Guild Wars 2

With a set of Ascended gear being granted upon entry, does this mean that Ascended gear and infusions will be required to complete raids?

If so, thats me out since I don’t do crafting at all and tbh I don’t even understand the defensive/offensive fusion system anyway.

It is balanced around Ascended Gear. But Ascended gear is not required.

So basically another thing that makes their word about Exotic being final tier gear and usable for all content into more of a lie.

I hope in the actual raid, Ascended is provided (if only for that instance), or basically it means that they are excluding a lot of players who don’t have Ascended.

Yes. Raid Bosses have Enrage timers. You want as much DPS as you can get, without running Full Zerker. Fusions are needed to pump up your damage without being forced to go full damage set.

GuzziHero.2467:

So basically another thing that makes their lie about Exotic being final tier gear and usable for all content true.

I hope in the actual raid, Ascended is provided (if only for that instance), or basically it means that they are excluding a lot of players who don’t have Ascended.

But isn’t that the point? Raids are the one content type in the entire game that exclude a portion of players who aren’t ‘hardcore’ enough to earn their way to completing them – what would be the point if they were easy enough that Ascended gear wasn’t required, what would be the point if every casual player could walk in and have gear handed to them while breezing through the raid?

That’s not high-end, challenging PvE content – that’s a casual cake walk. You can’t have challenging content and expect the game to cater to your specific desires.

It doesn’t work both way – challenging content is for those who invest time into every facet of the game and need content to push themselves further.

Well, in that case, thanks to Anet for excluding more players. Looks like I’ll never see a raid then.

GuzziHero.2467:

Well, in that case, thanks to Anet for excluding more players. Looks like I’ll never see a raid then.

Please, please explain to me how you feel as though the content would be challenging while including the entire player base without excluding a single individual? I’d like to hear your logic behind this, because in my mind, these two things can not fundamentally coexist.

Why do you think that Anet lied to us?

Walhalla.5473:

Why do you think that Anet lied to us?

I believe they’re referring to the fact that in the past, the developers stated things such as “there will be no gear treadmill”, and then they released Ascended armor, which was met with a lot of disappointment.

They later admitted this was a mistake, and said it would be the final armor tier introduced to the game.

So, they essentially made a mistake at one point – although to say they “lied” is an exaggeration, since I don’t believe they ever said there would never be armor tiers introduced after the game was released, and it’s rather unfair to claim a single tier being introduced as a “gear treadmill”. But, I do understand why this is disheartening to people.

What I don’t understand is how this is still being held against them to this day? What are they supposed to do? Pretend that Ascended armor doesn’t exist, release all new content tuned for Exotic armor so that those wearing Ascended can literally blinding walk through content because of the stat increase?

Please, someone explain to me…

Al Shamari, they’ve already said that exotics were too easy to acquire and they overlooked that. Their response was ascended tier. They introduced it slowly over time, giving people plenty of time to adjust.

Considering you can do almost anything in the game and earn your way to crafting ascended gear, I really don’t get the fuss.

eekzie.5640:

Al Shamari, they’ve already said that exotics were too easy to acquire and they overlooked that. Their response was ascended tier. They introduced it slowly over time, giving people plenty of time to adjust.

Considering you can do almost anything in the game and earn your way to crafting ascended gear, I really don’t get the fuss.

Re-read my post, we’re in agreement

Al Shamari.7234:

eekzie.5640:

Al Shamari, they’ve already said that exotics were too easy to acquire and they overlooked that. Their response was ascended tier. They introduced it slowly over time, giving people plenty of time to adjust.

Considering you can do almost anything in the game and earn your way to crafting ascended gear, I really don’t get the fuss.

Re-read my post, we’re in agreement

I was just adding on to your post, not disagreeing :O

Players with “enough” skill can do it with a mix of Ascended/Exotic, or even maybe in full Exotic, there is no hard cap for the raid, like for example Agony. A good optimized group of 10 that can fit all important roles that uses a mix of Ascended/Exotic will have a much easier time than a team in full Ascended that uses only Berserkers.

eekzie.5640:

Al Shamari.7234:

eekzie.5640:

Al Shamari, they’ve already said that exotics were too easy to acquire and they overlooked that. Their response was ascended tier. They introduced it slowly over time, giving people plenty of time to adjust.

Considering you can do almost anything in the game and earn your way to crafting ascended gear, I really don’t get the fuss.

Re-read my post, we’re in agreement

I was just adding on to your post, not disagreeing :O

Touche!

GuzziHero.2467:

So basically another thing that makes their word about Exotic being final tier gear and usable for all content into more of a lie.

I hope in the actual raid, Ascended is provided (if only for that instance), or basically it means that they are excluding a lot of players who don’t have Ascended.

You really made my day, thank you for that. This totally counters any ideas of
“I earned it the hard way "
elitism with
“Oh my, I have no ascended because I was too lazy/occupied/unwilling to get it. Please Anet, give me ascended armor while I raid. Because, you know, raiding is funny, but dying because I did not keep up is not.”
in just a simple sentence.

This is a little bit like the financial crisis here. Bankers of course wanted the money, but came tugged with their tails between the legs to the governments when they blew it colossaly and begged, yes BEGGED for help because their empire was seriously crumbling and they had no reserves to weather out the crisis.

Id have no issue with Ascended having the same stats as exotic PLUS infusions. Its the Exotic-plus that grinds my gears.

I guess that it was only a matter of time before they started making non-fractal Ascended-intended gear to truly force us players to craft or be excluded.

GuzziHero.2467:

Well, in that case, thanks to Anet for excluding more players. Looks like I’ll never see a raid then.

How is making raids any different from making adventures (which some people like and others dislike) or making jumping puzzles (which some people like and others dislike) or stronghold (which some people like and others dislike) or elite specializations (which some people like and others dislike). Anet makes content and features for all kinds of different players and no content or feature will be of interest to everyone. What’s wrong with that?

Al Shamari.7234:

But isn’t that the point? Raids are the one content type in the entire game that exclude a portion of players who aren’t ‘hardcore’ enough to earn their way to completing them – what would be the point if they were easy enough that Ascended gear wasn’t required, what would be the point if every casual player could walk in and have gear handed to them while breezing through the raid?

Then they would be gated by what they were supposed to be gated – skill. Grind gates are the worst kinds of gates there are.

Al Shamari.7234:

That’s not high-end, challenging PvE content – that’s a casual cake walk.

Ah, i see, so for you the challenge lies in having the right gear set.

GuzziHero.2467:

Id have no issue with Ascended having the same stats as exotic PLUS infusions. Its the Exotic-plus that grinds my gears.

I guess that it was only a matter of time before they started making non-fractal Ascended-intended gear to truly force us players to craft or be excluded.

So I should have invested considerable amounts of money through materials into an armor I already have but with an extra slot? Who would build something like this at the current materials you need for it?

Your unwillingness to craft = my unwillingness to raid for legendary armor
Both things suck, both are rooted in the same problem, and we both have to somehow deal with it.

Astralporing.1957:

Al Shamari.7234:

But isn’t that the point? Raids are the one content type in the entire game that exclude a portion of players who aren’t ‘hardcore’ enough to earn their way to completing them – what would be the point if they were easy enough that Ascended gear wasn’t required, what would be the point if every casual player could walk in and have gear handed to them while breezing through the raid?

Then they would be gated by what they were supposed to be gated – skill. Grind gates are the worst kinds of gates there are.

Al Shamari.7234:

That’s not high-end, challenging PvE content – that’s a casual cake walk.

Ah, i see, so for you the challenge lies in having the right gear set.

If raids were balanced around Exotic gear instead of Ascended gear then those people with Ascended gear would have an edge over other people and thus they would have an easier time. In that scenario raids would arguably be more about gear, not less.

Astralporing.1957:

Al Shamari.7234:

But isn’t that the point? Raids are the one content type in the entire game that exclude a portion of players who aren’t ‘hardcore’ enough to earn their way to completing them – what would be the point if they were easy enough that Ascended gear wasn’t required, what would be the point if every casual player could walk in and have gear handed to them while breezing through the raid?

Then they would be gated by what they were supposed to be gated – skill. Grind gates are the worst kinds of gates there are.

Al Shamari.7234:

That’s not high-end, challenging PvE content – that’s a casual cake walk.

Ah, i see, so for you the challenge lies in having the right gear set.

I absolutely guarantee that despite anything Arenanet says, raids are possible in Exotic level gear – why? Because there are no hard coded mechanics that force you to utilize Ascended gear (e.g. agony). I’m sure that people will want to use Ascended gear, because it will make raids somewhat easier – but the reality is, that over time I’m sure a group will complete the raids in Exotic gear because all damage can be negated, and all bosses can be killed with enough time.

So nothing is being gated off via grind, nothing is forcing you to use Ascended gear – it will simply make the task easier, and if you’re not committed enough to get Ascended gear, good luck being committed enough to make it through the raid – because chances are, your level of commitment to one will affect your perspective towards the difficulty of the other.