Guild Wars 2

I’m not a PvE player. In fact, I only leave Eternal Battlegrounds, Alpine Borderlands or Edge Of The Mists maybe once every 3 – 4+ months excluding any time I spend in LA doing stuff in the Mystic Forge.

I always explore new maps such as the ones released with HoT or other ones prior to it like Silverwastes, Dry Top, etc. but I only usually go there a few times to see what’s up then I never come back. PvE just isn’t my thing.

That said, Verdant Brink was the first map I ever enjoyed being in. I went there quite often just to relax and do what ever. Sometimes I even tagged up to lead event trains but the biggest reason I liked the map was for the events themselves.

Now with Bloodstone Fen, I like both the events and the physical design of the map. It’s both fun to be there and pleasurable to look at/explore as well as easy to navigate. The red skies and mixture of landscapes are like candy for my eyeballs. I go there daily for the daily rewards and just to gather some loots.

There’s one major problem though… NPC’s throwing rocks at you from 1000000000 away and being dead accurate. It drives me insane and as far as I can tell, there’s no way to stop it. They even hit you while using the stealth mastery and the damage adds up quick.

Can we please either remove this rock throwing business or add some kind of skill that gives us a reflective bubble while in flight? Because besides pre-nerf PU Mesmers in WvW, this is the single most obnoxious thing I’ve experienced in the game. The second I leave the ground to fly, I’m being pelted by rocks and they don’t tickle either. Especially if you’re coming down near a mob of them, it’ll only take a few seconds before your health is at a critical percent.

They didn’t give us a reflect. They turned the glider into a weapon set. Glider skill 5 is what you’re looking for. It’s a high-speed aerial dash with 4s evade. It grants stability which lingers for a couple of seconds after the evade. And it has a 5-second cooldown.

Make sure you’re using stealth gliding, but note that it only prevents enemies from targeting you. Going stealth will not protect from projectiles already in the air. You need glider skill 5 for that. You can also drop out of flight to force enemies to revert to normal aggro rules momentarily.

I’d be fine if the stupid rocks had a realistic range limit instead of 50,000m. Seriously wtf kind of upper body workout do those white mantle knights have.

It’s interesting that various projectiles like rocks and fireballs are also homing. I’ve seen them turn angles to hit me if I try to avoid them, even in stealth. Wish my magic was as good as theirs.

Ubik.8315:

I’d be fine if the stupid rocks had a realistic range limit instead of 50,000m. Seriously wtf kind of upper body workout do those white mantle knights have.

They were given Bloodstone strength, perhaps?

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

It’s interesting that various projectiles like rocks and fireballs are also homing. I’ve seen them turn angles to hit me if I try to avoid them, even in stealth. Wish my magic was as good as theirs.

They probably intended Bloodstone Fen to showcase the new glider mechanics and felt that too short a range would trivialize the new skills. They want you to be in danger and use your new skills to avoid it. They don’t want you to be able to bypass aerial combat too easily. Your opponents (for the moment) are land-locked. They need to be able to engage you somehow.

Having said that, I think the range could be toned down a bit and still serve its purpose. It’s also problematic when you actually intend to land in an area with high enemy density. The new skills allow you to approach safely and perhaps even clear a small landing area, but the aggro radius means that by the time you land every white mantle within a mile is on to you and you’re fighting for your life a lot worse than you would if you had been able to approach on foot (which is rarely a possibility in Bloodstone Fen!).

I’m sure they’ll have to make some adjustments to get it right.

These rocks are really freaking annoying, you can be hit before the mobs even render on your screen, and knocked out of glider mode to your death. It isn’t fun. Give them a realistic range or make stealth gliding break targetting please.

Actually I’m beginning to greatly dislike aerial skill #5. I’m dying more to it when I bump into ley lines that are sometimes difficult to see, or I have the camera turned a different way. If I could remove it from my skill bar I absolutely would. Regret buying it as is.

Seems I am not the only one that finds being hit out of flying mode a full 3 seconds after going into stealth is a bit much…..

If skill 5 was just a matter of buying the skill that would be one thing. It does not unlock to buy until you have the last level of gliding though. As someone who has not completed their masteries I have up to gliding5 but much more important things to spend MPs on before I save up for gliding6.

Crustydog.9825:

Seems I am not the only one that finds being hit out of flying mode a full 3 seconds after going into stealth is a bit much…..

You don’t have to keep eating these deaths.

Don’t use stealth while in range of enemies unless you are extending the duration. Instead, use it when approaching enemies to cover your landing. This way you can avoid pulling 20 enemies from long range and eating a bunch rocks to the face upon landing! You can also use it to cover yourself as you pass through enemy range, or to buy a few seconds for the cooldown on glider 5.

Understand that glider 5’s evade and aerial dash duration may be extended dramatically by holding down the button! This means that as long as you have room to use it (watch out for leylines!), you can evade all current projectiles and quickly escape enemy range – all on a short cooldown!

There is an initial second upon entering flight where you cannot enter stealth. In this second, enemies under the extended aerial range rules will launch projectiles. You should never use stealth at this point. You should be using glider 5 instead.

As a backup, trait a passive stun break. It will negate the first rock that would otherwise have taken you out of flight. If you do this along with the rest of these techniques, you should have no issues with rocks. Leylines on the other hand, will become a bit of a hazard!

I would love to see a permanent unranked PVP map using the mechanics and terrain similar to that from Bloodstone Fen. I’m sure it would be unbalanced as a skritt on a unicycle, but it sure would be fun.

Blaeys.3102:

I would love to see a permanent unranked PVP map using the mechanics and terrain similar to that from Bloodstone Fen. I’m sure it would be unbalanced as a skritt on a unicycle, but it sure would be fun.

It would be extra fun if the falling scream was added back into the game:)
I agree the range on those rocks is obscene. I’ve been hit by several in a row and fallen to my death, but the range on the glider attacks is the same. Enemies that are too far away to be seen can still be hit. I’d say the physics of the rocks should be fixed because they change direction to follow their target, but a bloodstone exploded and I’m hallucinating Anomalies all over the place. So, ya know, priorities

Meridian.4983:

Blaeys.3102:

I would love to see a permanent unranked PVP map using the mechanics and terrain similar to that from Bloodstone Fen. I’m sure it would be unbalanced as a skritt on a unicycle, but it sure would be fun.

It would be extra fun if the falling scream was added back into the game:)
I agree the range on those rocks is obscene. I’ve been hit by several in a row and fallen to my death, but the range on the glider attacks is the same. Enemies that are too far away to be seen can still be hit. I’d say the physics of the rocks should be fixed because they change direction to follow their target, but a bloodstone exploded and I’m hallucinating Anomalies all over the place. So, ya know, priorities

There wouldn’t be much point to the projectiles if they couldn’t hit you, and they give you all the skills you need to avoid them. I think a lot of players simply don’t adjust after realizing that the projectiles seek. They still take to the air and try to stealth, but that does absolutely nothing to protect you against projectiles already in flight! I can imagine those projectiles are frustrating when they use the wrong strategy to deal with them!