Guild Wars 2

Even when developers and designers created 8 unique classes, right now there’s no reason to play more than one.
And even when there are a lot of different stats and weapons a class can use, there’s no reason to play more than just one build.

Why? Because of how time and gold (but specially time) consuming it is to get the best in slot gear.

And I wouldn’t complain if it wasn’t because if this: it didn’t use to be like this, this is not what Anet promised, and exotic gear was the complete opposite.

So, what’s the solution for those who wanna play different classes and builds having the highest stats available?

Here is your current option:
1. Choose a class.
2. Choose between dungeons/fractals, PvE, WvW zerging, roaming.
3. Farm a set of armor, weapons and trinkets for that game aspect you like.
4. Ignore all the rest of the game.*
5. Have fun.

*If you don’t follow #4 you might end up joining speed runs with a full PVT hammer guardian, or running with a zerg trying to tag enemies with a scepter/torch rabbid mesmer.

Yeah, ascended items stink, and gear grind stinks. But lots of players love that kitten, just like lots of people like slot machines and heroin.

If anet doesn’t get their kittens together (the tower LS is possibly a good sign), some other game will come along and do what they set out to do, but better. I expect to see a big player population drop if that ever happens, and anet will deserve every lost player.

Celestial for life <3

And tbh the only upcoming competition is Wildstar and it’s a sub/box/cash shop game, it may not appeal that much.

emikochan.8504:

Celestial for life <3

And tbh the only upcoming competition is Wildstar and it’s a sub/box/cash shop game, it may not appeal that much.

I know there’s not really any competition. That’s why I’m still here.

Are you listening, anet?

You would think that the more alts people play, the more builds people play, the longer it takes for them to get bored of the game. And so you would think Anet would encourage people to play more alts and experiment with more builds. Oh well.

emikochan.8504:

Celestial for life <3

And tbh the only upcoming competition is Wildstar and it’s a sub/box/cash shop game, it may not appeal that much.

Er there’s more competition than just that, coming out at the same time as WS and with a direct competitor to WvW

Lord Kuru.3685:

You would think that the more alts people play, the more builds people play, the longer it takes for them to get bored of the game. And so you would think Anet would encourage people to play more alts and experiment with more builds. Oh well.

Wise words. Wise words… and yet…
Well GW2 has so much build and skill diversity already, right? You don’t need alts…
/sigh

I don’t think a lot of player build experiment. They would look up on forums the most efficient build, tweak it a bit to their liking, and then stick to it.

Ascended don’t discourage builds/classes as you still have exotics.

emikochan.8504:

Celestial for life <3

And tbh the only upcoming competition is Wildstar and it’s a sub/box/cash shop game, it may not appeal that much.

The Elder Scrolls Online….

Protoavis.9107:

emikochan.8504:

Celestial for life <3

And tbh the only upcoming competition is Wildstar and it’s a sub/box/cash shop game, it may not appeal that much.

The Elder Scrolls Online….

Watching the videos, I am not sure if TESO is what I hoped for.
But it is first person, so I can live with the clunky combat.

I tell you something, a proper first person view in GW2 would be nice. It would solve jumping puzzles and immersion a bit. And then they should just burn all ascended gear in a big fire.

Yenn.9185:

I don’t think a lot of player build experiment. They would look up on forums the most efficient build, tweak it a bit to their liking, and then stick to it.

Ascended don’t discourage builds/classes as you still have exotics.

Even if this were true (I personally believe the power creep of Ascended gear will force content to become harder, thus pretty much forcing people to use Ascended gear) people (psychologically) just don’t like to “downgrade” their gear stats from Ascended to exotic, thus discouraging playing with a variety of builds.

Kuru the content is already becoming harder, but the difference in gear between ascended and exotic is never going to be big enough to preclude exotic users.

Just like you can do anything in rares that you would use exotics for, if you’re good enough.

I like having alts- I like running with all sorts of builds and I like having more that one set to choose from.
Exotic is ideal for that- the fact that it is easy to get is plus- it gives you more choice.

Ascended gear is the exact opposite of this

Sure there are some people who like power creep- why should that be my problem?
There are hundreds of game out there where you can grind for stats to your hearts content

And yes I can do everything in exotics- that is not the point-the whole game shifted it’s focus with the introduction of a gear grind- to the detriment of everyone so a few people can grind for gear.

Also as some have said- content is getting harder- it has to because people are running around in Ascended kit when PvE was already easy in exotics.
We will reach a stage where skill will not be enough anymore

My biggest issue with ascended gear is that I don’t know where it is going.

The only game I know well enough to compare is Warcraft.
In Warcraft, you needed gear to progress. You mainly needed the best possible gear to perform well when a new raid instance opened. Once that instance was on farm, the gear you obtained by raiding that particular instance, made it easier to clear every week, but its real purpose was to prepare for the next one.

As such, there was a clear goal with the gear. It was aimed at PVE raiding. You knew why you needed it and what you needed it for.

In gw2, the ascended concept is puzzling to me.
As it is now, I have gathered the materials, but I have not crafted anything yet.

Why not?
Because the way the game is now, I would think the greatest benefit from ascended would be wvw. Ascended is currently not a must have in PVE. However, if there is a plan for ascended to make a difference in PVE as well. A plan that has not yet been revealed. Then I don’t want to craft for wvw and later come to realize, that my choice has limited me in other areas of the game.

I dislike that I don’t understand the purpose of ascended at all in this game. Well in all honesty, I don’t like ascended at all, but a lack of purpose (other than grind) makes me dislike it even more.

The sad thing is that this could be almost entirely solved by making ascended gear account bound. Seems like such a good compromise between different play styles.

TooBz.3065:

The sad thing is that this could be almost entirely solved by making ascended gear account bound. Seems like such a good compromise between different play styles.

Forgive me since I don’t have any but as far as i know it is account bound?

Morrigan.2809:

TooBz.3065:

The sad thing is that this could be almost entirely solved by making ascended gear account bound. Seems like such a good compromise between different play styles.

Forgive me since I don’t have any but as far as i know it is account bound?

Only until you equip it, then it’s soul bound. So let’s say I have many alts, and among them I have a condition engineer with ascended rabid and a warrior with ascended PVT. And I want to try out conditions on my warrior. If I want ascended I need to get a whole new set for the warrior.

This is discouraging. If instead I could get different ascended gear and move it freely between characters, I’d still be grinding my kitten off, it just wouldn’t feel so pointless. Personally, I’d want a Zerker Set, a Rabid Set, a Celestial Set, and a PVT Set that I would share among my 6 level 80 characters.

Morrigan.2809:

TooBz.3065:

The sad thing is that this could be almost entirely solved by making ascended gear account bound. Seems like such a good compromise between different play styles.

Forgive me since I don’t have any but as far as i know it is account bound?

Soulbound on Use.

I changed a lot with my build over time. I experimented a lot they them too.

My engineer never really changed over time, because well i love too much my Grenade. But i went through Full Berserker Gear, then Rampager when the grenade 1 nerft arrived, then i’m currently changing to Radid because now my Engineer is used only in WvW. During this period i also changed a lot my utility skill, using bomb, elixir, elixir gun, etc depending on the time. My trait changed a lot during this time too, i experiment almost all trait combination i could for Grenade build.

For my guardian this was worst. I started the game as a Cleric healing beast, then went into a AH build, continue my journey by changing my trinket to berserker and my gear to Knight and keep in a Anchor build, then switched my trait to DPS oriented and replacing some knight by berserker gear.

These are my two main so there are the one i put the more effort into, but i have 6 others character and i experimented a lot with them. As long as you are in rare or exotic you can easily change your build. Exotic are really not hard to get. But your right that after you made your full ascended gear, you just don’t want to change your gear. You can still move your skills and trait or even your weapons(1 ascended weapons once you have your crafting to 500 is that costly), but changing a full set of ascended gear (especially with the ascended armor coming) is not something you want to do even once.

TooBz.3065:

Morrigan.2809:

TooBz.3065:

The sad thing is that this could be almost entirely solved by making ascended gear account bound. Seems like such a good compromise between different play styles.

Forgive me since I don’t have any but as far as i know it is account bound?

Only until you equip it, then it’s soul bound. So let’s say I have many alts, and among them I have a condition engineer with ascended rabid and a warrior with ascended PVT. And I want to try out conditions on my warrior. If I want ascended I need to get a whole new set for the warrior.

This is discouraging. If instead I could get different ascended gear and move it freely between characters, I’d still be grinding my kitten off, it just wouldn’t feel so pointless. Personally, I’d want a Zerker Set, a Rabid Set, a Celestial Set, and a PVT Set that I would share among my 6 level 80 characters.

ahh I see thanks- yes that sucks

They should seriously unbind armour and stats. Right now I have 5 full sets of exotic armour for my guardian and over 10 different weapons. The current system is very very bad for variety.