Guild Wars 2

This is a broad question i am aware but I think it would be interesting. So in a general pve sense what separates a skilled player from an unskilled one? Let’s assume they are specced appropriately. Im really looking forward to seeing your responses.

For PvE gauge them by the whole full Arah p4, I say.

Soloing Lupi is a good way.

Good knowledge of game mechanics be it AI behavior, hard counter, positioning, and ennemy skill effects and cooldowns ( for both pve and pvp). Then come practise and reflexes, but i’d say knowledge is more important.

Although the combat is more action orientated then most MMOs it’s not fully, so we can more or less say that reflexes and timing is one of the lesser measures for skill (with it being a MMO this is probably a good thing given that some of us don’t even live on the same content as the servers), there’s build and ability skill (that is the skill required to select the right setup for your character but then again you can just google that…). Things such as being able to complete a certain dungeon path or a certain event is I guess a measure of skill but it can also be done through pure rote learning.

you can watch a video to learn lupicus solo. you can watch a video to learn arah4.

A skilled pve player is knowledgeable of ALL dungeons. Has the master title, actually learned em. Keeps up on the world boss tactics and evolves as they do. someone who can kill champions by themself, basically.

A skilled pvp player knows how to use all their skills and weapons in the most scenarios – following metabuilds and copying others’ ideas every patch about the ‘best’ is only for mediocre pvpers, they have to react when the best changes. skilled players are already prepared for any changes in what constitutes ‘best’, knowing how the weapon and class skills work before they are deemed OP.

A skilled wvw’er… Zergs? Follows orders in voice (if they like being in a baitball). zzz.

Press other buttons besides 1 and learn to dodge.

Maybe mastering the skills of all classes to the point of ‘maining’ them in PVE or PVP. Knowledge of PVE encounters like back of hand and being able to carry new players/solo bosses etc.

A few trait points into permanent vigor.

It’s relatively simple. Anyone other than myself is skilled. I’m just a trained monkey who can dodge.

Timing and split sec reaction much like a fighter game to where it becomes a reflex and not something you think about. That is the major different between the stander mmorpg combat (more clunky and unintuitive) vs what GW2 has (what seems more like a fluid motions.)

Doesn’t spam knockbacks during group events indicating that they are not just mindlessly mashing keys….

NYG.2568:

Press other buttons besides 1 and learn to dodge.

Beyond this, far too specific for this broad topic…..

Unfortunately, I have seen far too many players that seriously cannot meet the above requirements….it’s just sad to watch.

Doesn’t spam knockbacks during group events indicating that they are not just mindlessly mashing keys….

Bear-Bow # 4 hating are we? (I agree).

I happen to run a lot of dungeons, and I know for sure what makes a skilled player:

Exp pro zerk warrior only,7k+ AP, gear check no noobs

Rest are scrubs

If you played everything and you feel that the game is easy, then you are more skilled than the majority of the player base.

I read posts about some Living World and Personal Story steps being hard, I read some people saying that get 100% world map is hard … if you think that any of those things is hard, I have bad news for you.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Tron.3471:

Doesn’t spam knockbacks during group events indicating that they are not just mindlessly mashing keys….

Bear-Bow # 4 hating are we? (I agree).

I tend to have it happen but I use Point Blank to shave off bits of Defiant . . . sometimes, though, it drops quickly when it gets under 10 stacks and . . . oops. There it went.

Good reflexes, knowledge of their class, other classes and encounter mechanics.

Flexible with traits, weapons, armour and utilities – switching them whenever it would be more efficient to do so.

Knowing your limits – taking advantage of certain defenses if you either aren’t experienced enough to go about an encounter full DPS, whether this means using a more defensive weapon set or even adding a bit of toughness to your gear).

From a PvE perspective, being able to maintain DPS rotations without breaking them too frequently is a big one. The best example is people calling warrior a faceroll class but then if I watch them play their rotations are complete garbage. Sure, playing a class badly is faceroll, but that applies to any class.

jweez.7214:

This is a broad question i am aware but I think it would be interesting. So in a general pve sense what separates a skilled player from an unskilled one? Let’s assume they are specced appropriately. Im really looking forward to seeing your responses.

Frankly? endless hours playing this game.

I come from wow, i am not afraid to say. I could play for 2 hours a day, I would check the theorycraft forums after every patch, fill my own excel sheet with all possible gear so I would know what to pick and when to pass. I had recount to help me see if I was doing ok with a certain build or I needed to change and how effective the change was.

Here I don’t have any of that. This means I should spend countless of hours trying every single variable to see which combination si optimal (dps wise). I don’t have recount to see what works and what doesn’t, so the trial and error is endless and guided by feeling rather than by fact.

Then, the boss mechanics: boss do have their tells, but as the size of the bosses is not bigger than the effects of our spells, it’s almost impossible to see what the boss is doing, so learning the encounters is rather difficult unless you play MANY times.

To add insult, the camera really works against you in bosses like lupicus, where you are supposed to stay at mele but the camera goes completely weird if lupi gets near a wall.

Add to that the fact very few encounters are difficult enough for me to challenge me and force me to do it better or die, I find it very hard to get better. Bosses most of the time just die before I learn anything.

For me, getting more skilled, would mean playing many more hours, much more than 2 a day, and I frankly couldn’t be bothered, given the present state of the game.

IMO (pve mode):
30% – situational reflexes – dodge.
30% – Knowing inside out on the mechanics of all classes (trait, utility, etc), knows how to create synergy with your party members, understand why meta works.
40% – know the dungeon path / specific boss inside out.

In dungeon mode, when somone said experienced, it means you know the path inside out, if you do AC 1000 times, that does not makes you experiened in coe if you only did it once or twice.

A hefty line of credit and a life free from concerns over work, family or other relationships.

A skilled player is one that doesn’t take the game too seriously.

Teon.5168:

A skilled player is one that doesn’t take the game too seriously.

Much better than my grumpy, just got home from work comment.

: )

Bellizare.5816:

Teon.5168:

A skilled player is one that doesn’t take the game too seriously.

Much better than my grumpy, just got home from work comment.

: )

LOL…..I thought your comment was good…..especially for just after getting home from work!

maha.7902:

From a PvE perspective, being able to maintain DPS rotations without breaking them too frequently is a big one. The best example is people calling warrior a faceroll class but then if I watch them play their rotations are complete garbage. Sure, playing a class badly is faceroll, but that applies to any class.

I’m maining a warrior, always trying to do my best to be as effective as possible, expecially with the DPS rotation. It makes a huge difference.
But the fact that most warriors aren’t capable of doing this doen’t make the class harder.
In fact, it just makes people camping GS 1 2 3 simply uncapable, lazy and lame players.
Whoever tells me warrior is a complete faceroll and super boring and them camps GS all the way just lost all the respect in my eyes.

To OP, a skilled GW2 player will be rolling their face on the whole keyboard as opposed to repeatedly pressing a single key.

you can do everything in gw2-pve while watching a movie on second screen

this game is made so evereone can feel like a hero even when he only spam #1 clicking with his mouse – even wvw is designed for this

i would not even use the word “skill” when talk bout guildwars 2

NYG.2568:

Press other buttons besides 1 and learn to dodge.

QFT
+1

Player skill is irrellevant, what does matter is a players level of patience, willingness to learn and ability to work in a group.

Just too many factors and gameplay types to narrow ‘skill’ down as a speciftic knowledge base or artificial statistic.

Some things apply to both pve and pvp, some only one but in no particular order…

1. Micro skill
2. Ability to mentally manage your cool downs. Knowing when a key skill on your other weaponset will be off cool down by memory is key.
3. Muscle memory for all weapon skills and utilities. Being able to use your stun breaks or blocks instinctively without having to consciously think about it.
4. quick ability to learn from mistakes. If you get killed by a boss who has a skill with a long wind up that you should be able to dodge, how quickly you learn that tell is important.
5. Knowing the standard openings for the meta builds for every class. In pvp the majority of players are going to use cookie cutter builds with cookie cutter openings. Knowing exactly what skills they are going to use in what order should give you a big advantage.

Tier 1: Is mobile. Can dodge.
Tier 2: Can read enemy descriptions. (I’m looking at you, Marionette fights with endless people flailing around ineffectively.)
Tier 3: Capable of working with a group/party instead of yolocharging in or doing their own thing.
Tier 4: Know & is willing to adjust utilities/weapons(/traits) depending on context instead of sticking to one unchanging bar.

Many things make a skilled gw2 player – however I think it is easier to see what makes a not so skilled player

1. skill clicking
2. keyboard turning
3. back pedaling

Anyone who still does those is most definitely not skilled

You can’t really tell since GW2 has the same encounters every single time… nothing is random so there is no improvisation. You can’t tell the difference between someone who is really good at playing and someone who just learned that particular encounter.

1. Beeing able to read item descriptions, enemie descriptions
2. Beeing able to dodge\avoid attacks
3. Using more then the 1 button on your keyboard
4. If playing in a group PLAYING as a group

Tron.3471:

Doesn’t spam knockbacks during group events indicating that they are not just mindlessly mashing keys….

What if someone in that group was annoying you so you pop knock backs just to troll them? Not saying I’ve done that, per se, but you know, hypothetically.

Then i’d slap you in the face, hypothetically.
God, I hate knockbacks.

Narkodx.1472:

Many things make a skilled gw2 player – however I think it is easier to see what makes a not so skilled player

1. skill clicking
2. keyboard turning
3. back pedaling

Anyone who still does those is most definitely not skilled

Hey now, back pedaling has its place in WvW. its called “lure”. I also call it tail forming and rabbit making. heheh

Brutality.9631:

A skilled wvw’er… Zergs? Follows orders in voice (if they like being in a baitball). zzz.

zzz
no

a skilled zergling is able to predict where to be in a fight and react in a way that helps win the fight. for the front line that means sticking tight to a commander wherever he may go. for the back line it means laying down your dps where the enemy is weak.

another measure of skill in wvw is your ability to scout and solo roam. can you give out useful information on enemy troop movements while keeping your kitten alive? can you take objectives? can you kill enemy scouts?

Hardly anything challenging for PvE unless you solo dungs/fracs. After a few runs, you just memorize boss tactics and avoid red circles lol…dodge away and spam to victory..Open world PvE is even easier. Teq and wurm go down on a daily basis, once you know the mechanics of the fight, its pretty easy. The hardest part is coordinating with the mass of ppl lol, not the actual fight itself

PvP on the other hand, can be pretty challenging (not hotjoin..) depending on the matchups…granted I’ve vs’d some players that are worse than a grub…

Q: What makes a skilled gw2 player?

A: According to Anet the amount of gemstore items purchased via Mastercard

Q: What makes you not a good player ?

A: to accuse other players to constantly spam #1 .. because we have autoattack .. so no need to spam that key.

Beldin.5498:

Q: What makes you not a good player ?

A: to accuse other players to constantly spam #1 .. because we have autoattack .. so no need to spam that key.

Riight… You obviously haven’t been a part of megaserver-populated events. Targets die so fast you have to spam 1 to choose new ones. ;D

Being able to play their class knowing the full synergy of their traits and utility skills, knowing how combo fields and projectiles work, managing their endurance with dodging effectively, reading enemy tells and interrupting when necessary, also relying one each other’s skill effects to the fullest: A group doing these things I’ll value more than a stack and press one in stupid zerker gear.

I prefer long epic smart battles like that any day.

Stormcrow.7513:

Q: What makes a skilled gw2 player?

A: According to Anet the amount of gemstore items purchased via Mastercard

Aww … mine is Visa.
~walks to the noob corner~

There are several factors, but if i will put one over the others, then is “good eyes”, and also that its not only the most important in gw2, but in most of the gaming generes.

What i mean with “good eyes”: the ability to notice all what is happening_

• What every mob is doing: it allows you to move, dodge and posisionate properly and do the best tactic for that particular situatuion.

• What every player in the party is doing.

Some indicators:

- This is particulary true to differentiate a good player than a memorized one, if something go wrong the one with good eyes can adapt because he knows what its happening.

- Someone stacked in AC spider, it failed, but you survived: congratulation you just looked at the spider animation or the big red circles!, you are a step less towards been good).

- You notice a party member dcd because of his/her icon.

- You can know who is the troll, you see him clearly doing the troll pull.

- You will never think “i was killing that alone”, if you saw three dudes at your side (some people are just delusional).

- You see clearly the guardian with his staff with the autoatack all time (this one is very easy).

-Etc.

Theres studies that explain that the more you pla,y this particular kind of panoramic vision that allows to notice different things in differents part of your vision, gets improved.

Pd: As a second one i will put fast thinking, but you need good eyes to get to that point.

Garrisyl.7402:

I happen to run a lot of dungeons, and I know for sure what makes a skilled player:

Exp pro zerk warrior only,7k+ AP, gear check no noobs

Rest are scrubs

You seriously think those specs equate to “skill”? Not saying it doesn’t take a specific skill set to run Dungeons fast, but actually believing everyone outside your little 5 man instanced existence is a scrub identifies you as a player all the “scrubs” should avoid (and I’m guessing you are just fine with that idea).

Mesket.5728:

You can’t really tell since GW2 has the same encounters every single time… nothing is random so there is no improvisation. You can’t tell the difference between someone who is really good at playing and someone who just learned that particular encounter.

Well thats not true at all in PvP, and hardly true in PvE. If you add up all the experienced dungeon speed clear players who main a Guardian, all of them know the encounters. Yet some are still clearly better than the others despite equal experience in the instances. If your theory was right, everyone who has run an instance 100 times would be equally good to someone who has also run it 100 times. If your theory was correct someone who ran it 200 times would be far superior to someone who has only run it 100 times, yet actual experience says otherwise, therefore you must be wrong somewhere in your analysis.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Garrisyl.7402:

I happen to run a lot of dungeons, and I know for sure what makes a skilled player:

Exp pro zerk warrior only,7k+ AP, gear check no noobs

Rest are scrubs

You seriously think those specs equate to “skill”?

No, I don’t seriously think that. I was being sarcastic and thought that was pretty clear. But there seems to be a vast number of players who think that the above represents a skilled player.

A skilled player is one who learns.

A failure is one who refuses to learn.

It’s harder to pinpoint skilled players (other than fringe cases when one person ends up soloing the boss in berserker gear after all other 4 players in Soldier gear die), but very easy to pinpoint the failures.

Someone who refuses to learn can run a path 100 times and still be a liability, while someone who bothers to learn can surpass the earlier player even in the first run of that path if another player bothers to teach.

1. Those who attack players who point out things they’re doing wrong that can lead to a party wipe.

2. Those who die at every fight but insist on using gear they can’t play well in.

3. Those who are new to a path but keep silent towards all offers of help/guidance, before people eventually find out when they sabotage the run later on from not knowing what to do (especially clear in cases like CoEp2 and CoFp1 brazier phase).

To summarise, skill is inversely proportional to pride.

Optional skills that go above and beyond:

1. Knowing what every condition and boon in the game does.
2. Synergising all their skills and traits in a build.
3. Knowing every single mechanic from HP scaling to uncrittable targets to double damage spots to Defiance to aggro to Pierce to Cleave.
4. Memorising all the attack rotations of mobs and/or being able to predict all mob actions from the first half a second of the animation.
5. Knowing what every single stat in the game does, precisely, and how they affect a build. This involves being able to understand and explain why condition damage is superior in certain instances in PvE, why it is grossly inferior in many others, whether toughness or vitality is more important for survivability for any given build, whether critrate or power is more important for damage for any given build and under what conditions that is true, whether stacking precision for critbleed or more vitality is better for a condi build.

hybrid.5027:

Mesket.5728:

You can’t really tell since GW2 has the same encounters every single time… nothing is random so there is no improvisation. You can’t tell the difference between someone who is really good at playing and someone who just learned that particular encounter.

Well thats not true at all in PvP, and hardly true in PvE. If you add up all the experienced dungeon speed clear players who main a Guardian, all of them know the encounters. Yet some are still clearly better than the others despite equal experience in the instances. If your theory was right, everyone who has run an instance 100 times would be equally good to someone who has also run it 100 times. If your theory was correct someone who ran it 200 times would be far superior to someone who has only run it 100 times, yet actual experience says otherwise, therefore you must be wrong somewhere in your analysis.

I missed my disclaimer: “PVE Wise”.

There are other factors involved, of course… some people learn faster than others, some are more skilled with their fingers, or younger, or care more to learn so they put more effort… but at the very end, pve wise, its all a matter of repetition and focus. Very few players can improvise properly and it is reflected in events such as Nightmare Tower or those giant flowers in Kessex or even during the Lions Arch invasion. When silvers start spawning where you don’t know they will, cats starts to happen to even the fastest speed clearer (not everyone of course).-

Harny.6012:

maha.7902:

From a PvE perspective, being able to maintain DPS rotations without breaking them too frequently is a big one. The best example is people calling warrior a faceroll class but then if I watch them play their rotations are complete garbage. Sure, playing a class badly is faceroll, but that applies to any class.

I’m maining a warrior, always trying to do my best to be as effective as possible, expecially with the DPS rotation. It makes a huge difference.
But the fact that most warriors aren’t capable of doing this doen’t make the class harder.
In fact, it just makes people camping GS 1 2 3 simply uncapable, lazy and lame players.
Whoever tells me warrior is a complete faceroll and super boring and them camps GS all the way just lost all the respect in my eyes.

Camping GS is fine in a solo context.

In groups you shouldn’t be doing extra axe chains for no reason or camping gs when your vulnerability axe skills are off cooldown.

Then there’s things like double dodging before fights to proc stick and move and generally just good cooldown management and things like not interrupting hundred blades because you’ve learned to time it.

I think the best way to learn how to perform rotations is soloing Brie – you can do it (though cutting it close) with warrior if you perform mostly clean rotations, but people who are just playing stupid won’t be able to. Some people can’t even duo it before being ported out.