Guild Wars 2

I’m tired of reading the anti-zerkers’ complaints about the game being too “zerker” which focuses on the damage part of the game’s design. The zerker meta is actually one of the closest things (specially in the new content) to the potential of this new system.

First, what “Support / Control / Damage” is not…
Support does not mean Healer..
Control does not mean Tank (taunts, etc)
Well, damage is damage, but basically, “anti-zerkers” are just too stuck in the holy trinity way of thinking.

Support, you do a lot of support with boons (stability, might, aegis for blocks, reflect skills, vulnerability condition, etc) YES, all these things are support.

Control, the game has stuns, immobilize & chill condition, knock-backs, knockdowns, dodge mechanics, your positioning during fights also has a good impact.

Now what is the “zerker” meta?
It simply involves playing with traits & gear in order to maximise the damage part of the system. The better your group is set up (and experienced) for support and control, the more they can afford putting into damage, as long as they balance enough with support & control.

Also, important to note, there are no “roles”, every single player in the party brings something to the table in terms of “Support / Control / Damage”, so when you complain about a zerker run (that you decided to join), you are unbalancing the team comp based on what is expected of you in terms of damage (of course), but also support & control.

small bump, since its being burried by the multiple threads that keep poping up on the same exact topic instead of staying in a single thread -_-

We complain about the zerker meta because of how restrictive it is. When all classes are supposed to do the same exact thing and build the same way some classes will always be better at doing that job than others. In other games one class may bring better support, and another may bring more cc, but in this game all classes are supposed to try to get huge numbers while at the same time vomiting boons and whatnot all over the place. Some classes just can’t do it as well as others, and that leads to there being a divide and having some classes the object of discrimination.

It’s irritating that there is only one optimal way to run dungeons in this game and that that one way usually excludes several classes. With the way this game is designed for everyone to do the same thing this was bound to happen.

Khyber.2693:

We complain about the zerker meta because of how restrictive it is. When all classes are supposed to do the same exact thing and build the same way some classes will always be better at doing that job than others. In other games one class may bring better support, and another may bring more cc, but in this game all classes are supposed to try to get huge numbers while at the same time vomiting boons and whatnot all over the place. Some classes just can’t do it as well as others, and that leads to there being a divide and having some classes the object of discrimination.

It’s irritating that there is only one optimal way to run dungeons in this game and that that one way usually excludes several classes. With the way this game is designed for everyone to do the same thing this was bound to happen.

I think that comes from ANET trying to make all classes equal for e-sport purposes and how easy (and dumb AI / mechanics) encounters are.

I find its ok for there being 1 optimal way to run a dungeon, what’s sad is that that same strategy (composition) works for 95% of PvE content – give or take. Though the new content increased the “zerker” risk in a nice way, by enhancing the control part in the encounter (without giving too many spoilers)

• DPS can provide support and CC, but they focus solely on DPS, while effects of CC and Support are less potent. This is DPS role.
• Support can deal damage and CC, but they focus solely on Support, while effects of DPS and CC are less potent. This is Support role.
• CC can deal damage and provide support, but they focus solely on CC, while effects of DPS and Support are less potent. This is CC role.

Odd how players want to retort it and say that there’s no Trinity or keep saying that you’re making “forced” roles..

Khyber.2693:

When all classes are supposed to do the same exact thing

I don’t ask Warriors to use Wall of Reflection, and I don’t ask Guardians to drop Fiery Greatsword. We have roles, it’s just that you can do two roles at the same time by wearing Berserker gear.