Guild Wars 2

Sup,

I left for 2 years and came back this week; I was impressed with the direction the game has gone in and, judging by what people said, I can expect Path of Fire to hold some promising new features – hence why I decided to buy it.

This was COMPLETELY different with Heart Of Thorns: in fact, I pretty much quit because that came out.

My main concerns are:

> Will I be held back purely on the basis of not owning HoT?
> Will I be able to ‘catch up’ with mastery points given I do not own (and do not want to own) HoT?
> Will I be outclassed by people who own specializations from both HoT and PoF? As an example, will I be fighting Reaper Necromancers who have access to Scourge abilities?
> Can the PoF expansion features be used in all aspects of the game, or are some features taken out in some areas? e.g. are mounts disabled in WvW?
> As to whether the expansion specializations put vanilla builds to shame in certain aspects, (e.g. “Reaper puts vanilla condi mancer to shame in WvW” – as an example), would I be limited for owning one expansion and not the other?

Feedback appreciated muchly

1. no
2. yes
3 Depends on you, but no 2 elites can be slotted at the same time.
4. mounts in WvW probably like gliding is now, or not at all. All other zones they can be used.

About being outplayed, time will tell.

About masteries also we will see.
I really hope there will be different ways to reach places and so on but seems that Most of the content will be meant to be played with mounts, due to terrain and Low numero of wp.

Edit: about élites you can only have 1. So you will fight reapers or scourges, but no reaperscourges

Edit2: really hope there wont be mounts in wvw but i didn’t read anything about.

ANet have stated that HoT and PoF are independent, there are no HoT mastery requirements (or even HoT mastery bonus content, to my knowledge) in any PoF content.

You will be down in mastery point level (ie, the number shown above your head) but in practical mastery point usage, PoF masteries are totally different to HoT masteries (you can not, for instance, farm HoT mastery points and then spend them on PoF content).

In terms of elite specs, no you will not be at a disadvantage. You can only equip one elite spec at a time, so you can not access greatsword as a weapon or the reaper spec line if you are a scourge and vice-versa, so the only disadvantage you would have in pvp is not having access to reaper as a build yourself

Yargesh.4965:

1. no
2. yes
3 Depends on you.

When you say ‘Depends on you’, what does that mean? You’re way too vague lmao

For instance, will people in WvW be using a hybrid between Scourge and Reaper? You need to remember I haven’t played since [pretty much] vanilla GW2, so I’m not aware of all the changes made to builds. -- Can people use both the Reaper and Scourge trait lines, or is it limited to only one?

You will lack the Heart of Thorns Elite Specializations and masteries tied to Heart of Thorns. While I would expect shortcuts to exist in the new maps using HoT masteries, I don’t think they will be a requirement. Most things will likely be based around the mounts and their mastery lines. If you consider that to be held back, consider purchasing Heart of Thorns at some point. Personally I think it’s worth it.

Mastery Points are different for Central Tyria, Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire. In the sense of Path of Fire-related masteries, you will be on the same level starting ground as everyone else.

You can only equip one Elite Specialization. If Reaper is “optimally” better than Scourge in certain situations, you may be outclassed in that particular scenario. That doesn’t mean you can’t run Necromancer vanilla traits, weapons and utilities or Scourge traits, weapon and utilities. As a Revenant player, I have over time stopped using the Elite Specialization Glint, as I don’t find it necessary to enjoy and perform with the Revenant class. I will however use Renegade 100%, since that I have already been able to test outperforms any of my other builds revolving Conditions.

Mounts are unlikely to be out for WvW at release, but it may be included down the line, the same way Gliders were implemented just recently after almost 2 years. There is a lot of map design and things that needs to be taken into consideration before mounts are put into WvW. I guess they could just implement them as a “get from point A to point B” kind of feature, and simply not have the “bunny” being capable of jumping high into the air (basically over walls of the WvW structures), but time will tell what they do with the feature in relation to WvW. You can use mounts in Central Tyria. There are certain areas where they are disabled, such as in some Jumping Puzzles and the likes to not completely trivialize the content.

rapthorne.7345:

ANet have stated that HoT and PoF are independent, there are no HoT mastery requirements (or even HoT mastery bonus content, to my knowledge) in any PoF content.

You will be down in mastery point level (ie, the number shown above your head) but in practical mastery point usage, PoF masteries are totally different to HoT masteries (you can not, for instance, farm HoT mastery points and then spend them on PoF content).

In terms of elite specs, no you will not be at a disadvantage. You can only equip one elite spec at a time, so you can not access greatsword as a weapon or the reaper spec line if you are a scourge and vice-versa, so the only disadvantage you would have in pvp is not having access to reaper as a build yourself

Awesome, thank you for clarifying this

I’m assuming Mastery Points are a way of ‘buying into’ content offered in the expansions?

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Yargesh.4965:

1. no
2. yes
3 Depends on you.

When you say ‘Depends on you’, what does that mean? You’re way too vague lmao

For instance, will people in WvW be using a hybrid between Scourge and Reaper? You need to remember I haven’t played since [pretty much] vanilla GW2, so I’m not aware of all the changes made to builds. -- Can people use both the Reaper and Scourge trait lines, or is it limited to only one?

I don’t think you understand. It is not possible to use two elite specs at the same time, so hybrids are literally impossible. This was an intentional design choice by Anet.

Thank you so much for these quick responses, glad to see the Forums are still alive and active —

One other concern I’ll edit into the title was whether vanilla builds are still viable. I’m referring to whether the expansion specializations put vanilla builds to shame in certain aspects (e.g. “Reaper puts vanilla condi mancer to shame in WvW” – would this be true?)

Kreed.2768:

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Yargesh.4965:

1. no
2. yes
3 Depends on you.

When you say ‘Depends on you’, what does that mean? You’re way too vague lmao

For instance, will people in WvW be using a hybrid between Scourge and Reaper? You need to remember I haven’t played since [pretty much] vanilla GW2, so I’m not aware of all the changes made to builds. -- Can people use both the Reaper and Scourge trait lines, or is it limited to only one?

I don’t think you understand. It is not possible to use two elite specs at the same time, so hybrids are literally impossible. This was an intentional design choice by Anet.

Ah, ok. All these changes to GW2 over 2 years are really overwhelming for returning players

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Thank you so much for these quick responses, glad to see the Forums are still alive and active —

One other concern I’ll edit into the title was whether vanilla builds are still viable. I’m referring to whether the expansion specializations put vanilla builds to shame in certain aspects (e.g. “Reaper puts vanilla condi mancer to shame in WvW” – would this be true?)

Depends on who you talk to. Then there is the waffle of what is optimal vs playable and in which specific situations each is better or worse. All player choice really.

Will I be held back purely on the basis of not owning HoT?

In general no. There are a few things HoT allows you to do which might come in useful in specific situations – for example gliding makes reaching some vistas easier – but you will always be able to play without them.

Will I be able to ‘catch up’ with mastery points given I do not own (and do not want to own) HoT?

HoT and PoF have separate mastery points and tracks. Everyone will be starting from zero PoF mastery points and will have to get them from the new expansion so you won’t be at a disadvantage there, but you won’t have access to HoT masteries either.

Will I be outclassed by people who own specializations from both HoT and PoF? As an example, will I be fighting Reaper Necromancers who have access to Scourge abilities?

Not like that. You can only use one elite specialisation at a time so you have to be either a Reaper or a Scourge, you can’t be both together. It might be that HoT specs are preferred for some professions and it’s quite likely they will be better at certain things (for example if you want to play a support ranger then druid is a much better choice than soulbeast) but it’s not a straight-forward increase in power or abilities and at least at first it’s highly likely everyone’s focus will be on using the new specs.

Can the PoF expansion features be used in all aspects of the game, or are some features taken out in some areas? e.g. are mounts disabled in WvW?

I think mounts are disabled in WvW, but that may well change given they’ve just introduced gliding to WvW. You will be able to use mounts in all PvE maps however. There’s certain areas where they’re disabled (like jumping puzzles) but that’s all.

Overall people who own HoT and PoF will have more options. Whether those are better or simply different will depend on the situation. But you will never encounter a situation where you can’t progress because you don’t own HoT.

mounts will be fully useable in wvw as well as in all of the game even in core maps too you will be able to use mounts fully . just like gliding you can use that all over too but you need hot to unlock the gliding .

no you will not be held back if you do not own hot. but I think you will not be able to use gliders or the mastery’s as well too until you buy hot .

you need to buy living story packs from the gem store to unlock them mastery points but I do not think you can use them for hot mastery if you do not own hot . but never the less you still need to buy living story packs from the gem store . to get the other mastery points for the core game and doing living story when the next one comes out while active . once you play that it will not cost you at all .

outclassed can be over come by getting new gear and runes . once you do that you should be on the same level like any one

would I be limited for owning one expansion and not the other?

you will not be able to play the Revenant profession if you do not own hot . hear again you not be able to use the mastery points from hot or that class

hope that helps good luck and welcome back to the game

As in GW1, the expacs are independent of each other, so you should have no problems gaining enough points to specialize in the new elites. Since they cannot combine elites, you won’t have to ever worry about coming across a hybrid.

I must balance that with a few caveats, however. You will not have access to some of the masteries that are available in HoT such as gliding and wallows usage. I really don’t think that you will miss what you never had, but you will be at a disadvantage for some content. It will still be doable, but in my opinion, you will most likely become frustrated when your friends/guildies/party members glide off and leave you at the top of the mountain or dive into a small hole that moves them across the zone while you have to walk (or ride.)

I know you don’t want to buy HoT, but unless they offer another way to gain gliding and wallows usage, you’ll have a harder time.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Will I be held back purely on the basis of not owning HoT?

No, PoF and HoT are completely seperate expansions and do not require one another.

You will lack access to everything which HoT added to the game including but not limited to:

- gliding (meaning also no gliding in wvw or core Tyria or PoF)
- HoT elite specialisations
- HoT masteries and the equivelent level gainable from leveling HoT masteries (ie your new max level)
- HoT raids
- HoT legendaries (basically the entire generation 2 legendaries)
- stat combinations on gear which were added with HoT (namely Viper, Trailblazer, Marauder which are all currently best in slot in different game modes)

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Will I be able to ‘catch up’ with mastery points given I do not own (and do not want to own) HoT?

Yes as far as maximising all PoF and core masteries. No if you want to reach maximum level since you will be missing all the levels gained from HoT masteries.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Will I be outclassed by people who own specializations from both HoT and PoF? As an example, will I be fighting Reaper Necromancers who have access to Scourge abilities?

It’s only 1 elite per build (you can’t mix 2 elite specialisations) so no as far as hybrid builds are concerned. You will lack access to HoT elite specialisations though and might not be able to adapt to new spvp,wvw or pve metas if those are required for your class.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Can the PoF expansion features be used in all aspects of the game, or are some features taken out in some areas? e.g. are mounts disabled in WvW?

Mounts will likely be implemented the same way as HoT gliding has been retroactively added to core Tyria and wvw. You will be able to use them once arenanet allows their use. If this will be the case right at the launch of PoF only arenanet knows.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

As to whether the expansion specializations put vanilla builds to shame in certain aspects, (e.g. “Reaper puts vanilla condi mancer to shame in WvW” – as an example), would I be limited for owning one expansion and not the other?

Yes, obviously since you will not have access to any HoT content which includes elite specialisations.

Simply put, HoT is not required to play PoF same as HoT is not required to play core GW2. You are giving up a lot of additional features and your account will remain 2nd class unless you get both expansions. That’s about as short and honest an answer you can expect.

WARIORSCHARGEING.2637:

mounts will be fully useable in wvw as well as in all of the game even in core maps too you will be able to use mounts fully .

Got a confirmation for this? I know mounts will be used in core maps (and hot maps) but I can’t remember reading about WvW

maddoctor.2738:

WARIORSCHARGEING.2637:

mounts will be fully useable in wvw as well as in all of the game even in core maps too you will be able to use mounts fully .

Got a confirmation for this? I know mounts will be used in core maps (and hot maps) but I can’t remember reading about WvW

you can not read about it . and the reason you can not read about it is this was talked about in if I remember right one of the last 2 or 3 guild chats on YouTube .

so if you want to watch YouTube guild chat you will find it their very easy . also too their might be a topic on this over on reddit guild wars 2 sub forums maybe .

1) Depends how you define “held back”.

I’m taking full advantage of having HoT to get access to the Hero challenges to have a much easier time being able to unlock the uncomming new Elite specs.
There are also some stat combinations that, i believe, are only available through HoT. Either because the recipes or materials that are needed might not all be tradeable.

Gliding itself is very handy mechanic to have, and you need HoT to be able to unlock the Gliding Masteries. No HoT, no gliding.

2) Probably doesn’t matter. HoT’s mastery points apply only to the HoT specific Masteries. PoF masteries will likely use Mastery points earned through PoF. Not having HoT shouldn’t impact your ability to unlock Vanilla or PoF masteries.

3) Possibly yes. Depends on the class, but there are some Elite specs that in certain circumstances/gamemodes will be better. It may be that the profession you prefer to play is only good in Raids if it uses the HoT Elite spec, or good in PvP with the HoT elite spec.
Not having access to the HoT elite specs could mean you are unable to use the most optimal specs of that specific Profession. However you cannot combine two Elite specs, you can only pick 1 at most. (or none)

4) I recall anet saying Mounts will be useable in all maps where you can Glide. Not clear if this applies to WvW as well, technicaly i should because you can glide in WvW.

5) I don’t quite understand this question. Elite specs do typically outclass the base builds, but not always. However that may depend on the specifics of the gamemodes you play as well.

POF should just include HOT any way they will have to do this sooner or later unless you want ppl to spend 120$ worth of expansions i think most would just find a new game
than spend that much just to catch up

Valky.2574:

POF should just include HOT any way they will have to do this sooner or later unless you want ppl to spend 120$ worth of expansions i think most would just find a new game
than spend that much just to catch up

Like how HoT included Vanilla, and we had to pay 50 for it even though most of us already owned Vanilla?

Valky.2574:

POF should just include HOT any way they will have to do this sooner or later unless you want ppl to spend 120$ worth of expansions i think most would just find a new game
than spend that much just to catch up

Or they let people try out the game without forcing them to buy all the expansions and they get to decide if the game is worth it to them to buy all the older expansions.

Unless ofcorse you ment PoF should just include HoT at the same price you can buy it right now without HoT. Highly unlikely a gamecompany can pay their employees off of 30 bucks every 2 years.

Also the comment about people moving away: as long as people are willing to pay monthly subscription fees for MMOs I doubt the total cost of GW2 will be an issue. It remains the cheapest buy to play high quality MMO on the market without pay-to-win cashshop.

tl;dr first:
You already bought PoF, so wait for launch and have fun with it. You will encounter issues that annoy you — decide then how much you want that to bother you compared to how much you enjoy everything else.

Or even more simply: no need to borrow trouble; it will catch up to you soon enough.

Specific responses:

Will I be held back purely on the basis of not owning HoT?

No.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Will I be able to ‘catch up’ with mastery points given I do not own (and do not want to own) HoT?

You won’t be able to progress HoT-specific masteries. You will be able to work on core masteries, e.g. autolooting and those for fractals and creating precursors for legendary weaons. (You won’t, however, have access to materials you need for the 2nd generation of weapon legendaries, just for the first.)

It’s unclear whether you’ll be able to progress in raids: some believe that since raids are tied to HoT zones, you wouldn’t be able to join. There are, however, reasons to believe that this might not be 100% true.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Will I be outclassed by people who own specializations from both HoT and PoF? As an example, will I be fighting Reaper Necromancers who have access to Scourge abilities?

You can choose only Reaper or Scourge, not both at the same time. So as a Scourge, you’d be fighting Reapers as well as vanilla necros. It’s unclear whether that will mean HoT-only or PoF-only players might be unclassed — that’s something that won’t be known for months after the launch.

In the early days, I expect complaints about 5-9 of the new elites being too OP’d, mostly because opponents won’t know how to counter. There will be the usual complaints about condi and stealth. Things will change as people get more familiar with the new elites and the new synergies.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Can the PoF expansion features be used in all aspects of the game, or are some features taken out in some areas? e.g. are mounts disabled in WvW?

Mostly, mounts will be generally available. There are gliding-free zones and there will also be mount-free zones. It’s unclear what the other masteries will be and so tbd whether they will be useful everywhere. Most HoT-masteries aside from gliding had limited use even within HoT zones; I expect PoF-masteries to follow a similar pattern.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

As to whether the expansion specializations put vanilla builds to shame in certain aspects, (e.g. “Reaper puts vanilla condi mancer to shame in WvW” – as an example), would I be limited for owning one expansion and not the other?

Again, it’s hard to say until a few months after launch. Even today, there are people who assume that non-HoT owners are not competitive in WvW & PvP, although I see plenty of posts by folks wreaking havoc without HoT (mostly, of course, these are really good competitors who are outplaying less-skilled opponents; it probably doesn’t matter what skills they limit themselves to).

Put more simply: that depends more on you and how well you understand the classes.

I’m pretty sure the $30 price point for PoF was mostly for players who already have HoT, to prevent the “HoT is $50 if you already owned core!” fiasco again. While you can get PoF without HoT, I think you’re going to be in for a really incomplete experience for doing so.

If you don’t have HoT, you WILL be held back in the following ways:
1. No access to guild halls. Not even the new one. So, you’ll have less functionality in a guild.
2. No access to the previous Elite Specializations, which fill different roles for different classes, and many are likely to remain Meta (Condi Berzerker, Chronomancer, and Druid are all going to remain meta, most likely. Dragonhunter will still be powerful in PvP for its area-denial. Tempest will still be a powerful Elementalist. Daredevil will still be unmatched mobility.)
3. No glider. Enjoy eating dirt if you fall from a cliff without your mount out.
4. No access to 10 of the game’s maps, and the rewards in them.

WARIORSCHARGEING.2637:

mounts will be fully useable in wvw as well as in all of the game even in core maps too you will be able to use mounts fully . just like gliding you can use that all over too but you need hot to unlock the gliding .

It has been said that mounts are unlikely to be active in World vs. World on release.

WARIORSCHARGEING.2637:

you need to buy living story packs from the gem store to unlock them mastery points but I do not think you can use them for hot mastery if you do not own hot . but never the less you still need to buy living story packs from the gem store . to get the other mastery points for the core game and doing living story when the next one comes out while active . once you play that it will not cost you at all .

You do not need to buy the Living Story packs from the Gem Store to play Path of Fire. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to get them, but then again, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to buy Heart of Thorns either.

WARIORSCHARGEING.2637:

you will not be able to play the Revenant profession if you do not own hot . hear again you not be able to use the mastery points from hot or that class

This is plain wrong misinformation (not that I mean you intended for that); “Path of Fire includes access to the revenant profession, but not the Herald elite specialization. If you only own Path of Fire, you will be able to create a revenant character and unlock the Renegade elite specialization.”

First is no. Second yes you can catch up in masteries. Third I’ll say maybe. Even though gw2 is balanced. It’s by your playing style. If your playing style isn’t the way the elite specials design for the toon you use. U might be outclassed from that. Having both hot and POF. You have more of an option to choose how you fight. Not saying you will. Just depending on you. My understanding POF mounts and everything should be in all maps. And wvw you should get POF class too.. IDK if you will get mounts in wvw though. People can correct me if I’m wrong.
The balancing in the game you can’t have 2 elites same time. You have to choose one or the other therefore build would be different but equal. In terms of mastery you shouldn’t worry. Because those are more of specific things all your characters have. However none of the masteries give you extra power. Or extra aoe eff penetration or anything like that. Masteries had to do with things you wanted to get around the map.

Elite specs cannot mix with each other, and ANet has said that the PoF elite specs will not be a step up in power, and will not nullify existing content by outscaling it.

But they said that about HoT elite specs and the base game, and that wound up being a bold faced lie. Taking a HoT elite spec into any base game content is like putting the game on infantile mode, and base game counterparts of builds provided by HoT elite specs are laughably worthless in comparison.

So who knows? I’m waiting until post release reviews to purchase, and I’d recommend you do the same. There is no point in buying another expansion of 5 or so new areas and 9 new specs only for it to even further nullify the 30+ existing areas and just as many or more specs than it’s adding.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

> Will I be outclassed by people who own specializations from both HoT and PoF? As an example, will I be fighting Reaper Necromancers who have access to Scourge abilities?

For what it’s worth, a few of the current “end-game” meta builds don’t even use HoT elites.

It’s kinda important for us to know what content you are looking to do to answer your question about HoT elite specs specifically. Are you doing casual PvE, end-game PvE, PvP, roaming in WvW, zerging in WvW or some other content?

Archaeopteryx.7409
My main concerns are:
> Will I be held back purely on the basis of not owning HoT?
> Will I be able to ‘catch up’ with mastery points given I do not own (and do not want to own) HoT?
> Will I be outclassed by people who own specializations from both HoT and PoF? As an example, will I be fighting Reaper Necromancers who have access to Scourge abilities?
> Can the PoF expansion features be used in all aspects of the game, or are some features taken out in some areas? e.g. are mounts disabled in WvW?
> As to whether the expansion specializations put vanilla builds to shame in certain aspects, (e.g. “Reaper puts vanilla condi mancer to shame in WvW” – as an example), would I be limited for owning one expansion and not the other?

Well not really, but HoT has improved as time went by. You should reconsider it you also get a chance if you buy the story episodes for Living world season three to go to new places. I am pretty sure season three you have to have HoT. which gives you Six new areas to explore. You are now judging HoT from two years ago since so much has changed from that time you should give HoT another SHoT lol.

Mastery points are split up into Core game Red, HoT Green, and PoF will be a purple. PoF will all be toward Mounts you earn nothing else. HoT gives the most masteries in the game as of now. Also gliding is fun

Hmm a reaper necro with scourge abilities well that cannot happen actually since both are elite specialization and can only be used one at a time.

From what I have seen and read mounts will be able to be used in the entire game they just introduced gliding to wvw, but not sure about mounts there though

I just do not understand the Hate people have for Heart of Thorns. Yes it was different, yes it was difficult sometimes, but all that could of been overcome by any player. HoT taught me to step my game up and adjust. You cannot face roll through everything in an MMO especially GW2. Remember Anet is constantly trying new things in GW2 not just making the same content with new creatures. The lands themselves are part of it to.

To be honest I think you should give HoT a second chance you may be surprised. Also if u get the full package its only $20 more for HoT.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Kreed.2768:

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Yargesh.4965:

1. no
2. yes
3 Depends on you.

When you say ‘Depends on you’, what does that mean? You’re way too vague lmao

For instance, will people in WvW be using a hybrid between Scourge and Reaper? You need to remember I haven’t played since [pretty much] vanilla GW2, so I’m not aware of all the changes made to builds. -- Can people use both the Reaper and Scourge trait lines, or is it limited to only one?

I don’t think you understand. It is not possible to use two elite specs at the same time, so hybrids are literally impossible. This was an intentional design choice by Anet.

Ah, ok. All these changes to GW2 over 2 years are really overwhelming for returning players

I’ve also recently returned from a 2 year break. I was able to buy Heart of Thorns only for like $20, and just pre-ordered PoF yesterday. If I was in your position I’d just get ready and enjoy PoF content, then go back to HoT content later on when you find yourself almost done with PoF stuff.

IMO, core builds are still very much viable when compared to the HoT specs (and i even put some of my toons BACK to their core set ups after playing for a while with their HoT spec.

The only class I don’t think (and this is personal preference) that is true is with the necro/reaper. I personally feel that Reaper outclasses core necro and I get WAY more out of it, but that is just my opinion from my play on both of my reapers. Its not that core necro isn’t still fun to play, I just think reaper edges out my core necro builds. Others might feel differently depending on how they play.

Just so you know that you NEED HoT for:

Certain crafting functions and progression
Autoloot
Gliding

Important functions that help speed up game play not to mention if you die you have to run back to loot IF it is still there. I would recommend it but eh…that’s just me.

usnedward.9023:

Just so you know that you NEED HoT for:

Certain crafting functions and progression
Autoloot
Gliding

Important functions that help speed up game play not to mention if you die you have to run back to loot IF it is still there. I would recommend it but eh…that’s just me.

You don’t need Heart of Thorns for Autoloot if you purchase(d) Path of Fire, as it is part of the Core Masteries. The only crafting discipline you need HoT for is Scribe. Gliding is, indeed, only available with HoT.

Good luck.

I kinda wish we could use the elite spec weapons without the elite specs. I’d love to have a thief who could wield a staff and a sniper rifle, even without the elite spec traits for either.

That aside, I didn’t realise you needed HOT for gliding in PoF. I can’t imagine playing without gliding anymore.

Thank you very much for the feedback, really helpful.

I decided to buy it – kitten it, why not I’m enjoying reliving Season 2 so it’s the ideal thing to do while I wait 2 weeks or so

You can get a HoT key cheaper than a monthly subscription on those key selling sites, just make sure its a legit one that people know about, dont have to buy the $30 one from Anet

HoT specialization is pretty kitten strong, and pretty much a straight upgrade for many classes. So yes, you would be outclassed by people if you play some profession.

For example, DH, Daredevil, Tempest, Chrono, , Berserker, Reaper, Revenant, Scrapper, all of them are straight upgrade of the original class and are highly desirable in end-game contents.

This is inevitable in every MMO.

Come to think of it, PoF specialization looks like an alternative way to play a class instead of a straight upgrade of the class, so some of them might not be as strong as HoT classes. This is only my feeling base on the beta though.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Thank you very much for the feedback, really helpful.

I decided to buy it – kitten it, why not I’m enjoying reliving Season 2 so it’s the ideal thing to do while I wait 2 weeks or so

Not sure if anyone mentioned it above, but if you are going to play HOT for the next two weeks whilst waiting for POF, here’s one helpful hint: DONT SPEND YOUR MASTERY POINTS. You get HUGE amounts of mastery points in the HOT maps, but if you don’t use them, you can get a head start of a good 200 or more mastery points in POF which will allow you to upgrade your new elite spec a bit quicker.

Metavahn.7293:

You can get a HoT key cheaper than a monthly subscription on those key selling sites, just make sure its a legit one that people know about, dont have to buy the $30 one from Anet

This is really really bad advice. Don’t do this.

For one thing, key resellers, and that’s what they are resellers, aren’t that picky where they get their keys from. Someone wants to sell them a key, they set up an account and sell it to them. And some of those keys may or may not be bought with a stolen credit card.

Even though the company is likely to replace a key bought with a stolen credit card, it won’t do you a lick of good because your entire account will have been closed. You’ll lose all your progress in the game and have to start over. If that happened to me I would absolutely leave the game.

Only buy from authorized resellers, not key exchanges. It’s not with the risk. People have been banned for it

JohnnyJHB.7360:

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Thank you very much for the feedback, really helpful.

I decided to buy it – kitten it, why not I’m enjoying reliving Season 2 so it’s the ideal thing to do while I wait 2 weeks or so

Not sure if anyone mentioned it above, but if you are going to play HOT for the next two weeks whilst waiting for POF, here’s one helpful hint: DONT SPEND YOUR MASTERY POINTS. You get HUGE amounts of mastery points in the HOT maps, but if you don’t use them, you can get a head start of a good 200 or more mastery points in POF which will allow you to upgrade your new elite spec a bit quicker.

You seem to have confused mastery points with hero points. They’re not really the same thing.

Vayne.8563:

Metavahn.7293:

You can get a HoT key cheaper than a monthly subscription on those key selling sites, just make sure its a legit one that people know about, dont have to buy the $30 one from Anet

This is really really bad advice. Don’t do this.

For one thing, key resellers, and that’s what they are resellers, aren’t that picky where they get their keys from. Someone wants to sell them a key, they set up an account and sell it to them. And some of those keys may or may not be bought with a stolen credit card.

Even though the company is likely to replace a key bought with a stolen credit card, it won’t do you a lick of good because your entire account will have been closed. You’ll lose all your progress in the game and have to start over. If that happened to me I would absolutely leave the game.

Only buy from authorized resellers, not key exchanges. It’s not with the risk. People have been banned for it

Vayne’s right, is a few dollars worth risking your account?

If you want HoT cheaper than from Anet, Dlgamer is an official partner and currently has it on sale for US$20

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Thank you very much for the feedback, really helpful.

I decided to buy it – kitten it, why not I’m enjoying reliving Season 2 so it’s the ideal thing to do while I wait 2 weeks or so

Wait, you’re telling me someone on the forums made a rational and fun gameplay decision? Gosh, miracles do happen.

That being said, yes I do believe you will get quite a bit of enjoyment from HoT before PoF launches and even with HoT’s “limited content” you very likely will be returning a lot even after PoF launches and get even more enjoyment out of it.

Have fun in HoT, PoF is right around the corner, lots of gameplay goodness for the next few weeks for you, cheers.

Vayne.8563:

Metavahn.7293:

You can get a HoT key cheaper than a monthly subscription on those key selling sites, just make sure its a legit one that people know about, dont have to buy the $30 one from Anet

This is really really bad advice. Don’t do this.

For one thing, key resellers, and that’s what they are resellers, aren’t that picky where they get their keys from. Someone wants to sell them a key, they set up an account and sell it to them. And some of those keys may or may not be bought with a stolen credit card.

Even though the company is likely to replace a key bought with a stolen credit card, it won’t do you a lick of good because your entire account will have been closed. You’ll lose all your progress in the game and have to start over. If that happened to me I would absolutely leave the game.

Only buy from authorized resellers, not key exchanges. It’s not with the risk. People have been banned for it

^this so much. I’d spend a couple more bucks just to ensure my account i have for years won’t go to waste cause i wanted to be a cheapskate.

Your questions have been covered. I’ll put in a side note – a guild member who doesn’t have HoT seems to have a resentment against it and it affects his attitude during game play. Be aware that you will regularly be seeing other players gliding by you, many players will do small skip jumps and glide 10-20 paces. There are an assortment of gliders that have major visual impacts, it’s a reality. Also if a Rev or a Necro Reaper killing you in WvW is not cheating and shouldn’t be a cause for comment.

Hopefully this misses the mark and you’ll have a great time playing PoF. GL

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

usnedward.9023:

Just so you know that you NEED HoT for:

Certain crafting functions and progression
Autoloot
Gliding

Important functions that help speed up game play not to mention if you die you have to run back to loot IF it is still there. I would recommend it but eh…that’s just me.

You don’t need Heart of Thorns for Autoloot if you purchase(d) Path of Fire, as it is part of the Core Masteries. The only crafting discipline you need HoT for is Scribe. Gliding is, indeed, only available with HoT.

Good luck.

Ah…well didn’t know that. Thanks for correcting me.

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Sup,

I left for 2 years and came back this week; I was impressed with the direction the game has gone in and, judging by what people said, I can expect Path of Fire to hold some promising new features – hence why I decided to buy it.

This was COMPLETELY different with Heart Of Thorns: in fact, I pretty much quit because that came out.

My main concerns are:

> Will I be held back purely on the basis of not owning HoT?
> Will I be able to ‘catch up’ with mastery points given I do not own (and do not want to own) HoT?
> Will I be outclassed by people who own specializations from both HoT and PoF? As an example, will I be fighting Reaper Necromancers who have access to Scourge abilities?
> Can the PoF expansion features be used in all aspects of the game, or are some features taken out in some areas? e.g. are mounts disabled in WvW?
> As to whether the expansion specializations put vanilla builds to shame in certain aspects, (e.g. “Reaper puts vanilla condi mancer to shame in WvW” – as an example), would I be limited for owning one expansion and not the other?

Feedback appreciated muchly

1. No not at all. They are independent Expacks.

2. For Core Tyria yes. you can only get core masteries in Core tyria. For example, only Core tyria will gain you fractal masteries. Same with Legendary Crafting.

3. No you can not equip both elite specs at the same time. If you are going to fight someone with them the other person will need to disengage from combat and go respec but they will loose all their Scourge capabilities. I.E. Shades Vs. Shroud knight.

4. We don’t for sure. But probably.

5. This question makes me laugh. Seriously. You lost all credibility. Comparing a reaper to a Condi Necro is like comparing an apple to a lead ball. Totally different. And fulfill different roles. If a power spec any power spec gets the drop on a condi class, then yeah the power spec is going to tear into the condi spec. But not a Condi necro. IF a condi necro gets taken out by a reaper or any other power spec, its the condi necro’s fault. You are playing it wrong…

IN fact i am almost certain that if you are playing the condi necro and you are getting eaten alive by the reaper, you are doing it wrong. Condi necros should chew through a reaper like a brick through paper. For the simple fact that Condi’s are not stopped by toughness. They are onyl stopped by resistance. And last I looked Reapers dont have access to resistance with their skills. They have to get it from gear and if they get it from gear they are gimping themselves.

Sartharina.3542:

I’m pretty sure the $30 price point for PoF was mostly for players who already have HoT, to prevent the “HoT is $50 if you already owned core!” fiasco again. While you can get PoF without HoT, I think you’re going to be in for a really incomplete experience for doing so.

If you don’t have HoT, you WILL be held back in the following ways:
1. No access to guild halls. Not even the new one. So, you’ll have less functionality in a guild.
2. No access to the previous Elite Specializations, which fill different roles for different classes, and many are likely to remain Meta (Condi Berzerker, Chronomancer, and Druid are all going to remain meta, most likely. Dragonhunter will still be powerful in PvP for its area-denial. Tempest will still be a powerful Elementalist. Daredevil will still be unmatched mobility.)
3. No glider. Enjoy eating dirt if you fall from a cliff without your mount out.
4. No access to 10 of the game’s maps, and the rewards in them.

Your guild hall comment is not true. IF you do not have Hot you can still go to the guild hall if the owner of the Guild hall has Hot. You just can not claim any of them if you start a guild.

Skittish.4539:

JohnnyJHB.7360:

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Thank you very much for the feedback, really helpful.

I decided to buy it – kitten it, why not I’m enjoying reliving Season 2 so it’s the ideal thing to do while I wait 2 weeks or so

Not sure if anyone mentioned it above, but if you are going to play HOT for the next two weeks whilst waiting for POF, here’s one helpful hint: DONT SPEND YOUR MASTERY POINTS. You get HUGE amounts of mastery points in the HOT maps, but if you don’t use them, you can get a head start of a good 200 or more mastery points in POF which will allow you to upgrade your new elite spec a bit quicker.

You seem to have confused mastery points with hero points. They’re not really the same thing.

Yes, it’s a typo. I mean HERO POINTS.

Skittish.4539:

JohnnyJHB.7360:

Archaeopteryx.7409:

Thank you very much for the feedback, really helpful.

I decided to buy it – kitten it, why not I’m enjoying reliving Season 2 so it’s the ideal thing to do while I wait 2 weeks or so

Not sure if anyone mentioned it above, but if you are going to play HOT for the next two weeks whilst waiting for POF, here’s one helpful hint: DONT SPEND YOUR MASTERY POINTS. You get HUGE amounts of mastery points in the HOT maps, but if you don’t use them, you can get a head start of a good 200 or more mastery points in POF which will allow you to upgrade your new elite spec a bit quicker.

You seem to have confused mastery points with hero points. They’re not really the same thing.

Yes, it’s a typo. I mean HERO POINTS.