View source for Guide:PvP Sidewinder v1.10, by Lyquid Evil

==Specific Character Strategies==
Difficulty marked from least to greatest by stars, 1 being the easiest and 5 being the hardest. All of the characters discussed below are assumed to be of average build, skill, and items.


===AMAZONS===
Bowazons- ****
These were the .09 queens of PvP but now have taken a back seat to some of the more popular builds; however they can still pack quite a punch. This is a horrible match up for you as they will have much, much more Guided Arrow damage, faster shooting speeds, and will probably have more points in the Passive Evade skills so will be harder to hit. Your Charged Strike and Poison Javelin will be ineffective for most of these duels as Bowazons tend to play pretty defensively and keep the arrows coming. They also seldom get close enough for you to cast Slow Missiles, but definitely try if the opportunity presents itself. You’ll want 50% DR and patience. Dance around the houses and terrain to keep away from her. Most Bowazons’ resists are terrible so a single Poison Javelin cloud can usually drain their life to 1 which should be followed by an arrow volley of your own to finish the job. Don’t try and match them arrow for arrow, just take it easy and wait until they get close for that lucky Javelin or Slow Missiles. Hard, but not impossible.

Jabbers- *
They hit hard and are hard to hit, but can be taken down without too much trouble. Their resists are usually sub par so both your poison and lightning should damage them heavily. Most Jabbers will want you to come to them because they want the first hit to avoid Dodge-lock. Start the match off right with some Poison Javelin throws. When you see they are poisoned switch to Lightning Bolt and huck away keeping an eye on your mana supply. When you see them coming towards you switch to walk mode and CS. The key is to force them into attacking you first. Jabbers just can’t negate two major forms of elemental damage and still be effective against non-pure melee opponents.

===ASSASSINS===
Trappers- *****
These characters are terrible on Sidewinders. They have a distinct range and stun advantage and they usually travel with a Shadow Master which is usually also very capable of dealing serious damage. To win you must play very defensive. Sporadic poison clouds, GA pot shots, and a hefty dose of luck is what is required to beat these characters.

Whirlwinders- **
With the most recent patch addition, a completely new class of Assassin has come to know its home in PvP thanks to ‘Chaos’. These girls can Dragon Flight in and chop away with whirls for surprising amounts of damage. However, most of their damage comes from Open Wounds and Venom meaning that you’ll need at least max poison resists. They should have comparable health so many times they are easy to tank. Keeping the ‘Walk’ button on, try and hit them with a Poison or Plague Javelin before shift clicking with CS as they whirl you. Some of the tricky WW’ers will realize you are a tough matchup and will try and rely Open Wounds to bring you down. Simply Dragon Flight and run, rinse and repeat tactics can really tear up your life so to prevent this always make sure you are standing in a cloud of your own poison.

===BARBARIANS===
BvC Whirlwinders- ****
BvB Whirlwinders- ***
Arguably the best melee skill in existence proves a tough matchup against good players.
This is a mixed subclass as they usually fall into two distinct categories: those who can short whirl well…and those who can’t. Barbarians that are proficient short-whirlers can keep you locked up in their triangles of death, not allowing you to do anything but block, dodge, and take damage. To combat this, walk whenever possible and cast a Valk and a Decoy right next to your self to help absorb hits that are meant for you. Sit in a cloud of your poisons and make sure they must run through it to get to you. Use Charged Strike when they get close. If you consistently lose while trying to tank them using the above steps, then whittle away at their health with Poison/Plague Javelins from a distance while running around. Don’t try and tank them until their hit points have been thoroughly drained. There are BvC Barbs who dual wield weapons and standard BvB Barbs who only use one weapon and a shield and since shields are an almost moot point against Sidewinders, BvC Barbs are much more difficult and can teleport. Another thing to watch out for is if they foolishly or accidentally namelock you with their Whirlwind. When this happens just run/walk away, leading them around the Blood Moor until their mana supply is completely drained. A WW barb that is unable to whirl is a much easier opponent. Don’t expect that to happen too often however.

Wolfbarbs- **
Even with their enormous chunk of health, without proper resistance and absorb, your CS strikes can/should kick them into hit recovery animation. I’ve seen 9,000 hit points wiped away in a matter of seconds. Unless your opponent has very high resists and an absorb, his damage should be a drop in the bucket compared to yours. Although not very damaging, their attack speed is very good, meaning that Dodge lock and constant blocking can be very problematic for you. If you find yourself in this situation, then fall back on your poison damage. Don’t cast a Valk or Decoy in this matchup as that allows Feral Rage charging and insane amounts of speed.

===DRUIDS===
Rabies- **
This class is usually never just pure Rabies and backs it up with either Fire Claws or Fury. You must try your best to avoid a Rabies bite as that can mean almost certain death. Wereform Druids have no catchup attacks like Charge or ranged spells like Fireball meaning they must rely on their own running power to catch you. I’ll stress appropriate amounts of FRW for this duel and if you can run them through a couple poison clouds their life should be lowered considerably. A strategy for characters like this I like to use is simply this: After dumping some poison into them, I continue running around with them chasing me. I usually pick a pattern, like around a box or a zigzag pattern in the middle of the Moor and have them chase me through the whole ordeal a few times. Then, instead of following suit with the pattern, you turn sharply right back towards them and unload a CS into them and (if they didn’t die) continue running the opposite direction, but in the same pattern as before. Half of the time this catches them off guard and gives you a free hit. It works very well against most Melee characters that have lowered life. Also remember that, unlike most poison-based skills, Rabies can actually kill opponents.

Wind- ****
A Wind Druid has Cyclone Armor which can absorb mountains of elemental damage so our lightning attacks do little against them. Do not try and tank them either as the Tornados wreak havoc on your D/E/A skills and FHR. Anticipating where they will teleport and leaving poison trails for them is about the only way to bring them down. Use Lightning Fury if they minion stack. The poison goes right through their armor and a lone GA is usually all that is needed to finish them off.

===NECROMANCERS===
Bone- *****
Ah, a very hard matchup. Treat them about like Bowazons. Well placed poison clouds are what it takes to win this. Just one or two and you can expect most Bone Necromancers to have 1 life. Their Bone Armors are usually more than a match for your meager Guided Arrow, so ignore that as a finishing move and use Lightning Strike or Lightning Fury if they are using minions. Be weary of Bone Walls and Prisons created to keep you pinned in. Try and keep him on your minimap at all times because if you cannot see him, he cannot see you and IBS is much more of a factor. Wise use of terrain can help you immensely in this fight.

Poison- *
This class commonly subtracts well over 100 of its enemy’s poison resists. You may want to consider wearing Sandstorm Trek boots or a Carrion Wind ring for additional stacked resists (as well as Antidotes). Iratha’s collar and Death’s gloves can also give you much needed PLR. When fighting a Nova Necro, always remember that you have the range advantage unless he teleports. Well-placed Poison Javelins, Lightning Bolts, and Guided Arrow potshots should wear away at their life and patience. If you have stacked resists, I don’t see many losses to this class.

===PALADINS===
Hammerdin- ****
Hammers are a very defensive skill but good teleporting can make them extremely effective. They must teleport close to cast hammers right on top of you so knowing this you can sit in your own Plague Javelins. If you can get him poisoned he will probably go down with a Guided Arrow or Lightning Bolt. Just try and keep away from him after he’s been poisoned.

Zealot- ***
Plague Javelin the area and stand behind a Decoy in case he opens with a charge, then as you see him coming cast a Valkeryie behind him. This will force him to Zeal behind him, giving you more time to place CS attacks of your own. All his precious defense won’t mean a thing against a Sidewinder. You can’t usually run Paladins through poison cloud after poison cloud to wear down their life globe as their Charge and/or Vigor is usually much faster than your own FRW. Again, you must use terrain to your advantage in this duel. Stay in and around “puddled” areas to help counter his Charge.

V/T- ****
This is a very item dependent duel. You will need a 4-socketed shield with multiple perfect topazes as well as one form of absorb, usually achieved from a Thundergod’s Vigor or a Wisp Projector. Also make sure you have an acceptable amount of FHR and PDR to combat Smite. These duels can vary so much depending on the play style of your opponents. In some, they will open with Charge, in others they will try to get a Conviction lock for FoH right away, and in others still they’ll simply walk at you with Smite. Just keep pumping the air with poison and adapt to the different situations. Keep him guessing between poisonings with GA pot shots, but always make sure to switch to your 4 PTopaz shield when your opponent is going for the Conviction lock.


===SORCERESSES===
Blizzard- ***
This is another very item dependent duel. For this one, you’ll want to put on your 4 Perfect Sapphire shield (and Thawing potions). That is 160% stacked cold resist on one item. Dart around in a sporadic manner and don’t let them force you to the edge of the map. Use Guided Arrow potshots to plink away at life and keep them on edge. Your poison can be useful against sloppy teleporters but otherwise it’s almost as useless as your CS. Even with enormous resistances, Blizzard still hurts very badly so you must do your best to avoid their attacks. Treat them like a V/T in that you don’t want to be caught with your bow out when they drop one of their attacks on you. The occasional arrow volley or Lightning keeps them weary and again you’ll probably have to rely on poison clouds to lower their life. Unless you can get them with one of your Poison/Plague Javelins this duel can be a tough match. Just play it safe and smart and you can usually come out fine.

*Note on Energy Shield Sorceress variants, poison and open wounds bypass it, making Poison Javelin your best friend in these match ups.

===Thanks===
* Icebird’s “Halo” and Solaris’ “venom_lance” for the inspiration needed to make this variant
* The collective SPTN, you guys are great
* sam manzanza, Kabal, TDK, and all the others who helped me test