Is it fair to use healing spells in the arena?

[Alex(ITA)]

I swear it's something that gets on my nerves... from what I understand if someone does PVP in the arena it's because they want a fair fight without the possibility of healing but as much as I think it's disgusting I want to ask the community if is it just me who thinks this way or is it normal

[MULTIPASS]

There is definitely a set of Souls players who think there should be no healing in duels, and another set that thinks spells are okay but no flasks, and other people who have never heard of these made-up rules and just use whatever is allowed by the game. The arena limits your estus, seems like they're suggesting a format where people can heal a little bit and have limited FP - that seems reasonable to me.

[Angel]

course it is, if they're slow enough to let you use it then deserve to feel mad about it

[Tfus]

yes, they let a big opening to attack them so there is a way to counter them

[Lynfinity]

As long as it's not a cheat/glitch/exploit/you name it, it's all a fair game. You have these tools provided to you by the game to gain an upper hand, you use 'em.

If you're inclined to follow an unwritten honor code, then don't hesitate to break it if your opponent disagrees. If he decides to heal, you heal too. Simple as that.

[echo_ML]

If the other person isn't pressuring and just lets you heal, then go for it. It's a super slow windup to heal so if you pull it off its their fault.

[Mikamus]

How dare you spend stat points and try to use them

[cybercybercybercyber4]

its fair under normal circumstances.
if the connection is very laggy, then i think it might get to the point where it stops being fair as youd get windows to heal that otherwise would not exist.

[Xengre]

Healing is fair circumstances.

Even if we put aside the whole "it is part of their build" debate... Healing takes a bit more time to perform than using a flask and there are an entire host of ways to punish it. I mean, time does not stop when they heal. If they're healing what are you doing at that time?

Thus if the opponent successfully heals and you don't either outright prevent it granting an easy win or at least damage them before they can dodge again to invalidate the heal then the issue is clearly you, the player. This is especially true in a fixed arena where it is essentially impossible to create meaningful distance from the opponent. There should be no way, realistically, someone is able to heal and not be punished unless someone is really messing up at which point consider it a lesson on how to properly apply pressure and consider, also, ranged punishers in your setup.

[519B.]

if it wasnt, you wouldnt be able to use them there

[Toast]

In the end it’s a duel. People are gonna play how they want to play. Best way to establish a win, is to beat them, even when you handicap yourself.

[☬ Crow ☬]

Originally posted by Alex(ITA):

I swear it's something that gets on my nerves... from what I understand if someone does PVP in the arena it's because they want a fair fight without the possibility of healing but as much as I think it's disgusting I want to ask the community if is it just me who thinks this way or is it normal :er_heart:

It takes both mind and faith to use healing spells as they require a lot of fp just to cast, and that person put points in to both that you have stacked in to a single damage skill (I'm guessing) so yes, I would say it's fair.

[Tao314zdin]

IMO - depends.

For example:

-if someone just starts to run away until they can break enough distance to heal - that's just sweaty. Being sweaty is not a crime though, so everyone decides for themselves.

-if the opponent is giga-passive and just try to win by backpedaling and chipping you down. IMO I do not feel sorry to take a step back and heal. I think I used it once in the last 20-30 duels.

[mpcgannon]

Nothing in life is fair and people don't think this through to the end. Fair is all things being equal. If all things are equal than how does one win? Not skill because if one player is more skilled, that's not equal. If it's not equal, it's not fair. So what, you want luck? I doubt it, especially if you're on the losing end.
At the end of the day, "fair" sounds like "play in a manor that I feel comfortable with so I have an advantage" which is not, in fact, fair.

[0wnz0r]

if u let somebody get off a heal spell in a duel unpunished, they deserved it. fair game.

[Saru]

It's obnoxious, sure, but if you give them enough distance to heal then that's on you.