So I’ve been playing Dota 2 for few days now. I had no prior experience to Dota 2, just back when it was a mod map for Warcraft 3: TFT. So I had general idea of the game but no proficient knowledge or skill.
I’ve also spent the last couple of years playing nothing but Guild Wars 2.
From recent weeks it really makes me giggle how the chronophantasma condi mesmer rose up from being okay-ish build to “OMG PLS NERF HOW DO U DUEL A MESMER 1v1” kind of thing. And the occasional “NERF PORTAL AND MOA ITS TOO HARD”, meanwhile there were 0 complaints about moa/portal before the mesmer nerf.
Now I know you nerfed power mesmer few weeks ago (is it a month by now?). But you must’ve known the whole time that chronophantasma is a strong build. You didn’t gut the mesmer as many in the forum would have you know.
With that in mind I’d like to bring up Dota 2 again. Now … for a rookie like me, I find it a GODSEND that there is a “popular builds” section in the game UI. I launched my first game, compeltely clueless and there it was … a blinking icon prompting me to check it out. I did check it out and poof … there it was … how to start the game and develop my character in mid and late game.
Now I know sPvP has no “mid” and “late” game. However, a “good builds” in-game would be a godsend to anyone that even wants to try to pvp.
I get it, you want people to mix and match and find what really works for them and consequently – the team. However, I’m getting sick and tired of people testing builds in ranked only to turn into a completely useless team member with team score of 0 . This has to stop. Some trait/amulet/weapon combos are so bad … like reaper with greatsword. It’s terrible. I die a little inside when I see such a necromancer in pvp.
Also it would really help new players to get along in sPvP. Give the people viable builds and let them play their hearts desire.
If you are lazy I guess you could put a link to metabattle.
However! Builds like chronophantasma were so down in the list post patch that someone would’ve thought it’s completely useless. I just play thief and mesmer and I don’t tend to look at other classes outside of checking what each skill does and how to counter/avoid it. I don’t know if other classes have such builds that are mostly considered weak but are actually a pipe bomb in disguise in the right hands.
Plus it could help the development of the game. If you as devs struggle to write up a single build for a class, then this class needs to be looked at seriously.
Ultimately it would be nice to have one power/support build for each profession after each balance patch.
In any case, Dota 2 is a lot more welcoming to new players. I can give examples until the end of times. I had a friend who bought the game for the pvp, after watching me play few times. He made a ranger but yeah he doesnt know the game, he can’t make a viable build. He doesn’t know what viable even is, but he is a good competitive player.
Either way he left the game because he doesn’t want to deal with so many traits and combinations. He thought that Gw2 is simple pick-up game and more of a player skill game. However, generally build trumps skill. Player skill is only viable if 2 players fight with the same or similar builds. We have the so called “hardcounters” and this really confused the guy.
Hell, do you remember SodaPoppin? He needed coaching by ESL players to get the hang of the game. And suddenly decided Gw2 is not his thing.
The game is not streamlined at all, even for competitive players.