Herald of Xotli: PVP Strategy and Tips

General Tips
The Magic X: Using the "x" key to increase your parry percentage will boost your survivability in fights, but will also lower your damage output, this is known as active block. This ability would be best used when 1. You have a large pool of mana available to spam Hellfire 2. The opponent unleashes a fierce combo, you will notice this by a sudden drop in health from the first hit 3. You are relying on DoTs as your primary damage source and finally 4. You are waiting for a Global Cooldown from a key ability such as Hellstep (Yes, x increases ranged parry chance for those pesky rangers) On top of all of it's uses it also WORKS WHILE YOU ARE KNOCKED DOWN, absolutely key for knocback classes.

Rapid Burn: In order to do a rapid burn of a class, particularly melee, you will need to pop Exultation of Xotli, immediately following up with Fire Lance or your next two strongest abilities (Generally Body and Spirit Wrack and Pillar of Flame) Also, if it hasn't been used yet this would be a perfect time to unleash your Desecrating Essence, and make sure Contract of Protection 3+ is up as it gives you a damage boost.

Use Range: Don't just stand in range when you're fighting melee classes, be sure to run in and out of melee range to keep them from dropping their big combos on you. Of course you will want a DoT or two up beforehand, and be sure to use Hellfire Breath every time you pass back in range. Also, don't be afraid to throw or shoot at your opponent when they're out of range, especially once you get a crossbow which can often do as much or more damage than your slash (and also proc flame tongue for when you're back in range!)

Double Tap: Don't forget double tapping a direction can help you quickly evade an oncoming attack. Like the "x" strategy this will use a substantial amount of stamina, while giving a huge boost to your evasion/damage resistance (AA,DD,SS) or adding momentum to your attack for a possible stun(WW).

Start Early: If you're the one starting the fight, don't be afraid to initiate a combo early, especially if it's a long ass combo. Since the combos don't actually accomplish anything until every button is hit you will be fine if you have 3 or 4 of the fire lance buttons pressed before your opponent even sees you, but remember the longer the button sequence the longer the combo length meaning the more time your opponent has to run out of range and avoid some of the swings. Also remember you must have the person targeted during the combo and you can no longer hellstep mid-combo. Although, if you jump the person quick enough you should have the whole combo off and a dead player before they even know what the hell just happened. Either way, a quick Hellstep after them with a nice Hellfire Breath should finish the fight.

Learn What Shields to Use: One who's played each melee class has probably come to realize that each class generally has a certain direction where most of their attacks are based, or at least the strongest ones. Your job as a PVPer is to learn which classes attack from which direction and to adjust your shields accordingly. (Ctrl 1, 2, 3 combinations)

Strategy by Class Type
Soldier Classes (Guardian, Dark Templar, Conqueror): Simply put, this will be a battle of attrition. You will need to put up Burning Skull, Inferno Curse, and Fiery Enervation if you have them. Once they're debuffed and you're buffed open with Molten Steel Slash followed quickly by Burn to Death for the DoT, which is unmitigated by any armor, and then close with Pillar of Infernal Flame or Fire Lance if you have that. If Fire Lance is unavailable your opponent is most likely still standing, meaning you will have to keep up your DoTs and damage until you finally finish him off.

What to Watch For:
Conqueror - Batter Aside (Knockdown). Has a cast time so get out of range.
Guardian - Bloody Vengeance (1hander)/Skewer (Polearm) both can mean alot of quick damage, especially after a charge. Stay in range to avoid the charge damage bonus, either combo WILL come eventually though.

Melee Stealth Types (Assassin and Barbarian):If they sneak up and open on you immediately Word of Command and run out of range to regain your composure and buff if necessary. Once you're ready open with an inferno curse and Molten Steel Slash and Exultation of Xotli to make the rest of the fight relatively simple. Follow it up with either a Pillar of Flame > Body and Spirit Wrack combo or Fire Lance to seal the deal. The main thing to keep in mind is that they can also deal some crazy damage if you stay in melee range too long, so take the fight into your own hands and weave in and out of range, circle them, etc.

What to Watch for:
Barbarian - Cyclone of Steel (Dual Wield): 5 step downward combo. Shields: ^^^
What to Do: Double tap evade and active block. Pay attention and you'll see it coming.

Ranger: If they manage to run by and trap you be sure to catch them in a Word of Command if possible, keeping them within or close to melee range. From there do everything possible to keep in melee range of them, using Hellfire Breath on every cooldown and Burn to Death to keep up the DoT. Your best bet will not be to use Hellstep immediately, but to strafe around the ranger so you miss any traps he probably set. Once you get to a good position to hellstep without the fear of being trapped, be sure to use Exultation of Xotli at this time as it will help finish the fight quickly. If your combo goes of successfully it's almost a guaranteed win.

What to Watch For:
Salvo - Multi hit, High Damage. Shields ^^^
Piercing Shot - Very High Damage. Shields ^^^

Herald of Xotli: Immediately use Phoenix Cloak if it's available, should be an instant win if they don't have it and you're able to completely destroy them. For cases where Phoenix Cloak isn't available you will want to watch for Fire Lance, which the average Herald will open up with if they have it. To counter this stand in range of them for a few seconds and then quickly sprint out of range, repeat this after each use of your shortest combo available until they are dead.

Shields ^^^

Necromancer:Immediately Hellstep and Word of Command the Necro following up with your strongest combo. If Command is ignored or wears of before he dies keep on his ass and spam Hellfire Breath, with Burn to Death when the DoT wears off if it seems like you're gonna spend the next 10min chasing them in a circle.

What to Watch for:
Corpse Detonation - Avoid fighting near a large number of corpses.
Necrotic Bombs - Can cause AoE damage.
Pet Type - Later level melee types can drain mana fast and your combo damage is mitigated across the targets hit (meaning the pets too). Casters are high ranged dps and in many cases may need to be ignored. Crowd control whatever you can, just get to the Necro.

Healer Classes (Tempest of Set, Priest of Mitra, Bear Shaman):Use Burn to Death asap, if you put feat points into this it will help tear apart the caster while you use regular combos. Keeping them stunned with Horrible Visage is absolutely beneficial as well. The key is to out damage the healers heal over time spells, a feat that can be very hard to achieve with lacking fire damage but still possible, even against a Bear Shaman. To help with your damage be sure to polymorph whenever the cooldown is up to add an extra damage of time as well as a rather large jump in fire damage.
What to Watch for:

Bear Shaman - Crush > Wreck Armor. Often follows empowered renewal (+50% damage next attack) and weight of the world(root). Spend more time than usual moving in and out of melee range to lower the odds of this happening.
Priest of Mitra -
Hand of Mitra: 10 second immunity to damage. Root and kite them for the duration if possible.
Repulse - AoE knockback that doesn't result in knockback immunity, but is stopped by it. Weave in and out of melee range if you feel this is a problem.

Demonologist: Open by immediately Hellstepping to the Demo, following with a quick word of command and your most powerful combo. The key here is not to debuff them but to simply burn them down fast, especially if the pet is bound within melee range. Putting up Molten Flesh for fire based Demonologists can be very beneficial in keeping you alive. Once you're in melee range you're pretty much fighting another Herald, simply use Exultation of Xotli and unleash hell, hoping the Command doesn't wear off before he does.

What to Watch for:
Spec: either Havoc (lightning) or Conflagration (fire). For both, stay in range and be ready to WoC when they root you (short and breakable for lightning, longer and unbreakable for fire). If they're fire immediately use Molten Flesh, for Lightning potion up and wait for the root to break.