gearing up for arena

[Classikcase]

I am a level 68 BM hunter and plan to arena at 70. I need to start thinking about my gear and my question is, should I run BGs, accumulate honor/marks, and get the level 70 rare class armor? Or spend countless hours running various instances trying to obtain the items I desire?

My gut is to stick to the bgs as I will be getting items heavy in stam and not to mention more PvP experience, but I can't help to notice all the attack power I will be missing out on. Please help!

[Ahuramazda]

If you're going to participate in a 5-man arena team, gear is vital, as my friends and I discovered the other night when we finally created a team (0-16 thus far). We were placed up against teams with similar rankings, and undoubtedly more PvP experience than us, but many of them could also be seen wearing most/all of the BG or 3.5 stuff. I don't think it matters all that much which way you go. I plan on hitting up the dungeons to try and complete that set, but only because I prefer instancing to PvP. Go with what you enjoy doing most to gear up before throwing yourself into a 5-man arena.

In the 2v2, I haven't noticed as much of a difference. Moderately-geared, primarily on quest rewards mixed with an odd-dungeon piece and no enchants, the games have been about split down the middle. Slightly more wins than losses. My $0.02. :smiley:

[Gisharr]

I agree. We created a 5 man team and have done nothing but get rolled. I attribute that to gear differences and also the strategies we haven't had a chance to develop. Also, we're seeing 5 mans with multiple healing capable classes. Paladins are the worst but all the healing is super strong at 70. 2 guys can't burst down an opponent with a healer behind them. We're short on healers ourselves. Our guild is having more success with 2v2 and 3v3.

[Felix Niebuhr]

The 5 mans are usually thought out, so that the people in them have been recruited, and their gear has been a primary to them getting a spot. In the 2 man teams, you much more often see the spontaneus formed team. 2 guildies having fun, or new guys out to practice and learn what arena is all about.

As a rule of thumb, the better geared players find their spot in bigger teams. But ofcourse you can also run into them in their 2 man "for fun" team.