General

In-Depth Aran Pvp Guide

Hello and welcome, fellow Arans!
I am here to guide and mold all of you Arans into better PvPers!
I'll start from the very beginning, and the guide will end with the more complex stuff, such as different methods of attacking, how to make use of the different maps, etc.

[b]Warning, wall of text ahead. This guide is not for lighthearted pvpers.[/b]

[header]Other PVP Guides.[/header]
Arans aren't for you? Well here are some other PVP guides written by your fellow Basilers.
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2347853]F/P Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2297637]Shadower Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2314296]Dual-Blader Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2343236/6/39409925Paladin_PvP_Guide.html#39409925]Paladin Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2335160]Mercedes Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2345717]Battlemage Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2343715]Mechanic Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2343517]Dark Knight Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2349325]Evan Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2335008]Demon Slayer Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2346812]Cannoneer Guide.[/url]
[url=http://www.basilmarket.com/forum/2351799]Bishop Guide[/url]

[header]The basics, and beginning information.[/header]
Ok, let's face it. Arans are not good PvPers. HOWEVER, we aren't the worst, either. Combat Step provides us with excellent mobility, our skills hit like a truck, and we completely obliterate mobs. There are definitely classes better than us, but there are also classes worse than us.

When starting a round:
When you first start a round, there are a couple things you can do. Every time you respawn, you [i]must[/i] take advantage of Combo Recharge, since its cooldown is reset whenever you respawn. You can use the combos to cast Combo Barrier, which takes off a significant amount of damage, or use Tempest, as your ultimate mobbing skill.
Try not to waste time buffing either. You can buff as you're jumping down into the fight, because after you respawn, you have about 5 seconds of invincibility even if you're not on the very top respawning platform!
Cast buffs as you're falling, then go to the nearest rope or ladder to get rid of the delay of the buffs. Here are the buffs you should be casting; Booster, Might, Freeze Standing, Snow Charge, and Maple Warrior. As you're falling, try to cast the buffs with the least delay. (that would be, booster, freeze standing, and snow charge.) Might and Maple Warrior have some pretty annoying delays, so I would highly recommend casting those on a rope to save time.
In the gold richie map, make use of the rope at the top platform!

[header]Basic skill information.[/header]
[b]Booster[/b] - Self explanatory. Raises your attacking speed and is very useful. Takes off 3 weapon speeds, just like anywhere else.
[b]Body Pressure[/b] - Since it doesn't reflect damage, it's not as useful as PG or PR, but it hits pretty hard if you're standing on top of someone. 80% damage.
[b]Freeze Standing[/b] - also self explanatory. Prevents people from knocking you around. 90% knockback resistance.
[b]MW[/b] - This skill provides % all stat, which in pvp, becomes battle attack. Pretty useful in the sense that it makes you stronger. +15% all stats.
[b]Combo Barrier[/b] - This skill simply takes off damage, but a lot of it. At max level, it takes off 20% of all the damage you receive.
[b]Might[/b] - Another skill that adds battle attack. Again, very useful. Adds 10 battle attack.
[b]Snow Charge[/b] - This skill simply slows people down when you hit them, and is useful for mobile classes such as Mercedes, making them much easier to catch and hit. Enemy's speed is decreased by 20.
[b]Tempest[/b] - This is pretty much the strongest ultimate in all of pvp. This skill can be used every time you respawn, making it a killing machine. At level 18, it does 260% damage x 4 to pretty much everyone on your minimap.
[b]Overswing[/b] - This skill is your main attacking skill. First set of swings does 275% damage x2, second set of swings does 350% x2.
[b]Final Blow[/b] - Main attacking skill V2. This skill can be troublesome to cast correctly in pvp due to the delay, but it does insane damage, along with having a crazy horizontal AND vertical range. Does 220% damage x3 with a 100% critical rate on up to 6 people.
[b]Final Charge[/b] - Rush, Aran version. This skill, however, has no cool down, unlike 4th job warrior's rush. Does 144% damage on up to 6 people.
[b]OH, THIS IS IMPORTANT -[/b] All skills in pvp require only half the combos they normally would! For example: Drain only needs 15, Tempest only needs 100, Fenrir needs 25, and so on.

[header]In the round.[/header]
Arans are definitely the most fragile warrior. This is our biggest disadvantage. Mobs are both your best friend and worst enemy. If you're in the middle of a gigantic mob, you're pretty much done-for. HOWEVER, mobs are where we excel, and where we get the most points! One thing you must be aware of is that Drain does not work nearly as well in PVP as it does outside of it. It does heal some HP, but it's so minimal it's negligible, and you end up dying anyway 90% of the time. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPcb1Hhv7QI]Take a look at this video[/url] of before Nexon "balanced" PVP. Back then, Drain was excellent. Now... not so much.
Attack large mobs from the side. Large mobs is where we are by far the best, but we don't last long, especially if you're in the middle of one.
When you respawn and use combo recharge, look at your surroundings before deciding what to do. If there are a lot of people (as in 4 or more that will be hit), use tempest. This will guarantee a lot of points, and since Drain only needs 15 combos, you can use the combos from tempest to cast it. If not, I recommend using the combos to cast Barrier. Its damage removal is so helpful, but the drain from tempest, as well as its damage, makes it more useful if it hits many people.

Stay away from Paladins and Battle Mages. They're a death waiting to happen. In the case that there is a battle mage attacking you, there is no point in staying and attacking if he is invincible (which is most of the time).
Demon Slayers are annoying little buggers. Their Demon Cry not only removes your way of not only hitting them, but of gaining HP as well. Take these guys out quickly. If their demon cry gets you, look for the blue hearts that clear status effects. If none are around, use Hero's Will and keep on trucking.

Mercedes cause major issues for most classes, but not us! Our skills have very awesome (and almost awkward) vertical ranges. Their jumping about has little effect on us.

Mages cause us the most trouble. Their teleporting makes our attacks useless most of the time since we can never hit them... >.<

If you're caught with a mage teleporting all around you and your HP is low, just use Rolling Spin until you die, since that hits all around you.
If you have very low HP and know you will die very soon, sometimes it's better to just die than waste time running and looking for a heart to heal you.

Also, take advantage of the skill delay. Because of the delay, you can jump in the middle of OS, and even turn around after each individual part of it!
Jump-OSing has a [b]huge[/b] vertical range. It's amazing. However, it is very difficult to do. Even I can't do it too efficiently, but it simply takes a lot of practice, and once you master it, you will be an excellent sniper.

Don't be afraid to run. Arans are warriors; we need to attack people up close, and therefore take the heat of the attacks. Because of our low HP, we were blessed with Combat Step. Take advantage of this to get yourself out of a situation you know you will do badly in.

While you're in the fight, keep an eye on Recharge's cooldown (I forget to do this a lot xD). There's a chance you may have survived long enough for the cooldown to reset, allowing for another tempest or barrier.

[header]Know your enemies.[/header]
Like I said earlier, you need to know your opponents and their different abilities, as all classes are very different.
Aside from that, know the people that can slaughter you with no difficulty.
If you see someone decked out in agares, ipos, eligos gear, etc, chances are they're going to cause issues.
Know these people and watch out for them. Don't go running up to a fully pvp-geared Paladin because you WILL lose. (actually, you shouldn't run towards any paladin anyway)
This applies for everyone, but I figured I should post this here because it is very important. Arans have such low HP that anyone like this is bound to destroy you.

[header]Different maps.[/header]
In pvp, knowing your skill arsenal and how to use them is one of the most important things ever.
Overswing and Final Blow is your main attack, as usual. We don't have a huge arsenal, but it's enough for us to keep going.
Each map is different, and like everyone else, we do better in certain maps than others.
[b]Gold Richie Map[/b] - We do the best in this map, no question. The two platforms on both sides are essentially sniping points for us for people above us on the big platform. Every hit from OS and FB will hit people above you, and its long horizontal range is pretty awesome, too.

[b]Strange Knight's Chamber[/b] - We do fairly well in this map as well. The telporters on the far left and right are so useful for making a quick escape. From the very bottom of this map, you can snipe people on the platform directly above you! Stand on the little stage on the very bottom, and jump [i]while[/i] you're using OS. If you're doing it correctly, you'll be able to ht every person above you with this jumping combo. Also, from the top of this little stage, FB will always hit that platform above you; you don't even need to jump.

[b]Nihal Desert[/b] - This map isn't so bad, either. The ropes are perfectly placed so as you're jumping down, you can just jump down once more and go onto the rope to finish buffing. Also, if you cast combo recharge on this rope, you can cast tempest as you're jumping a bit to the right. If you do it correctly, you'll be casting tempest while jumping down and landing on the little spring to go back up again. This way you're not a sitting duck while casting tempest because of its enormous casting time. We can also do some sniping in this map with the small platforms on both sides.

[b]Pink Bean's Party[/b] - This map is nice because of all the platforms; we can stand below people and hit them, and they'll have no idea where it's coming from.
The multiple ledges also make combat step even more useful, because when you use it at the edge of a platform, you go flying. We do very well in this map.

[b]Free Market[/b] - Again, here we can hugely take advantage of sniping, by jumping with OS and FB to hit the platform above you. It isn't so useful in this map, but if you're about to die, this is a good method to get a few points before you get killed. The springs are also nice for making a quick escape, and this map is fairly easy to navigate

[header]Attacking methods.[/header]
Stick to using OS and FB. Other skills are too weak and not worth using. Tempest however is very important. Not only is it an ultimate but it hits hard, and slows people down too.
Before jumping into a mob, space yourself so that your attacks will hit them, but so that you aren't getting pummeled by everyone at the same time. Spacing is extremely important, and knowing just how far your swings hit is so helpful. Naturally, over time, you will begin to remember how far your skills hit, just takes practice. Like everything else, practice makes perfect.

If, for example, a marksman is shooting you from a distance and you have nowhere to go but straight to him or her, using Final Charge once s/he is in your range will not only place you right in front of them, but it will do some damage too, as well as pushing them back. This is very useful as will most likely save your butt since you aren't taking all those hits as you walk towards them. We are also (one of) the only classes in pvp with a spamable rush. Make use of it!

One more thing, watch out for stragglers. If you're attacking a large mob, racking up the points, there's a chance a Mercedes, Marksman, or Mechanic will be on the sidelines eating away at your HP, and a lot of the time you can't even notice. Use Final Charge to get to these guys quickly and kill them asap, because most of the time they have very low HP.

If you were just attacking a mob and someone is trying to run from you because they're about to die, using combo smash to finish them off as they try to escape is a very good idea. (and it makes you feel awesome too ;D)

If you don't want to use Tempest, or if maybe there aren't enough people, you should find a way to get drain. Drain is not as good as it used to be, but it's still a nice HP healer. Rolling Spin is perfect for this, and since drain only needs 15 combos in pvp, it's fairly easy to cast. Without drain on you're a sitting duck, because we all have low HP. If you have drain and barrier on, you're a force to be reckoned with, I can tell you that much. xD

Besides spacing and all the other obvious stuff, there really isn't much to Arans, we aren't very complex, but we do have some useful and unique skills that are very useful in pvp. Like everything else, practice makes perfect. Don't get discouraged if you're not very good at first; we all started out somewhere.

[header]Equips.[/header]
Battle mode attack / pvp equips are your best friend, and can determine the outcome of any match.
Most of the tme, a person with battle attack will be clearly better than someone without. But, battle attack is not the only thing that determines how good a person is. Control is just as important, if not more, than having battle attack.

If you start out with nothing, keep going at it. As you rack up BP, you'll be able to make your own pvp equips, whether that be rising sun equips or agares; as you pvp more, you'll be able to make your on equips and eventually lead you to getting stronger as you make more equips, as well as giving you more practice.

[header]Tips from other Arans.[/header]
[quote=INoseAll]2 quick tips: If you're facing a ranged class like a bowman, sin, or mech, spam combat dash and get behind him, then pummel away and you usually can get the kill (it seems people take a long time to react in pvp)
Also, when I respawn, i buff up, combo recharge, hop down, and keep my combo alive till I either see one or more enemies with the glowing color behind them (meaning they're near death) or till I'm about to die, at which point I tempest. If they have the color glow, more often than not you'll get the kill (which gets more points than hitting a few guys but not killing any). If I'm about to die, a death after tempest will (sort of) let you skip the "sitting duck" time. (However, I don't have barrier yet, so I'm not sure if that would be better to use straight off instead of tempest).[/quote] (credits to @INoseAll: of course.)

[quote=Senkujin]Well the booster glitch happens to a lot of Arans in Windia (which is why they hardly play lol) and it makes it so when your weapon is too fast, you you are unable to do a full combo to completion and if you happen to do final blow,it'd be a wonder. So we're forced to play without booster. The only way for you to do normal combos is to wear a polearm with normal attack speed and play without booster. I have a fast polearm (Agares) and I still get lags on my attack. It's extremely frustrating...
But to sum it up: Booster = can't attack. No booster: Can attack,but incredibly slow.

And as for the drain glitch, I hear (though haven't experienced) that sometimes when you use booster, you are unable to recieve any HP. Though I'm sure it's not a glitch at all and those experiencing it are just too weak to get the HP back. TuT[/quote]
[credits to @Senjukin:]

And, that's it. Thank you very much for reading my enormous wall of text.
Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. This guide is not done. There are numerous things that I missed. Feel free to point anything out to me that you feel I should add.

I tried to make this (somewhat) bearable to read. I'll fix it up and make it a little more eye-friendly later when I have more time. Feel free to read in segments, because I know this is very long. Thanks again!

[b]Disclaimer-[/b]
This guide was written by me (Swirlled, Feeling) and took me a long time to write, as well as having a lot of thought put into it.
Please do not repost this guide claiming it as your own. If you wish to post it somewhere, please ask me first for permission and I'll be more than glad to let you post it, as long as I receive proper credits. Thank you.