SWTOR: Keybinds, Movement and Focus Targets (Part 2)

     So some people mistakenly think that kiting is just snaring and running away as far as humanly possible, but in reality it's really all about positional and situation awareness.  It's about taking advantage of class deficiencies to maximize on your damage opportunities and minimizing their damage opportunities.  This is why the Vanguard sits in a very good position in my eyes.  Our wide array of abilities give us options for controlling positions in multiple scenarios.

     What's ironic in this game is that it's not the ranged classes that have a "deadzone" but the pure melee classes that do.  Melee range in this game is four meters while gap closers generally have a ten meter minimum range.  There are force abilities that the Jedi Guardian has that are ten meter range, which is why if I were to ever roll a Guardian alt, the only tree that interests me is the focus tree.  Lack of mobility is a weakness I generally don't like to have in the classes I play and the focus Guardian with it's ten meter force skills and Zealous Leap is the only spec I feel suits my playstyle.
     So let's talk about some kiting techniques.  The Vanguard has the advantage of having the ability to deal substantial damage in the ranges that other classes are uncomfortable fighting in.  Against melee classes, you'll want to try and stay in the five to nine meter range.  This is a deadzone for a large amount of skills while it's an area that really the Vanguard is quite comfortable with.  My video link at the end of this post goes into some of the details of kiting in this range.  Here's a video I put together on some PvP kiting tips:

     Now against caster or ranged classes, you would want to play a bit more flexible and understanding the flow of combat.  While you may win a lot of fights by simply staying in their face the whole fight (and you really do have the tools), against better opponents you need to use your skills some more.  Harpoon and Storm really round out the Vanguards arsenal in these cases.  These two skills really aren't just gap closers but you need to look at them as caster lockout tools.  Combined with your Riot Strike you can make classes that need to hard cast hell.  Always open with the lower cooldown items and consider the longer cooldown interrupts as stop gaps to get you to your next low cooldown interrupt.  In a best case scenario, you'll want to do something like Riot Strike, Storm, Riot Strike, Cryo Grenade, Riot Strike, Harpoon and Riot Strike.  You'll also want to interrupt casts near the tail end of them to buy yourself as much time as you can.  What's great is that both of your gap closers are also casting interrupts which give you lockdown.  So it's important against the casters to anticipate when they will hardcast heals or big damage on you so you can mitigate that damage.
     So that's really all I have for today, if you really think about it though, this class really needs you to kite well.  It comes down to understanding the various classes you fight against and what range you want to be at certain critical times of the PvP encounter.  I hope you guys find the video helpful!

Havoc Squad Out!