Guild Wars 2

This is actually something nice to include, I wonder if we can choose the location, or how it works. Maybe we choose a waypoint and it takes us and our friends there, With this we can actually help those people who can not get to certain place, but also this will contribute to CoF as leveling system if we will be able to get to ANY place with it.

I’m thinking the Personal portal will be a free way to travel to Lion’s Arch as well as the other home cities.

Since it is a “personal portal” I would imagine it works only for you, not your friends.

If so, it will probably be prohibitively expensive, just like all the other “quality of life” permanent items we don’t actually need. RE: Portable crafting tables, bank access, merchants etc, all of which are made moot by the ability to go straight to WvW from anywhere.

“You might even find the recipe to assemble a Watchwork Portal Device, allowing you to create a personal portal!”

That leads me to believe a recipe will drop via RNG that will allow you to craft the portal device (wonder which profession). No idea if it will become account bound on crafting, or if it will be something a player can sell on the TP though.

Leads me to believe the personal portal will also not be permanent, but have limited use charges.

Maybe instead of a certain profession being able to craft it, only Asuran characters can craft it. Goes well with the theme of Tyria racial strengths

Wonder if it would work from within a dungeon…

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize thakittens a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

And will we be able to use this skill in WvW/sPvP/Dungeons? Or just open world.

I’m incredibly wary of this. It sounds very close to P2W where you can pay a lot of gold to get access to an incredibly powerful skill.

Ursan.7846:

I’m incredibly wary of this. It sounds very close to P2W where you can pay a lot of gold to get access to an incredibly powerful skill.

Why assume the materials and/or recipe/item will be tradeable?

Ursan.7846:

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize thakittens a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

And will we be able to use this skill in WvW/sPvP/Dungeons? Or just open world.

I’m incredibly wary of this. It sounds very close to P2W where you can pay a lot of gold to get access to an incredibly powerful skill.

Uh, since you can’t use most bundle consumables in sPvP and WvW (…anymore) you obviously won’t be able to use this portal thing in those game modes.

If you’re worried that using a portal will be OP in PvE… er, just roll a mesmer, it’s the same thing and you don’t have to pay “money” to get unlimited uses

The problem isn’t whether it’s OP or not. It’s the fact that something that significantly impacts gameplay is gated behind a hefty amount of grind/luck/money (however they implement it).

I remain wary, but I won’t judge until its implementation. If it’s reasonable (Like traits. leveling to lvl 80 to get all your traits takes time, but it isn’t a massive grind by any stretch of the imagination) then I don’t see a problem. However, Anthony’s wording (recipe is quite rare…) makes somewhat pessimistic…

Well there goes my will to even try for this. I’ll stick to my alt Mesmer for helping friends with JP’s.

I’m curious if we get access to other professions Utility Skills for consistency. Kind of annoying to have a profession skill invalidated. Or rather, get rid of portal on Mesmers and give us something us equally as useful, but for combat.

Why should we craft a one time use portal that costs heaps of materials etc?
In which situation could it be useful/ justified to create an expensive portal that we can use one (?) time? What is the advantage of this portal?

Is it similar to the mesmer’s portal or “better”? Why not take my mesmer if in need of a portal?

I don’t understand how that new portal would justify to need considerable resources to be manufactured.

So, will other players be able to use this “mesmer-like portal”? Only ask because it does have “personal” in the title which seems a bit confusing.

I guess we will have to wait and see how the mechanics work on this portal, but I don’t think mesmers have too much to worry about, nor do I think it invalidates their utility skill… and I main a mesmer!

It does invalidate it by definition. It is no longer profession specific, that is the point of a profession specific skill. Unless they balance it across the board by sharing everyone elses skills, I’d rather they just give Mesmers a new skill that we can actually use outside of portalbombing in combat.

Uh, i wrongly assumed it was a “portal” as in “gate to go in a town”. Guess it isn’t that useful then.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize that it’s a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

Yup, I’m disappointed.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize that it’s a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

One use only with rare materials?

At least there are plans to introduce similar mechanics in other professions skills? Mesmers are the most wanted profession at Jumping Puzzles and WvW because of their unique skill, I was hoping for it to become more universal with this item (and in adition to being so valuable for community teamwork over maps, it’s the only case where only one profession can do something).

Aw. Well that went from first on my event to do list to last if at all. I was expecting something similar to hearth stone that let you go to your home capital, or instance, from anywhere in the game for free.

A consumable that copies another professions elite isn’t nearly as enticing. Maybe because I have already had access to that skill for a long time.

Ah well, everything cant be for everyone. I’m sure a good portion of people will love it.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize that it’s a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

I hope it won’t be usable in WvW?

Too bad. I was hoping it was a device that would allow you to set a “home point” somewhere in the world that you could teleport back and forth from. As it is, this won’t have any use for me.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize that it’s a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

I urge you to please reconsider this. The implications in WvW aren’t good. (Perma stealth thieves opening portals.) It was also something that was really cool and unique to the Mesmer. As someone who doesn’t even play Mesmer, I don’t want to see the portal just become a generic skill that everyone can have.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize that it’s a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

So it’s basically a mesmer portal. Unless it lasts MUCH longer or has MUCH better range it seems completely useless.

If it wasn’t obvious, this item should be disabled in WvW.

Sukor.1236:

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize that it’s a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

I urge you to please reconsider this. The implications in WvW aren’t good. (Perma stealth thieves opening portals.) It was also something that was really cool and unique to the Mesmer. As someone who doesn’t even play Mesmer, I don’t want to see the portal just become a generic skill that everyone can have.

Note that each portal is single use, takes a lot of resources to make, and we don’t even know if you CAN use it in WvW yet. We don’t even know if a thief places one, could others use it.

Don’t start panicking until we actually know the item could break stuff. Arenanet isn’t stupid, and I’m sure they’ve thought about this.

Ykfox.3825:

Don’t start panicking until we actually know the item could break stuff. Arenanet isn’t stupid, and I’m sure they’ve thought about this.

Well… historically…

Anet gives very little thought to what their additions do to WvW. Hell, I used to be able to crash entire maps with the Mariner’s Horn.

WvW is GW2’s 2nd class citizen.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize that it’s a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

NERF all da mesmers!

The fact is it very rare and takes “considerable resources” to create is why I don’t think it really impacts the fact it is “copying” the mesmer elite skill.

Honestly though, this really should of been something akin to WoW’s Hearthstone or the like. Finding a mesmer isn’t usually too hard for portals, and if the costs are really high then it really makes the whole thing somewhat useless.

Eidola.9148:

The fact is it very rare and takes “considerable resources” to create is why I don’t think it really impacts the fact it is “copying” the mesmer elite skill.

I agree i think that this is going to be like traps in wvw and people will hardly ever use them. Also portal is not an elite skill its just a tier 3 utility.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

The portal is a one-time use consumable that effectively allows you to use a skill that is similar to the mesmer’s portal. We recognize that it’s a very powerful item, so the recipe is quite rare and takes considerable resources to manufacture.

Is a consumable that let you use the skill for a single time or let you LEARN the skill?

pulsecodesgnl.3470:

It does invalidate it by definition. It is no longer profession specific, that is the point of a profession specific skill. Unless they balance it across the board by sharing everyone elses skills, I’d rather they just give Mesmers a new skill that we can actually use outside of portalbombing in combat.

Then they are already doing it – engineers’ Flamethrower and Med Kit are already available to all the classes via consumable items.

Uther Deathhand.1570:

I agree i think that this is going to be like traps in wvw and people will hardly ever use them. Also portal is not an elite skill its just a tier 3 utility.

On the contrary, it now means perma-stealth thieves have a reason to stay in keeps. At present the best they’ve got is resurrecting dead mesmers from stealth, which is much easier to stop.

Give something with permanent invisibility the ability to portal people in, and you’re going to get towers, keeps and Stonemist flipping like burgers.

As a mesmer main, I don’t see this being too terrible of an implementation as long as it is not allowed in WvW or sPvP or the other places consumables aren’t allowed. Also, portal isn’t a mesmer’s elite skill, it is just a utility with a 90/72 second cooldown =)

Ben K.6238:

Uther Deathhand.1570:

I agree i think that this is going to be like traps in wvw and people will hardly ever use them. Also portal is not an elite skill its just a tier 3 utility.

On the contrary, it now means perma-stealth thieves have a reason to stay in keeps. At present the best they’ve got is resurrecting dead mesmers from stealth, which is much easier to stop.

Give something with permanent invisibility the ability to portal people in, and you’re going to get towers, keeps and Stonemist flipping like burgers.

Oh balls your right. guess i better go retrait my thief for perma stealth Seriously with this in mind i really hope that it is not allowed in WvW. Just seems like its too powerful.

So, just to get this right:
You acquire the recipe and – with considerable effort – learn to craft an item (unlimited times, I suppose?) that grants you access to a skill similiar to the funcionality of the mesmer’s portals, and it’s a one-time use?

So you’d have to craft the item 3 times if you’d want to place 3 Portals (e.g. porting your friends through JPs) … which sounds okay, I guess.

No, it sounds like a PvE only utility skill that has a very difficult way to acquire it. Once you learn it, it can be slotted in or out for any other utility skill and has a cool down and functionality similair to the mesmer portal.

It’s basically allowing multiple classes to do the same thing as a mesmer, but they need to grind and RNG to do so. Things like the CoF boulder room are no longer mesmer specific challenges if a player is rich enough.

Gotta say, I’m not a fan of incredibly powerful skills being locked behind RNG and item grinds. It’s very different from an rare skin or even ascended items.

So it’s a one-use item that functions just like the Mesmer’s Portal skill? It’s not like a “hearthstone” that teleports you back to your Home Instance or back again?

Meh, that just put it way down on my list of things to get now. I’ll still get the recipe just to learn it on the appropriate character (I’m guessing Artificer, or maybe Jeweler), but I won’t bother actually crafting any to use. Not when we have free transport back to Lion’s Arch and capital cities are just a waypoint or two away.

I’m still unclear. Does the recipe produce a consumable that creates a portal, or a consumable that unlocks a portal skill?

I’m pretty sure it’s the former, a one-use item that creates a portal and destroys the item in the process.

Sounds like a really convoluted way of implementing a system which is worse than karma vendors. Karma is almost useless as a currency and the inability to spend it on consumables like this (assuming it’s a consumable) is part of the problem.

Why add such a powerful skill if you don’t plan for everyone to be able to access it?

Part of me is wondering if this is a “solution” for players who complain about JP’s or tricky jumps in dungeons/Fractals. No need to wait for Mesmers anymore; any player capable of doing a JP can just use one of these devices and get his party through a tough spot.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

It’s not allowed in WvW or sPvP.

Also to be clear, the recipe is exotic and tradeable, but the output of said recipe is not.

Relieved to hear this won’t be allowed in any PvP mode. Thanks for the clarification.

What an original idea

I can see this portal device becoming ignored by most of the community.

The main reason the portals are used is to bring allies to locations that would be hard or inaccessible to them at their current location. With WvW out of the picture there’s no keep portaling(a good thing anyways) nor portaling in obsidian sanctum.

Beyond this I don’t think there are very many other reasons to use this portal. Let alone one that “takes considerable resources to manufacture.” Additionally, the fact if they really wanted a portal they would have used a mesmer.

For me I will likely never use this unless the cost is minimal (under a silver per use)
Perhaps make it unlimited uses but double the recharge in comparison to the mesmer portal?

I was really hoping for some sort of personal waypoint device. Something that would enable you to teleport to a location of your choosing from anywhere in the game, or at the very least, return you to your race’s home city.

I’m disappointed.

Quarktastic.1027:

I was really hoping for some sort of personal waypoint device. Something that would enable you to teleport to a location of your choosing from anywhere in the game, or at the very least, return you to your race’s home city.

I’m disappointed.

Yeah I was hoping for something like that as well. Seeing as how I have a mes, I’ll likely be ignoring it.

I think the idea is brilliant, only thing I dislike is that to make Portal more relevant in PvE, it would have been ok to simply reduce the CD. :S