then you can sweep up. Having a Ranger or some ranged DPS class call out targets can be immensely helpful..
• Use terrain to your advantage. Running behind a rock to avoid getting blasted by a demonologist or swimming in water to get out of dying may not be the most honorable thing, but anyone who cares about honor in AoC ends up dead or role playing, so use every dirty trick in the book if you must.
• Potions. I can't stress the use of these enough.

   

• Move!. If you get low on health or have an assassin bearing down on you then move! Run around, jump like an idiot anything to get out of the range and waste their combo attacks on a miss, a moving target is always harder to hit.
  
• Slow them down. If your opponent is the one hopping around like a mad man, then put any sort of CC or slowing effect on them to make them easier to catch for you and your team (for many classes this should be the first effect you put on them).
• Tap and shield rotate. These are more advanced skills and will take a long time to master but will help out in the heat of battle. Tapping is when you double tap the forward back or strafe keys while in combat to jump in one direction, giving you a small buff and draining stamina. Rotating shields is when you press ctrl+1/2/3/4 to arrange your characters defensive shields in one direction like an NPC monster would. This is where knowing what attacks another class uses comes in handy as you can change your defense to mitigate damage.
• Active blocking. (press the x key) Another advanced technique that will allow you to go into a defensive shell. You cannot attack and stamina is drained, but if you are being beaten on by an entire raid using an active block can keep you alive just a few more seconds, wasting the enemy's time, giving your side some time to attack and giving healers a chance to breath.
• Never waste time on immune targets. Especially at later levels many classes will gain immunity effects where they will get a shield aura of some sort that makes them immune to all damage. You cannot do anything about this, don't waste time fighting them as there are likely to be other enemies that need your attention. Simply keep in mind that all shields last roughly five to ten seconds so keep a timer going in your head. The classes you will see use immune shields the most are the Blue Conquerer and Priest of Mitra shield and the red Herold of Xotli phoenix cloak.
• Watch those guards. While guard hugging will get you laughed at, it will also keep you alive until reinforcements come. Only use this as a last resort or when outnumbered.
• Remember that all players in AoC are solid objects, using yourself as a human shield is a great tactic when defending back line healers or casters from an onslaught. This can also be used to shield spell weavers from melee damage.
• Keep the closeness of the resurrection pad in mind. If a rez pad is only a few feet away then the guy you just killed will be back for more very soon, keep this in mind when fighting large groups.

Now you or your group will be either alive or dead. If you win then the other side will be forever shamed and will most likely come after you again so be ready. If you lose then the only choices available are to fight again, run away or find a new spot and hope to be left alone.

After the Battle

If you are kept on the rez pad, calling in reinforcements or using Path of Azura to escape are the only options. Calling in more means you are going to zerg a smaller group with superior numbers or attempt to match their numbers. This is fine and all but there is a chance for the other side to bring in more as well to counter you. If this happens, both sides snowball into a giant raid and tear each other apart, fun but counter productive. Using Path of Azura is a quick and easy fix to any problem, if you are not in the mood for PvP or can no longer fight then get the heck out a there, no reason to feed a griefer more kills and PvP exp.

Sadly trash talk and whining are in every game you play online and AoC is no different. Sometimes the ignore button is not enough and some counter measures must be taken, some of my favorite responses to hate tells are:

• Repeat the same 3 lines over and over again until they give up.
• Ask them how their day was.
• Read them some self written poetry.
• Attempt to role play with them.

I have been put on other peoples ignore lists using these techniques and that is a much more satisfying feeling then having to fill up your own list with morons who can't play a game without complaining.

Not everyone likes to mess around with people though. If you are one of those people then try writing down names. It sounds silly but crossing those names out at a later date can be very therapeutic.

Just remember to take all of the trash talk in this game with a grain of salt. Much of it is people just playing around or trying to get you angry, in the end it is just a game and an angry player is a handicapped player.

Of course if you come out the victor then the field is yours, it is up to you what to do with it, will your short reign over the zone be a tyrannical or peaceful one? That choice is up to you. Either way, win or lose, you will get experience in PvP and with your character. Don't be discouraged if you aren't the hero of the battlefield your first go around, keep practicing, learning your character and refining your own personal spec. Just remember when the PvP stops being fun it is time to leave.

Hopefully these little tips will help you enjoy the game better. Happy hunting!