Guild Wars 2

I have this feeling last 2-3 week. Like, when I started to play PvP I was better, and now at level 20 I have the feeling I don’t improve, but the opposite.

I’m a guardian. When I started to PvP I was fighting without checking even the profession of the opponent. I was face-rolling my keyboard, clicking the skill immediately when it’s ready and somehow was winning most of my fights.

Then I decided to improve, started to read about builds, tactics, weapons, started to watch streams. Started to think more. And guess what? Started to lose.

Before I was winning more of my fights 1v1. Now I sometimes get downed before I can check the profession of the player attacking me and what exactly he uses.
Before I was always one of the top players of the team. Now it rarely happens, sometimes I’m last.

Why I posting this?
First: Can anybody tell me why? What I’m doing wrong? It takes me too much time to check what attacking me and to decide what to use. And my HP melting like a snowball on the sun in the meantime.
Second: give me some hope, do you think if I keep trying I’ll get used to it and finally will start to improve? Or better to go back to my face-rolling, random-dodging style?
And third: Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like this at some point. It will make me feel better. Well tell it if it’s true of course

And the most funny is, although I become worse and worse, my leaderboard rating somehow went 20% higher for last 10 games. Now I meet better opponents and this makes things even worse.

My experience is: to improve you need to play in a situation where what you do actually matters.

Hotjoin is not the case. Neither solo queue, in most cases (like when you try to hold points while your teammates are fighting in random places).

That’s why OP builds exist, IMHO: to make sure you can carry your team and get out of those brackets.XD

Hotjoin is the one part of GW2 PvP that I really, really don’t like. It makes players feel way better than they actually are due to giving tons of glory for playing poorly.

So, when players try arenas, they sometimes wonder what happened.

If your rank is going up, you’re doing fine. Depending on your guardian build, you may not be able to expect to win many 1v1s vs. competent opponents (i.e. if you a built purely for teamfight support/defense, you can’t expect to also be awesome at dueling).

Chances are you have improved a lot, but just don’t feel as powerful.

you ever through that the more you play the higher rank you have, the better players you face?

as for changing strategie etc, it takes time to get used but helps in long run

i think simpliest example i could bring is: years ago i used to play a game and never used mouse, just keyboard (what they call keyboard turner), eventually i hit the wall where good players would wipe the floor with me; i switched to mouse and got beaten even by worst players for first 2 weeks or so…once i got used to mouse i was killing players that were way way higher ranked than me

Cynz.9437:

you ever through that the more you play the higher rank you have, the better players you face?

as for changing strategie etc, it takes time to get used but helps in long run

i think simpliest example i could bring is: years ago i used to play a game and never used mouse, just keyboard (what they call keyboard turner), eventually i hit the wall where good players would wipe the floor with me; i switched to mouse and got beaten even by worst players for first 2 weeks or so…once i got used to mouse i was killing players that were way way higher ranked than me

infantry online?

Well this is kind of fast-paced game so over thinking might just give worse results. You probably need to know your class very well to have time to think what enemy might do while fighting. This game is little bit like FPS game. You are dead if you start to aim.

Thank you all for taking your time to read my complaining and trying to help me to find reasons and solutions, much appreciated. I found something useful in every one of the posts.

@redslion – I get what you mean, I’m planning to find a team at some point, but right now I feel so insecure that I don’t dare even to enter SoloQ. Moved back to Hot join till I understand what my problem is.

@NevirSayDie – It’s not the case, I started to play SoloQ at rank 15 and actually felt much better than in Hot join.

Chances are you have improved a lot, but just don’t feel as powerful.

I like this interpretation

@Cynz – you hit a part of my problem.
After watching all these vids I realized I’m the only one who uses keyboard + mouse for the skills and changed this so now I should use only my left hand for the skills. But it’s not that difficult and I can’t blame this change for all my problems.

@Junkpile – yes, this is what I learnt in the difficult way. But there should be some balance between thinking and spamming skills. Looks like I should find it alone.

Eyia Hellhide.7320:

@Cynz – you hit a part of my problem.
After watching all these vids I realized I’m the only one who uses keyboard + mouse for the skills

If your pc can take it you can also record your own fights, then watch them back in peace. That can really help you evaluate your own gameplay.

GankSinatra.2653:

If your pc can take it you can also record your own fights, then watch them back in peace. That can really help you evaluate your own gameplay.

Oh it’s a great idea, I definately will do it! Thank you!

Do you still only play Guardian? It never hurts to try out the classes that give you the most trouble for a day. Its quite important to have a general idea of how the enemy would react to you.

As for hope: You are in the right mindet to improve, and that’s the most important part of all.

Its hard to give advise based on your OP. For example have you changed your build since you felt more powerful, do you note which classes give you the most difficulty, is it 1vs1’s or group fights?

I am sure you will get better and better if you are watching streams and thinking how to improve your game though. The more you play, even in hotjoin, the more you get exposed to different situations and can think of counters to times you were beaten or get inspiration from moves/playstyle of other players.

Also, if you find yourself getting beaten by a certain class a lot you should play that class for a bit and learn its moves and limitations.

GankSinatra.2653:

Do you still only play Guardian?

Well, almost
I was told in one of my previous threads here (yes, I always listen to advices) to learn the classes that cause me most problems by playing them. So I started with Necromancer. Created one, learnt the class, went to SoloQ. First tried some 1v1 with another Necros to see how good am I comparing to them, won more of them. Then started to fight Guardians to see who will defeat me and how. Nobody succeed.

Still the experience was useful, I’m ways more effective against Necros now. And of course I haven’t played enough on my Necro I started to miss my Guardian too much. Is this weird?

Now can’t decide what to be my next profession. Probably it should be a warrior, because last 2 weeks managed to kill only 1 of them in 1v1. But Idk, I don’t like this class much. And in the meantime I realized I’m going worse on my Guardian and decided to stick with it for a while till I figure out why. Maybe it’s a mistake.

Yasha.5963:

Its hard to give advise based on your OP. For example have you changed your build since you felt more powerful, do you note which classes give you the most difficulty, is it 1vs1’s or group fights?

I haven’t mentioned this, because I like to change builds and weapons very often. Depends on my mood. My impression I become worse is not based on 1 build only. What I mean is, I was doing better before, without any matter if I play a bunker or DPS Guardian. Ahh not sure how to explain lol… Sorry.
I hope you get what I mean. And thank you for advice

Well, in hotjoin there is also a problem about motivation: at some time, after some games, you might end up dying to everyone because you don’t care anymore.

And considering how hotjoin works, your concentration will drop very easily.

And also keep in mind that sometimes there are delusions: for example, if you play another class at first it might look like it’s much more powerful than what you used to play.
Same with some builds.

Ah, and don’t be afraid to play in soloqueue: when I go there, I see people who actually don’t care.

Just be ready for frustration.

Eyia Hellhide.7320:

And the most funny is, although I become worse and worse, my leaderboard rating somehow went 20% higher for last 10 games. Now I meet better opponents and this makes things even worse.

There are several factors to this (and it happened to me too).

In a hotjoin game (with mostly bad team mates or people not playing seriously), the better player you are the less points you are making. Because you won’t be joining the people already fighting 4v1, because you will be leaving when 3 idiots come to cap the point on which you are currently standing, because you will be holding a point for the whole game and people will just run away from you after you kick their ace (meaning that you get no kills and no point for capture either).
The way points are allocated is really counter productive (especially if you are playing guardian).

The other thing is that guardian hasn’t really improved or changed much as a class. It’s been fairly stable, and some other classes have changed a lot more and become more powerful and fairly tanky too.

Also, people’s average level of knowledge of the game will improve mechanically, over time – meaning you get a better challenge (especially true in soloQ where your rating supposedly sends you better opponent).

I’d say: try to see what classes kill you so quickly that you can’t react, and maybe look at the list of skills they used that killed you (press the “i” icon when you die). You might find out that the few things that killed you are easily avoidable/dispellable.

There is a lot of information to take in (despite all the people saying that pvp is easy, etc.) and it is a bit overwhelming at first.
When you start playing PvP, your initial focus is your own characters, your own skills.
But when you start trying to react to opponents, it takes 8 times the same amount of knowledge to react appropriately.
It will take some time and practice to be able to know what tricks a specific class might pull against you (and yes playing other classes helps).
But then, you will be able to outplay people who focus only on their own class combos (without reacting to their opponents) very easily.

The fun starts when you start learning, playing randomly. After that comes the competition, which ruins the fun in a lot of games.

What i’d suggest is to not expend so much resources and hopes on an unbalanced Pvp game.
Do not invest your pride on your skill in a video game.

Actually I have been playing for quite a while now and smashing the keyboard is most effective, especially in the zerge.

Eyia Hellhide.7320:

I have this feeling last 2-3 week. Like, when I started to play PvP I was better, and now at level 20 I have the feeling I don’t improve, but the opposite.

I’m a guardian. When I started to PvP I was fighting without checking even the profession of the opponent. I was face-rolling my keyboard, clicking the skill immediately when it’s ready and somehow was winning most of my fights.

Then I decided to improve, started to read about builds, tactics, weapons, started to watch streams. Started to think more. And guess what? Started to lose.

Before I was winning more of my fights 1v1. Now I sometimes get downed before I can check the profession of the player attacking me and what exactly he uses.
Before I was always one of the top players of the team. Now it rarely happens, sometimes I’m last.

Why I posting this?
First: Can anybody tell me why? What I’m doing wrong? It takes me too much time to check what attacking me and to decide what to use. And my HP melting like a snowball on the sun in the meantime.
Second: give me some hope, do you think if I keep trying I’ll get used to it and finally will start to improve? Or better to go back to my face-rolling, random-dodging style?
And third: Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like this at some point. It will make me feel better. Well tell it if it’s true of course

And the most funny is, although I become worse and worse, my leaderboard rating somehow went 20% higher for last 10 games. Now I meet better opponents and this makes things even worse.

Simple solution: go back to button smashing cuz it worked for you.

Doesn’t seem like theorycrafting and manual stick shift is your cup of tea.

you have to consider the fact that even if you think you are getting worse, you are getting better, the higher you get the more you need to use your skills at exacly the right moment…give or take some balance issues….

The fact alone you are making this topic proves that at some time you will outplay a lot of classes later on… you are just taking the first steps to instead of spamming skills to use them at the right time…I can only say keep practising….

Darkdanjal.3401:

you have to consider the fact that even if you think you are getting worse, you are getting better, the higher you get the more you need to use your skills at exacly the right moment…give or take some balance issues….

The fact alone you are making this topic proves that at some time you will outplay a lot of classes later on… you are just taking the first steps to instead of spamming skills to use them at the right time…I can only say keep practising….

This.

Also, keeping an eye on your minimap, the location of your teammates, their health bars, and the icons of downed enemies will help you determine if you need to help them out or work on the next play.

Here is how I see it, Op.

As you play this game, you start off fresh and brand new, excited by all the buttons in front of you and what might happen if you push that button and hit a player with it.

For some, eventually this thrill wears off as you become familiar with the consequences for hitting your buttons—this does not happen for all. So, you OP, have gotten tired of just hitting buttons and tried to figure out how to succeed.

Congrats, this is a real pvp mentality. However, here is why you suck, if you in a hotjoin or yoloq do what is necessary to actually win a match, you will be punished by the rest of your team for not knowing how to actually win a match.

You will see what needs to be done and where, and you will go to do those tasks and find yourself alone and outnumbered 99% of the time. This is not your fault, even though you are failing. This is because the pvp player base at large only knows the basics of how to “win” a hotjoin.

Using competitive tactics only works with others who understand the competition at the deeper levels. Most of the time, in this game, the concept of tactics is irrelevant and it is just better to try and counter enemies with a spam of your own BS as they spam their BS at you.

Eyia Hellhide.7320:

I have this feeling last 2-3 week. Like, when I started to play PvP I was better, and now at level 20 I have the feeling I don’t improve, but the opposite.

I’m a guardian. When I started to PvP I was fighting without checking even the profession of the opponent. I was face-rolling my keyboard, clicking the skill immediately when it’s ready and somehow was winning most of my fights.

Then I decided to improve, started to read about builds, tactics, weapons, started to watch streams. Started to think more. And guess what? Started to lose.

Before I was winning more of my fights 1v1. Now I sometimes get downed before I can check the profession of the player attacking me and what exactly he uses.
Before I was always one of the top players of the team. Now it rarely happens, sometimes I’m last.

Why I posting this?
First: Can anybody tell me why? What I’m doing wrong? It takes me too much time to check what attacking me and to decide what to use. And my HP melting like a snowball on the sun in the meantime.
Second: give me some hope, do you think if I keep trying I’ll get used to it and finally will start to improve? Or better to go back to my face-rolling, random-dodging style?
And third: Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like this at some point. It will make me feel better. Well tell it if it’s true of course

And the most funny is, although I become worse and worse, my leaderboard rating somehow went 20% higher for last 10 games. Now I meet better opponents and this makes things even worse.

My guess is you’re spending more time looking at the UI than you previously did, which means you’re not taking the initiative (even if blindly, as it sounds like you did before when you were just “face-rolling” your keyboard) which in itself can give you an advantage versus some classes/builds. Essentially, you’re just spending less time fighting and have replaced that action with thinking. Not necessarily a bad thing as you will improve, but first and foremost you need to be comfortable with your class and build so you can focus on watching your opponent rather than the UI and react accordingly without looking at the UI again to see which skills are off CD and available.

My advice is to stick with it. You’ve probably taken 2 or 3 steps back by trying to understand more of what’s happening in each fight, but ultimately it’s the only way you’ll ever progress past the skill-level you previously found yourself winning with.

Hang in there buddy

Spooko.5436:

Here is how I see it, Op.

As you play this game, you start off fresh and brand new, excited by all the buttons in front of you and what might happen if you push that button and hit a player with it.

For some, eventually this thrill wears off as you become familiar with the consequences for hitting your buttons—this does not happen for all. So, you OP, have gotten tired of just hitting buttons and tried to figure out how to succeed.

Congrats, this is a real pvp mentality. However, here is why you suck, if you in a hotjoin or yoloq do what is necessary to actually win a match, you will be punished by the rest of your team for not knowing how to actually win a match.

You will see what needs to be done and where, and you will go to do those tasks and find yourself alone and outnumbered 99% of the time. This is not your fault, even though you are failing. This is because the pvp player base at large only knows the basics of how to “win” a hotjoin.

Using competitive tactics only works with others who understand the competition at the deeper levels. Most of the time, in this game, the concept of tactics is irrelevant and it is just better to try and counter enemies with a spam of your own BS as they spam their BS at you.

You can do something, but you have to play as a roamer. And guardians aren’t the best roamers.

And thieves tend to be too squishy. Engineers don’t move fast enough across the map.

I don’t know about rangers, but maybe that’s one more reason why warriors are so popular. They are easy, strong and incredibly good roamers who can hold a point.