Guild Wars 2

Asides from a couple videos on youtube, there’s little information on Howler. After making it, I like the visuals of the actual horn (though I wouldn’t mind if the white part glowed) and the stats are fine. I also like that this horn seemed to be made as the Ranger’s legendary. But, like the actual ranger class, most aspects about the Howler are either annoying or a letdown.
- the added sound effect from the howler doesn’t sound like wolf howls…it sounds like someone is moaning and trying to give me a headache. During the night, unless I sheath my weapon or use another skill, the moaning loops when I use “Call of the Wild.” This loop effect is irritating and should be removed, as I’m sure it also annoys people around me.
-the aura around my character doesn’t seem fantastic enough to suit the status of a legendary. It’s so obvious that the same 2-3 fog particles are just being duplicated and rotated. So much that it doesn’t look like fog because fog doesn’t duplicate and rotate in little packets. Fog is a mass. Also, why is the color minty? Keep it simple; just make it white.
-The footsteps are hardly noticeable and persist for only 2.5 steps before they disappear. They look like dust trails rather than effects of the horn. Most people don’t even realize I have a legendary until they hear the moaning or notice the puffs of dandruff coming off from my character. The water and water droplet effects from unsheathing the horn are nice because they are sharp, but they need to be more pronounced. Also, I think including these in the footsteps and aura would make the them pop more.

I know the Howler won’t be changed anytime soon, and obviously there are tons of other things in gw2 I want to be changed first. I am just informing anyone who is interested in making Howler know of these effects, because they are indeed irritating and a letdown. If I had a video recording program I would show you; in the meantime here are some pictures. Anyways, forgive me if you hear incessant moaning coming from my character.

Although I don’t have it yet (just need T6 fangs and bones and I’m done ), I’ve watched a couple of videos and I agree. I also thought that the “added footsteps” I saw in the patch notes was a mistake, because I could’t see any footsteps. :/

The fog effect around your character is kind of cool, but it should be increased a little, and I don’t really like the water effect when you unsheath it, it doesn’t really make much sense (fog doesn’t really make you that wet), although that might be just me.

Haven’t met many people that have it, so I can’t comment on the howling/moaning sound, but when I asked a norn ranger about it she mentioned the that the howling gets anoying.

All in all, it’s a great looking legendary, and I can’t wait to have it, but the effects could use some work.

I totally agree with the OP.

The footprint needs to be more outstanding… When u want to give a weapon an effect, make sure its visible. Don’t give it an effect that need us to strain our eyes just to notice it, might as well dun give…

Its just like working in ANet. When u work, give your everything ! Don’t give 1/2 !

Give Howler a REAL FULL footprint !

After finding your post I’m doubting starting on Howler. That sound is totally tacky. It should be more howly and way less frequent and regular.

Im very close to getting my howler, and this post is a bit discouraging >.< I know the howler got a wee update a few months ago, but I hope anet sees this and increases the majesty of this weapon, fixing the constant howling and maybe making the footfalls more noticable, maybe replace the choo choo train fog with the pretty water droplets? with smoky fog going up our arm or something?

I wonder if the footprints being short are intentional. I feel the footprints I leave with my bolt are gone sooner than the ones left by the greatswords. I wonder if we are meat to have less footfalls since the legendary weapon’s we have are one-handed vs two-handed.

I have to say the howling loop can get annoying, if at least there was more variety of howls.

And the footfalls, yeah, they last 1 second and a half, unlike other legendaries that leave a trail you can actually follow, and they are less noticeable, because thye look like you are stepping on puddles of water.

Must admit they are very noticeable in dark areas, since they are white with a bit of “splash” effect, and the fog effect around the character its cool, but could be better.

Hope they add intensity to the aura and footfalls, and maybe getting rid of the howling loop unless it sounds cooler, or simply make it howl 3 times at night, instead of 28372873827837283.

Please ANet, make this happen some day.

Like most people here i made a howler about a couple of weeks ago. I never felt bad about it when i used tons and tons of gold for the Howler. I fell in love with the Howler the moment i saw it ( didn’t even cared about the visual effects ) and when i had it i was overjoyed.

I agree with people that the fog isn’t much, it should be little more. big legends like sunrise and twilight are allot flashier then a simple war horn. And they should make the howling noise 3-4 times instead of infinity, and add a little more different howls.

But in the end i made the legendary so i can enjoy its looks and effect’s for myself. Most people might not notice or care but i will always be able to enjoy its mysterious fog effect, and you guys probably think that to to.

I agree with you, OP. It’s sad that there is such a noticeable difference in quality between legendaries. This difference is independent of personal taste, in my opinion, and suggests rushed or inferior design, e.g. your comment about the fog aura being the same particle, just rotating differently. It just looks cheap. And it’s upsetting because there are certain legendaries that fit my weapon preference well, but I’m not going to go for them simply because they aren’t as fine tuned or “legendary” as others.

In my case, I play an axe/mace warrior, and I hardly ever use greatsword, but I’m going for Sunrise anyway because if I’m going to spend 1000+ hours working toward something, it needs to look like it’s worth it. I was initially going to craft Frostfang, but after I had been at the grind for a while, I realized that the movement trailing on Sunrise was just something I had to have. Sure, Frostfang has some subtle movement trailing, but it really doesn’t look much different than the Corrupted weapons’ cold effects.

I actually disagree with some stuff, I feel the aura is perfect, the foot steps I have actually never noticed because I have frostfang aswell, still I would doubt that if it was given a “Real” footprint others in main hand would over right it very easily.

@facepunch, I play axe/mace as well, having frostfang and the corrupted mace this is rather true it is very much the same type of glow. But frostfang is pretty special in its own right and I don’t regret it at all.
I am too going for sunrise atm, them kohomal’il or whatever it is lol but I do an axe/mace gs rotation combo, it puts out a lot more damage than just axe/mace, but thats off topic.

Dempsey.8760:

@facepunch, I play axe/mace as well, having frostfang and the corrupted mace this is rather true it is very much the same type of glow. But frostfang is pretty special in its own right and I don’t regret it at all.
I am too going for sunrise atm, them kohomal’il or whatever it is lol but I do an axe/mace gs rotation combo, it puts out a lot more damage than just axe/mace, but thats off topic.

I do think Frostfang is very cool, but it just doesn’t have the same level of pop that you get with the sunrise trailing effects. If I’m going to be making exactly one legendary (I am), the gap in their visuals make it a no brainer, and I think that’s unfortunate.

I also run the axe/mace/GS combo, but when I need to go ranged for a fight, it’s the axe/mace that I keep, and the GS I switch out, so I’d consider axe my primary.

Facepunch.5710:

Dempsey.8760:

@facepunch, I play axe/mace as well, having frostfang and the corrupted mace this is rather true it is very much the same type of glow. But frostfang is pretty special in its own right and I don’t regret it at all.
I am too going for sunrise atm, them kohomal’il or whatever it is lol but I do an axe/mace gs rotation combo, it puts out a lot more damage than just axe/mace, but thats off topic.

I do think Frostfang is very cool, but it just doesn’t have the same level of pop that you get with the sunrise trailing effects. If I’m going to be making exactly one legendary (I am), the gap in their visuals make it a no brainer, and I think that’s unfortunate.

I also run the axe/mace/GS combo, but when I need to go ranged for a fight, it’s the axe/mace that I keep, and the GS I switch out, so I’d consider axe my primary.

Kamohoali’i Kotaki has some of the most amazing effects in the game, glad I picked up the precursor when I did, yet to make it though.

Having only made howler to compliment frostfang I sometimes fail to notice what its apparently lacking to everyone else.
I love the frosty/misty aura, the animations of the wolf head and moon. The howl could use some work, to aaa sound like a howl this is true but please do not take away my continuous loop. for any that have it and want to annoy people wait till night use a skill, weapon swap, put away weapon, swap back, enjoy.

Well my howler is about complete and I stumbled on this post. Everyone I’ve seen it looks pretty good. I mean for a Necro what else is there really besides Frostfang, but I don’t use an axe as I WvW and the Staff is much better. Just wanted to chime in to the original poster when he said it was a “Ranger” Lengendary. I have to disagree, take a look at the Norn T2 Armor which I’ve had for months now. Look closely and you’ll see it is made for this weapon. Also what it doesn’t show is the small wolf heads that dangle off the bottom of the pants. I’ve had the shoulders which have a wolf head as well and will probably be switching back to them. All in all I think it will be a great Legendary to compliment my necro. Cheers.

My Howler is sitting in my inventory also, not soulbound yet. I just dont know if the effects are to my liking for me to use it, I dont even use a warhorn. The problem is that the howl and moon only shows up at night, I wish another effect occurs during the day also.

Yih.4950:

Asides from a couple videos on youtube, there’s little information on Howler. After making it, I like the visuals of the actual horn (though I wouldn’t mind if the white part glowed) and the stats are fine. I also like that this horn seemed to be made as the Ranger’s legendary. But, like the actual ranger class, most aspects about the Howler are either annoying or a letdown.
- the added sound effect from the howler doesn’t sound like wolf howls…it sounds like someone is moaning and trying to give me a headache. During the night, unless I sheath my weapon or use another skill, the moaning loops when I use “Call of the Wild.” This loop effect is irritating and should be removed, as I’m sure it also annoys people around me.
-the aura around my character doesn’t seem fantastic enough to suit the status of a legendary. It’s so obvious that the same 2-3 fog particles are just being duplicated and rotated. So much that it doesn’t look like fog because fog doesn’t duplicate and rotate in little packets. Fog is a mass. Also, why is the color minty? Keep it simple; just make it white.
-The footsteps are hardly noticeable and persist for only 2.5 steps before they disappear. They look like dust trails rather than effects of the horn. Most people don’t even realize I have a legendary until they hear the moaning or notice the puffs of dandruff coming off from my character. The water and water droplet effects from unsheathing the horn are nice because they are sharp, but they need to be more pronounced. Also, I think including these in the footsteps and aura would make the them pop more.

I know the Howler won’t be changed anytime soon, and obviously there are tons of other things in gw2 I want to be changed first. I am just informing anyone who is interested in making Howler know of these effects, because they are indeed irritating and a letdown. If I had a video recording program I would show you; in the meantime here are some pictures. Anyways, forgive me if you hear incessant moaning coming from my character.

I agree 100% with you. I wish the footfalls were much more noticeable and the constant awful sounding howl is truly getting on my nerves. What is worse is that it doesn’t go away sometimes, even when I try. If I were to swap weapons, it would finally go silent, only to continue the minute I swapped back to my warhorn. I LOVE the aesthetics of this weapon, but everything else about it is either bland or annoying. Minor adjustments would really make this weapon feel truly legendary.

Totally agree with OP. Howler should:
1, footfalls be much more noticeable
2, Reduce constant awful sound, may be just 2~3 loop when wield
3, More noticeable even it is not wield

It would be so awesome if it sounded like Kim Cattrall in Porky’s….

I finally decided to equip it last night and quite annoyed with it. The effects are so buggy. 40% of the time I couldnt get the aura to work, had to weapon swap multiple times.

Himei.5379:

I finally decided to equip it last night and quite annoyed with it. The effects are so buggy. 40% of the time I couldnt get the aura to work, had to weapon swap multiple times.

I’ve rarely had issues with the aura showing, and I’m pretty sure that’s not just Howler and all legendary auras. The only actual glitch about Howler I would say is it howls forever at night-time, but that’s easily remedied by just auto-attacking once.

i like the continus howls just dont like the howl itself that much
the aura is too small and buggy
the footprints no one ever sees
other then that so glad i got it

How long will it take for this to be looked at? It is absolutely worthy of some attention.

There are some really substandard effects in place for this legendary, and I feel like we are getting the short end of the stick somewhat. Don’t get me wrong, it has the potential to be great just like a lot of the others, but currently the incessant howling, and the mist is a bit lacklustre.

I hope this can get acknowledgment by the powers that be, as I am sure that we would all appreciate it.

Yih.4950:

…I also like that this horn seemed to be made as the Ranger’s legendary……

I created Howler a hour ago, and i dont agree….this horn is great for my warrior :-D

The non stop howling is not what bugs me.
What bugs me is this legendary clips through any female Norn rangers leg/knee when wielding it.
With or without armour, it does not matter. I cannot even see the effects when I have it out cause its always inside my characters leg.

Abaddons Acolyte.7438:

The non stop howling is not what bugs me.
What bugs me is this legendary clips through any female Norn rangers leg/knee when wielding it.
With or without armour, it does not matter. I cannot even see the effects when I have it out cause its always inside my characters leg.

It’s an issue for all female offhands.

They hold offhands adjacent to their hand so it will always clip to the knees while males hold it pointing to the back.

New effect on Howler is a tiny ghostly wolf head that lasts for about .75 seconds upon skill use. I have to zoom in to appreciate it; otherwise it looks like a graphical vermiform appendix.

Over the past months, I’ve grown to like the aura from the Howler, especially at night. The footsteps—despite being 10% larger—should still persist longer, and the everlasting moan should still be fixed with a better one or removed.

Could this please be fixed?
On ranger skill #5 the howl continues for the entire skill duration (19 seconds) unless I swing the sword once to make it stop.
Also the clipping while in idle pose (with drawn weapon) is pretty bad – right through the knee.

After all the work on a legendary, those two bugs really ruin it. I can live with the clipping, but the sound bug is very annoying.

Yay! I like that howler does special stuff at night but this repeating sound is pretty awful.

That’s strange. My experience is slightly different – When i use my #5 skill (ranger) the sound loops only like 6-8 times before stopping (as does the bobbing wolf statue), even on resheath it stops eventually.

There are a few rare instances though where it seems like it it howls forever, but it doesn’t really bother me. Even if the ‘endless loop’ (for some) might be addressed at some point, I must say it makes sense for the weapon to howl more than once.. even as it stands (again, speaking for rangers) if the loop was clipped to 4-5x instead of 6-8x it would be an improvement. The biggest issue with Rangers though is the little ghost wolf head… it rarely shows up in completed form -most of the times only up to the neck – on the #4 skill and almost never on the #5 skill. It seems like it has issues firing off along with the standard ranger #5 wolf graphic popup.

The footsteps are also not very noticable when i equip it solo, but i also use mainhand legends so I never get to see Howler’s anyway. Sometimes the sparkles also appear during the day (no moon though, as intended) – strange why it doesn’t sparkle all the time (and more noticably at that).

The aura is really nice tho, imo – please don’t change it!

Keenan Sieg.1493:

I’ll look into it!

Thank you so much! I’ve had this legendary for about 6 months and by now I can sometimes just tune it out…. most other times it’s still super annoying.

<3

It took a dev 8 months to finally be aware of this. Lol. Don’t expect a fix anytime soon. I personally am still waiting for a fix for the legendary spear on ranger (shark only procs on one skill from ranger as opposed to like all warrior skills cough favoritism cough)

There are NO foot globs and I LOVE my howler for it, there are many >kitten near all< that do this cheese filled effect, look for one of them, leave MY Howler(yup mine, I got it) the KITTEN alone. The fog effect is MORE than enough surrounding your character.

I actually found a use for my Howler, in WvW. I run Frostfang/Howler and the combined effects are perfect.

The Fog is just right but it would be cool to have the Omnom Ghost effects imo.

Please don’t fix the looping audio.

I like having folks know when I’m around, especially when I’m in a large WvW zerg. Bonus points if someone complains “what is that horrible moaning sound?”

The howl is so quiet you can only hear it after the noisy skill animation has finished, so if they were to stop the looping, you’d never hear the howl at all.