Guild Wars 2

I feel like this is such a big mechanic that it couldn’t change, but why does revive exist? Why can we also run back to a boss fight after dying? It seems like the game is balanced around dying constantly.

In WoW, combat resurrection was one of the most powerful spells in the game, because bringing a dead ally back to life was that significant. Dying was the worst thing you could do, one too many deaths and the boss fight is lost. In GW2, it feels like death is expected. I can die and be brought back in under 5 seconds, or just go back to a WP and run back to the fight. Not only is it extremely hard to stay alive in the first place, but I don’t feel much obligation to stay alive because death is not a significant drawback.

Any thoughts on this mechanic? I’m guessing this was passed on from GW1, but I never played it. Am I missing something? I’ve only played the first lvl 30 dungeon.

I think it depends.

If someone is in the downed state – revive them. If they die in PvE or WvW then their equipement will get damaged. Also gets them right back in the fight without having to travel to a waypoint.

If someone is defeated – depends. In PvE, I’ll always revive them. In sPvP however, it’s much more easier for them to retreat, as it takes about 20 seconds to revive them when they are defeated.

Also, have a look at what enemy the downed person is attacking. Chances are, if you defeat that enemy, your ally will rally, so there would be no need to revive them.

Because a lot of people play Call of Duty and like the down state. Casual mechanics transfer over when the casual player is the demographic

I somewhat agree, dying is trivialized in GW2. I also happen to hate the whole downed mechanic and the way the game is balanced around that.

The downed state and revive aren’t exactly without consequence. In a lot of occasions actively helping someone in a downed state, puts yourself in great risk of going down as well if done mid-combat.

And the transition from the downed state, towards actual death, comes with repair costs by minimum, and if happening in the open world also with traveling fees.

For players who simply keep on dying and dying, those costs can rise up pretty rapidly. Especially if considering as to how the rewards in dungeons aren’t of as high value as in some other MMO’s you’re wanting to keep a check on your death count to prevent yourself from ending every dungeon run with another 50s loss.

In my opinion the revive option is really good and makes players be able to help others more easier. I always revive players when i see them downed in the wilderness for example. I also revive them in events, but carefully that i don’t get killed as well.

Also, dying a lot makes your armor crack, so you’ll die even more easily and soon you won’t be able to fight at all, since you’ll go down too fast.

DirtyHoudini nailed it.

It is this way because games in between GW1 and GW2 made it a popular feature.

I think its main purpose is social. Not many MMOs in the past have allowed any player (i.e. not just “healers”) to indulge in altruistic instincts. The desire to help each other is really strong, and it’s a great step forward to have an MMO that rewards this behaviour. That, combined with the impossibility of griefing, makes the social atmosphere of this game really quite friendly (I find).

Plus, as a player above said, it’s another interesting game choice: sometimes you put yourself in danger when you revive, so you have to weigh the value of an extra fighter in the battle versus your own survival. (Also I think most classes can Trait to make oneself more survivable while reviving – another choice.)

It’s actually a brilliant mechanic IMHO.

Like the above poster Guru said, it is a social purpose, and akittenbrilliant one at that. Because of how the game is made to be community focused, the focus here is to help the community and not try to tick anyone off just because they got to something first (like camping a rare spawn, or resource nodes). Reviving people gives experience so it gives incentive for people to do it, it sort of trains people to actually help others…which imo is absolutely brilliant. More games need to do more of this.

It’s a social thing.
It draws people together into helping each other and makes them feel that having somebody around is safer.

I first saw the downed mode in L4D, then Borderlands.
Never played CoD but I’m not surprised that it’s there, too!

down state = revive
defeated = go back to a waypoint

in PvE..
i hate ppl who are waiting to be revived when they’re defeated in the heat of battle and the waypoint is near
defeated player should warp to a waypoint and go back, that’s faster and more effective
i’m not anti social, it’s just too time consuming and your armor would be already damaged
especially in dungeons or small group PvE, when ppl are too busy handling the mobs
in WvW however, you should revive them all

I admit, I enjoy saving a person in a downed state. I understand why people who pvp and wvw are annoyed with it. That just means you have to keep smacking the player when they are downed so they become defeated. I don’t mind rezzing defeated players either. Why? You get xp and it goes towards earning an achievement/title. Not to mention it just feels good to do it.

I don’t particularly like being in a downed state but it does make you feel good when you are able to rally and cheat death.

I think that the revive function as itself is ok. Though the lenght it takes to revive a dead player is imo too long. I didn’t time it, but it feels bout 4 times as long as for a downed player (who is using his self heal skill as they should when one is reviving them). Many times when reviving a dead player, the spawn that killed him will respawn on me before I get them up. So to make this better I would like to see that time shortened.

Second point is that indeed some people should understand that I (and most players who know a little bit how to play) never revive in the midst off battle. It is surprising to see the amount of dead people at the metrica fire elemental. The worse thing is they have spent the whole time asking in local and map chat to revive (no change I will stand still there for more then 2 seconds, let alone revive) and are surprised afterwards they didn’t get a chest….

The downed state however isn’t working for me. First off all cause I miss a give up button. Sometimes you know there is no way to get out of the mess your in without death (e.g. when you only have a very nasty boss to kill or when you actually want to waypoint but your in a long cave with enemy’s every step) So I would like a ’ give up’ function to skip the downed state to death. Second I don’t really like the reward for cheating death. The main problem is the amount of health. You get back up, but the health given to you is so very low the enemy kills you again in one blast. My sugestion here would be to have full health when your back up your feet, but pause the recharge of your skills. This would basicly mean you can continue the fight where you went down. In my opinion surviving downed should be rewarded with more then just 25% of your healt.

mercury ranique.2170:

I think that the revive function as itself is ok. Though the lenght it takes to revive a dead player is imo too long. I didn’t time it, but it feels bout 4 times as long as for a downed player (who is using his self heal skill as they should when one is reviving them). Many times when reviving a dead player, the spawn that killed him will respawn on me before I get them up. So to make this better I would like to see that time shortened.

Second point is that indeed some people should understand that I (and most players who know a little bit how to play) never revive in the midst off battle. It is surprising to see the amount of dead people at the metrica fire elemental. The worse thing is they have spent the whole time asking in local and map chat to revive (no change I will stand still there for more then 2 seconds, let alone revive) and are surprised afterwards they didn’t get a chest….

The downed state however isn’t working for me. First off all cause I miss a give up button. Sometimes you know there is no way to get out of the mess your in without death (e.g. when you only have a very nasty boss to kill or when you actually want to waypoint but your in a long cave with enemy’s every step) So I would like a ’ give up’ function to skip the downed state to death. Second I don’t really like the reward for cheating death. The main problem is the amount of health. You get back up, but the health given to you is so very low the enemy kills you again in one blast. My sugestion here would be to have full health when your back up your feet, but pause the recharge of your skills. This would basicly mean you can continue the fight where you went down. In my opinion surviving downed should be rewarded with more then just 25% of your healt.

what exactly would be the difference between a “give up button” and porting to a WP while downed?

“Combat res” – Instantaneous, on a large CD
“Res in GW2” – Takes a while, no CD

Rpgtabbycat.5869:

I admit, I enjoy saving a person in a downed state. I understand why people who pvp and wvw are annoyed with it. That just means you have to keep smacking the player when they are downed so they become defeated.

I find it rather fun in PvP, it adds an extra tactical element, if you watch a good team in tPvP on Twitch you see they specifically plan for rezzing and stomping. It also adds something of a cluth moment, can you get a stomp off in time that will rally your teammate.