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Mid-Level Spiritmaster PVP Tips Basic Know-How Skills Stigmas On Gear and Stats Class-Specific Strategies Keybinds

There are three skills that I believe are absolutely essential to PvP: Chain of Earth, Root, and (of course), Fear. Before I run down all the skills available to you, you need to remember how absolutely amazing these three are.

Chain of Earth: Not a skill to be overlooked. Despite its pitifully low damage, CoE is one of THE most important skills you will ever get. It should be used as the opening skill for every single fight you engage in. Every. Single. One. Not only is it the cornerstone of your kiting technique against melees, it also keeps ranged classes from kiting off your pet. And it's all wrapped up in a nice little instant-cast package. CoE's second step in the chain is Stone Shock, another powerful skill. Its knockback effect can be used to push away melee foes that get a little too close -- but it also works the reverse way. Think of it like this: the knockback pushes you away from whatever direction you're facing. So if a pussyfaggot is running away from you, pop Stone Shock on them and they actually get pulled towards you. Very nasty skill. >:D

Root: Yup, it's a level 1 skill from your cute little mage days. If you've taken this off your skill bar for even a second, you deserve a good hard slap in the face. Root is a 20 second root (20 SECONDS!111!) with zero cast time and a comparatively short cooldown of one minute. It's pretty much your main tool for winning 2v1 battles, escaping gankers, gaining distance, stopping runners, and generally being a pain in the ass. Outnumbered? Target the melee faggot and root them, then try and take down the remaining Asmo before they break out of Root and start whacking you. It's also a great choice for a panic button when a random Asmo jumps on you; Root, run, Fear, run more -- or Root, heal up, beat the shit out of them. Root is also great for kiting and making runners stop in their tracks. Just be careful, as it breaks on damage. Always take your pet off the target and DO NOT USE ORBS on them before casting Root. However, it does not break upon DoT ticks. It will break if you cast a new DoT on it (the initial damage = break), but regular old ticks go under the radar. Root is basically an all-purpouse skill that can be used in at least half of the skirmishes you get into, if not almost all of them.

Fear: Everyone's worst nightmare. Ask any player other than a Spiritmaster, and they will tell you they absolutely HATE being feared. While Fear is an amazing, fight-winning skill, you should not be spamming it at every moment possible. As stated above, you need to learn when and where to use your Fear. If you missed that section, I highly recommend you scroll up and read it. You'll also want to know how to use it in conjunction with Weaken Spirit. (Also covered earlier.) Fear can be used to create distance when kiting, as a "chain skill step 1" for a massive Weaken Spirit spike, to escape death, or to keep one Asmo under control as you take down a second one. Have fun with Fear, I guarantee it is an unrivaled source of joy to watch enemies running around in circles; but also be careful with it, as it can hurt you as much as it helps.


Now on to the regular old skills.


Erosion: Your main damage source, other than Weaken Spirit. Great because of its instant cast time, plus its ticks don't break CC. This should be used right after Chain of Earth in most cases. Erosion is great for kiting, as your character can cast it completely without even missing a step. Erosion also negates the effect of Stone Skin -- meaning mages have no defense against it. All other DoTs share this nice little trick.

Servants: Doesn't matter which one you use, really, although it is recommended you use one in sync with the pet you have out. I believe the level of the skill matters more though -- don't use a capped-out servant (level 9); instead go for one that is still growing with you. Orbs are great, but they aren't instant cast, which makes them tricky to work into a kiting technique. Even with Mudra of Submission, they aren't entirely instant like CoE and Erosion. Your character must pause to complete the animation which, although short, may give a melee class the break they need to catch up to you. Do not use servants when you are planning to Root someone, as they will break CC. Servants are not like regular old DoTs. They are actually considered some kind of "little pet" that hits the target continually with an autoattack until their HP is consumed. Ticks =/= CC break; hits = CC break. Another note: don't even try casting servants on a feared target without Mudra, unless they are pushed against an obstacle. They'll only run out of range.

Sigil of Silence: Indispensable against priest and mage classes. Sorcs will rape you if they get their spells off, and clerics will make your life miserable with all their healing. When chained with Fear, SoS can keep them under control for the entire fight. The only time you will not use CoE as an opener is when you are using this skill instead, usually against Sorcs. It has a much faster cast time than Fear, and so should be used first, then Fear as a follow-up when SoS is about to wear off.

Ignite Aether: Great skill to use while kiting, and a must-have against priest classes in particular. One of the first skills you should use if the target is buffed, no matter how weak the buff. The damage bonus per buff removed is quite nice. Do note that Ignite Aether cannot remove mantras, consumable item buffs, or Stone Skin.

Body Root: Doesn't work as its description states. Rather than blocking movement, Body Root blocks melee skills.

Spirit Thunder Claw: Try and get this off before the target opens their wings. Most people will fly to unsummon your pet, so it's important you get their damage skills off while you can. Very low MP cost and a short cast time. Note that some spirits have a DoT effect when they use this skill, and others do instant damage.

Spirit Disturbance: Does some fairly nice damage, plus something different depending on what spirit you have out. Water closes the target's wings -- this usually cannot be used as they will fly out of range before you get this off. This could be very handy; although they won't take much fall damage, it does put them in flight cooldown for 30 seconds, allowing you more time with your pet to assist DPS. I haven't had a chance to test this as the Water Spirit II book is A PAIN IN THE ASS to farm and I really don't want to use a level 27 pet against level 35 Asmodians. Wind stuns the target, which is probably the second best effect after Water. Fire reduces physical defense, which would make it a very nice opener for other pet skills, but most of the time the enemy will have already opened their wings and flown off by then, rendering it useless. You shouldn't EVER be using your Earth spirit in PvP, and the effect is lolterrible for PvP anyways.

Spirit Erosion: Good opener for other pet skills, as it reduces their elemental defense. The defense value reduced depends on the pet you have out. Fire pet = fire defense reduced, water pet = water defense, and so on. It would be very nice if the earth spirit weren't terrible in PvP as all your skills are earth element. Erosion also does DoT damage, but obviously it will not make enemies drop their crap to you.

Spirit Wrath Position: Still need to try this out.

Spirit Recovery: AMAZING. It's basically free MP. Few people ever go after your pets, making their HP bar basically a second MP pool for you. Due to its cast time, I wouldn't recommend using it while in combat unless you're ridiculously low, but definitely use this post-skirmish to top yourself up.

Strengthening Spirit: Amour of Light: Eh. I wouldn't waste the DP on this skill unless you've got DP out the ass. Your pet will get unsummoned so much that it isn't worth it, unless you're rifting and the thing will stay with you for at least a little while.

Mudra of Submission: A must-have. If you're going rock-to-rock in the Abyss and your pet gets unsummoned constantly, land at max spell range from your target, pop Mudra, summon your pet, hit auto-attack, and cast a servant on them. This way your pet will be in range for its skills by the time you're done with the servants and you can take 'em down quickly. Also handy for bringing up servants while kiting, or resummoning a pet after an Asmo tries to get it unsummoned. Just all-around great.

Wide Erosion: I've yet to find a use for this. Too long a cast time to be used often, and it aggros nearby mobs too. Its area of effect is HUGE. Be careful with this, if you use it at all.

Weaken Spirit:
Note: Weaken Spirit's description confuses many people. It says "deals 349 damage, and an extra 349 damage if the target is a spirit". You know how Fear makes the target turn into a purple ball of rolling crap? Yes, that is, if you don't remember, supposed to look like a rank I fire spirit. Fear turns people into spirits. Therefore, Weaken Spirit does double damage on feared targets.
Weaken Spirit will make your life beautiful. It is our one and only instant-damage nuke skill, beyond that crappy level 9 chain. In fact, I'd bet it's our highest-damaging skill at 3x, if not later on. However, it is also a bit tricky to use. It has a LONG cast time (2 seconds) and more often than not, a Feared target will run out of range in the time it takes to cast it. You can get around that though. Ideally, you'll be able to Fear the target into a corner or to the edge of an Abyss floating island, where they will stop moving and you can cast away. But many battles do not take place near such handy terrain. In this case, your Weaken Spirit will only work on melees. Begin in the circle-kiting pattern, with a fresh Chain of Earth on the target. Break out and run in a straight line to create distance. Start casting Fear as they run to catch you. By the time Fear is finished casting, they should be right up in your face. Hit Weaken Spirit the second Fear is done, and you should be able to get it off before they run out of range.

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