5v5 is not going well...

I decided to try starting from lvl 1 again, but I am finding CtF a decidedly unpleasant experience this time around over the last few weeks.

My lvl...28 now... DK fairly consistently seems to be the weakest in each match on either side - both by experience and fame levels. Unsurprisingly, I am able to have little effect on the outcome, being popped quickly by the more capable toons on the map, who tend to have 4-5 experience and 15+ fame levels on me.

Is there, frankly, anything I can do to end up in matches where the other players - on both sides - outclass me less? It's just no bloody fun to know that you're lucky to get two frags in a game, a kill:death ratio of 1:10 is not unusual, and even winning is still going to result in a pitiful honor award because it's pretty much solely due to having an AKotO or better who singlehandedly wins it for your team..

 

Well my suggestion is to use 1v1 and build your fame up. You can build it up with 5v5 but the matches last longer and you might not get the same amount of honor.

To answer you getting players closer to your fame or the not outclass you so much could see 1 match a day if your lucky. Would you only want to see 1 5v5 with the most fair players or 20 matches where you get some fame and build your DK up in fame. For me I do 1v1 and even let the other player kill me to speed up my honor points.

 

To follow up with what MegaNuker said, you have encountered the Twinking problem plaguing low level PvP. So many out there keep their toons low level while simultaneously getting nice gear from events with high level toons blocking their XP gain. Then end up ridiculously OP and you can barely scratch them. The other day on my little LVL 11 I started for fun/low level quest ander farming, I fought a LVL 6 Ardernt Legionnaire RA. I hit him for a solid 15 seconds while he just sat there. I too 25% of his HP, and then he did one Hunting Arrow/Precision Shot, and I died. Needless to say, I lost. People like that are ruining PvP at low levels, and I would say that it is the biggest systematic problem facing the game.

Like MegaNuker said, you can do 1V1 and have slightly fairer matches, but you will still have about 30%-40% of your battles that are unwinable no matter how skilled or talented you are. The other option is to max out your XP level and then work on PvP. That is what I did on my main. It was painful to begin with, but in time, I got stronger and the matches a little less lopsided. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but until BP get's it's act in gear and fixes this stupid twink problem, Low level PvP will be a joke.

 

I also did as baragain suggests, max out my xp and then did pvp. This is probably the best solution if you want to avoid twinks and aren't interested in twinking yourself; additionally the gap between the top and the bottom is in my opinion smallest at pvp level 40~45 as you can obtain some of the gear everybody else uses (such as the moon sets) to mitigate some of the edge that the top players have. You'll still lose when starting out but at least you will get more points to get your pvp levels up.

 

I find arena pretty balanced nowadays. The cause of your issue might be that you are fairly successful in 1v1 or something else so you get your rank higher so you get stronger players in 5v5. The other possible option might be that there is not a lot of players of your lvl/fame/winrate so you are getting stronger. Leveling up might do the trick. Or, as others said, work on 1v1 first. I'm sure sooner or later you will keep getting players close to your lvl so your win rate would be close to 50%.

 

Assuming you are at least Seasoned Centurion, level up your toon to 45 right now. Go get some decent Event gear that is level appropriate, level your Event gear and your Cape to at least 46 and apply yourself. It's cheap. It's fast. You'll get tons of level 45 matches. ...and most importantly it works.

Anyone giving you advice to hang out below 30 until your KoTo is giving you old regurgitated advice that doesn't fit the way the game mechanics work in 2015. The game is passing you up right now.

 

Thanks all for the replies. It has really clarified my thinking.

I don't mind that there are toons of vastly greater ability than mine - I want BP to make money, to employ developers, to create more content for me to play with.

I don't mind getting splatted by them in the arena from time to time.

What is getting me down is that the arena team selection process doesn't seem to end up putting me against weaker toons, despite the embarrassingly poor performances I am putting in.

Anyway, thanks again. I shall go grind up to 45 and see if it's different there.

 

If you are looking for more fair matches, I can give you two advice:

1. As most others said in this thread, queue up for Duels. In my experience Duels usually make quite balanced match-making. While I was a recruit, I got mostly Recruits to Legionnaires in duels. Now, I am a Centurion, I get mostly Novice Centurions to Ardent Centurions.

2. If you want to play 3 vs 3, the best time is the peak times where the game has a good selection to create good matches where opponents are fairly balanced.