Guild Wars 2

I’m by no means an expert PVPer in GW2, however I came up with some changes to current maps that to me, it will make them more interesting and fun.

Skyhammer
There are many many complains about this map. I believe the main mechanic of the map, fighting for the cannon isn’t the issue, but the emphasis on “cheap” kills by bunker/defensive characters with lots of pull/push abilities.

How about this simple change: remove all holes and add railings so you can no longer be pushed/pulled down. Now the map will work similarly to other maps, only with the added cannon mechanic, no more griefing. The map has some interesting vertical gameplay too, attacking others from advantage points etc, it’s a shame it isn’t used more often because of the “cheap” kills. This change might also make skyhammer availalbe in Ranked Arena too.

Spirit Watch
Quick and easy change to make this map better, disallow ALL movement skills while you hold the orb. You cannot be affected by swiftness and any teleport or invulnerability skills will force you to drop the Orb, so why is it that leap skills work as normal?? For example, Fiery Rush, that ignores movement impaired conditions too, should either not move you far, or force you to drop the Orb.

Some very simple changes to remove gimmick builds from making these maps annoying, while keeping their main mechanic intact.

And now for Courtyard!

A) Make it so there are no respawns in the map. Once team members of one team are all dead, everyone respawns back to base and repeat the battle. The winning team gets a point, first team to reach 3 points (tweakable) wins the match.

This way, there is no “farming” going on once a team gets the upper hand making the experience not fun for the losing team. Also, “cheap” and “lucky” wins will be lessened, because every round will start fresh. Easier to turn the tide and actually win the game even if the first round looked hopeless.

Also, this will make Courtyard take slightly longer time, so it’s not the “easy quick farm” map anymore.

B) Add buffs on the map that spawn on timers, like the Temple of Silent Storm buffs, only this time player buffs.

These buffs need to be powerful enough to “force” players to hunt them, this will spread the teams a bit and make the matches different to a repeated 5vs5 in a corner. Also might create some interesting duels around the points (while the rest of the teams are fighting elsewere). Finally, it will make use of the multiple paths in Courtyard, which are currently underused as most fights take place near the middle and the rest of the map isn’t used for anything.

I don’t know how easy it is to make any changes to the maps of the game. However doing some changes from time to time will spice up the game a bit, if it doesn’t work well, revert them back.

Do you think these changes will make the maps playable in Ranked Arena??? Any feedback is welcome!

Spirit Watch and Courtyard suggestions are great, exactly what needs to happen for those maps to make Ranked Queue.

I’d like to see private server options to modify spawn times back to normal for Courtyard though, 10v10 clusterkittens on that map are pure joy.

I think adding kiddy rails to Skyhammer just makes it a boring Kyhlo clone. Perhaps it will be a great map forever relegated to hotjoin as a very fun experiment.

Brew Pinch.5731:

Spirit Watch and Courtyard suggestions are great, exactly what needs to happen for those maps to make Ranked Queue.

I’d like to see private server options to modify spawn times back to normal for Courtyard though, 10v10 clusterkittens on that map are pure joy.

I think adding kiddy rails to Skyhammer just makes it a boring Kyhlo clone. Perhaps it will be a great map forever relegated to hotjoin as a very fun experiment.

I still wonder why they allow leap skills in Spirit Watch but not Swiftness…

As for Courtyard having options for servers so they can use any version (or combination) would be very nice.

I don’t think Skyhammer with rails is a copy of Khylo, the cannon itself is unique enough I think.

I don’t know how easy it is to tweak the maps this way, but removing them, or having so many threads with people complaining about them isn’t helping. Changing the mechanics of those maps is what the devs should do, once the season is over and then go to us, the community for feedback.

Though I am not against the round system fro Courtyard. Its not necessary.

The reason why teams get farmed is the “Conquest” mentality that you need to rush to the fight.

Smart teams will wait on base, regroup and rally from the side exits. Which rarelly happens on Pug fights

SoulSin.5682:

“Conquest” mentality

^ It’s about time we get TDM queue, most teams don’t even bother adapting their specs, I hate blowout matches you might as well be a bot.

maddoctor.2738:

I still wonder why they allow leap skills in Spirit Watch but not Swiftness…

most leap skills are affected by crippled, chilled and immobilized.

Deimos Tel Arin.7391:

maddoctor.2738:

I still wonder why they allow leap skills in Spirit Watch but not Swiftness…

most leap skills are affected by crippled, chilled and immobilized.

Swiftness is also affected by crippled, chilled and immobilized, yet you can’t even get that boon while holding the orb. Try using Crippled/Chilled/Immobilized on a GS/Sword Warrior that activates Berserker Stance… it’s a 100% success rate score without any counter play.

By disallowing leap skills when carrying the orb you even the field in Spirit Watch and maybe, maybe, the map will see some ranked play and not gather so much hatred.

SoulSin.5682:

Though I am not against the round system fro Courtyard. Its not necessary.

The reason why teams get farmed is the “Conquest” mentality that you need to rush to the fight.

Smart teams will wait on base, regroup and rally from the side exits. Which rarelly happens on Pug fights

The problem is that “debuff” you get (Nudge?) that forces you to exit the base, even if you are the only person alive, and you simply get stormed 1vs5 with no way of fighting. If the entire enemy team is at your doorstep how are you supposed to regroup first and fight properly?

By making it Round based you give an even chance every round for both teams, so there is always a chance for a come back. At least they could make it so it’s tweakable / selectable, or offer a different map with Round-based mechanics.

My second idea for Courtyard, adding power ups/buffs on the map is similar to how Team deathmatch works in FPS games, by having these very powerful spawn on a regular basis, good timing, good knowledge of the map and of course the all important teamwork plays a more important role.

I disagree with courtyard changes mainly because people will build around the first push at the start. Stealth bomb with 25 might stacks. If it was 3v3 it might work a bit better.

My own personal opinion:
I really like the idea of rounds in Courtyard, as long as the timer per round is no more than 3/4 mins. Best of 3 would fit this neatly to about the time of standard conquest games.

However:
Courtyard/Team Deathmatch, will not be a fun experience for most teams (almost 100% of losing teams) while it is a part of the “Conquest queue”. The team compositions that work for Conquest are not optimal for TDM.

How to fix this?

Suggestion 1: Allow proffession change for Courtyard only, to allow people to swap characters to fix their team comp (this would be much much better with build templates).

Suggestion 2: Separate TDM queue with hopefully more maps (could even modify existing maps to create spaces for TDM, e.g. Keep + floor infront for forest) and maybe a different amount of players (This could be 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, or even 8v8)

+1 +1 +1 +1 +1 to these ideas!!!

I think these are fantastic changes that would make all of these maps competitive. I especially love the Spirit Watch changes.

Courtyard is too different of a format to be included quite yet. There’s a huge difference in concept between conquest and death-match that requires totally different builds. Not just tweaks.