CHAPTER 1: ENEMY BUFF KNOWLEDGE

ENEMY BUFF KNOWLEDGE INTRO

Welcome to our Enemy Buff Knowledge Course which we have specifically designed to increase your rating. Trying to memorize what every spell looks like and what they do would literally take months to figure out alone.

It's honestly super frustrating to do and even worse, lack of knowledge of a single spell could be losing you games. Now this course is kind of like a cheat code.

It's going to get you immediately caught up to speed on the most important abilities for every single class in PvP. You can choose to watch each video one by one or skip ahead to the class you struggle with the most but by the end of it you're gonna have infinitely more confidence in Arena.

DEATH KNIGHT BUFF KNOWLEDGE

The Death Knights toolkit has remained fairly consistent across several expansions, and understanding how to counter each ability is crucial for success in PvP. Let's begin by reviewing some core abilities that are available to all Death Knight specializations.

Icebound Fortitude is one of the most valuable cooldowns for Death Knights, providing both damage reduction and immunity to stuns, which makes it a go-to defensive option in high-pressure situations.

Activating Icebound Fortitude is going to break the Death Knight out of any existing stuns and make them immune to additional stuns for its duration. Death Knights can even use it preemptively to avoid being stunned altogether.

So, given its strength, committing an all-in attempt to kill a Death Knight with Icebound Fortitude available is generally unwise. However, if your team has a coordinated CC chain and an ability to prevent Death Strike healing, such as Disarm or Evasion, it may still be possible to secure that kill.

One notable counter to Icebound Fortitude is Silence. By applying a Blanket Silence on a Death Knight, while they're stunned, you can effectively block them from activating Icebound Fortitude.

This tactic can force the Death Knight to use both their Trinket and Icebound Fortitude consecutively, leaving them without major defensives.

Anti-Magic Shell is a versatile defensive cooldown for Death Knights, providing a 40-second cooldown shield that absorbs magical damage and prevents the application of magical debuffs. When combined with the Spellwarden talent, this cooldown is reduced to 30 seconds and can even be cast on allies.

Offering team-wide protection. However, like Icebound Fortitude, it can't be used while silenced.

If the Death Knight uses Anti-Magic Shell on an ally, it opens an opportunity to target the Death Knight as they lose this key defensive option for themselves.

Additionally, if you see the Death Knight applying Anti-Magic Shell to multiple teammates, it indicates they're using the Vestigal Shell talent, which applies a mini version of the shield to nearby allies. Breaking this mini shell is crucial because it shortens the duration of your shield's duration.

It reduces the duration of incoming magical crowd control, giving them potential advantage in CC-heavy situations. Anti-Magic Zone is a defensive cooldown similar to Power Word Barrier, creating a dome that provides a 50% magical damage reduction to anyone standing within it.

When paired with the Assimilation talent, Anti-Magic Zone's cooldown is reduced from 2 minutes to 1 minute and 30 seconds, allowing the Death Knight to use it more frequently and potentially align it with shorter offensive cooldowns.

The best way to counter Anti-Magic Zone is to use it with your friends, and then use it with your own team. Anti-Magic Zone is by disrupting the protection it offers.

You can do this by knocking players out of the zone using abilities such as Typhoon, Thunderstorm, or Ring of Peace, or by dragging the Death Knight away from their zone. This forces them to leave the safety of the dome and makes them vulnerable to magical attacks again.

Dark Simulacrum is an ability that allows the Death Knight to copy a spell cast by an enemy player, giving them a single-use version of that ability. With a 20-second cooldown, this can be a powerful tool, especially if they manage to steal crowd control spells like Polymorph from a Mage or Cyclone from a Druid.

To counter Dark Simulacrum, you should cast a spell with little to no value before it triggers. For example, Mages can finish their cast with a Fire Blast, and Druids can use Moonfire.

This gives the Death Knight an ineffective spell, preventing them from copying anything too powerful or disruptive. The key strategy here, though, is awareness, recognizing when Dark Simulacrum is applied, and responding with a low-impact ability.

Riders of the Apocalypse is a hero talent popular among Frost and Unholy Death Knights. When they cast abilities like Raze Abomination or Frostworm's Fury, all four Riders of the Apocalypse are summoned, dealing substantial damage and buffing the Death Knight significantly.

However, while you might expect these Riders to be undead, they're actually classified as humanoids, which makes them vulnerable. The crowd control effects, a simple fear or a simple route, can counter this powerful cooldown.

Death Grip is the hallmark ability of the Death Knight class, a defining ability that has stood the test of time. It is fairly straightforward, too.

It pulls any target directly toward the Death Knight. However, it's equally as straightforward to counter this annoying ability.

A quick-thinking player can negate the effect of the Death Grip by executing any instant movement ability at the right moment. For instance, a Druid can utilize Wild Charge to stop the pull, while a Hunter can make use of Disengage.

Lichborn is a straightforward yet powerful ability that allows the Death Knights to break free from fears, sleeps, and mind control effects, and even offers a small damage reduction with Unholy Endurance.

While it does grant them immunity to most incapacitating effects by transforming them into an undead, this shift also opens the door for some clever counterplay. You can utilize Wake of Ashes, which is a very powerful ability that allows the Death Knight to stun the Death Knight.

Additionally, Shackle Undead will be usable against them. Warlocks can further capitalize on the cooldown by speccing into Greater Banish, which is going to banish the Death Knight, which works similarly to Cyclone.

Blinding Sleet is a crucial ability available to all Death Knight specializations, serving as a primary tool for setting up goes. Priests have two effective counters at their disposal here.

They can use Fade to avoid the blind as they're gripped in, or Shadow Word Death to break free from the blind altogether. They can use the cloak of shadows, while other Death Knights can utilize Anti-Magic Shell to prevent the debuff altogether.

Abomination limb may not be as popular as it once was, but it still is a cooldown you need to be aware of. In the War Within, this ability only grips each target once, which presents a unique opportunity for savvy players.

You can simply position yourself just out of range, get pulled in, and then use any movement ability to escape. However, do be cautious.

You don't want to waste abilities like Wild Charge, or Disengage before getting pulled, as you're going to be gripped back in an instant. Death and Decay may not seem particularly special on its own, but when paired with Cleaving Strikes, it becomes a game changer for nearly all Death Knights.

This combination, along with Unholy Ground, grants the Death Knight a 5% haste boost and allows their main ability to cleave all nearby targets. The key here is that the Death Knight must be standing in Death and Decay to gain these benefits, so your best strategy is to move away from it.

The ability to move away from the Death Knight is a great addition to the game, as it's a great way to get rid of the enemy's attack and to get rid of the enemy's attack. Death Knight can also be used to defile the Black Uzi animation used by Unholy Death Knights, as it serves as an empowered Death and Decay.

Strangulate and Asphyxiate are now shared abilities, meaning Death Knights have to choose between them for their primary single-target crowd control. The good news is that Strangulate can be grounded.

Additionally, Priest can utilize the ability to stun the enemy's attack and use it to stun the enemy's attack. In cases where Strangulate is selected, it can also be removed by the Dwarf and Dark Iron racial abilities.

Wraithwalk is a powerful ability for Death Knights, allowing them to break free from roots and snares while significantly boosting their movement speed. The good news for you is that this buff can actually be purged, completely removing the buff.

Additionally, while Wraithwalk does remove existing roots, it doesn't prevent the application of new ones, so after they use it, simply reroute the Death Knight and keep them in place. Now let's delve into the abilities that define each and every specialization, starting with the Frost Death Knight's Pillar of Frost.

This is their signature offensive cooldown and thanks to Obliteration, both Frost Strike and Howling Blast will always trigger Killing Machine. This means guaranteed critical hits are on the table, which make it a deadly cooldown.

To counter this ability, your best bet is to use Crowd Control, which is a very powerful ability. If you're not a Frost Death Knight, you can use Crowd Control or Disarm the Death Knight.

Keep in mind that Disarm does have a 45 second cooldown, perfectly syncing with Pillar of Frost. You might be tempted to think that Amplified Curse of Weakness or Roar of Sacrifice would work wonders here, but don't be fooled.

Due to the way Killing Machine is coded, these abilities won't prevent the critical hits. When a Frost Death Knight activates Pillar of Frost, you can expect them to follow up with Empower Rune Weapon, a powerful ability that will be used to increase their haste and passively regenerate runes.

However, be aware that some Death Knights might choose to use Empower Rune Weapon before activating Pillar of Frost in an attempt to bait out your defensive cooldowns. While this strategy can be a clever ploy, Empower Rune Weapon on its own doesn't deal substantial damage.

So, resist the urge to overreact here. Instead, save your defensive abilities for Pillar of Frost.

Frost Worm's Fury is the primary AoE stun for Frost Death Knights, and it's a very effective AoE stun. But there is good news.

You can actually dodge it from a distance. When the Death Knight activates this ability, they're going to point in a direction, sending that dragon out 40 yards.

However, it does have a travel time, which gives you a crucial window to react to it. If you pay attention, you can simply just sidestep the stun and avoid it altogether.

Remorseless Winter might not seem significant on its own, but it's crucial to be aware of its interaction with the Dead of Winter talent, which, in my opinion, is a very important factor in the game.

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Frost Worm's Fury is a very effective AoE stun, which transforms it into a ramping, 4-second AoE stun. Fortunately, there are effective counters to this ability.

The ramping debuff that inflicts the stun can be dispelled, giving you a solid way to break free. Additionally, magic immunity effects like Cloak of Shadows or Anti-Magic Shell can prevent the stun from taking effect altogether.

Another straightforward strategy is to simply keep your distance. The debuff only stacks if you remain within 8 yards of the Death Knight.

The debuff only stacks if you remain within 8 yards of the Death Knight. So moving out of range can save you from getting caught in this powerful crowd control.

Shifting our focus to Unholy here, there are two key abilities to keep in mind, Ray's Abomination and Dark Transformation. Dark Transformation empowers their ghoul and Ray's Abomination summons, well, an abomination.

Although much of the damage is moved away from pets, it's still wise to root these. By doing so, you can significantly reduce the pet damage.

Additionally, the Abomination can further reduce the damage they inflict. You do not want to waste any damage killing the pet unless it is very low as the pet is not really a threat anymore.

Unholy Assault stands out as one of the most powerful cooldowns available to Unholy Death Knight as it increases their damage by 20%. While disarming this cooldown can be effective, keep in mind that it lasts for a full 20 seconds.

Therefore, it's best to use disarm strategically the first time a phase is activated, targeting moments when you're taking significant damage rather than merely just reacting to the cooldown as it's activated. The same is true for any other CC as you can't CC the Death Knight through the entire duration.

DEMON HUNTER BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Demon Hunter has seen several changes and although many abilities have stayed consistent, there are some new ones you definitely need to keep an eye on. Blur is the Demon Hunter's primary defensive cooldown, offering a 50% boost to dodge chance and reducing all incoming damage by 20%.

Unlike Evasion, Blur isn't a guaranteed dodge, but it works from all directions, so it's wise to avoid wasting melee cooldowns while this ability is active. Stuns that bypass dodge chance, such as Cheap Shot or Hammer of Justice, are particularly effective here.

These stuns cancel out the dodge component and with just a 20% damage reduction, you can still take down a Demon Hunter as long as they're locked in a stun. Darkness serves as the Demon Hunter's primary team defensive ability.

Anyone within its area has a 50% chance to completely immune a hit. It's not a damage reduction, the hit is either fully negated or it lands in full.

Like with Anti-Magic Zone, the best approach to counter Darkness is to knock opponents out of it or pull them away. Pre-Strike is a good way to counter Darkness, but it's also a good way to counter Darkness if you're a good player.

You can also use it to counter Darkness if you're a good player. The Beast also have an advantage here too, though.

They can use Mind Control on the Demon Hunter, disabling Darkness for their allies. If Demon Hunters activate Darkness while they're still at high health, it's best to switch targets or hold off on using high damaging abilities.

However, if they drop Darkness at low health, you might want to take the chance and go for the kill. Reverse Magic, though not a true defensive ability, is often used as one, as it removes any magical effects from nearby allies.

This is especially useful against magical crowd control spells like Polymorph, Freezing Trap, or Fear. The best way to counter Reverse Magic is by cross-CCing the Demon Hunter.

This forces them to either use their Trinket to reverse effects on their healer, leaving them vulnerable to a Kill Attempt later, or be unable to assist at all. Netherwalk grants the Demon Hunter complete immunity to all damage for 6 seconds.

It's a common misconception that this also includes immunity to crowd control, but it really doesn't. During Netherwalk, the Demon Hunter can still use Reverse Magic, but it's not a true defensive ability.

This is also a great opportunity to use Cyclone on them at low health, as Demon Hunters typically activate Netherwalk in response to high burst damage.

Metamorphosis is the Demon Hunter's primary offensive cooldown, and with the Fel-Scarred Hero talent tree, it supercharges all their abilities, casting Demon Surge on the first use of each empowered skill. This even applies to Eye Beam, which also triggers Metamorphosis.

This means you're in for a lot of fun, and you can use it to your advantage. While the damage can't be fully avoided, a smart counter is to crowd control the Demon Hunter during Metamorphosis to limit the incoming damage.

Essence Break is an indicator that the Demon Hunter is about to initiate their burst combo. It applies a debuff for 4 seconds that amplifies the damage of Death Sweep and Annihilation.

This is going to be a good time to CC the Demon Hunter, as it's only a 4 second debuff, so even a single stun or polymorph can negate the ability entirely. The Hunt is one of the Demon Hunter's most powerful burst cooldowns, dealing significant damage.

However, you can interrupt it mid-air. With a range of 50 yards, if the Demon Hunter uses the Hunt from a distance, you can use any form of crowd control to stop it before it lands.

Doing so not only puts the Hunt on cooldown, but also negates the damage entirely. Spectral Sight is a core ability in the Demon Hunter's toolkit, allowing them to detect stealth targets.

Since this ability breaks upon taking DMAG, there's two ways to counter it. Either the stealth target can wait out the 10 second buff, or an ally can simply hit the Demon Hunter to remove it.

Demon Hunters have two stuns at their disposal, Chaos Nova and Fel Eruption. Chaos Nova is an AoE stun that can dispel, while Fel Eruption is a single target stun with a 20-yard range that can't be dispelled.

To counter Chaos Nova, you want to avoid stacking with teammates whenever this ability is off cooldown. Additionally, you can ground Fel Eruption since it's a single target ability.

Imprison is a unique ability that encaps the target for 4 seconds and functions differently based on whether the Demon Hunter is playing Detainment. Without Detainment, Imprison can be dispelled, grounded, and healing can bypass its effects.

However, when Detainment is Talented, Imprison becomes undispellable, unbreakable, ungroundable, and it negates all healing and cooldowns, much like Cyclone.

Now while there isn't much you can do to counter Detainment, it does have a relatively short range of 20 yards, so one effective strategy is to try to outrange the Demon Hunter when you notice them coming at you for CC.

Vengeful Retreat may seem unremarkable on its own, but when combined with Glimpse, it definitely becomes one of the most powerful abilities in the whole game. So while the Demon Hunter is airborne, they're completely immune to all forms of crowd control.

This immunity makes it crucial to prioritize crowd controlling the Demon Hunter before targeting their healer. By doing so, you can prevent them from preemptively using Glimpse to escape the incoming crowd control and stopping your go.

DRUID BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Druids are arguably one of the most complex classes in the entire game. They boast a vast array of buffs, debuffs, and abilities that you really need to familiarize yourself with.

Their versatility across different roles makes them both powerful and challenging to manage, which requires a keen understanding of their toolkit to counter effectively. Barkskin is the Druid's primary defensive.

Druids can use this ability while stunned, and with a relatively short cooldown, it can definitely make kill attempts fairly difficult. Additionally, with the Verdant Heart talent added in the War Within, it increases the Druid's healing received with Barkskin active by 20%.

This also applies a small absorb. The best strategy here is to simply swap off the Druid.

If the Druid is low, you may be able to finish him off, but don't count on it, especially if they have Frenzy Regen. Heart of the Wild is a versatile ability available to all Druid specializations, but its effects vary depending on the Druid who cast it.

For Feral and Balanced Druids, this ability enhances their bare form, and it's a good way to get rid of the druid's damage. It's also a good way to get rid of the druid's damage, granting them two charges of Frenzy Regen and an additional 20% stamina, making them much tankier.

Meanwhile, Restoration Druid also reap the benefits of improved bare form, but they also get enhancements to both cat and moonkin forms as well, which significantly boost their damage output. This makes Heart of the Wild a powerful tool in a Druid's arsenal.

When Druid activates Heart of the Wild, it's often best to shift your focus to another target. The silver lining is that this ability does have a 5 minute cooldown, so you typically won't encounter it more than once in a game.

Every Druid has access to Cyclone, and it's widely regarded as one of the strongest crowd control abilities in the game. The good news is that it can be interrupted, but you need to be careful.

Most Druids are going to often fake cast their Cyclone to trigger precognition, setting them up for a game winning Cyclone. To avoid this, consider using micro CCs or other forms of disruption before going for your interrupt.

This strategic approach can help ensure you don't get caught up in the game's chaos. You can also use the Intervate to cast spells without spending any mana.

The good news for you though is that this powerful buff can actually be purged. When you see Intervate active, make it your top priority to remove it as Druids heavily rely on this ability to maintain their edge.

Ursal's Vortex is a powerful tool that yanks anyone attempting to escape back into its center. This is a powerful tool that yanks anyone attempting to escape back into its center.

If you try to use instant movement abilities like Shadow Step, Demonic Circle, or Blink, you're going to find yourself pulled right back in. A clever counter to this is to first walk out of the Vortex, allow it to pull you back, and then use your movement ability.

Each Druid specialization boasts its own version of Incarnation and are all incredibly powerful. For Feral and Balanced Druids, activating Incarnation delivers a substantial damage boost which makes it essential for you to use your defensive cooldowns when you see this.

This is a very powerful skill that you can use to save your life. With the introduction of the Whirling Star's talent in patch 11.0.5, Balanced Druids now have access to two charges of Incarnation, which can be used every 1 minute and 40 seconds instead of the typical 2 minutes.

While Incarnation does remain as powerful as ever, the trade-off is that its duration is reduced. This change means that if you use all your defensives to live the first go, the Druid can simply activate the second charge to secure the game.

This is a very powerful skill that you can use to save your life. It's crucial to avoid over-committing your cooldowns here.

In some cases, it may be the best to line aside the Druid to save some cooldowns for the next go. On the other hand, the Restoration Druid's Incarnation enables them to instantly cast Regrowth and Entangling Roots while enhancing their healing.

If you spot a Restoration Druid using this ability, it's wise to hold off on using your major offensive cooldowns as they can easily heal through any damage. So let's dive into the abilities of each Druid specialization, starting with Restoration Druid's Ironbark.

This essential defensive cooldown not only reduces the damage taken by the target, but also boosts the healing they receive. Ironbark can be a tricky ability to deal with.

If the kill target lacks any healing over time effects, you might be able to push through and finish them off. However, if they have HOTS active, it's generally wiser to switch targets instead.

Lifebloom is a key part of the Restoration Druid's healing rotation, but it's crucial to keep an eye on the target's health. If you're a 3v3 arena match, you'll have to keep an eye on the target's health.

If you're a 3v3 arena match, you'll have to keep an eye on the target's health. This presents a strategic opportunity, continually swapping your focus to the target without Lifebloom, as Lifebloom ramps up healing over time.

By exploiting this mechanic, you can increase your chances of scoring a kill and even wearing down their mana bar a little bit faster. Overgrowth is a powerful ability that allows Druids to instantly apply their healing over time effects to a target in just one global.

If you see a Druid use Overgrowth on a target, just simply swap to another target that lacks HOTS, and you can put a significant amount of pressure on that Druid. They'll immediately be several globals behind and struggle to stay ahead of the damage.

Balanced Druids have a talent called Waning Twilight that increases the damage they deal on any target with any three dots. If you're struggling to keep up with damage, it might be a good idea to Dispel, especially during Incarnation.

Solar Beam is a key part of the Balanced Druid's crowd control. This creates a beam at a targeted location that silences anyone caught within its radius.

Typically, Balanced Druids are going to pair this with a root, effectively immobilizing the enemy healer and rendering them unable to cast. The good news is that races like Gnomes and Dwarves, or any character with abilities that can break the root, can escape the beam.

Additionally, your DPS teammates can lend a hand by using abilities like Freedom to help you break free. It's essential to remember that Druids can utilize Solar Beam as an interrupt, which significantly reduces its cooldown to just 45 seconds.

This makes it a potent tool not only for crowd control, but also for interrupting important casts. Feral Druids have Adaptive Swarm.

This powerful ability amplifies the damage of their bleeds on the target. If you notice Adaptive Swarm active, prioritize dispelling it to minimize the Feral Druid damage.

EVOKER BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Having been introduced in Dragonflight, the Evoker class hasn't seen many changes in The War Within. However, there are some key abilities that you should be aware of that can significantly impact the outcome of the match.

The Evoker's primary defensive ability is Obsidian Scales. Many Evokers are going to pair this with the Obsidian Metal PvP talent, granting them immunity to silences, interrupts, and pushbacks.

With two charges of Obsidian Scales, they're going to often use it offensively during a burst window. To counter this, you're going to need to rely on crowd control abilities like stuns, fears, or polymorphs to disrupt the Evoker effectively, as traditional interrupts really won't work here.

Nullifying Shroud is arguably one of the Evoker's most frustrating abilities. It grants immunity to the next three crowd control effects, and when combined with Obsidian Metal, it renders the Evoker nearly impervious to disruption.

While these immunity stacks can technically be purged, it's unlikely you're going to get through them before they interact, so it's a good idea to pop a defensive here. Sleepwalk is a unique crowd control ability for Evokers.

Rather than sending the target running like fear, it instead compels them to walk slowly toward the Evoker, which they can use to pull enemies out from behind boxes or away from pillars.

Fortunately, Sleepwalk can be interrupted, dispelled, and is going to break upon taking damage, giving you a few ways to counter it before it disrupts your positioning too much. Cauterizing Flame is one of the Evoker's strongest tools, especially against classes like Assassination Rogues and Feral Druids.

This ability cleanses all bleeds, curses, poisons, and diseases from the target, making it a powerful counter to bleed-heavy specs. Pairing Cauterizing Flame with major cooldowns like Deathmark or Feral Frenzy can negate their impact completely.

It is a good idea to either wait until the Evoker commits this cooldown before using a major offensive, or CC them. Landslide is a powerful Evoker ability that hurls massive rocks forward, rooting anyone hit within a 40-yard range.

Evokers typically use Landslide to prevent their target from closing in or to shut down major cooldowns like Call of the Wild. Now, while the root effect can be dispelled, it also has a travel time, giving you a chance to avoid it.

If you're positioned at max range from the Evoker, you can sidestep the rocks and dodge the root entirely. Hover makes Evokers exceptionally challenging for melee classes to handle.

Not only does it propel the Evoker forward, but it also grants immunity to all slowing effects with the Unburdened Flight talent and boosts movement speed by 30%. For melee players, attempting to keep up can be frustrating since Evokers are likely to slip away.

Now, in most cases, your best option is to either line-of-sight them or switch to another target temporarily. Timestop can be quite surprising the first time you encounter it.

This ability allows Evokers to target themselves or an ally, rendering them immune to all damage and all healing. Essentially, it enables the Evoker to effectively cyclone themselves or a teammate.

However, much like Cyclone, Timestop can be mass-dispel, making it possible to counter this ability and remove its effects. Rescue is a unique ability that allows Evokers to pick up and relocate an ally, all while granting them a shield that absorbs 30% of their damage.

This ability is also a very useful ability to use in a team fight. While you can't disrupt the cast once it's initiated, you can effectively prevent the Evoker from using Rescue by applying roots to either the Evoker or their intended target.

Oppressing Roar is one of the deadliest abilities in the Evoker's toolkit, especially when combined with crowd control-heavy classes like Rogues and Mages. When an Evoker casts Oppressing Roar on a target, it extends the duration of all crowd control effects by 30% in PvP, making it a plus-sum.

This ability is also a potent tool for setting up devastating plays. The good news is that Oppressing Roar can be dispelled, so if you spot it being applied, you have the opportunity to remove it.

Deep Breath is a unique stun that allows the Evoker to soar over a targeted area, stunning anyone caught in their path. With the Scale Commander Hero Tree, the Evoker gains the ability to steer during Deep Breath, making it tricky to dodge the stun.

Now, while airborne, the Evoker has immunity to all crowd control effects, but it's also going to remove all roots upon casting.

Although there's not much you can do to directly counter this ability, Deep Breath can leave the Evoker in a vulnerable position after they land, and this opens the door for a potential crowd control chain right after they touch down.

Additionally, if they stun a healer, they may attempt to follow up with Sleepwalk, so it's crucial to be ready to interrupt the Evoker's cast. Divide and Conquer creates a wall of fire on either side of the Deep Breath path, functioning similarly to a smoke bomb for Evokers.

This ability blocks line of sight, making it crucial for teams to communicate about whether to stay and fight, or move away from the firewall. Renewing Blaze is a crucial ability to watch for, as it can thwart even the strongest kill attempts.

Now, while this buff is active, any damage the Evoker takes is going to be healed back over time as a heal over time effect. Although this buff may appear purgeable, attempting to purge it is going to be futile, as it simply just reapplies instantly.

If you can't secure a kill on the Evoker within the first second or two of this buff activating, it's wise to just hold off on using your cooldowns. Chrono Loop is a unique ability that rewinds the target's health to the state that it was in when the spell was cast, activating after 5 seconds.

So, if the target is at 30% health when Chrono Loop is cast, they're going to revert to that same 30% health after the 5 seconds, regardless of any healing they might receive in the meantime. While you can dispel this ability, doing so is going to trigger the effect immediately rather than delaying it.

If you're confident you can heal the target to full, dispelling might be a viable option. Now, let's dive into each spec, starting with Devastation.

Devastation Evokers rely heavily on their Dragonrage ability as their main offensive cooldown. When Dragonrage is active, it's crucial to interrupt their empowered spells, as each one they successfully cast extends the duration of Dragonrage.

This can lead to overwhelming damage and make it much, much harder to survive. Empowered spells include abilities like Fire Breath, which require the evoker to stand still and charge the spell.

If you don't have an interrupt available, using knockbacks is an effective way to disrupt their cast. Preservation Evokers possess several powerful abilities, with Emerald Communion being one of the most notable.

This ability provides a substantial heal while also restoring a significant amount of the evoker's mana. It's common for them to use Emerald Communion early, allowing them to get another cast later in the game when they might need that mana to close out the game.

One key feature of Emerald Communion is that it can be used while the evoker is under any form of crowd control. However, this ability does have its limitations.

It doesn't heal through line of sight, so if you can disrupt their line of sight by knocking the evoker or the target out of range, you can effectively prevent the healing. Additionally, Emerald Communion doesn't heal through spell.

It can also heal through specific CC effects like Cyclone or Diamond Ice Trap. Time Dilation is frequently mistaken for a standard damage reduction ability, but it functions quite differently.

Rather than simply reducing damage taken, Time Dilation converts 50% of the damage a target incurs into a damage over time effect. If you crowd control the evoker during the end of Time Dilation, the resulting DOT can significantly amplify your team's damage.

By pairing this with major burst cooldowns, you can create a situation where the damage becomes unneeded. This is a very useful ability to use when you're trying to heal the evoker.

Rewind functions similarly to Renewing Blaze in that it restores all damage taken by the evoker and their party as a heal over time effect. Generally, if you see an evoker commit to rewind, it's going to make it challenging to secure a kill.

Instead, consider using this time to regroup, reposition, or apply crowd control to the evoker to prevent them from recovering fully. The key ability to watch out for when facing Augmentation Evokers is Even Might.

This ability significantly increases the versatility and primary stat of all their teammates. It's generally advised to avoid interrupting Even Might.

Instead, focus on Eruption. The reason for this is that Eruption extends the duration of Even Might.

If you use your interrupts on Even Might instead and allow Eruption to go off, you end up dealing with a much longer Even Might.

HUNTER BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Hunter is a deceptively simple class, but with the addition of the hero talents and reworks in The War Within, there are some important buffs, debuffs, and abilities that you need to be aware of. Each Hunter specialization has a powerful offensive cooldown to watch for.

Marksmanship Hunters rely on True Shot, which reduces the cooldown on Rapid Fire and speeds up Aimed Shot cast, making it best to stay out of their line of sight while this is active. You can also disarm their damage.

Survival Hunters use Coordinated Assault, which is just a straightforward damage increase, so using Crowd Control on the Hunter when they activate is the only way to avoid the damage.

Beast Mastery Hunters have Bestial Wrath, an ability that clears all Crowd Control effects from their pets and delivers a significant damage boost. The best way to counter this is to root the pet or break line of sight with the Hunter.

While the pets can still auto attack, the Hunter can only use Kill Command, their primary damage source, when they're in line of sight. Roar of Sacrifice is accessible to all Hunters, and it's a great way to get the best out of your life.

Roar of Sacrifice is accessible to all Hunters, and it's a great way to get the best out of your life. Roar of Sacrifice is accessible to all Hunters, and it's a great way to get the best out of your life.

It's a powerful tool against crit-reliant classes, such as Fire Mages, by making the target fully immune to critical strikes. This effect comes with a minor drawback, as it deals some damage back to the pet, but the damage can be easily healed with Min Pet.

The best counter is to Crowd Control the pet before initiating a go. AoE Crowd Controls like Blinding Sleet, Ring of Frost, or Chaos Nova are particularly effective, as they allow you to CC the pet along with other nearby targets.

Roar of Sacrifice is accessible to all Hunters, and it's a great way to get the best out of your life. Roar of Sacrifice is accessible to all Hunters, and it's a great way to get the best out of your life.

AoE Crowd Controls like Blinding Sleet, Ring of Frost, or Chaos Nova are particularly effective, as they allow you to CC the pet along with other nearby targets. Roar of Sacrifice is accessible to all Hunters, and it's a great way to get the best out of your life.

Aspect of the Turtle is the Hunter's main defensive ability, granting immunity to all spells and all attacks. However, it's not a true immunity, as any active dots will remain, meaning a low-health Hunter could still die even with Turtle up.

The best counter is to kill them before they have a chance to activate it. Swapping to the Hunter when they don't have Trinket could easily end the game.

You could also make the Hunter use Turtle early by taking out their pet. By rotating Crowd Controls and knockbacks, you can force the Hunter into using Turtle just to cast Revive Pet, which turns them into an easy target.

Feign Death is an exceptionally powerful defensive for Hunters. In addition to canceling all incoming casts on them, it also grants a 90% damage reduction for 2 seconds, effectively nullifying any damage during the game.

The Hunter's ability to use the Turtle's skill to kill enemies is also a great way to get the most out of your life. The Hunter's ability to use the Turtle's skill to kill enemies is also a great way to get the most out of your life.

The Hunter's ability to use the Turtle's skill to kill enemies is also a great way to get the most out of your life. Now, there isn't much direct counterplay here, but the key is to avoid wasting any damage on the Hunter immediately after Feign Death is used.

Exhilaration is a strong defensive ability for all Hunters, instantly restoring 38% of their health and applying a heal over time effect for an additional 12% over 8 seconds. This ability also fully heals their pet, making it a versatile tool.

Classes with high Rot damage can pressure the Hunter to use Exhilaration for their pet instead of themselves. Bursting the pet is generally not advisable, as while it may achieve a similar effect, you're going to waste your damage on the pet.

This means you miss the opportunity to capitalize on the Hunter using their defensive ability. Survival of the Fittest is a straightforward defensive ability that provides a 30% damage reduction for 8 seconds.

However, if the Hunter is specked into the Dark Ranger hero tree, this cooldown does become more potent thanks to the Smokescreen talent. With Smokescreen, Survival of the Fittest not only reduces damage, but also triggers Exhilaration at 50% effectiveness.

Additionally, when Exhilaration is used, it activates Survival of the Fittest again, although this version only lasts for 3 seconds. This means that the Hunter has a wide array of defensive cooldowns to rotate through, making them quite resilient.

The most effective way to take them down is by locking them down with a stun, denying them the opportunity to use those defensive cooldowns. All Hunter specs possess forms of crowd control that you need to keep an eye on.

Let's begin by starting with their stuns. The first is Intimidation, a single target stun that's linked to their pet.

If you manage to crowd control the pet, the Hunter won't be able to use this stun. The second stun is Binding Shot, which fires an arrow that stuns anyone who moves more than 5 yards from it.

To avoid this, it's best to stay still while it's active. The good news is that Binding Shot is a magical effect.

Meaning it can be dispelled. Hunters also have two in-cap effects to be aware of.

The first is their signature Freezing Trap, which is often used following a stun. While it is dispellable by default, many Hunters choose the Diamond Ice talent, which makes it unbreakable and undispellable at the expense of just 1 second off the duration.

The primary counter to Freezing Trap is to stack with your healer or have your healer position themselves on top of any pets. This strategy makes it more challenging for the Hunter to successfully land the trap.

Additionally, Life Grip can be particularly effective as it allows you to move your healer at the last second, just before the trap lands. The second is Scatter Shot.

Hunters may use this ability to set up a trap, but they generally use it to peel DPS during their burst cooldowns. There's not much you can do to avoid this one, but standing near a class with AoE abilities can potentially break the CC.

Chimerial Sting is an interesting talent, that Hunters can choose. It cycles through 3 different debuffs every 3 seconds, with the second debuff silencing its target.

This silence effect can be dispelled by DPS, who have poison dispels available, allowing them to remove it from their healer. However, healers can't dispel it from themselves.

If you dispel one debuff, the next debuff will activate immediately, which causes you to be silenced sooner than if you had waited. Bloodshed is an ability unique to Beast Mastery Hunters.

This applies a bleed to the target, boosting their damage taken by both the Hunter and their pets by 15% for 18 seconds. Fortunately, there are effective counters to this debuff.

Players can completely remove it using the Dwarf Racial ability, or by using Cauterizing Flames. Since Bloodshed is often used in conjunction with their burst damage, you can shut down their go.

Call of the Wild is an ability exclusive to Beast Mastery Hunters, reminiscent of the old Stampede ability. When activated, the Hunter summons two additional pets, followed by another pet every 4 seconds.

To counter this ability, you should focus on crowd controlling the pets. Since they tend to remain close together, using AoE routes like Mass Entanglement or AoE slows can significantly reduce the Hunter's overall damage.

Sticky Tar Bomb is an ability only for survival hunters that you should be cautious of. Upon its initial cast, it disarms the target, but when it expires, the disarm effect is going to spread to anyone else in melee range.

When you notice this debuff about to expire, it's a good idea to distance yourself from the affected target.

MAGE BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Just like Rogue, Mage is the bread and butter of PvP. Mages time and time again have claimed the throne as best caster in the game, but let's break down why this is.

Every Mage has access to Ice Block, one of the strongest immunities in the whole game. However, there is a new twist thanks to the Frostfire Tree.

With the Meltdown talent, Mages can now actually move around while in Ice Block. Now the good news is that you can use Mass Dispel to remove Ice Block.

Another strategy is to put pressure onto the enemy team, and this can force the Mage out of that Ice Block to peel with Polymorph or Roots.

Shifting Power is a powerful ability for Mages, as it reduces the cooldowns of their key abilities, including Ultra Time, Ice Block, and others, by a whopping 4 seconds for each second channeled.

If they manage to complete the full channel, they can rotate through their Defensives much faster, making it much harder to kill them. To counter Shifting Power, just simply aim to interrupt it as quickly as possible.

This is going to make it easier for the Mages to kill the Mages, and to limit how much cooldown reduction they get from the ability. Ultra Time is an ability you're going to want to watch out for.

When a Mage activates Ultra Time, they're going to return to the health and position they were in when the spell was first cast after 10 seconds. Not only that, but it also refreshes the cooldown of Blink or Shimmer, which can make it very hard to catch them.

When you see a Mage cast Ultra Time, you really have two options. You either ignore them and save your damage for after it expires, or pressure them hard to force an early reset.

You can also purge the Ultra Time and it will not trigger the effect. This can help to secure an early kill on or get Ice Block from the Mage.

All Mages have access to Polymorph, Ring of Frost, and Dragon's Breath as their main form of CC. Mages are going to initiate their setups using Dragon's Breath, which disorients the target long enough for them to land a Polymorph or Ring of Frost.

As a DPS, it's going to be crucial to keep an eye out for Dragon's Breath. When you see this ability, you want to get in position to stop that Mage's attack.

This is a good way to get the Mage's next cast. The Master Shepherd talent is something to watch out for with Polymorph.

While it does offer Mages some passive bonuses, its main value lies in removing Polymorph's usual healing effect. This change allows Mages to use Polymorph offensively to set up a go.

If you see yourself falling low, it's going to be a good idea to kick Polymorph. Blast Wave was once exclusive to Fire Mages, but now all Mages can talent into this powerful ability, and you can bet that they're definitely going to be able to do it.

The knockback effect is great for peeling goes. However, many Mages are going to also use Blast Wave strategically to not kill targets away from their healer.

This serves as a crucial reminder, always be mindful of your positioning. Ice Wall is a powerful PvP talent introduced in Dragonflight that lets Mages create a massive 30-yard wall obstructing line of sight for both enemies and allies.

While the Ice Wall can be destroyed, it does have quite a bit of health, so breaking it quickly may require some cooldowns. However, if you have a Priest, they can actually use Mass Dispel to remove the wall in a couple of seconds.

Mages often use Ice Wall strategically to block off sections of the arena with the goal of isolating the kill target. If you see a Mage casting this spell, try to interrupt it or start repositioning early to avoid being cut off.

All Mages have Remove Curse, which allows them to Dispel Curses, which is crucial to keep in mind, especially for Shamans and Warlocks. If you cast Hex on the Mage's healer, then the Mage can quickly Dispel it.

However, if you Hex the Mage instead, they can't Self Dispel, and if their healer lacks Curse Dispel, it completely locks the Mage down. Each Mage spec has its own powerful cooldown.

Frost Mages have Icy Veins, which significantly boost their haste. Fire Mages have Combustion, which provides them with guaranteed critical strikes.

Meanwhile, Arcane Mages have Ice Veins, which significantly boost their haste. Meanwhile, Arcane Mages have Ice Veins, which significantly boost their haste.

While Frost Mages cast Arcane Surge, increasing both their spell damage and mana regeneration. Now, among these cooldowns, Arcane Surge is the only one you can really stop.

Unfortunately, Ice Veins and Combustion can no longer be purged, so your best strategy is to maintain distance and find opportunities to shut down the Mage. So, let's dive into the specifics, starting with Frost Mages.

Both Frost Orb and Blizzard create areas of effect on the ground, which can actually be used to your advantage. Healers can position themselves within these abilities, and if the Mage tries to polymorph, it's going to automatically break.

Now, do keep in mind that staying in these abilities can increase the Mage's damage output, so it's definitely going to be best not just to sit in them for no reason.

Arcane Mages used to be tied to one school of magic, but since the Dragonflight reworks, all Mage specs now have access to abilities from all three schools. While Arcane has three schools, now they're much more limited in what they can do when Arcane is out.

So it's going to be a good idea to land as many interrupts on their spells as possible. When it comes to their burst, Arcane Surge is going to be their major cooldown.

But don't really overlook Touch of the Magi. This ability accumulates 25% of all damage dealt during its duration, and then unleashes it in a giant hit at the end.

If you see Touch of the Magi, it's going to be a good idea to pop a defensive cooldown. Mass Barrier for Arcane Mages applies Prismatic Barrier to all allies.

This matters because it reduces the duration of incoming magical effects by 25%, including CC, such as Freezing Trap and Polymorph. When you see Prismatic Barrier active on the healer, you want to either purge it or break the barrier before attempting to land CC.

Fire Mages have Meteor, and while the spell itself isn't really that important, but what is important is that it leaves behind a Flame Patch that you can use to your advantage. Just like Frost Orb, this effect can break Polymorph if you stand in front of it.

The best part? Sitting in that Flame Patch doesn't do much for the Mage's damage output.

So if you're worried about getting crowd controlled, staying in that Flame Patch is actually a pretty smart move.

MONK BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Monks really haven't seen many changes in recent years, but they still pack a toolkit full of powerful abilities that every player should know about. With strong crowd control options and solid defensive measures, Monks can be a formidable enemy.

Fortifying Brew is a versatile ability available to all Monk specializations, providing a significant boost to their health and reducing the damage they take. Monks typically use this ability preemptively to stop a go.

When you notice a Monk activate Fortifying Brew, it's usually best to switch your focus to another target unless the Monk is already at low health. All Monks can talent into Diffuse Magic, and most do.

This not only reduces the magical damage they take, but it also reverses all magical effects. While it does reverse the effects, it will still trigger any backlash.

As with Fortifying Brew, it's a good idea to swap off the Monk, as it's unlikely you're going to kill him unless you have pure or mostly physical damage. Transcendence works similarly to a Warlock's Demonic Circle, allowing Monks to teleport to the location where they placed their spirit.

Once a Monk has activated Transcendence, they're going to use it again within 10 seconds. This makes it unwise to chase after a Monk, as they can easily teleport back and just roll away.

Instead of chasing them, it's really more effective to switch your focus to another target. By doing so, you're going to lure the Monk out from behind a pillar, creating an opportunity to secure a kill when they attempt to re-engage.

Paralysis is an end-cap with a 20-yard range. The Monk's attack is a little bit more aggressive than the other Monk's attacks, but it's a good idea to use it to get the Monk to use his skill.

The most common combo involves incapacitating the healer with Paralysis and following up with a Leg Sweep on the kill target. Even Mistweaver Monks can incapacitate the healer and then use Leg Sweep.

If you notice a Monk using Paralysis, it's really going to be wise to preemptively activate a defensive cooldown or move away from your teammates to avoid getting caught in a double or triple Leg Sweep. Now speaking of Leg Sweep, this is the Monk's primary stun and it's AoE.

As mentioned earlier, it's crucial to avoid stacking up when this ability is off cooldown. If you find yourself in a situation where the target you're hitting is trying to drag you toward the Monk, simply just swap targets or keep your distance until they commit Sweep to avoid the go.

In the War Within, Clash makes a strong return as a powerful tool for Monks, adding some extra challenge when it comes to dodging their setups. When a Monk uses Clash, it forces both the target and the Monk to charge toward each other.

You can also see it here. This means that if a Monk uses Twisted Night Q in the open then Clash will be able to charge towards the target tentatively and the target in the middle.

This tactic is often used to pull targets out into the open, creating the perfect setup for the Monk to initiate their burst or crowd control sequence.

While Clash is unavoidable once it's triggered, you can reduce your risk of getting caught by keeping your distance and staying at max range, as Clash does have a 30-yard reach. who steps inside.

Monks often use Ring of Peace to block access to ground-based defensives like Darkness, Anti-Magic Zone, and Power Word Barrier, rendering these defensives almost useless. Now because of this, it's usually smart to delay using these defensives until after the monk has cast Ring of Peace.

They may also use it to peel in critical moments, giving you a window to activate these defenses. Now monks can opt to take Song of Qi Ji over Ring of Peace for some additional CC.

This is usually used by Mistweaver monks in setup comps, so if you get an opportunity to kick this, you absolutely should. All monks have Touch of Death, which is an ability that instantly kills any target at 15% health or lower.

Standard damage reduction will not save you here, so if you find yourself in Touch of Death range, you really need to act quickly. Your best options are to use an immunity, apply crowd control to the monk while hoping your healer gets out in time, or try to kite away to stay out of reach.

Alright, now let's dive into each and every spec, starting with Wind Walker. First up, the long-time favorite Serenity has been removed from the game, meaning Storm, Earth, and Fire is now the default ability for monks.

A big change here is that you can no longer apply crowd control to the images. This means all your crowd control needs to be focused on the monk while this cooldown is active.

Now keep in mind the clones will only auto-attack until the monk initiates an attack, so if you keep the monk CC'd, you greatly reduce the damage of this ability. Nearly all Wind Walkers play Turbo Fist when fighting melee.

This talent turns Fist of Fury into a parry. So when you see a monk cast Fist of Fury in melee, it's wise to really hold off on using any cooldowns.

Monks may even choose to delay this ability to stop stuns with Kidney Shot when they notice their healer's getting crowd control. Keeping an eye on this ability can definitely help you respond more effectively in those critical moments.

Touch of Karma is a unique defensive ability that can be used to counter a monk's skill. It's a great ability to counter a monk's skill.

When it's activated, it places a debuff on the target, redirecting 70% of all the damage dealt to the monk up to 50% of the monk's health. Typically, players are going to try to break through Karma since it's incredibly strong on its own.

However, monks can also use this ability offensively, which can significantly boost their damage. Remember that immunities will remove the Karma debuff along with the Absorb effect on the monk.

This includes abilities like Blessing of Protection, Divine Shield, and Ice Block. So if you can see this ability, you can secure a kill on the monk immediately after, just pop in immunity, and finish the game.

There are two types of Mistweavers, Fistweavers and, well, Mistweavers. Fistweavers focus on dealing damage to heal through ancient teachings, which function similarly to a Disciplined Priest Atonement.

The biggest counter to Fistweavers is going to be Kiting. If they don't have a target to hit, they can't heal.

Now, on the other hand, traditional Mistweavers are highly vulnerable to interrupts, as they're going to have to channel Soothing Mist to counter the damage dealt to the enemy. So, if you're going to be able to kill a Mistweaver, you can use the Fistweaver ability to cast their spells.

Even a single kick can end that game. Monks also have the option to create a hybrid build that blends the best features of Fistweaver and Mistweaver into a single spec.

This was made possible by the new talents Rushing Windkick and Jade Empowerment, along with Ancient Teachings becoming a passive baseline effect.

Rushing Windkick is a powerful hit that's going to heal the entire team through Ancient Teachings, while Jade Empowerment makes Thunder-focused tea amplify the damage of Crackling Jade Lightning by an incredible 8.5% damage.

This hybrid build allows Monks to heal when they're locked out and even contributes to decent damage to help close out games. Both Mistweaver specs have access to two major defensive abilities, Revival and Life Cocoon.

Revival can be transformed into Restoral, which allows Mistweavers to use it while stunned, but this version does lose the ability to dispel magical effects. It's often paired with the Peaceweaver talent which grants 2 seconds of immunity to all magical effects, similar to a mini Cloak of Shadows.

Because of this, it's a good idea to avoid committing too much damage when the Monk has this ability available. Life Cocoon places a substantial shield on any target.

While you likely won't be able to break through it normally, if dampening is high enough you might just have a chance to push through and kill if the target is low and you have a lot of damage.

PALADIN BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Welcome to this skill-capped guide. In this video, we're going to be walking you through all the essential abilities, buffs, debuffs, and more that you need to know to succeed in WoW Arena.

Now, with 13 different classes in the game, there is a lot that's going on. There's a lot happening.

Knowing exactly what to watch for can make a massive difference in your climb, so let's dive in and explore each and every class. So let's kick off our list with Paladins.

Often labeled as one of the easiest classes to play, you might have a different perspective once you dive into the intricate web of buffs, debuffs, and unique interactions that come with understanding this class. So let's start with Lay on Hands.

Yeah, you heard that right. This ability, once restricted from being used in Arena, is now one of the Paladin's most powerful cooldowns, as it completely ignores healing reduction effects.

Now, while you can't stop the Paladin from using Lay on Hands, you can definitely capitalize on it. When they use this ability, it puts them on Forbearance.

This could definitely make the Paladin a potential swap target. Divine Shield, the iconic Paladin bubble that grants immunity and removes all CC, just got a serious upgrade in The War Within.

Now, while you could previously exploit Forbearance as a kill opportunity, the new talent, Light's Revocation, allows Paladins to use Divine Shield even while under Forbearance, and it heals them for up to 30% of their health. This means that the best way to kill a Paladin is to use it as a skill.

The best way to counter Bubble now is with a Mass Dispel, and you're going to need to bring some serious burst damage to take down the Paladin in this window.

Blessing of Protection is an absolute nightmare for any physical class, granting total immunity to physical attacks, and is even going to remove physical effects from the Paladin, such as stuns or blinds. Now, the good news, it can be purged just like any other buff.

Warriors are also going to have the option to use Shattering Throw, but this is typically best reserved for Divine Shield. You should only consider using it on Blessing of Protection if you see a kill opportunity.

Blessing of Sacrifice is one of the strongest defensive cooldowns in the entire game. Not only does it provide a significant damage reduction, but it also places a dot on the Paladin that can break any breakable crowd control, such as a fear or a polymorph.

This means Paladins can use it preemptively to not only escape CC, but also put themselves on diminishing returns. It's usually a smart move to swap to the Paladin when you see Blessing of Sacrifice as the dot, and not add some extra pressure during the go.

Holy Paladins can choose the ultimate Sacrifice talent, which redirects 100% of the damage taken by an ally back to the Paladin. Now, while it can be a powerful save, it is a risky move for the Paladin.

This turns them into an ideal swap target, especially given that any cleave damage effectively really doubles. And of course, Paladins have another crucial blessing called Blessing of Freedom.

This powerful buff clears and prevents all movement-impairing effects for its entire duration. Retribution Paladins even get the added bonus of applying it to themselves in addition to another teammate.

Now, while you can purge this buff, it's important to avoid wasting any Globals on slows or roots while Blessing of Freedom is active, as they simply just won't have any effect. Now, when going on a Paladin, it's essential to keep an eye on their Divine Protection cooldown.

This ability can be used while they're stunned, it provides a 30% damage reduction, and it even increases the healing they receive during its duration. While Divine Protection is active, it's wise to hold off on committing too many of your cooldowns.

Instead, plan to swap to the Paladin with your cooldowns once this ability is over. Both Paladin specs have access to Avenging Wrath, which is commonly known as Wings.

However, Retribution Wings have undergone some significant changes that we really need to talk about. If they choose the new talent, Radiant Glory, Wings becomes a passive ability that activates any time they use Wake of Ashes.

This allows them to activate Wings every 30 seconds, so do be prepared to pop a defensive cooldown when you see it. Now, on the other hand, Holy Paladins retain the traditional version of Wings, which is a 2-minute cooldown that greatly boosts their healing output.

In addition to their regular Wings ability, Holy Paladins have the Awakening talent, which adds a powerful stacking buff. Each time they use a Holy Power Spender, they gain a stack, and when they reach 15 stacks, they automatically activate Wings for 12 seconds.

When facing a Holy Paladin, it's best to hold off on using any major offensive cooldowns until after Wings ends. Both Paladin specs possess three forms of crowd control that you really need to know about.

First up is Hammer of Justice, a short-range stun with a 10-yard range that is dispelable. Since this spell requires the Paladin to get close to their target, it makes them an excellent swap target when they push in.

Next, Paladins can choose between Blinding Light and Repel. The Paladin's Repel is a very powerful spell that allows Paladins to spam Repentance.

Now, thanks to the new talent, Light's Countenance, which allows Paladins to spam Repentance without cooldown, Rep has become a really popular choice. And this means that you're going to need to look out for this cast, as it really can easily cost you the game.

Blinding Light is a simple Disorient, but it does require the Paladin to be in melee range, and it has a fairly long cooldown, so most Paladins really don't go this route. Searing Glare is undoubtedly one of the most frustrating abilities in a Paladin's arsenal.

It allows all spells and abilities to miss for 4 seconds on any target affected by Searing Glare. This debuff can be dispelled, but it can also be difficult when the Paladin is paired with an Affliction Warlock or a Shadow Priest, as the backlash usually isn't worth the dispel.

Now, in these cases, simply just hold off on doing any damage until Searing Glare ends. Retribution Paladins also have Shield of Vengeance, which creates a large shield that absorbs damage.

Now, once it expires or is broken through damage, it deals all the absorbed damage back to nearby enemies. The reflected damage is split among all nearby targets, so you have a couple of ways to counter it effectively.

You can either move away from the Paladin or stack up to avoid the damage. This does share damage with pets, so even being on a big clump of pets can really help.

Blessing of Sanctuary is an incredibly strong ability in the Retribution Paladins toolkit. It instantly removes any stuns, fears, silence, or damage from the enemy.

It also reduces the amount of damage the enemy can inflict on the enemy. For the next 5 seconds, any additional crowd control in these categories is reduced by 60%.

Now, to counter this, you're going to want to crowd control the Paladin before doing a go. If the Ret tries to pre-apply the buff for the reduced CC duration, you can either purge it or wait until the effect wears off.

Aura of Reckoning is a powerful buff that stacks up on the Paladin, granting them wings once it reaches 100 stacks. Now, it's really smart to keep an eye on this buff, so when they approach 100 stacks, you already know to be ready for their go.

While you can't purge and you can't stop this buff, you can definitely be prepared for it. The Holy Paladin shares so many tools with Retribution, but they also have a few tricks up their own sleeve as well.

One of their strongest abilities is Aura Mastery, which amplifies the effects of their active aura. They're typically going to pair this with either Devotion Aura or Concentration Aura.

With Devotion Aura, all allies get a 12% damage reduction, while Concentration Aura provides immunity to kicks and immunity to silences. Keep an eye on their buffs, as you really don't want to accidentally give the Paladin precognition by trying to interrupt when Aura Mastery is active.

Holy Paladins can choose between Hand of Divinity and Divine Favor. Divine Favor isn't as strong as it used to be, and most Paladins opt for Hand of Divinity.

It boosts the healing of the next Flash or the next Holy Light, it makes it faster to cast, and it reduces its mana cost. However, since Paladins typically rely on Holy Shock and Eternal Flame for healing, they might hold onto this buff for a little bit as well.

On the other hand, Hand of Divinity has a much longer cooldown, but it makes the next two Holy Lights instant cast, creating two huge burst heals. While you don't need to hold cooldowns when you see it active, you want to be cautious about overcommitting.

Denounce can be an annoying ability from Paladins. It prevents the target from landing critical strikes for any time.

It can also be used for a long time, like for example, for 8 seconds. But your healer can really help you out here.

If you get hit with this debuff, it is dispellable, so you're not stuck with it for too long. The final ability for Paladins is Tears Deliverance.

This powerful skill boosts all of their healing and applies a massive healing over time effect on their teammates. If you can, you want to try to interrupt this ability as long as possible.

Otherwise, you're going to find it difficult to secure kills while this buff is active. While you can still finish the game with crowd control, sheer damage alone, really isn't going to be enough.

PRIEST BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Priests have a reputation for being among the strongest healers thanks to their powerful toolkit and their powerful defensives. But they also bring a solid DPS spec that synergizes really well with both caster and melee comps, which makes them a really versatile class.

Power infusion may have been tuned down just a little bit, but it remains a powerful option in the Priest toolkit. For 15 seconds, it boosts the Priest haste and that of an ally that they choose as well.

As usual, purging this buff is a smart move as even Discipline and Holy Priest can output significant damage while it's active. Void Shift, commonly called Swap, was once exclusive to Shadow Priest, but now it's available to all Priest specs.

If the Priest is out of crowd control, there's not much to prevent them from using it. Now this means if you're setting up for a game-winning go, try to crowd control the Priest to prevent them from using this ability.

Leap of Faith, often called Life Grip, pulls an ally to the Priest. Priest usually uses this ability to save a teammate or interrupt CC on the healer.

However, you can counter this by rooting the target as rooted allies can't be Life Gripped. Additionally, well-timed knockbacks like Ring of Peace can cancel the pull effect entirely.

Priest are big fans of casting Mind Control, which lets them move your character around and there's some pretty unique interactions. Any team defensive on the ground like Darkness is going to actually work for the Priest team while you're controlling.

If you're not mind controlled, it's going to stop working for your allies. Now to counter Mind Control, you have three different options.

Purge the Mind Control target, kick the Priest, or use Tremor Totem. Priest have a really unique root ability that's called Void Tendrils, which works a little bit differently from other roots.

Normally, taking damage isn't going to break most roots, but with Void Tendrils you actually have to kill the Tendril itself to free yourself. Luckily, the Tendrils are relatively weak, so you can kill them in a go.

But if you're not mind controlled, you can't kill the Tendril. Every Priest now has access to Phase Shift, which functions similarly to the old Greater Fade.

This main difference is that this only lasts for one second. Despite its short duration, it's still incredibly powerful.

Priest can use it to avoid crowd control, remove slows, and even deny a kill attempt. Shadow Word Death is a staple in the Priest toolkit and has been for quite some time.

This spell deals damage back to the Priest about a second after casting it, and that's why it's so good. Priest often casts death right before a breakable CC like Sleepwalk, Polymorph, or a fear hits them, causing it to instantly break and putting themselves on DR for future CC.

Now you can juke this, however it does have a cooldown of 10 seconds before it can be recast. Mass Dispel may now have a 2 minute cooldown, but it is still a powerful tool.

It dispels all debuffs on allies and removes one buff. It's a powerful tool that can be used to kill enemies, but it's also a powerful tool that can be used to kill enemies.

It dispels all debuffs on allies and removes one buff. It dispels all debuffs on allies and removes one buff.

It dispels all debuffs on allies and removes one buff. It dispels all debuffs on allies and removes one buff.

It dispels all debuffs on allies and removes one buff. It dispels all debuffs on allies and removes one buff.

It dispels all debuffs on allies and removes one buff. Mass Dispel has a unique bonus too.

It can clear effects that are usually undispellable, like Ice Block, Divine Shield, Timestop, and even Cyclone. With its wide area of effect, outranging it isn't typically an option either.

You're going to need to kick Mass Dispel if you really want to stop the ability. Now let's dive into each and every spec, starting with Discipline Priest.

Their signature ability, Pain Suppression, now reduces damage by 50% with the Oracle Tree talent, and it can still be used even if the Priest is stunned. They even have two charges of it as well.

When you see Pain Suppression used, it's usually best to swap targets because of the high damage reduction, unless the target's health is extremely low, in which case you might still be able to secure that kill. Rapture might not work quite how you remember it.

Previously, it allowed Discipline Priest to spam Power Word Shield, but now it comes with a set number of charges. By default, it provides three charges, but most Priests take the Exaltation talent, which gives them an extra two for a total of five.

Now it's worth tracking those charges on the Discipline Priest, as it can help you gauge when it's best to commit cooldowns. Ultimate Penitence is one of the best abilities in the game.

When the Priest casts it, they lift into the air and they unleash a barrage of Penance Bolts. This does an insane amount of damage and an insane amount of healing.

Once they cast this spell, there's really not much you can do to stop it. However, you'll want to prioritize interrupting it as long as possible, especially if your kill target's low health, to prevent any chance of recovering.

Power Word Barrier creates a large protective… well, barrier, which reduces all damage taken by 50% of PVP for anyone standing inside of it. It is a strong defensive, but you can counter it by simply getting the target out of the barrier.

You can either kite the target away from it, or use abilities like Typhoon or Ring of Peace to knock them out. 2.

Guardian Spirit Guardian Spirit, is the Holy Priest Signature Cooldown. Now, unlike Pain Suppression, it doesn't reduce damage, but increases healing received by 60%, and if the target would have died, it brings them back to 40% health instead.

They can still use this when they're stunned as well. Your best move is to try and trigger this cheat death effect.

If the Guardian Spirit doesn't prevent a fatal blow, the cooldown is reduced by 60 seconds, so forcing it to activate means they won't have it available as often. Divine Hymn may not seem that powerful on its own, but the real strength comes from the buff that it grants to all allies.

Most priests take the Seraphic Crescendo talent, meaning a fully channeled hymn increases healing received by 20% for a whopping 25 seconds. Now, to counter this, your best strategy is to interrupt the hymn as quickly as possible.

Now, this might be a little bit tricky if they're playing this next talent, Spirit of the Redeemer, which grants the priest the ability to enter angel form, which makes them immune to crowd control and immune to interrupts. This is typically when they channel Divine Hymn.

However, the catch is that while in this form, the priest can't move. If you can force the target to move away from the angel, the priest is going to be unable to heal them.

This will either force them to cancel the angel early, or you can land the kill. Symbol of Hope is another crucial channel that you're going to want to interrupt.

This ability not only restores 10% of the priest's mana, but also restores 10% of the priest's missing mana, which is a lot of the time. But also reduces the cooldown of a major defensive ability for their teammates.

The longer the priest channels this ability, the more mana they regain, and the greater the cooldown reduction provided to their allies, so you really want to kick this as soon as possible. Priests won't use this in Spirit of the Redeemer, as they won't gain mana back if they do.

The last holy priest ability to be aware of is Ray of Hope. This ability places a buff on a friendly target, delaying all healing and all damage until the Ray's effect ends.

But, there is a twist with it. All healing received during this time is increased by 50%.

This can create an opportunity for a one-shot if you manage to crowd control the priest through the entire duration of Ray. If the priest has no way to heal, the target's going to drop dead as soon as the effect wears off.

Holy priest and shadow priest both have a stun, which makes them a pretty big nuisance. They often combo this stun with psychic scream, which is their fear.

When you see the priest stun go off, your best bet is to CC or slow the priest. This can help prevent or at least delay the follow-up fear, which disrupts their setup and keeps your team in a better position.

In addition to their stun, shadow priest have silence, creating a pretty dangerous combo. Since silence is off the global cooldown, if you trinket out of a fear or a stun, you can almost always expect a silence to follow right away.

If you decide to trinket before the silence, make sure you're ready to use something immediately. Dispersion is the priest's primary defensive ability, offering a very strong damage reduction and a very strong heal.

It can be activated during any crowd control, which makes it challenging to prevent its use unless you can land a well-timed kick when the priest is low. The good news is that instant kill abilities like touch of death or sudden demise can still bypass dispersion's damage reduction.

Now, many shadow priests opt for syphene, especially when paired with another caster. This ability reduces healing received by the priest, and can also reduce the damage received by the target of the syphene by 50% for 12 seconds.

The good news is that syphene is relatively easy to kill. Your best strategy is to focus on taking it down as quickly as possible.

Vampiric touch is a key rotational ability for shadow priest, but it also comes with an important mechanic to really keep in mind. When you dispel it, you're going to be feared for 3 seconds and there are no diminishing returns.

While dispelling can be advantageous at times, do be cautious about when you do it. If you dispel it the wrong way, you're going to be in danger for a long time.

If you dispel it the wrong way, you're going to be in danger for a long time. If you dispel it the wrong way, you're going to be in danger for a long time.

If you dispel it the wrong way, you're going to be in danger for a long time. If you dispel it the wrong way, you're going to be in danger for a long time.

If you dispel it the wrong time, especially when your teammate's low on health, you could easily lose the game. Shadow priests have the option of two very powerful cooldowns, either dark ascension or void eruption, both of which significantly enhance their damage output.

When facing melee, many priests take the void volley talent, which creates purple puddles across the ground. Stepping into one of these puddles results in being horrified for 2 seconds, and this debuff doesn't have any diminishing returns.

Your best bet is to steer clear of these puddles and focus on shutting down the priest as much as possible.

ROGUE BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Rogues have been one of the strongest performers in the PvP scene since the inception of Arena. Understanding how to handle rogues is absolutely crucial for your success in Arena.

Cloak of Shadows isn't the ability that it once was. Now while it still provides immunity to spell damage, many rogues facing melee comps are going to pick up the veil of Midnight Talent, which allows Cloak to remove all physical debuffs.

This includes bleeds, disarms, and even touch of karma. Classes that rely heavily on bleeds, such as Feral's, should keep this in mind before committing to a go.

The good news is that this removal effect is a one-time use, so even though Cloak remains active, it won't continue to remove bleeds, physical debuffs, or prevent their application after the initial use. Evasion just isn't the same ability that it used to be.

Now while it still increases dodge chance, there is definitely a twist thanks to the new bait-and-switch talent from the Deathstalker hero tree. This talent not only makes evasion reduce all magical damage taken by 20%, but also allows Cloak of Shadows to reduce physical damage taken by 20% as well.

Elusiveness takes this a step further by making evasion reduce all damage taken by 20% while it's active. This means not only are rogues harder to hit, but they also become significantly more resilient during evasion.

So if you see a rogue use evasion, even as a caster, remember that this will lower the damage that you deal. You might want to consider swapping to the Evasion skill, if the rogue is healthy.

Elusiveness has yet another significant benefit too. Feint will also reduce all damage taken by 20%.

When a rogue stacks this with evasion, they become nearly impervious to damage. Rogues may attempt to use feint preemptively, but if they're playing this talent, it means they forego cheat death.

This makes it easier to secure a kill during a go, turning the rogue into a much more viable kill target, especially once they've used their trinket. The Rogue toolkit features some of the best crowd control in the entire game.

So let's start with sap, which they often try to use right at the beginning of the match. Sap incapacitates the target, but there is a catch here.

The target has to be out of combat. This makes it crucial to get in combat as soon as possible to avoid being caught in a sap in the opener.

Blind is a signature rogue ability that disorients the target. However, with the crowd control duration changes introduced in Dragonflight, Rogues can now be used to counter the target.

The target can be used to counter the target, but it can no longer sap off their blind, meaning it's no longer an automatic trinket for healers. In fact, many rogues now use blind to peel during a go, stop a kill attempt, or even bait a trinket.

This adds a strategic layer to how rogues can utilize this ability. Now, it can still be a good idea to trinket blind, but now it requires more careful consideration of the situation before making that decision.

Weighing the potential consequences and the current state of the match is crucial to really ensure you're not getting hit by a trinket. This is a good idea to use when you're not wasting your trinket.

It's important to remember that both sap and blind reduce damage and healing done by 30% for 6 seconds after the effects end. Now, because of this, you may want to avoid using any major cooldowns immediately after coming out of these crowd control effects.

Rogues have two primary stuns, Kidney Shot and Sheep Shot. Kidney Shot is the strongest stun in the game, and although its cooldown was increased to 30 seconds, it still remains incredibly powerful.

Kidney Shot is the strongest stun in the game, and although its cooldown was extremely powerful. Sheep Shot, on the other hand, can be used multiple times in succession to lock down a target.

It bypasses all dodge and parry effects and also grants the rogue combo points. Now, when fighting a rogue, it's going to be crucial not to hesitate with your trinket.

If you wait too long, you're likely going to be restunned and you may die before you have a chance to respawn. You need to either decide beforehand that you're going to trinket or use it immediately when you're stunned, especially if you see significant cooldowns being used.

The final crowd control ability available to all rogues is Gouge. This ability incapacitates the target, but unlike other incapacitating effects, it doesn't remove damage over time effects.

This means Gouge will instantly break if there are any dots on the target. Rogues often use Gouge as an additional interrupt, or they avoid applying dots to the healer to ensure they always have the opportunity to use it.

Gouge only works if you're facing the rogue, so it's essential to try to face away, or run away from them to avoid getting CC'd. Rogues absolutely love Smoke Bomb, and it's easy to see why.

When it's dropped, it's going to create line of sight for 5 seconds, allowing rogues to finish off a kill or deny the healer from interrupting a big burst, even if they have their trinket available.

For DPS classes that are vulnerable to dying in a smoke bomb, especially those without any immunity or stun break, it's really going to be wise to save your trinket for smoke bomb. This is frustrating to deal with.

Not only does it return the rogue to stealth, but it also prevents you from breaking that stealth for three seconds. This effect is also similar to Shadow Meld, as it cancels all damage dealt to the rogue during this time.

However, Hunters have a fantastic counter against Rogues. By dropping a flare on the Rogue, they can effectively block the Rogue from using vanish.

This tactic can be used during a kill attempt on the Rogue, or even prevent the Rogue from using vanish offensively. Subtlety Rogues were once the stars of Rogue PvP, and while other specs have gained popularity, they still absolutely dominate most metas today.

Subtlety Rogues have three major cooldowns that signal an impending go, and those are Shadow Blades, Shadow Dance, and Symbols of Death. When you see a Rogue activate one of these abilities, it's crucial to use a defensive preemptively.

This can either force them to switch to a different target, or significantly reduce the damage that you take. Being proactive with your defensives can make a huge difference in whether you win or lose into a Subtlety Rogue.

Shadowy Duel functions similarly to Smoke Bomb in that it creates a line of sight, but with a key difference here. Only the Rogue can see you, and you can only see the Rogue.

Rogues can leverage this ability in several different ways, setting up massive bursts on a kill target, isolating the healer so their teammates can secure the win, or even using it defensively to thwart a kill attempt.

The good news is that the ability is now available to all players, and you can use it to kill enemies, or even use it to kill enemies. This means that your teammates can still assist you if you're caught in a Shadowy Duel.

Any area of effect abilities are going to pass through the duel, including crowd control effects like Psychic Scream or Blinding Sleep. This means that with some well-coordinated CC and AoE healing, you can make it out alive.

Assassination has gained a ton of traction over the past few expansions, and it has a couple of abilities to watch out for. Most people may remember Vendetta, but this has been replaced with Death Mark, which duplicates all bleeds on the target.

This effectively doubles the rogue's damage, but with the Deathstalker tree when Death Mark ends, the rogue then gains 30% increased nature damage for 30 seconds. While you can't remove the secondary effect, Death Mark itself can be cleansed with Dwarf or Cauterizing Flames, as well as any immunity.

When facing assassination rogues, it's definitely going to be crucial to avoid stacking with your teammates. With the new Indiscriminate Carnage talent, Rupture and Garoad automatically apply to targets for up to 6 seconds after the rogue leaves stealth.

Given that rogues have two charges of Vanish, access to Shadow Mill, and frequent opportunities to re-stealth, assassination rogues can have a pretty high uptime on this buff. Additionally, many rogues opt for the Arterial Precision talent, which causes Shiv to hit nearby targets.

In short, just keep your distance when fighting assassination rogues. Finally, let's talk about Outlaw Rogues.

Their main offensive ability is Adrenaline Rush. This gives them a huge damage boost.

Outlaw Rogues have extra mobility with Grappling Hook, so kiting this cooldown isn't really an option here. Instead, your best bet is to either lock them down with Crowd Control, or apply enough pressure to force them to back off.

SHAMAN BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Shamans come with a host of abilities worth knowing, and one of the trickiest to deal with is Grounding Totem. This totem redirects all incoming spells to itself, effectively nullifying them.

A smart tactic is to bait the shaman into using Grounding early in the game. You can try spamming crowd control on the healer to force the shaman to use it, and then kill the totem before committing any major offensive cooldowns.

Astral Shift is a damage reduction ability available to all shamans. When a shaman activates this cooldown, it's important not to waste your damage on him as it's unlikely you're going to secure a kill while it's active.

Instead, consider swapping your focus to a different target. This tactic can help you pressure the enemy team into using additional defensive cooldowns.

Skyfury Totem has been rebranded as Totem of Wrath, but has maintained its effect of increasing critical strike damage for the shaman and their party. This ability is now linked to Primordial Wave, so prioritize destroying this totem when you see the shaman using this ability.

If the shaman casts Primordial Wave without summoning the Totem of Wrath, it means they're not going to be playing that talent. Earthbind and Earthgrab Totems can be quite the nuisance.

To keep your teammates free from roots or snares, it's essential to prioritize killing these totems when they're around you. If you do find yourself caught in by these totems, don't worry.

Normal Dispels and Freedoms are going to remove the effects. Earth Shield is now accessible to all shaman specs.

They'll typically prioritize using Earth Shield. You can also use Earth Shield to kill the enemy team members, or use Earth Shield to kill the enemy team members.

The Earth Shield is a very useful totem, and it's a great way to prioritize applying it to the target taking damage. This ability offers a substantial heal even for DPS shamans, making it crucial to purge it whenever possible.

Static Field Totem is a staple for every shaman. When activated, it creates a totem on the ground that prevents anything from leaving its range for 6 seconds.

So how do you stop it? You can kill this totem, allowing you to break free.

Sometimes shaman will use this to move targets into the open, so killing it as soon as possible, should definitely be a top priority. Capacitator Totem is another favored choice among all shaman specs, offering a powerful delayed AoE stun.

This ability works especially well in conjunction with Static Field Totem, as shamans can gather the enemy team and then use the stun. Keep in mind that you can destroy Capacitator Totem before it activates.

It does have relatively low health, but an auto attack alone won't be enough to take it down. You're going to need to focus the totem to ensure it doesn't go off.

Ghost Wolf is a good option. Ghost Wolf is a classic shaman ability, offering a substantial speed boost along with the extra damage reduction if the Spirit Wolf talent is selected.

With the new Ancestral Wolf affinity talent, shamans gain the ability to cast totems, purge, and even use Windshear while in Ghost Wolf. So if you see a shaman kiting in Ghost Wolf form, don't assume you're in the clear.

You can counter this by purging Ghost Wolf, which is going to strip away the Spirit Wolf's damage reduction. Hex is a good option.

Hex works similarly to Pong. Hex can be used to polymorph by transforming the target into a frog, but unlike polymorph, Hex has a cooldown.

This means shamans can't continuously spam it once cast. What makes Hex unique is that it's a curse, allowing DPS classes with a curse dispel to remove it from their healer.

This gives your team a bit more flexibility to counter it. Thunderstorm, traditionally known as an elemental shaman ability, is now available to all shaman specializations.

It's a powerful knockback that shamans can even activate while stunned, making it a special ability that's especially tricky to counter. When setting up a go on a shaman, keep your positioning in mind to avoid just getting blasted straight off the map.

Lightning Lasso is definitely a pretty annoying ability to deal with, as it not only stuns, but it also allows the shaman to move freely, making it easy for them to line of sight. Lightning Lasso can be particularly dangerous in burst setups, but the good news is that you can kick it.

It is a good idea to instantly kick, as the shaman may run for a pillar to avoid being stopped. If you're a rogue, keep an eye out for Poison Cleansing Totem.

This totem clears poisons from nearby allies every 1.5 seconds, which can make it tough to maintain pressure, especially since wound poison will not be able to stack. Now let's dive into each shaman specialization, starting with Restoration Shaman.

Healing Tide Totem is a high priority target to kill when it's dropped. Many Resto Shamans use the Living Tide talent, which increases its healing each time it ticks.

Since the totem has a fair amount of health, it's a good idea to use it when you're at the bottom of the field. While it does have a lot of health, auto attacks alone won't bring it down.

This means you'll need to commit some damage to effectively destroy the totem. Earthen Wall totem absorbs a portion of each incoming hit, making it especially powerful against damage over time classes.

Since you can't destroy this totem, your best bet is to either switch to a target outside its range, or try to pull your main target away from the Earthen Walls area of effect. Spirit Link Totem is a huge cooldown, redistributing the health of all allies within its range, as well as healing anyone. in the Link.

To counter it, you can try quickly targeting and destroying the Totem before it ticks, but this will require some pretty fast reflexes. Another option is to stop the Shaman with Crowd Control or Knockbacks as they approach, potentially preventing the drop.

Just remember, once Spirit Link is down, it bypasses healing prevention such as Cyclone, so it's crucial to CC the Shaman before they can activate it. Now let's dive into Elemental Shamans.

We touched on Primordial Wave, but there's definitely a key feature for Elemental specifically. When they cast Primordial Wave, it makes their next Lava Burst hit all targets affected by Flameshock.

You should dispel immediately after seeing Primordial Wave to reduce their burst. There isn't much that's particularly tricky to watch for from Enhancement Shamans, but keeping an eye on their Feral Spirits is definitely essential.

While you can't effectively stop their damage, what it does is it creates a prime opportunity to Crowd Control the Shaman or even disarm them to limit their burst. Facing an Enhancement Shaman running Stormbreaker can be particularly challenging.

While their burst is telegraphed with Doom Winds and Ascendance, the damage output during their go is incredibly high and it can catch you by surprise if you're not prepared for it.

You need to be ready to immediately use a defensive cooldown the moment Doom Winds is activated, as Ascendance is likely going to be their next global. The fast reaction is necessary to surviving that go.

WARLOCK BUFF KNOWLEDGE

So as we enter the War Within, Warlocks have undergone significant changes that are definitely worth noting. The good news is that many of the key abilities across different Warlock specs now overlap, so if you know how to take down one spec, it's going to be even easier to take them all down.

Let's begin with Unending Resolve, the Warlock's primary form of damage reduction. This ability can be activated even while stunned, which makes it a versatile tool in high-pressure situations.

Some Warlocks may choose to use it offensively as it grants immunity to all silences and interrupts during its duration. Now if you notice a Warlock going for this offensive play, it's an excellent opportunity to crowd control him.

Dark Pact is another ability that can be used while the Warlock is stunned. This skill allows the Warlock to sacrifice a portion of their health in exchange for a substantial Absorb Shield.

Since it's an Absorb Shield, it's particularly vulnerable to abilities like Unravel and Shattering Throw, which deal extra damage to shields. Nether Ward is an interesting talent that reflects all spells cast, back to the caster while it's active.

This includes magical interrupts like Mind Freeze and Counterspell, which make it a powerful defensive tool. The good news is that since it's a magical buff, it can be easily dispelled through abilities such as Spellsteal or Purge.

Soulburn is a recent addition to the Warlock's toolkit, allowing them to enhance an ability at the cost of a Soul Shard. While you can't counter all the effects, Warlocks commonly use Soulburn with Health Funnel to provide substantial healing and healing.

This is a great way to counter all the effects of Soulburn, but it's also a great way to counter all the effects of Soulburn. and a wall for their pet. Interrupting this cast immediately can be very effective, as it forces the Warlock to wait 6 seconds before using Soulburn again.

This is going to also cost them another Soul Shard. When paired with Demonic Circle, Soulburn grants a movement freedom effect, but the good news is that this can be removed with Purges.

Warlocks have three main crowd control abilities, and fortunately, all of them can be dispelled. The first is the iconic Fear, which is spammable, but can be countered through Line of Sight or Interrupts.

The second is Mortal Coil. This is often assumed to have its own DR, but it actually shares DR with other incapacitation effects, like Polymorph.

Finally, Shadow Fury is a ground-targeted ability that stuns all enemies within 8 yards of the cast. Moving away instantly when you see the Warlock casting Shadow Fury is a pretty good strategy to follow.

Let's start with Affliction spells. Beginning with the signature, Unstable Affliction.

True to the Affliction specialization, this spell is one of the Warlock's most powerful damage over time abilities. It comes with a harsh consequence for those who try to dispel it.

Doing so triggers a backlash that inflicts a significant amount of damage and silences the dispeller. This can make dispelling a pretty risky move, especially when you're behind on healing.

It's generally best to dispel Unstable Affliction only when you're healthy and the Warlock has not had a major cooldown in theiréd história. Haunt, an old favorite, has seen some enhancements.

It now hits hard and serves as Affliction's answer to Chaosbolt, delivering significant burst damage with the New Improved Haunt. While it can technically be interrupted, the cast is extremely quick, making it challenging to time a kick.

A more reliable approach is to recognize Haunt as a signal that the Warlock is setting up their burst. When you see Haunt cast, it's a prime operation that has to be in bursts.

We can now carefully pan ourических hits, which can be killed off with any defective combo, especially since it reduces combat time and use the skill board's output speed.

A more reliable approach is to recognize Haunt as a signal that the Warlock opportunity to preemptively use defensives, helping you mitigate the incoming damage before you get dangerously low. Demonic Tyrant is the hallmark ability for Demonology Warlocks.

Not only does the Tyrant itself deal damage, but it significantly boosts the power of all summoned demons while extending their duration, creating a window for even more demons to be summoned. Countering this effectively involves crowd controlling or rooting the demons.

AoE stuns like Leg Sweep and Chaos Nova work particularly well here as you can CC both the demons and the warlock. While it's possible to interrupt the Demonic Tyrant cast, Warlocks can easily recast it so delaying it doesn't really do much.

If you're low on defensive cooldowns or your healer is struggling to keep up, so interrupting Tyrant can definitely help a bit. Destruction Warlocks have an ability called Havoc.

No, we aren't talking about demon hunters. Havoc replicates all single-targeted demons.

It can be used to counter two-target spells at 60% effectiveness on a secondary target. This includes abilities like Mortal Coil, allowing the warlock to crowd control two targets simultaneously.

The most effective counter to Havoc is simply dispelling it, as it is classified as a curse. DPS with curse dispels can remove it, or players can use the Dwarf Racial to cleanse it.

WARRIOR BUFF KNOWLEDGE

Warriors are the quintessential melee of WoW PvP. They introduced Mortal Strike and have remained consistently one of the top performers in the PvP scene.

All Warriors now have access to defensive stance, including Fury Warriors. It's surely going to be a bad idea to keep attacking a Warrior who's in defensive stance, but it is smart to track this buff and swap targets between the Warrior and their teammates.

Keeping pressure on the Warrior while they're in battle stance can force them to go back into defensive stance and reduce their overall damage. Intervene is a powerful ability in the Warriors toolkit as it redirects all physical hits to the Warrior for 6 seconds.

When paired with the Safeguard talent, Warriors gain 2 charges of Intervene and the target takes 20% reduced damage for 5 seconds. This turns this ability into something that can even be used into casters.

A solid strategy is to swap to the Warrior when they use Intervene, and alternatively you can wait until the Intervene effect ends. Warriors now have an impressive amount of mobility.

Previously they had to choose between Double Time, which granted 2 charges, and Storm Bolt, but with recent changes, Warriors are able to pick up both in the Clash Tree. With 2 charge charges, Heroic Leap, and the ability to use Intervene as an extra dash to a nearby ally, Warriors can keep up on pretty much any target.

So instead of kiting them in the open, it's more effective to break line of sight and run around a pillar, meaning they can't charge you. Warriors now have 2 stuns.

So, if you're a Warrior, you can use Intervene to counter the damage. So, if you're a Warrior, you can use Intervene to counter the damage.

So, if you're a Warrior, you can use Intervene to counter the damage. Warriors now have 2 stuns.

Storm Bolt and Shockwave. Shockwave is a bit shorter than before at just 2 seconds, and this change means Warriors often use it for micro CC rather than to initiate goes.

While it might seem a bit excessive to trinket a short stun, if you're low on health, a 1 second stun can be enough to close out the game, so do be ready. The advantage of Storm Bolt is its travel time.

By tracking when the Warrior uses it, you can use abilities like Shadow Meld to immune the stun. This is more straightforward when you're at max range, but with quick reflexes you can still pull it off from a short distance.

Rallying Cry, commonly known as Commanding Shout, gives a temporary health boost to warriors and their teammates. While this ability can delay a go until the healer gets out of crowd control, there are definitely situations where it can backfire.

Once the buff expires, any temporary health is removed. You can capitalize on this by doing a go right as Rally Cry is about to end, or you can do everything you can to prevent the healer from recovering.

If they can't get above 10 or 20% health depending on the warrior's talents, then they're going to drop to 1 HP and they're just going to die. Spell Reflection is a powerful ability available to all warriors with two parts.

First it obviously reflects an incoming spell back at the caster, but there is definitely more. It also reduces all spell damage taken by 20% for 5 seconds, or as long as the buff remains active.

To counter this, consider using a low damage or low stakes spell. For instance, Druids can cast Moonfire, while Death Knights can utilize Mind Freeze.

Bladestorm has long been a signature ability for Arms warriors, but now Fury warriors have gained access to this ability and it does pack a serious punch.

Not only does Bladestorm deal substantial damage, but it also grants the warrior immunity to all crowd control effects, while simultaneously removing any roots and making them immune to slows. To make matters even more challenging.

Warriors can still use their defensive abilities while in Bladestorm. Because of this, your best bet is to create distance from the warrior during this cooldown and avoid wasting any crowd control.

Shattering Throw is an ability you definitely need to keep an eye on, especially if you have an immunity like Divine Shield or Ice Block. With just a short cast time, this ability is going to remove any magical immunities.

Fortunately, since Shattering Throw has a cast time, you do have a small window to interrupt it. But with the ability, you can still use it to save the game.

You might already know about Berserker Rage, but now warriors can also talent into Berserker Shout. This powerful ability removes fear effects from all allies within 12 yards.

If you're trying to land a fear, you're definitely going to need to either crowd control the warrior or root them given the ability's short range. Since Berserker Shout does have a short range, you can even consider knocking the warrior away from their healer.

And now speaking of fears. Warriors have one of the strongest fears in the game.

Unlike other fears, this one can't be dispelled and it doesn't easily break on damage. The good news is that like many warrior abilities, it does have a short range.

So you can try to distance yourself from the fear when you see the warrior charge in or if you're playing as a shaman, consider using Tremor Totem preemptively. You might be used to associating Avatar with Arms and Recklessness with Fury, but now both specs have access to both cooldowns.

Although Recklessness is technically part of the Fury tree, talents like Berserker's Torment and Warlord's Torment allow Avatar to also grant Recklessness. So when you see Avatar activated, prepare for some serious damage and pop a defensive.

Each warrior spec has its own unique defensive. For Arms, there's Die by the Sword, often called Parry, which as you probably guessed, grants a 100% chance to parry and a minor damage reduction during its duration.

If you can disarm a warrior in a short range, you can also use the Spell of the Sword to counter it. For Fury, it's actually going to prevent them from using Parry altogether.

Alternatively, if you manage to get behind them and disarm while Parry is active, it's going to remove the Parry effect but still keep the damage reduction. The good news is that any magical stuns, like Hammer of Justice or Asphyxiate, go through.

For Fury, there's Enraged Regeneration which provides damage reduction, and every blood thirst while it's active heals for 20%. Since Enraged Regeneration can be used even while stunned.

The best counter is to disarm them, preventing them from using Bloodthirst. There are really three key PvP talents to watch out for from Arms warriors.

First there's Duel. This powerful debuff lasts 12 seconds and reduces your damage to everyone except the warrior.

If you see that you have Duel on you, then you simply need to go the warrior until it ends. Then there's War Banner, which cuts crowd control effects by 50% for everyone within its range.

This banner has relatively low health, so make it your own. If you're not sure what to do, just go for it.

If you're not sure what to do, just go for it. If you're not sure what to do, just go for it.

If you're not sure what to do, just go for it. Make it your top priority to kill it.

Finally, Sharpened Blade reduces all healing by 50%. When you see a warrior activate this, you should definitely try to avoid overcommitting any major healing cooldowns.