Coordinate your ter'angreal before you attack
Before you go on the offensive, preshuffle your Ter'Angreal in accordance with your planned mode of attack. I have never asked anyone, but I am convinced that all of the good players do this. Coordinating your Ter'Angreal makes your attacks more effective and improves your defense by eliminating any need to switch from one TA to another within a hand. You need only switch from one hand to another. Here are some examples of patterns that I use:
If you are going to attack with Fireball you should ready Soul Barb in Hand 2, Fire Shield in Hand 3, Shift in Hand 4, Unravel in Hand 5, and Freeze in Hand 6. Soul Barb will keep an opponent from shooting back at you. When you a using Fireball you can't afford to wait for seeking weapons to reach you in order to Reflect them so Shift is the one you want ready. Freeze offers you a potent combination attack.
If you are going to attack with Seeker or Decay you should ready Earth Tremor in Hand 1, Fire or Air (for Seeker) or Water or Spirit (for Decay) in Hand 3, Reflect in Hand 4, Unravel in Hand 5, and Whirlwind in Hand 6. Earth Tremor will keep people from pursuing you with Fireball and the shields will counter your attacks if they are Reflected back at you. Since you generally won't be in close combat when you are firing seeking weapons Reflect is the defensive ter'angreal of choice. Whirlwind will prevent your opponents from running away from your attacks.
If you are going to attack with Balefire you should ready Spirit Shield in Hand 3, Shift in Hand 4, Unravel in Hand 5, and Freeze in Hand 6. Spirit Shield will counter any Soul Barbs an alert opponent will send your way, Shift will give you quick defense, and Freeze for the combination attack. Reflect is also a good defensive ter'angreal to ready with Balefire if you are camping.
Absorb should be readied in Hand 4 if you are going to counter-attack someone that is using Chain Lightning or Freeze.
Don't Dawdle
When you are in an Arena match your behavior will cycle through different modes. At any given time you will be arranging your Ter'Angreal, attacking, healing, gathering, etc. When choosing your course of action, be decisive. Decide what to do and then hop to it. If you take your time choosing your next move or skulk in a corner to gather your wits and rest frayed nerves you will fall behind on the scoreboard. Try to let as little time as possible pass between attacks. When you are up against good players this is very important because you will need to score quickly in order to win.
Use Freeze and Fire Shield in combination attacks as soon as you get them.
Nothing will get you kills faster than combination attacks, and Freeze and Fire Shield are the best combination Ter'Angreal. As soon as you get them, look for opportunities to use them. Combinations work best in congested areas where your opponent has little room to maneuver, especially combinations with Fire Shield. Dying with either of these Ter'Angreal in your bag is a cardinal sin.
Don't over-rely on seeking weapons
Seeking weapons are a low-risk means of attack but they are also low reward, especially against skilled opponents. If you use them exclusively you will score at a much slower rate than other players. Fireball, Balefire, and combination attacks will get you kills much faster. Do not neglect them, though. There are always players respawning and, as mentioned in Part 1, even if they don't get you kills you are distracting opponents and making them consume defensive resources. Forcing someone to gather more Shifts and Reflects will buy you time to get more kills.
Don't go overboard with creative kills
Nothing beats a creative kill for sheer entertainment value, but they won't win you very many Arena matches. Creative kills are high-risk means of attack and by now we all know that dying is a Very Bad Thing. Another disadvantage of creative killing is that you have to wait for a victim to come to you. This results in slow kills, another Very Bad Thing. The Whirlwind-someone-onto-Explosive Wards creative kill is the only exception that I can think of. It is safe and relatively fast if you set up shop in a good spot.
Take advantage of acid and lava pits
Acid and lava pits are put into maps for a reason. They are there to dunk people in. You can use them to rack up kills very quickly. Use Whirlwind rather than Swap Places, it is much faster and safer.
Don't let Explosive Wards languish in your bag
If you pick up Explosive Wards take the time to place them, it only takes a few seconds. If you put them in a good spot, you might get a kill. Just don't forget where you put them.
Play the style that is appropriate to the map
Every map has it's own style and, in them, certain strategies will be more effective than others. When you are learning each map, pay attention to what works and what doesn't. Some maps are radically different from others. Two of these are Odium's Obloquy and Cacophony of Silence. I hated playing in these maps at first because I didn't "get" how they were supposed to be played. In these maps there are very few defensive and healing Ter'Angreal to be had, and, in order to win in them, you have to adapt your playing style. Everything I said before about staying alive and defense first is out the window in these two maps. You are going to die and die often, the trick is making everyone else die faster. Go on offense as soon as you find a Ter'Angreal better than Dart. If you are lucky enough to get a seeking ter'angreal launch every shot ASAP, regardless of whether or not you can defend against it. It is very unlikely that anyone will have Reflect in these maps. Use the lava pit in Odium's Obloquy whenever you get Whirlwind. Keep in mind that the offense first mentality that you need in these maps is the exception, rather than the norm.
There is no way one person can write an all-inclusive strategy guide that covers all aspects of a game as complex as WoT. I have listed everything that I know but am sure that there is much more. Hopefully, it will be enough to help you become competitive.
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