Guild Wars 2

I’ve played GW2 a decent amount of time, Read forum post, watched videos, a bit research. And I just recently discovered combos…

Am i on the fault for not knowing about combos early on playing the game?

or should they have included tutorials about it? or if they already had which part? because I have not notice it..

p.s my bad if i should blame myself. XD

they seem like more of a passing thought than a core part of the game. never really elaborated on or even emphasized to use. 2 years in and I never see anyone try to combo

The game completely fails to tell you about them or how they work. Even the NPE doesn’t touch on them from what I’ve seen.

They tried to make using them part of the dailies, at one point. It turned out to be horribly bugged and they had to scrap the idea.

yerok.5469:

they seem like more of a passing thought than a core part of the game. never really elaborated on or even emphasized to use. 2 years in and I never see anyone try to combo

Combos are a core part of the game and what sets GW2 apart from alot of other games in its genre.

nirvana.8245:

yerok.5469:

they seem like more of a passing thought than a core part of the game. never really elaborated on or even emphasized to use. 2 years in and I never see anyone try to combo

Combos are a core part of the game and what sets GW2 apart from alot of other games in its genre.

No Sir. the combo system idea is definitely not a new concept i can name a ton of MMOs with a combo system and dozens that implemented it much better.

FFXI for instance released in 02 and had a combo system where each party member had to skill at cretin times and places(IE: monk stands in front and skills, thief gets behind mob and sneak attacks while a black mages has had the appropriate spell casting and timed it perfectly at end of combo for a massive damage increasing magic burst.)

do you guys have any video guide about this? with all the profession?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Combo

Combos are barely touched upon during the NPE as a hint type description (in high lvl 40s somewhere,I believe).

In two years of play, whether trying to or not, I don’t think it’s possible to not make a combo.

They are in NO WAY just obscure, ambiguous part of the game. The highest tiers of play utilize combos as if it was part of their build/group comp. Even low-medium level play will still make use of combos even if they don’t realize that they are.

Competent, purposeful use of combos is what makes dungeon speed clearing groups, excellent wvw havok groups, and top tier PvP groups what they are.

This is as fundamental as dodging IMHO.

*Hint: If an Ele tells you to “plz stop spamming your symbols/wells/random feedback/null field”, it is b/c they’re trying to dramatically increase the party’s DPs. It’s not because of silly partical effects.

(Yes I actually had a Guardian in a PuG dungeon tell me, " Get a better rig noob!")

I f you are trying to benchmark whether or not you are slow, I have been playing them from launch and discovered them about 6 months in I think

And I probably only knew how to use them properly about 12 months in.

Sube Dai.8496:

I f you are trying to benchmark whether or not you are slow, I have been playing them from launch and discovered them about 6 months in I think

And I probably only knew how to use them properly about 12 months in.

did you get any advantage when you knew how to use them properly?

yerok.5469:

nirvana.8245:

yerok.5469:

they seem like more of a passing thought than a core part of the game. never really elaborated on or even emphasized to use. 2 years in and I never see anyone try to combo

Combos are a core part of the game and what sets GW2 apart from alot of other games in its genre.

No Sir. the combo system idea is definitely not a new concept i can name a ton of MMOs with a combo system and dozens that implemented it much better.

FFXI for instance released in 02 and had a combo system where each party member had to skill at cretin times and places(IE: monk stands in front and skills, thief gets behind mob and sneak attacks while a black mages has had the appropriate spell casting and timed it perfectly at end of combo for a massive damage increasing magic burst.)

You never actually disagreed with anything I said, yet delivered it as though you were correcting me. Did you understand what I said correctly?

Zygomaticus.7469:

Sube Dai.8496:

I f you are trying to benchmark whether or not you are slow, I have been playing them from launch and discovered them about 6 months in I think

And I probably only knew how to use them properly about 12 months in.

did you get any advantage when you knew how to use them properly?

Check out the link the guy above provided regarding combos as they show you what you can get from them.

I’m not sure how much patches have changed things, but these are the go-to charts for me.

http://i.imgur.com/RYj5h.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/UAwyv.png

As far as advantages – yes. Even playing solo, using combos makes a dramatic difference.

nirvana.8245:

yerok.5469:

they seem like more of a passing thought than a core part of the game. never really elaborated on or even emphasized to use. 2 years in and I never see anyone try to combo

Combos are a core part of the game and what sets GW2 apart from alot of other games in its genre.

No.

Fire fields with blast finishers are important everywhere, water and light fields with blast finishers are important in WvW . That leaves the remainder, being nearly the entire combo system, as an unimportant afterthought that never sees use except by happenstance, or deliberately manufactured combos like on the necro staff.

This seems relevant

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Show-how-to-get-combo-effects-in-game/first#post4433751

Zygomaticus.7469:

Sube Dai.8496:

I f you are trying to benchmark whether or not you are slow, I have been playing them from launch and discovered them about 6 months in I think

And I probably only knew how to use them properly about 12 months in.

did you get any advantage when you knew how to use them properly?

Blasting water fields is a huge advantage in all game modes.

That means using a blast finisher like Ranger Warhorn on a water field like Healing Spring.

After that I would say blasting fire fields for might, and smoke fields for stealth.

The rest I would say the benefits are not as noticeable.

ANet could seriously use a combo tutorial. I’ve played for these 2 years but mostly solo or with one other. I still know little about combos and how to do them.

Profession specific NPCs that can lay down combo fields for players to interact with would be ideal to teach what they look like, how to interact with them and what the interactions look like.

By the hair of Zeus’s armpit!

Like this game doesn’t have enough hand-holding after the last update. Want Anet to tuck you into bed and read you a story at napnap time?

Wiki/combo/stop being lazy.

Combo are a cool part of the game I think. I’d like combo fields to be able to stack though.

One of the first things you learn in any WvW squad or dungeon running group is how to stack Might….

fireflyry.7023:

By the hair of Zeus’s armpit!

Like this game doesn’t have enough hand-holding after the last update. Want Anet to tuck you into bed and read you a story at napnap time?

Wiki/combo/stop being lazy.

I read it. But reading isn’t the same as seeing and seeing at random without explanation isn’t the same as seeing while being taught.

Maybe you are one of those lucky individuals who can read an explanation in a book and that’s good enough for you. But different people learn differently. Some can learn by reading while others need to see and practice. Practicing something is best done when it’s laid out and explained, not when some unknown field lands in front of you in a fight and you don’t know what it is. Sure, it’s possible to learn that way, slowly and inefficiently, but possible.

If you are one of the lucky people who can learn by reading and by using unlabeled randomly applied fields in game, well good for you. I learn better in a structured environment which is why I ask for a tutorial.

MMORPG’s should always have an aspect, be it story or in-game mechanics, that involves and entails effort on the part of the player to discover. It add’s to the depth and reward of the game as a whole.

Just my opinion mind you, but I hate MMORPG’s that play like a “For Dummies” handbook whereby they explain every aspect from day one…or twenty for that matter.

Fact is your being lazy and you want the game to explain everything to you. Learning for yourself, forums like this, or even better off vets/guildies/friends, is VASTLY more rewarding. Pretty sure Anet intentionally designed it that way.

Am I the only one around here using projectile finisher to poison/burn someone if he evaded the actual burn/poison skill?

yerok.5469:

they seem like more of a passing thought than a core part of the game. never really elaborated on or even emphasized to use. 2 years in and I never see anyone try to combo

I see combos used quite a bit in WvW. On rams that are taking damage/condi for example.

Outside of that I rarely see people try to combo. It usually just happens.

This game needs more lightning fields. . .

Also think they could stand to exchange whirl finisher bolts to whirl finisher waves (hits in an aoe). Also, add torment to some combo somewhere.

Astral Projections.7320:

ANet could seriously use a combo tutorial. I’ve played for these 2 years but mostly solo or with one other. I still know little about combos and how to do them.

Profession specific NPCs that can lay down combo fields for players to interact with would be ideal to teach what they look like, how to interact with them and what the interactions look like.

I like your suggestion of NPCs that can actually SHOW you what it looks like when someone puts down a combo field. I’m one of those people that doesn’t really get much out of reading about these combos. I really don’t get what this will look like, so how do I know when I need to use finisher? I’m sure that knowing WHEN to use your own fields/finishers would be something really useful to players. How about that ANet?? Hmmmmm? I’m sure even those with lower brain functions can dodge and press 1. How about some lessons on combos; something that is actually needed in this game??

the funny thing is this NPE, to my knowledge, didn’t even bother to tell players that combo fields were a thing.

you are not blamed for not knowing. you essentially have to accidentally discover it, have someone tell you, or read the wiki to even know what they do.

fireflyry.7023:

MMORPG’s should always have an aspect, be it story or in-game mechanics, that involves and entails effort on the part of the player to discover. It add’s to the depth and reward of the game as a whole.

Just my opinion mind you, but I hate MMORPG’s that play like a “For Dummies” handbook whereby they explain every aspect from day one…or twenty for that matter.

Fact is your being lazy and you want the game to explain everything to you. Learning for yourself, forums like this, or even better off vets/guildies/friends, is VASTLY more rewarding. Pretty sure Anet intentionally designed it that way.

PvP has a tutorial that shows players important elements of PvP, the downstate, reviving, stomping downed enemies, and capture points. Why don’t they expect people to read a forum here? Or ask people in game?

Sure I can read a few lines of text of ask guildies to explain (more lines of text). But that’s not the same as seeing fields put out in front of me that I know what they are and learning by exploring what I can do with them. Why is it laziness If someone is willing to spend time learning how do something? Just because the learning is structured is not a sign of laziness. (And it’s a very judgmental thing to say. I do hope you don’t teach people if you believe that structured learning is a sign of laziness).

No one is asking for you to do it if you don’t wish to but even at level 80 I’ve seen people not know how to dodge or how to use combos.

I dunno, I pretty much worked out what combos were and (sort of) how to execute them within the first couple of HOURS of playing this game when I first bought it.
I’m pretty sure there was a little text box that said “you just did a combo etc etc” and then I was like “Combo?” > google gw2 combos.

I think attentive players have no problem, people who are really not paying attention probably dont know about them. In general I don’t think the game does enough to explain combos, boons, cc and conditions to new players

I don’t understand peoples’ need to put down other players because we find a concept somewhat hard to grasp by reading about it. I guess we are all just dumb morons in your eyes. I see where the toxicity of the playerbase lies.

Personally I mouse over my skills and read them. No need for google. Perhaps for some classes or for those that dont experiment. And no youre not dumb morons. Just different. I agree there should be a tutorial but part of me wants to scream “RTFM”. I find that the people who dont know how to do thing like that are usually the people who made no attempt to learn in the first place.

an example. I cant remember which is unbound by default “walk or holster weapon” Does there need to be a tut telling people press escape and go to options then hit keybinds?

And then ofcourse it goes into the complexity of the tutorial. How much is too much? Is it going to be profession specific? Weapon? Finisher? Can they list the basics and assume that the player will be intrigued enough to experiment with other finishers and fields? I sure dont know and wont profess to know.

maybe a big field with all the different combo fields and npc’s leaping into each one. then another row with them firing, then another blasting. But then they would have to list each skill that is a blast finishercuz reading is ….???.. I dont know I didnt experience that problem and Ive yet to see a person say they actually read the tool tips and didnt get an understanding of the combo’s.

also unlabelled randomly applied fields? I may be mistaken but cant pretty much every profession make their own fields and finishers? I suppose if you are somehow permanently glued to a zerg that may be hard to differentiate.

Actually this makes me really makes me like the NPE.(assuming its making the players more knowledgable) I always thought one of the first things you do is mouse over your skills to see what they do but now I understand why people say things like “gw2 is just a button masher” People randomly press buttons and win with no idea of what they do.

ozmaniandevil.6805:

I don’t understand peoples’ need to put down other players because we find a concept somewhat hard to grasp by reading about it. I guess we are all just dumb morons in your eyes. I see where the toxicity of the playerbase lies.

Try not to be too sensitive about forum posters. Just like anywhere on the internet, there are just some that will post the opinion that’s off the top of their head, whether it’s abrasive or not. Just don’t take things too seriously on the net.

The idea of a tutorial type of deal added to aid players, I don’t think anyone would oppose. It doesn’t harm anyone and so long as vet players can bypass it, no one would have room to complain about it being added. And that’s a fact.

Personally, I think they should just add some situations where fields are abundant. Like a mission where you escort an NPC across a portion of the map and the NPC creates a field of some sort. But to cement the point of the NPC, have the field she creates “reveal” the enemies that are attacking, so their field is present before the enemies therefore it’s guaranteed a combo will occur while dispatching the enemy.

My only problem with combos is that, they seem very very lackluster outside of a build that doesn’t harness their potential to its nth degree. I.e. combos are only as potent as your min/maxed set-up. I feel that new players actually do perform combos but lots of times they simply don’t notice they did because the effects (both visually and mechanically) are not very noticeable.

To change that, however, is another topic…

I remember taking a vacation in my 20s with a friend, a smart A+ student. We were going to Colorado to camp in the mountains. Now she obviously had read about mountains and had seen pictures. But she didn’t know (in a true sense) what a mountain looked like. I found this out because as we were driving she pointed at this little hill and asked me, “Is that a mountain?” It’s only till we got there and actually climbed a mountain that she understood. And she was a smart gal.

The point of this story is that reading only takes you so far. For some people unstructured random learning only takes them so far. Some people do need to have somethings set in front of them to learn. This is not a sign of laziness but a sign of difference in learning ability.

There used to be a daily that required you to make combos with another player. It confused the crap out of everyone, so ANet eventually removed it. It’s not the players’ fault that a core mechanic is never fully explained in-game. I mean, I didn’t get the hang of combos until I started playing ele recently.

Hey Leo, thanks for the reality check I’m having a bad day, as probably anyone can see by all the posts I’ve made today LOL. I need to take a breath and let it go.

Anyway, I would really appreciate some sort of NPC-led tutorial about combos. If this is something you actually have to go to, rather than something all players are forced to do, I think that would be best. That way, vets don’t need to do it if they don’t want to or if they already know everything. But maybe a popup stating “hey, combos are a thing, visit Mr. Combo Magic in LA to find out how to use them” would not be over the top?

ofcourse ofcourse I dont think anyone is arguing against a tutorial or that different types of teaching should be encouraged. Its what type of tutorial will be enough?

Vindictus had a little video pop up showing the combo’s in action. Then you could go into a menu and see the text and if desired a small video of the combo being executed on a mob.

The fields are great but what if the person doing it has a staff and is a necro. To fully realise combo’s one sorta has to be ele, warrior. I mean there are so many combinations leaping into all fields doesnt do the same thing (aura’s).
Maybe small videos?

It would probably have to be personalized to each profession also.

Just watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFtJOQgHiLw

I love combos. I try to set them up and use them all the time. Warrior has some decent whirl finishers, and leap finishers. Elementalist and might stacking combos are almost a requirement. Staff eles also have some combos they can setup and use them selves. I personally like using lightning fields for area swiftness when escourting yaks in WvW

DonQuack.9025:

ofcourse ofcourse I dont think anyone is arguing against a tutorial or that different types of teaching should be encouraged. Its what type of tutorial will be enough?

Vindictus had a little video pop up showing the combo’s in action. Then you could go into a menu and see the text and if desired a small video of the combo being executed on a mob.

The fields are great but what if the person doing it has a staff and is a necro. To fully realise combo’s one sorta has to be ele, warrior. I mean there are so many combinations leaping into all fields doesnt do the same thing (aura’s).
Maybe small videos?

It would probably have to be personalized to each profession also.

Just watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFtJOQgHiLw

fireflyry.7023 is specifically arguing against tutorials and calling anyone who wants them lazy so yes, there are people against different types of teaching that are different from how they learn best or enjoy learning.

What I suggested earlier was NPCs who when you interact with them lay down combo fields that you, on your character, can interact with by shooting through, jumping on, hitting, etc. They can say something like “Smoke field” and put it down. They can even put the skill name in chat (Black Powder) so you can mouse over it and read it.

People can then learn at their leisure and go back for refresher courses when they want to learn even more.

ozmaniandevil.6805:

Hey Leo, thanks for the reality check I’m having a bad day, as probably anyone can see by all the posts I’ve made today LOL. I need to take a breath and let it go.

Anyway, I would really appreciate some sort of NPC-led tutorial about combos. If this is something you actually have to go to, rather than something all players are forced to do, I think that would be best. That way, vets don’t need to do it if they don’t want to or if they already know everything. But maybe a popup stating “hey, combos are a thing, visit Mr. Combo Magic in LA to find out how to use them” would not be over the top?

I wasn’t having a go, If you read all my post you would see that I actually agree that more needs to be put in to help new players learn about combos, amongst other things. I must have got to about level 75 on my Guardian (first toon) before I realised the importance of stability boon in the game.

@ozmaniandevil
Np. I’d say my message would go out to anyone posting too because occasionally I like to post something snarky or sharp, if only to provoke a reply out of people. I noticed people tend to speak more often and more loudly against those types of messages and polite stuff is glossed over.

Regarding the comment about what if you’re a staff necro, etc. that is probably the main issue with a combo tutorial. Some players simply won’t have finishers to use at the time. Sure you can give the player a bundle or pick-up to use with various finishers, but that’s a whole other barrel of fish. It might just confuse players further.

TrOtskY.5927:

ozmaniandevil.6805:

Hey Leo, thanks for the reality check I’m having a bad day, as probably anyone can see by all the posts I’ve made today LOL. I need to take a breath and let it go.

Anyway, I would really appreciate some sort of NPC-led tutorial about combos. If this is something you actually have to go to, rather than something all players are forced to do, I think that would be best. That way, vets don’t need to do it if they don’t want to or if they already know everything. But maybe a popup stating “hey, combos are a thing, visit Mr. Combo Magic in LA to find out how to use them” would not be over the top?

I wasn’t having a go, If you read all my post you would see that I actually agree that more needs to be put in to help new players learn about combos, amongst other things. I must have got to about level 75 on my Guardian (first toon) before I realised the importance of stability boon in the game.

Elementalist should be a requirement for all players when they first start :P

Or perhaps the aspects of Elementalists should be studied and applied to more professions, since, IMO, ele covers a very large portion of what the game offers so one has an increased opportunity to master more aspects of the game.

I know dagger ele was what I aimed to start out with (picked up a dagger asap) and it had a lot to tell me about the game very quickly.

Astral Projections.7320:

What I suggested earlier was NPCs who when you interact with them lay down combo fields that you, on your character, can interact with by shooting through, jumping on, hitting, etc. They can say something like “Smoke field” and put it down. They can even put the skill name in chat (Black Powder) so you can mouse over it and read it.

People can then learn at their leisure and go back for refresher courses when they want to learn even more.

Thats nice but targeted primarily towards combo finishing. Shows nothing about placing your own fields, or the order.
Perhaps that can be Combo Finishing Tutorial then have another one for placement? For the professions/ weapons that place more fields than they finish.

DonQuack.9025:

Astral Projections.7320:

What I suggested earlier was NPCs who when you interact with them lay down combo fields that you, on your character, can interact with by shooting through, jumping on, hitting, etc. They can say something like “Smoke field” and put it down. They can even put the skill name in chat (Black Powder) so you can mouse over it and read it.

People can then learn at their leisure and go back for refresher courses when they want to learn even more.

Thats nice but targeted primarily towards combo finishing. Shows nothing about placing your own fields, or the order.
Perhaps that can be Combo Finishing Tutorial then have another one for placement? For the professions/ weapons that place more fields than they finish.

Yah. Those get done so automatically as players use their skills that I’m not sure how to teach them differently. I suppose they could speak to the NPC of their profession and have it lay down the fields while putting them in chat.

My thief is powered by Combos to get invisible and my engineer builds up her might with combo fields. My ranger uses combo fields to heal better and my Mesmer boosts confusion with combo fields and … well heh… all my characters except my warrior uses combo field as something important to their build.

To the OP, I don’t think I can explain well how combo fields works but it is very good to be aware of them atleast in controlled fights and not stackbangboom scenarios or zerg events but in controlled fights combo fields and timing them with blasts and more can do alot of difference… atleast in PvP.

Funny, I was just thinking about this the other night while looking at the AP panel, I got the achievement for doing it 1000 times without even knowing I was involved in the success of a combo field.

You can find the achievement under Community: Team Work Gets It Done.

If you would like me to take you through a combo tutorial just hit me up in game. I’ve taught dozens of new players the basics over time. Especially aspiring dungeon runners. It’s not really that complicated and will change the way you spam…uhmm…I mean, use some of your skills.