Guild Wars 2

Can someone break that statement down and explain what it means and how gw2 compares with non skill-based games

Well gw2 is a skill based game because you need a high level of nooborology and noobilism in order to play it. If you don’t have that, well.. you won’t make it verry far in the game.

I think ‘skill-based’ is a misnomer.

Every game is ‘skill-based’. They just require different skills.

Watch some GW1 GvG to see what skill means, there were some good mesmers/archers arround that time.

All games requires skills, it just happens they’re different.

GW2, however, does seem to have a higher skill ceiling than other MMOs.

How other MMOs works:
You press the button. Skill starts casting. If it’s not canceled/interrupted, skill goes off, and WILL hit the target. (If there’s a math hit/evasion calculation, it’s calculated then)
You get close, you press melee skill, melee skill goes off. Calculates hit and damage.

How GW2 differentiates from it:
You press the button, Skill starts casting. If it’s not canceled/interrupted, skill goes off, and IF it actually hits the target, it deals damage. There is no hit/miss calculation, it’s based if you actually hit or not.
Melee skills works the same way. You press the button, skill goes off. If it hits the enemy area, it deals damage.

So, other MMOs don’t have much of this “action” part where you can dodge or avoid attacks by moving or by having fast reflexes. They’re sorta turn-based, math-heavy, like all old school RPGs. “Skill” is heavily based on strategy.
GW2 “Skill” is based on strategy and dexterity.

It’s still a different set of skills, so saying GW2 is “skill-based game” doesn’t imply the other games aren’t.

It means every thing is counter able with build in game ability regardless of your build the ability to avoid attks by rolling out of the time and needing to be able to “aim” your attks.
When it comes to games all you need to do is read up on what you need to do to win in a way it only takes reading skills to beat games when you open up to an action combat game your ability to react becomes the skill. Its a lot like a fighting game your ability to react will decide if you win or lose a fight a lot like in a real life fight.

It means, you choose the weapon and the game will choose the skills for you.
You don’t have to do anything except swing with a sword, swing again and oh look at that swing again – which is literally opposite of what was said in the manifesto you probably saw.

They added dodge. So much skillz!

and that magic moment when you try to dodge but a macro-lag puts you a meter backwards…

TheDaiBish.9735:

I think ‘skill-based’ is a misnomer.

Every game is ‘skill-based’. They just require different skills.

This right here is the truth of it (have a +1). Any other comments are based on preference alone.

You make of the game what you will. If you run with zergs and only use auto attacks then sure, I can see why it would get boring for you. But if you choose not to run with smaller groups, and tackle content that requires more than just auto-attacking, then that is no-one’s fault but your own. People run with the zergs because it’s easy, and that’s what they want. I take on champs solo or with small groups, because it’s more challenging and more fun.

I will say this though. I do think Anet needs to beef up the champs against zergs. Make every player fight to succeed and not get missed amongst the crowd. Make combo fields far more effective against them than normal attacks and force people to interract with each other and coordinate. Then zergs may be a bit more interesting. Especially if the champ really scales up in a big way.

This video guide will show you how this game is skill based:

This other video guide will show you how this game is based on your playstyle and skill executions:

This video shows an example of each class:

The full guide you can find here:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/GW2-Combat-system-101-Guide/first

If this doesn’t explain it, then I don’t know what could.

Thanks DreamyAbaddon for adding the period at the end of

“This is a skill-based Game.”

Might be the best overview intro to GW2 profession/trait/combat videos I’ve seen. Great job.

Bagel.4598:

You don’t have to do anything except swing with a sword, swing again and oh look at that swing again – which is literally opposite of what was said in the manifesto you probably saw.

You really SHOULD try to do something other than zerging someday. You’ll be baffled about the variety of weapons and skills.

Aeolus.3615:

Watch some GW1 GvG to see what skill means, there were some good mesmers/archers arround that time.

ARCHERS? lol… Our class sucks so much that people don’t even remember what we’re actually called.

Saturn.6591:

Bagel.4598:

You don’t have to do anything except swing with a sword, swing again and oh look at that swing again – which is literally opposite of what was said in the manifesto you probably saw.

You really SHOULD try to do something other than zerging someday. You’ll be baffled about the variety of weapons and skills.

I don’t zerg at all, I fractals and dungeons. Your argument is invalid.

Bagel.4598:

Saturn.6591:

Bagel.4598:

You don’t have to do anything except swing with a sword, swing again and oh look at that swing again – which is literally opposite of what was said in the manifesto you probably saw.

You really SHOULD try to do something other than zerging someday. You’ll be baffled about the variety of weapons and skills.

I don’t zerg at all, I fractals and dungeons. Your argument is invalid.

Then you should know that if you use a sword, you will always have to use the sword for your attacks (obviously). However, you have 5 different attacks with that sword. Then you can also us another weapon and also, you’ve got 5 more exchangeable skills. I doubt that all you do is autoattacking without ever using any other skill.

Saturn.6591:

Bagel.4598:

Saturn.6591:

Bagel.4598:

You don’t have to do anything except swing with a sword, swing again and oh look at that swing again – which is literally opposite of what was said in the manifesto you probably saw.

You really SHOULD try to do something other than zerging someday. You’ll be baffled about the variety of weapons and skills.

I don’t zerg at all, I fractals and dungeons. Your argument is invalid.

Then you should know that if you use a sword, you will always have to use the sword for your attacks (obviously). However, you have 5 different attacks with that sword. Then you can also us another weapon and also, you’ve got 5 more exchangeable skills. I doubt that all you do is autoattacking without ever using any other skill.

I rest my case.

Saturn.6591:

Bagel.4598:

Saturn.6591:

Bagel.4598:

You don’t have to do anything except swing with a sword, swing again and oh look at that swing again – which is literally opposite of what was said in the manifesto you probably saw.

You really SHOULD try to do something other than zerging someday. You’ll be baffled about the variety of weapons and skills.

I don’t zerg at all, I fractals and dungeons. Your argument is invalid.

Then you should know that if you use a sword, you will always have to use the sword for your attacks (obviously). However, you have 5 different attacks with that sword. Then you can also us another weapon and also, you’ve got 5 more exchangeable skills. I doubt that all you do is autoattacking without ever using any other skill.

Considering the 4 other skills on a weapon are mostly utility based, auto attacking provides the highest dps in the game and as PvE is just a dps race, that is all you will be doing.

can’t actually believe people think there are skills in this game lol :P it’s faceroll, you don’t even have to know what you are doing in a dungeon and you can still complete it easly. OR… OR.. maybe… people confuse skill (like in how good you are) with skills (in like abilities of your class), hmmmmm, wow, mind blown,, i had to dig so deep in to my brain to figure out how n00bs think, it’s like, they are living outside ‘the box’. Mind blown… really..

CoRtex.2157:

can’t actually believe people think there are skills in this game lol :P it’s faceroll, you don’t even have to know what you are doing in a dungeon and you can still complete it easly. OR… OR.. maybe… people confuse skill (like in how good you are) with skills (in like abilities of your class), hmmmmm, wow, mind blown,, i had to dig so deep in to my brain to figure out how n00bs think, it’s like, they are living outside ‘the box’. Mind blown… really..

So what you’re saying is that you’ve never died, you don’t use exploits in dungeons, and that every dungeon run you did you did first time?

TheDaiBish.9735:

CoRtex.2157:

can’t actually believe people think there are skills in this game lol :P it’s faceroll, you don’t even have to know what you are doing in a dungeon and you can still complete it easly. OR… OR.. maybe… people confuse skill (like in how good you are) with skills (in like abilities of your class), hmmmmm, wow, mind blown,, i had to dig so deep in to my brain to figure out how n00bs think, it’s like, they are living outside ‘the box’. Mind blown… really..

So what you’re saying is that you’ve never died, and that every dungeon run you did you did first time?

What he is saying is that 90% of this game’s content and it’s mechanics could be done by a monkey in a straight jacket.
There is no need for build organisation between players, or group co-ordination in dungeons.
Anyone, running anything can come and steam roll it.
Jump in to a zerg to do absolutely ANYTHING on the map.
Buy everything you need with gold.
The only exception to anything that requires thought and team work is sPvP, Fractals, Some WvW and maybe Arah.

I define someone to be “skilled” in GW2, the ability that one possess to do a particular content in the game is better than the average people. But, finding an example of that in the game is hard, since most of it contents is pretty easy. If you go to an extreme, then it would be possible. I guess a solo roaming ranger in WvW who will consistantly pull off and win 1v5 would be a skilled person.

Bagel.4598:

What he is saying is that 90% of this game’s content and it’s mechanics could be done by a monkey in a straight jacket.

There is no need for build organisation between players, or group co-ordination in dungeons.

Anyone, running anything can come and steam roll it. Jump in to a zerg to do absolutely ANYTHING on the map.

Buy everything you need with gold.

The only exception to anything that requires thought and team work is sPvP, Fractals, Some WvW and maybe Arah.

You have a point about the open world (although I’ve yet to play a game where the open-world was actually challenging).

While the team skills aren’t as apparent all of the time, you still need personal skill to perform.

As you say, most of the teamwork is in the SPvP, WvW and higher level Fractals.

However, we aren’t talking about teamwork; we’re talking about personal skill, if the tone of the person I was replying to was any indicator.

For example, quite a few people called for nerfs on Tequatl , Liandri and the Clocktower. Some people have trouble with Jumping Puzzles. Some people can’t differentiate between the Mesmer and their clones. Some can’t tell when a Thief is going to attack.

These are all ‘skills’ in their own right that seems to have gone over that person’s head, either because he / she already had them, or simply because he /she doesn’t consider them ‘skills’.

The only skills required to master this game are opposable thumbs…

Bagel.4598:

What he is saying is that 90% of this game’s content and it’s mechanics could be done by a monkey in a straight jacket.

No wait… He’s right, opposable thumbs are not actually needed.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Bagel.4598:

What he is saying is that 90% of this game’s content and it’s mechanics could be done by a monkey in a straight jacket.

There is no need for build organisation between players, or group co-ordination in dungeons.

Anyone, running anything can come and steam roll it. Jump in to a zerg to do absolutely ANYTHING on the map.

Buy everything you need with gold.

The only exception to anything that requires thought and team work is sPvP, Fractals, Some WvW and maybe Arah.

You have a point about the open world (although I’ve yet to play a game where the open-world was actually challenging).

While the team skills aren’t as apparent all of the time, you still need personal skill to perform.

As you say, most of the teamwork is in the SPvP, WvW and higher level Fractals.

However, we aren’t talking about teamwork; we’re talking about personal skill, if the tone of the person I was replying to was any indicator.

For example, quite a few people called for nerfs on Tequatl , Liandri and the Clocktower. Some people have trouble with Jumping Puzzles. Some people can’t differentiate between the Mesmer and their clones. Some can’t tell when a Thief is going to attack.

These are all ‘skills’ in their own right that seems to have gone over that person’s head, either because he / she already had them, or simply because he /she doesn’t consider them ‘skills’.

And that right there brings us back to the comparison of GW1 to GW2.
You HAD to make your build work. You had to organise who did what in your party, what your heroes were running. How your build complemented theirs.
Go in to Ascalon city in GW1’s hayday, grab a random team of 8 and jump in to FoW, or a dungeon, or DoA and watch the slaughter begin.
Then it evolved in to requiring talented people to run complex builds each performing their own task within an area.
I guess I have to say it again, in GW2 ANYONE running ANYTHING can form in your party and steam roll through 90% of this content.
The skills are all chosen for you or put in a pool so tiny you don’t really have much of a choice.

There was a MASS of crying about teq on the first day of release. By the second day when everyone found out, lets all just zerg and stand beside him, throw some people on the turrets and we’ll complete everytime.

Bagel.4598:

There was a MASS of crying about teq on the first day of release. By the second day when everyone found out, lets all just zerg and stand beside him, throw some people on the turrets and we’ll complete everytime.

Ah… That revolutionary and groundbreaking new mechanic called “stand beside the boss and autoattack”… I’m sure every new MMO gonna copy that, not.

Bagel.4598:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Bagel.4598:

What he is saying is that 90% of this game’s content and it’s mechanics could be done by a monkey in a straight jacket.

There is no need for build organisation between players, or group co-ordination in dungeons.

Anyone, running anything can come and steam roll it. Jump in to a zerg to do absolutely ANYTHING on the map.

Buy everything you need with gold.

The only exception to anything that requires thought and team work is sPvP, Fractals, Some WvW and maybe Arah.

You have a point about the open world (although I’ve yet to play a game where the open-world was actually challenging).

While the team skills aren’t as apparent all of the time, you still need personal skill to perform.

As you say, most of the teamwork is in the SPvP, WvW and higher level Fractals.

However, we aren’t talking about teamwork; we’re talking about personal skill, if the tone of the person I was replying to was any indicator.

For example, quite a few people called for nerfs on Tequatl , Liandri and the Clocktower. Some people have trouble with Jumping Puzzles. Some people can’t differentiate between the Mesmer and their clones. Some can’t tell when a Thief is going to attack.

These are all ‘skills’ in their own right that seems to have gone over that person’s head, either because he / she already had them, or simply because he /she doesn’t consider them ‘skills’.

And that right there brings us back to the comparison of GW1 to GW2.
You HAD to make your build work. You had to organise who did what in your party, what your heroes were running. How your build complemented theirs.
Go in to Ascalon city in GW1’s hayday, grab a random team of 8 and jump in to FoW, or a dungeon, or DoA and watch the slaughter begin.
Then it evolved in to requiring talented people to run complex builds each performing their own task within an area.
I guess I have to say it again, in GW2 ANYONE running ANYTHING can form in your party and steam roll through 90% of this content.
The skills are all chosen for you or put in a pool so tiny you don’t really have much of a choice.

There was a MASS of crying about teq on the first day of release. By the second day when everyone found out, lets all just zerg and stand beside him, throw some people on the turrets and we’ll complete everytime.

And this brings me back to my original point (my first post in this thread):

Different games require different skills.

GW1 required skills in theorycrafting / using Google, and knowing how to play that build, knowing the appropriate times to use skills ect.

GW2 has a different skill-set (depending on the content you’re playing).

Also, I’d say that a lot of GW1 content could also be done with AI.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Bagel.4598:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Bagel.4598:

What he is saying is that 90% of this game’s content and it’s mechanics could be done by a monkey in a straight jacket.

There is no need for build organisation between players, or group co-ordination in dungeons.

Anyone, running anything can come and steam roll it. Jump in to a zerg to do absolutely ANYTHING on the map.

Buy everything you need with gold.

The only exception to anything that requires thought and team work is sPvP, Fractals, Some WvW and maybe Arah.

You have a point about the open world (although I’ve yet to play a game where the open-world was actually challenging).

While the team skills aren’t as apparent all of the time, you still need personal skill to perform.

As you say, most of the teamwork is in the SPvP, WvW and higher level Fractals.

However, we aren’t talking about teamwork; we’re talking about personal skill, if the tone of the person I was replying to was any indicator.

For example, quite a few people called for nerfs on Tequatl , Liandri and the Clocktower. Some people have trouble with Jumping Puzzles. Some people can’t differentiate between the Mesmer and their clones. Some can’t tell when a Thief is going to attack.

These are all ‘skills’ in their own right that seems to have gone over that person’s head, either because he / she already had them, or simply because he /she doesn’t consider them ‘skills’.

And that right there brings us back to the comparison of GW1 to GW2.
You HAD to make your build work. You had to organise who did what in your party, what your heroes were running. How your build complemented theirs.
Go in to Ascalon city in GW1’s hayday, grab a random team of 8 and jump in to FoW, or a dungeon, or DoA and watch the slaughter begin.
Then it evolved in to requiring talented people to run complex builds each performing their own task within an area.
I guess I have to say it again, in GW2 ANYONE running ANYTHING can form in your party and steam roll through 90% of this content.
The skills are all chosen for you or put in a pool so tiny you don’t really have much of a choice.

There was a MASS of crying about teq on the first day of release. By the second day when everyone found out, lets all just zerg and stand beside him, throw some people on the turrets and we’ll complete everytime.

And this brings me back to my original point (my first post in this thread):

Different games require different skills.

GW1 required skills in theorycrafting / using Google, and knowing how to play that build, knowing the appropriate times to use skills ect.

GW2 has a different skill-set (depending on the content you’re playing).

Also, I’d say that a lot of GW1 content could also be done with AI.

If that brings you back to your original point then re-read all my replies to you and go full circle by yourself.
Bringing up the same points I’ve already countered is not continuing a debate.

Valanga.5942:

Bagel.4598:

There was a MASS of crying about teq on the first day of release. By the second day when everyone found out, lets all just zerg and stand beside him, throw some people on the turrets and we’ll complete everytime.

Ah… That revolutionary and groundbreaking new mechanic called “stand beside the boss and autoattack”… I’m sure every new MMO gonna copy that, not.

But wait, everything we love about GW1 is in Gw2, right? Guys?

Skill based means u can be beated up by another player and dont worry about it as ur friends will rez ya in 2sec laughing at ur enemy. 10 skilled players vs 50 noobs? Np, even if some noob get downed he will stand up in notime to continue putting his head into keyboard and mashing 1 with nose

Skill based is Dark Souls and im sure that 90% playerbase of gw2 would ragequit at first boss with word f. it every 2sec. I rebember the rage about Liadri, yet its was really easy.

Scoobaniec.9561:

Skill based means u can be beated up by another player and dont worry about it as ur friends will rez ya in 2sec laughing at ur enemy. 10 skilled players vs 50 noobs? Np, even if some noob get downed he will stand up in notime to continue putting his head into keyboard and mashing 1 with nose

Skill based is Dark Souls and im sure that 90% playerbase of gw2 would ragequit at first boss with word f. it every 2sec. I rebember the rage about Liadri, yet its was really easy.

Or maybe 4 vs 30?

I got Dark Souls. For whatever reason though it runs terrible on PC (and no, it’s not my system specs).

Tman.6349:

it means the game revolves around using the #1 weapon skill to accomplish everything from riding the ‘Queensdale Champ Train’ to defeating massive world bosses to zerging mindlessly in WvWvW. its a “SKILL-based game” and that skill is auto-attack.

i love you for this post

^^^ Yes I laughed at that Tman, thanks!

So many people in zergfest have zero skill and would not survive
in PvP.

My definition of a game needing skill is “a game which player is punished for execution error”. In that sense…

GW2 require skill in:
ground target AoE
keeping in melee/PBAoE range
a few class combos like thief cloak+dagger->steal->backstab

borderline (the skill still succeed regardless but can only be maximized from knowledge):
dodging crucial attacks

That’s all I can think of.

GW2’s skill ceiling is really low.

Just out of memory comparing to GW1…

skills:
projectile dodging
keeping melee/PBAoE range

I think that’s it? GW1 combo was a lot easier if I remember… like those warrior back breaker combo… I honestly can’t even remember what assassin do.

Anyway… why are you guys playing mmo for skill anyway? If you really want skill, you should play fighting games. Although fighting game only got skill in executing the combo, but since you have to combo so often, it revolve largely around perfecting execution (and some fighting game’s execution are quite difficult, but the risk reward for hard combo is rewarding when you finish it).

As for skill ceiling… low ceiling result is observable when a noob with good build/character can beat a good player with bad build/character. In high skill celing games, that would never happen. Another way to observe is usually mass appeal, high skill ceiling game generally is less popular.

The only skill based mmo i played in my life is tera. You can actually drop combo there and get laughed at for dropping combo…. only if you play the certain class.

Saturn.6591:

Then you should know that if you use a sword, you will always have to use the sword for your attacks (obviously). However, you have 5 different attacks with that sword. Then you can also us another weapon and also, you’ve got 5 more exchangeable skills. I doubt that all you do is autoattacking without ever using any other skill.

Wow such knowledge, much meta, very useful. From what you write I can sense that the game knowledge flows trough you and also that you have played enough game/MMOrpgs to acknowledge that gw2 requires more than 3 skills to complete all content, seriously we are not worthy.

Ethaine.8419:

Saturn.6591:

Bagel.4598:

Saturn.6591:

Bagel.4598:

You don’t have to do anything except swing with a sword, swing again and oh look at that swing again – which is literally opposite of what was said in the manifesto you probably saw.

You really SHOULD try to do something other than zerging someday. You’ll be baffled about the variety of weapons and skills.

I don’t zerg at all, I fractals and dungeons. Your argument is invalid.

Then you should know that if you use a sword, you will always have to use the sword for your attacks (obviously). However, you have 5 different attacks with that sword. Then you can also us another weapon and also, you’ve got 5 more exchangeable skills. I doubt that all you do is autoattacking without ever using any other skill.

Considering the 4 other skills on a weapon are mostly utility based, auto attacking provides the highest dps in the game and as PvE is just a dps race, that is all you will be doing.

The 1 skill is not an auto attk its an attk that tend to chain into other attks that the 3ed skill tend to be a big hit type. Auto attk is the same attk over and over with no added effects and with the wepon at hand. Its a side note that you have an auto attk when all your cd ability are up and the auto attk even still goes off during the use of other attks using the same wepon. There is no Auto attk in GW2 like you see in other mmorpg.

Eloquence.5207:

They added dodge. So much skillz!

To be perfectly fair takes a certain amount of concentration to actually see through the particles and make out the red circles you’re supposed to dodge out of.

Skill varies from game to game.

In competitive pokemon it’s prediction, counterplay through typing stats and skill selection; and being blessed by the critical hit gods.

In Street Fighter skill is the ability to get into your opponents head to either figure out which move to counter or force them into a disadvantageous situation. Not to mention, there’s an incredibly high skill ceiling for the actual execution of attacks.

In MOBAs it’s countering the opposing team based on inductive reasoning and communication, the resulting counterplay culminating highly coordinated team fights.

In GW2 it’s using the flavor of the month cheese build or spamming dps and standing outside of red circles, depending on the game mode. No need to theorycraft too much either, just wait for the devs to change the game’s balance every month and figure out the the next optimal cheese/dps build.

Tman.6349:

it means the game revolves around using the #1 weapon skill to accomplish everything from riding the ‘Queensdale Champ Train’ to defeating massive world bosses to zerging mindlessly in WvWvW. its a “SKILL-based game” and that skill is auto-attack.

Go to PvP and try to play only with skill 1… Yeah now you get what “skill based” means! But no, nobody gives pvp a chance either as endgame or fun content, just because they claiming is “unbalanced”

Immensus.9732:

Tman.6349:

it means the game revolves around using the #1 weapon skill to accomplish everything from riding the ‘Queensdale Champ Train’ to defeating massive world bosses to zerging mindlessly in WvWvW. its a “SKILL-based game” and that skill is auto-attack.

Go to PvP and try to play only with skill 1… Yeah now you get what “skill based” means! But no, nobody gives pvp a chance either as endgame or fun content, just because they claiming is “unbalanced”

Does ppl even fight in so called “pvp”? All i see is running from point to point to cap it. Not so much pvp in pvp.

No DM = No pvp
No duel feature = pve game.
Downed state = game for mo…s

Every friend i talked about gw2 was laughing hard when ive told em that they have to kill twice the same noob due to downed state, and any true pvper knows why. Theres many reasons why pvp is dead, downed protect noob state is one of them

The description that GW2 is “Skill-based” is somewhat misleading.

For example, Quake 3 / Live? That’s entirely dependent on your skill level.
You can have played for a decade or a month; how successful you are depends very much on your ability to play the game. There is a quick learning curve for map familiarity, movement skills and how each weapon or item works, but after that it’s purely down to how good a player you are.

Guild Wars 2 marketing sneakily relies on the fact that the primary way you interact with the game is through interface bar icons that have been called “Skills”.
To that end, when they say the game’s skill-based, they mean that you play it by clicking these icons.

Think of it this way: try renaming the category of game elements currently referred to as “Skills” to something absurd.

For example, let’s try “Cheese”.

The way you play the game is by choosing a weapon, whereupon you get access to 5 Weapon Cheeses. You also have to choose one Healing Cheese, 3 Utility Cheeses and an Elite Cheese.
Traits can affect how potent your cheeses are.
Equipment also affects the potency of your cheeses.

So when ArenaNet talk about the game being “Skill-based”, they really mean it’s “Cheese-based”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there is no skill involved in playing GW2. Far from it. There are still tests of hand-eye coordination present in GW2 that define skill-based play. Some of the purest examples being jumping puzzles.
It’s just that skill means one thing to ArenaNet and another to players.

Galtrix.7369:

Aeolus.3615:

Watch some GW1 GvG to see what skill means, there were some good mesmers/archers arround that time.

ARCHERS? lol… Our class sucks so much that people don’t even remember what we’re actually called.

Sure, rangers were trash in pve, but in pvp good rangers made life a nightmare for their opponents. The interrupts of a mesmer, the pressure of a necro, the armor of a warrior, and the ability to split and defend base easily. Very flexible and strong class in gvg.

milo.6942:

Galtrix.7369:

Aeolus.3615:

Watch some GW1 GvG to see what skill means, there were some good mesmers/archers arround that time.

ARCHERS? lol… Our class sucks so much that people don’t even remember what we’re actually called.

Sure, rangers were trash in pve, but in pvp good rangers made life a nightmare for their opponents. The interrupts of a mesmer, the pressure of a necro, the armor of a warrior, and the ability to split and defend base easily. Very flexible and strong class in gvg.

Rangers were never trash in GW1 PvE. Played my ranger 60% of game time / GWAMM etc. Rangers were better assassins than assassins, rangers were also better warriors than warriors.

GW2? I don’t touch it for anything.

Tman.6349:

it means the game revolves around using the #1 weapon skill to accomplish everything from riding the ‘Queensdale Champ Train’ to defeating massive world bosses to zerging mindlessly in WvWvW. its a “SKILL-based game” and that skill is auto-attack.

Are you saying that spamming various different keys would make playing this game more skilful? Honestly these kind of statements are so yesterday now and very incorrect.

There is a lot more to this game than just using skills and knowing when to use them that could be called using skill. Some things that could be said as such are:

1 – Your build, knowing when to use what build.
2 – Your skills, knowing when to use what skills for what situations and as such weapons that bring those skills as well as utilities. Also in many cases spamming the number 1 skill has benefits. Examples can be a guardian using a mace, the 3rd hit will heal you and allies, there are MANY other examples such as those that continuously stack conditions.

3 – Positioning, some people say this does not exist here but it does. Weather it comes down to stacking in party boss fights, or being on the front lines in WvW and knowing when to push and pull back. Also if you are dangerously low say for example in a champ fight where you are fighting with maybe 1 or 2 other people, again pullback to buy much needed time to heal and then get back into the fight.

4 – Food, there are many foods and other consumables (oils, stones) which have a lot of various effects. Again using the right foods in the right situations with the right builds can make a huge difference.

5 – Being a support player to those around you. Know when to heal others, know when to revive them, know when you should jump in there and try to take the aggro from an enemy when an ally may need time to heal etc. Of course this matters very little in zerg situations but when you are out and about roaming around or just partying in a dungeon it can make all the difference in the world.

6 – Communication, use TeamSpeak or map/team chat in places like WvW and PvP. Let your team mates know what’s going on, what needs help and where. Remember this is a MMO not a single player game and no one can read your mind. Knowing what information to pass on and when also takes skill too in many cases. Don’t just spam every little thing that is happening.

7 – Knowing your enemy. Get familiar with the NPC critters before thinking you are godly enough to just run in and take a whole army on yourself. Likewise for other classes and various builds they can bring. We all start with 5 char slots, feel free to play around with the other classes in the sPvP area for free. Spend a good hour or so on each class and see exactly what strengths and weaknesses they have – with ALL weapons/utilities/traits.

I am sure there are many other things I have overlooked here and not put down. But for anyone to say this game takes no skill I would have to say they haven’t really tried much and obviously just take the easy path available themselves.

Lastly I would like to say it may not take much skill to simply play this game but it does take skill to be a good player, especially in all aspects of the game . :P

Skills required in most RTS games:
Strategy, Tactics, Positioning, Resource Management, Multitasking, Unit Composition

Skills required in most army based FPS games:
Strategy, Tactics, Positioning, Reaction Times, Aiming, Squad Composition

Skills required in GW1:
Strategy, Tactics, Positioning, Reaction Times, Build Composition

Skills required in GW2:
Strategy, Tactics, Positioning, Reaction Times, Build Composition, Some Aiming (ground targeting)

Rin.1046:

Skills required in GW2:
Strategy, Tactics, Positioning, Reaction Times, Build Composition, Some Aiming (ground targeting)

Strategy, tactic, positioning, reaction time, some aiming and..

http://youtu.be/8CmZ5O_XjKs?t=8m56s

Oh sorry wrong vid, i wasnt talking about smashing 2, i was mean that one;

Scoobaniec.9561:

Strategy, tactic, positioning, reaction time, some aiming and..

http://youtu.be/8CmZ5O_XjKs?t=8m56s

Seriously?! You’re basing your view of GW2’s entire combat system on one boss fight? And you decided to choose one of the worse concieved fights in boss battle history? You need to play more of the game.

Immensus.9732:

Tman.6349:

it means the game revolves around using the #1 weapon skill to accomplish everything from riding the ‘Queensdale Champ Train’ to defeating massive world bosses to zerging mindlessly in WvWvW. its a “SKILL-based game” and that skill is auto-attack.

Go to PvP and try to play only with skill 1… Yeah now you get what “skill based” means! But no, nobody gives pvp a chance either as endgame or fun content, just because they claiming is “unbalanced”

I’m r40 with over 1500 matches played so first, don’t make assumptions to try to make a point and second your straw man argument does nothing but prove you had to pick one SINGLE aspect of the game (yeah the ONE that I didn’t refer to ) on hopes of discrediting an obviously true statement. Thanks for that

Rin.1046:

Scoobaniec.9561:

Strategy, tactic, positioning, reaction time, some aiming and..

http://youtu.be/8CmZ5O_XjKs?t=8m56s

Seriously?! You’re basing your view of GW2’s entire combat system on one boss fight? And you decided to choose one of the worse concieved fights in boss battle history? You need to play more of the game.

I have played over 3k hours..More than enough. Also one boss? Other dragons are also just as failed as Zhaitan, also show me other bosses that are about something other than zerk gear and stack. So yes it safe to say that gw2 combat failed completely.

Also rebember that the “one boss” is our main enemy in the game.. Its not some boss, its something that was mean to be powerful, something that could destroy the entire Tyria..yet it turned into a joke. I mean just look at his sad face Q.Q he begs us to leave him alone, he dindt wanted to be mean. He just wanted to have farm (how do u think where the rise chicken came from?), cooking, driving car and have a peaceful life but we just murdered him.

And the second video i proves that gw2 pve is simply broken and turned into casual joke to smash 111. There inst a boss in gw that can match this dragon (24 man raid) just for example, without mentioning other bosses that have even better mechanic.

Scoobaniec.9561:

Also one boss? Other dragons are also just as failed as Zhaitan, also show me other bosses that are about something other than zerk gear and stack. So yes it safe to say that gw2 combat failed completely.

Also rebember that the “one boss” is our main enemy in the game.. Its not some boss, its something that was mean to be powerful, something that could destroy the entire Tyria..yet it turned into a joke. I mean just look at his sad face Q.Q he begs us to leave him alone, he dindt wanted to be mean.

I agree that the encounters in GW2 need some major improvements, especially open world bosses, but that doesn’t mean the combat system is bad. It just means the combat system is seriously under utilized.

Edit: – I agree with your edit, the dragon was more fun to watch and I expect more interesting to fight, but again, that is a problem with the encounter not the combat system or the skill needed to play it (the topic of this thread).

I’d also like to point out that during most of that fight the player filming only seemed to use one skill over and over again. That doesn’t seem to be much of an improvement to hitting skill 2 in the Zaitan fight to me, just more interesting to watch. The boss may be more impressive visually, but the combat itself doesn’t seem to prove anything.

I would love to see more mobile encounters like that dragon, and who knows with enough people requesting it maybe Anet will add something like that, but the point is that the combat system in GW2 is a good one and it requieres skill to use it efficiently. It’s very under utilized at the moment and Anet will no doubt improve that. They have already stated a little while ago that they want to revamp most big encounters.