I’ve seen a lot of people talking jousting lately – people who are just now getting to the tournament level, people who’ve hated jousting all along, people who actually refuse to do Trial of the Champion because it involves a short joust at the beginning… and realized a lot of the frustration stems from the fact that the instructions you get on how to joust aren’t really all that great. Stationary targets are fine and all, but what about when the target fights back? And moves?
This is a short example video of how I joust. It may not be the greatest demonstration in the world, but it should give you an idea what I do. Barring the few times I’ve mysteriously gotten 2500ms+ ping, or down in Icecrown when I accidentally tagged 3 Commanders at once (ouch…), I boast a 100% success rate.
Jousting? Yeah, I got that.
I’ll add this note for Nibuca’s sake: a few people have told me they don’t “get” strafing. It’s also probably true that what I do isn’t strictly strafing – it’s a combination of strafing and mouse movement. Anyhow, for those of you who still have your movement bound to the default keys, Q strafes left and E strafes right – moving you left and right without actually turning. It’s great for getting at range from someone.
For those of you using the n52 or n52te, with movement bound to either the keys or the joystick, you can simulate the leftward movement I do in the beginning of the video by moving the joystick/keys left while mouse-moving to the right – it ends up with a pseudo-strafe rotation that still leaves you facing your opponent (even if it doesn’t look like you are). The right movement is exactly the reverse – joystick/keys right, mouse move left.
I do joust a little differently. I charge first, because it A) does more damage and B) has a longer cooldown. After charging through him (and thrusting on the way by) I’m usually at range again by the time the cooldown is done, and then chuck the shield-breaker. I’ll usually close again, both because everything but Thrust is on cooldown and zooming in and out of melee range seems to mess with the AI. If he’s hurt my shields, I charge those back up before strafing out to charge again.
On the other hand, against the scourge riders I don’t worry about keeping my shields up (except before engaging); the damage ratios (and the gargoyles that inevitably join in) just don’t make it worthwhile. For them it’s just charge, shield-break, shield-break, repeat, and thrust constantly while darting in and out of melee range.
I always go for least damage received.
I charge in, then spend the rest of the time going in and out of range, using shield breaker and charge when they are ready – this way, I never lose any shield charges and usually end up with 96% health.
My boast is to have done all four champions for the daily without using a heal =)