PvP Dogpiling... how do I avoid it?

It's all about timing, floating, and shielding. We just went thru a couple of posts talking about hit lists or cyber bullying. What it really boils down to is beating beatable teams. It's part of the norm. Learning the 3 things I pointed out will help a lot. There are other factors too, but you can find many posts regarding pvp. 

It's also to do with the time.  If you play when the US is asleep, you get a lot fewer attacks.  Sometimes not being in The One True Time Zone Or The Three To The West is an advantage.

Never played the last 3 hours of an event. I hit 900 in all but one event last season, and was pretty much shielded and done between 6 and 23 hours of event ending. Always had 1 boosted 4 min to be able to hit 900. In the event I couldn't get to 900, I didn't have any boosted 4's

Lots of good advice above.  I'll add some specifics here:

The earlier you do your final climb the fewer hits will come in.  The final 14 hours of an event are the most hectic because people know they can use three shields and single hop to the end so trying to final climb then is the toughest.  If you are planning to spend on shields your best bet is often to use a 24 hour shield in lieu of the 3/8/3 pattern that the late climbers use.  Try to figure out your float point (the point where hits come in more frequently) and then time it like the people above said. Seems like you are having trouble at around 700 which is a very common choke point.  At certain scores your team suddenly becomes viewable by bigger and bigger rosters who will happily hit you for even a few points since their other options are much much tougher matches.  

Common choke points where that occurs are at 500 points, 650 points, 725 points, 800 points and especially over 900 where you become available to just about everyone.  As you hit those points you become available to queue by more and more rosters all the way up to max champed 5* rosters.  

Even teams that would normally skip you might use your team to reset on after grilling an easier team for other people in a battlechat if it is easy enough for their roster to beat.  

If you have a specific goal (lets say the 4* cover at 900) try to climb to a point where a single match will take you above that point and shield there (875 in our example).  Then while shielded skip until you find a quality target match that you can win quickly.  Use boosts for that last fight especially the +AP boosts.  

Best times to climb are when another event is ending or a grind is ending in a PVE slice.  I frequently play in slice 5 for both PVE and PVP but when PVP has a reward I really want I'll move to another PVE slice so I can climb while others are busy with their PVE grind.  Like someone else said above try to hit times when US players are unavailable, I often time my first shield right around 4AM EST since that is a pretty chill time in terms of players being out.  US players are asleep and Western European players are still doing their morning commute so fewer hits than usual will come in.  

In terms of hit lists it is extremely unlikely that you would find yourself on one.  Hit lists are reserved for players who routinely hit the same person over and over on a climb AND are frequently in the top 5.  Most alliances/battlechats are only worried about players who are "stealing" top placements by double/triple tapping members.  It is pretty hard to get on one of those lists without having a very advanced roster and/or frequently making top placement.  From what you describe that doesn't seem to fit you.  

Finally if you really want to start making moves in PVP I would strongly recommend joining the Line community.  Not only can you join a battlechat to coordinate easier final matches with other players but you can also get fantastic advice on what roster moves to make to climb quicker / more efficiently and meet other players who have been learning the ins and outs of PVP for much longer than you.  If you are interested I would be happy to put you in touch with people that in your preferred slice that can get you pointed in the right direction.  Please PM me if that is something that would interest you.  

Stick said:

That's some good advice. I'll probably get in on the line thing eventually. As a lot of my people around my level do, I tend to try and grab the 575 point reward as a minimum, but if I can I'll go for the 4* cover. I've started doing SCL 7 instead of 8 in the hopes that I'll face slightly less 5* teams and such. I recently joined an alliance focused on PvE, so that's my number one priority right now. When I pick a slice, it's based around my work schedule and my PvE schedule.

I'm going to see how this season goes, but yeah, I'll probably get in touch for more detailed advice as I get into a smoother rhythm and everything.

Thanks!

It is counter-intuitive, but currently, choosing different SCL doesn't effect the opponents you face. Although, you will be competing for placement rewards with only people who choose the same SCL as you.

Stick said:

Really? Weird. Would you say my odds are better placement-wise picking a lower SCL? I mostly care about progression rewards, but if I can get better placement rewards, I'll try. I noticed that 7 and 8 give out the exact same progression rewards.

Tentatively, yes. But it varies from event to event (partly due to the bracket size is quite small of 500 each) I usually don't see much different between 7&8, but 6 is quite different since the cover at 900 is a 3*.

It's been a while since I struggled with PvP climbs, but I remember them well!!

Without knowing anything about your roster, I'm going to assume 3 or 4* Champs?

Great advice from other posters, so all i have to add is:

* Learn to shield hop... weave your 3 and 8 hour shields and stay out as little as possible, especially once you reach the choke points that revskip mentioned.

* Once you start hopping, you want your FASTEST team, defense is irrelevant, so go with IM40 + anyone... LOL - whichever team you can use that is FAST.  My wife runs a stopwatch, anything more than 5 mins and you want to start thinking about retreating to shield. Also goes for if you're losing - get a bad board/enemy cascade? Lose your "nuker"? bail!  better to lost a bit on that fight, then to stick with it, staying unshielded and exposed.

* avoid climbing "on timer" (3 hrs to go, 8hrs, 11 hrs (which is 8+3)) - lots of others out, so stay shielded... but SEARCH during those times

* avoid attacking less than 53 pts if you can... because your value will be higher than what you gained, almost certain retaliation



And lastly:
* avoid, avoid, avoid the last half hour... anyone aiming for placement doesn't care about your points, 5 or 10 points can push them up... you want to be safety shielded well before the last couple hours.