Guild Wars 2

I just wanna say bravo to ANet for these updates. I’ll probably be crucified for speaking out in favor of the new trait system, but I wanted to inject just a little bit of positivity into things since I’ve heard almost nothing but complaining since the patch.

Yes, there are FAR fewer total choices you can make with your build. But honestly, how many of those choices actually did anything for you? How many of those choices actually meant anything good for your gameplay or actually made a difference?

The new system not only arranges Traits so that they provide FAR more meaningful choices, but it also makes it far easier to gauge the impact of those choices and find a build. It took me maybe 20 minutes fussing around in the sPvP lobby to spot a staff necro CC build that’s worked surprisingly well for me so far (gotta either make adjustments or learn to deal with incoming burst damage though), as well as five or six other builds I could run, but ultimately don’t suit my personal preferences and playstyle. 20 minutes. In the previous trait system I had to sit there for hours guessing and scratching my head before finally finding something that looked about right, or finding a build online.

And to me, the most important thing of all is that Guild Wars 2 finally feels like a Guild Wars game. I mostly say this because, to me, Guild Wars was all about finding some core mechanic, skill, or combo and basing your build around making that mechanic/skill/combo as useful as possible. Guild Wars 2’s trait system always felt like it was there to support the weapons, but with the new overhaul I feel like I can make my Traits the -entire- backbone of my build, equipping weapons and utility skills that synergize well with the traits I’ve chosen. Maybe this was possible before, but the way it was designed never really made it easy to spot potential builds.

Anyway, just wanted to show ANet my support. As someone who once loathed this game for its story execution and skill/trait system, I can finally say that GW2 captures the magic of the original in a new and exciting way, and it’s finally become the MMORPG I’ve been wishing for.

While I like the slightly simplified trait system, to say someone’s build is useless, which is essentially what you’re asking, is entirely self conceited and pretty much says that you’re an idiot for not following meta.

As for builds that didn’t do anything for us…. Obviously you’ve never seen the awe that is a ridiculously OP banner regen warrior.

But that’s exactly the thing! The new system makes for so many more viable builds, you don’t have to follow the cookie cutter meta to a T in order to have fun and be effective anymore.

I agree LOVE THE CHANGES THANK YOU ANET

You didn’t have to follow the meta before. In fact I’d say there is MORE of a meta now. My engie build? Well it WAS fun to play. Now I have to choose between damage and speed, or staying alive and being left in the dust by others if I miss their speed boosts. My grenade build is meh, and so I’m left with stacking condi to be viable.

My banner build was AWESOME for PvE support and even some WvW support (with a few tweaks), and now there is no more banner build for me unless I want to use a weapon set that I hate, and even then its a shadow of its former self.

While I agree its more of an adjustment issue than an OMG no more builds exist issue, the fact still remains that many builds that people did use and which were viable are now broken and new metas are in place which are also broken in a different way.

I used to delight in seeing how odd of a build I could make and now I feel like I am on rails with builds. This isn’t fun for me and for many others.

Finally? Has this been a to do list item that’s been out of your grasp for a while? Just curious.

I wasn’t convinced by the new trait system until it came live and all started making more sense. Some builds will have to dissappear, some adjusments will have to be made but I join the OP in saying thank you and not only to the devs but also to the art team that pulled a great work with L.A. imho.