Hi GW2 PvP community! I have been enjoying fun and legitimate pvp action since I began playing online games (especially GW1). I recently picked up GW2 last month in excitement and anticipation for an entirely new style of Guild Wars pvp; which it is and has been. Instantly I noticed how useful the new dodging mechanics are, very useful if timed correctly and actually pretty innovative I think. I also noticed the non use of mana which was previously used as an additional requirement to cast skills other than cool down time, an interesting but sort of weird addition they added to GW2 that wasn’t in GW1.
After having doing spvp, and tpvp for a solid few weeks now, I am almost rank 20 in pvp. I have also begin to notice a few key aspects of the game which i believe are sort of “unbalanced” and or could be improved to better the player vs. player community within guild wars.
-Remember, this is not a hate A-net post, or me complaining about what is OP and is not (tired of reading about what is OP and is not) I am just someone who loves skillful pvp in most aspects and love the incorporation of skill mixed with variety.
1. Bunker Guardians – After seeing this class built properly dominate almost every single tournament game I’ve every played (even in pug games), I believe bunker guardians just needs some sort of CC (crowd control) tone down, that is all. I completely understand the bunker element of pvp/tpvp, it has won me and my guild several games. It just seems that after trying one myself, noticing the immense amount of utility, it is really a difficult class to die on if you have ANY level of skill in pvp action whatsoever. In a game trying to ( or I hope A-net is attempting to push a skill based pvp game), this class takes an extremely low amount of skill to make an extremely great amount of plays with.
2. Knock downs/Knock backs – I am very aware this is GW2, but in GW1 for instance, a knockdown or interrupt was a lot more like what a knock down or interrupt should be (in yes, my opinion and many others I have asked about this topic in game). In GW2, when you are knocked down or back, its basically equivalent to a stun. Your down for far over a second, unable to do anything at all, almost text book stun… I just think that the CC should be implemented a little bit differently, crowd control should not be crowd domination. Maybe after they get smacked down to the ground (which I do love watching that animation of ppl flying down) they just get up a little bit quicker is all I dunno?
3. Thief Utility – Most classes when downed, have one ability to escape. Mesmer can warp once. Warriors throw a rock to cancel your finish. Ele can use his mist to escape for a bit and ect. Thief has the ability a Mesmer has, which is to warp once and change position to cancel a gank or finisher. Then, the Theif has the ability to go invisible as well right before dying. Which is about double the escape and viability capacity of most classes. I know some classes can do two escapes or cancels, but with a lot longer cool down on that move. Maybe just extend the length of one of the Thief ability’s when downed, that is all. This is the only problem I have with Thief’s, and the only problem I believe that should be altered. Thief seems to be one of the most controversial classes people are complaining about. Sure, there are the occasional theirs built 100 percent glass cannon who will randomly 2 shot you, just remember how squishy and easy they are to kill is all… They have an extreme amount of annoyance and viability for their team when it can take a while to finish someone on the ground.
4. Map/Game play variety – I know that GW2 is in its infancy still, so the potential growth for pvp is still enormous. I do know from past experience that developers and forum moderators are smart, they know that some of the best research you can find is from your consumers or customers of your product. This is why the forums are excellent marketing research for trends and up coming things. Anyways, after playing pvp up until almost rank 20 ( I am currently rank 19 with about 70 percent of the level completed), I hope and inside I know <(^_^<) that A-net team will acquire a few more maps for us to play on.. PLEASE. I know that new stuff will be implemented, for sure. I just don’t know when. Being excited as I am about the future potential I see within the GW2 community, I just can’t wait to see it. Yeah, we do need new maps and game modes to play though. GvG, TDM and many more will be ushered in to the guild wars pvp modes I am sure and or hope xD. Capturing points is only so fun for so long. Variety to mix up with hobbies and goals is what will make GW2 an epic pvp game which people will remember.
-Any additional constructive ideas to what sPVP/tPVP should have introduced and or toned down a bit is more than welcome.