This isn't about sneaking up on some AFK character and crushing them with a blow to the head. That's got no substance. I'm interested in sharing a few of my favorite PvP stories and I'd like to read yours as well.
Shadowbane:
Starting old-school. I was one of the leaders of a mercenary guild and we specialized in siege combat. Sieges in the first year of the game were thrilling experiences involving multiple forces with allies rushing in to reinforce, and ranged attacks volleyed back and forth from atop settlement walls and the siege weapons on the ground.
Three moments from a particular siege (we were joining the offense) still stand out.
-The first was our decision to take a long route around to the far side of the settlement and then rush in once the primary offensive force had established an assault for a short time. It's very basic but worked splendidly and the defending troops took a defining blow from it.
-The second was personal. I played an aracoix (bird person) warrior. I manage to make my way around to the base of a tower at the corner of the settlement and then flew directly upward. Suddenly cresting the top of the tower I surprised a defending wizard and made short work of him. I then continued along the top of the wall dispatching everyone I came across until I was finally taken down. I had managed to clear one entire side of the settlements wall defenses which allowed our ground troops to advance without threat of ranged attacks.
-The third actually had no fighting involved. It was an image I came upon walking up to the front of the settlement at the end of the siege. When you died in this game you left behind a grave marker that could then be looted and it would remain for some time. So the scene I saw after the fight was over and I will never forget, was the destroyed front gate, broken siege weapons, and so many gravestones littered across the ground it made it look like a pincushion. It was an amazing sight.
Age of Conan
In AoC, the PvP was mostly limited to arena fights or instanced sieges. During a siege there was a window of time when both sides could gather their forces and it was common for scouts or people just looking to get a jump on some fighting to venture close to the other sides starting area.
For the siege in question I was on the defending side. I was very familiar with some of the attacking players and their desire to rack up kills so I knew they would be scouting the area outside of our walls for lone defenders to catch off-guard.
I set up one of my guild members, a devastatingly effective Conqueror, to act as bait and stand away from the wall in an open field of grass. Myself and a couple others then stealthily hid in the grass and waited. Sure enough someone took the bait and we made them suffer for their rash decision. Then we set up position and waited again. Again, someone took the bait and we killed them. This went on for a solid 20 minutes! The apparent lack of communication on the enemy side was staggering. We killed about half as many people before that siege started as during the siege itself.
Pathfinder Online
I had ventured into the south to do some resource harvesting but I knew it could be dangerous, there was a constant threat of getting ganked in the area. Sure enough, I was above a cliff when someone came into view. I dropped into stealth quickly, hoping they hadn't noticed but it was one of the roving gank squads and they rushed around, up the road, and toward me. Stealth works a little differently in this game. The farther away from a target, the better if functions, so trying to stealth right next to someone doesn't work. It also works on NPC mobs to a certain degree. As I was being chased I ran up to a group of Ogres and then dropped back into stealth and tried to get close enough that the Ogres wouldn't see me and would agro my assaulters instead. Sadly, I misjudged by a hair and death was rained upon me by the gank squad, my loot dropping to the ground.
I respawned and found one of them waiting for me. To his credit he was just there to taunt me into fighting him, he didn't take the rep loss to grief the hell out of me like he could of. I did try to fight a few times but my speed was no match for his crowd control. So I ran away for a bit, then dropped into stealth and snuck back to the site of my original demise to see if anything remained.
To my surprise I found the gank squad still engaged in a heated battle with the powerful Ogres and my bag of loot remained on the ground. I crept closer and waited for just the right moment then I grabbed my stash and ran like hell. Of course some of them ran after me when they saw me suddenly appear but not all of them could or the remaining Ogres would have killed them for turning their backs on them.
After a good deal of running across really horrible rocky terrain it was eventually just one of them chasing me but it was inevitable that he would catch me with his use of charge attacks and speed buffs. I saw another group of Ogres and decided to try my failed plan one last time. I ran up to the Ogres, hit stealth and took a few more cautious steps toward them. My attacker ran in to get within range but it was too close! The Ogres came alive and rushed him. The predator become the prey and I ran after to throw in a few attacks of my own, I wanted to be sure that the Ogres would be able to finish him off. Then I ran off a bit and hid to make sure he died. When he did I snuck my way across the craggy terrain, past some of the still searching gank squad, off the mountain side and after a time, into a settlement where I deposited my resources to be moved at a later date when I wasn't being hunted.
