Guild Wars 2

I have played PvP for 4 years. I have watched it slip over the years. I have also watched it crash and burn with HoT. Now I ask this….what happened?

What happened to balance?! Elite specs have ruined pvp. The core/elite power gap has ruined pvp. The absurd pace of the game has ruined pvp. HoT has broken the balance of pvp. Damage is out of control. Back then, you actually had to consider which skills to use and how to manage cooldowns. Now it’s just all spam. Elite specs are just too low-risk and high-reward. The gameplay has changed. I suggest one of two things. Either core/elite specs are balanced or core players and elite players are separated, because this cannot stand. The latter option can be used for future expansions so both sets of players don’t suffer.

Why the leagues?! I’m sorry, but the league system sucks. It’s just a grind to the top, like the reward tracks. It’s not a measure of skill at all. Not even close. I’m all for progression, but I don’t see how using pips measures skill. Absurd. Why not go with leaderboards or an MMR system instead?

Why e-sports?! E-sports….yeah…..priorities. Instead of worrying about the NBA guys, how about we try to get the school gyms, public gyms and outdoor ballcourts to FUNCTION properly?

Plus, the system right now is an ugly mess of pips, MMR, and trying to keep everyone at 50% while Unranked and Ranked are one the same. It’s a full on joke.

The elite specs are fine, the league system is just a complete failure.

LUST.7241:

Plus, the system right now is an ugly mess of pips, MMR, and trying to keep everyone at 50% while Unranked and Ranked are one the same. It’s a full on joke.

ur a noob if ur being kept at 50 50

Dralor.3701:

The elite specs are fine, the league system is just a complete failure.

Elite specs are fine? So does this mean core specs are not? Because no one can deny there is a huge gap.

Now, one could debate about which is better (improving core to match elite, or nerfing elite to match core). But while I think core suffers from many issues that should be fixed, effectively buffing it, I think there are mechanics on the elite spec that are just absurd and make the game less fun. To summarize: too much AOE, too much CC, too much full healing in 2s, boon farting, etc…

Every time someone says “Elite specs are better than core.” I just have to come in and say, that’s not entirely true. It’s true in some cases but not for all professions. I still play my core necro just fine. 60% win ratio or thereabouts. Can still play my core guardian burst build, and my condi engie still kicks 80% kitten right now (weak against necros and dragonhunters) but you know, so weak and fragile those core specs are.

Dirame.8521:

Every time someone says “Elite specs are better than core.” I just have to come in and say, that’s not entirely true. It’s true in some cases but not for all professions. I still play my core necro just fine. 60% win ratio or thereabouts. Can still play my core guardian burst build, and my condi engie still kicks 80% kitten right now (weak against necros and dragonhunters) but you know, so weak and fragile those core specs are.

You can have some level of success with core specs that’s true, but everything’s better with an elite spec.

There hasn’t been a single non-elite build in the pro scene since HoT came out, except for 1 guy who at that time didn’t own HoT. Coincidence?

NotASmurf.1725:

Dirame.8521:

Every time someone says “Elite specs are better than core.” I just have to come in and say, that’s not entirely true. It’s true in some cases but not for all professions. I still play my core necro just fine. 60% win ratio or thereabouts. Can still play my core guardian burst build, and my condi engie still kicks 80% kitten right now (weak against necros and dragonhunters) but you know, so weak and fragile those core specs are.

You can have some level of success with core specs that’s true, but everything’s better with an elite spec.

There hasn’t been a single non-elite build in the pro scene since HoT came out, except for 1 guy who at that time didn’t own HoT. Coincidence?

Not everything but in a lot of things, they do better. That said, certain match ups are better for base professions. Reapers will have a hard time beating thieves for instance but base necro has a 90% win rate against them.

Necro doesn’t stand a chance. Only the low skill thief playing high skill builds die to necro. Thief could play a dodge spam -no skill- build and win any day. necro is just a free burst eating punching bag.

Zelulose.8695:

Necro doesn’t stand a chance. Only the low skill thief playing high skill builds die to necro. Thief could play a dodge spam -no skill- build and win any day. necro is just a free burst eating punching bag.

These kinds of arguments could be flipped around so easily it’s really pointless to make them. I’m going to use your exact words whilst substituting thief for necro.

Thief doesn’t stand a chance. Only the low skill Necro playing high skill builds die to Thief. Necro could play a condi spam -no skill- build and win any day. Thief is just a free condi eating punching bag.

And on and on we’ll go all day until we agree to disagree. Certain builds are harder to fight, of course they are. Staff Thief for instance is harder but not impossible to beat (fyi, it’s all about timing). But you know, Necros are punching bags.

JTGuevara.9018:

Damage is out of control. Back then, you actually had to consider which skills to use and how to manage cooldowns. Now it’s just all spam. Elite specs are just too low-risk and high-reward.

Back then you could play one of the many brainless easymode bunker specs, sit in a point and just contest it for the whole game. Wow, so much skill.
People have nostalgia glasses. They don’t remember hambow, d/d cele ele, turret engi, bunker guardian, spirit ranger and many others. It took almost a year with a pretty bad balance, but the balance we have right now is just as good as it was just before HoT hit. Of course there’s adjustments that are needed (mostly DH and druid a bit) because the game will never be perfectly balanced, but the balance we have right now never have been this good.

Dirame.8521:

Zelulose.8695:

Necro doesn’t stand a chance. Only the low skill thief playing high skill builds die to necro. Thief could play a dodge spam -no skill- build and win any day. necro is just a free burst eating punching bag.

These kinds of arguments could be flipped around so easily it’s really pointless to make them. I’m going to use your exact words whilst substituting thief for necro.

Thief doesn’t stand a chance. Only the low skill Necro playing high skill builds die to Thief. Necro could play a condi spam -no skill- build and win any day. Thief is just a free condi eating punching bag.

And on and on we’ll go all day until we agree to disagree. Certain builds are harder to fight, of course they are. Staff Thief for instance is harder but not impossible to beat (fyi, it’s all about timing). But you know, Necros are punching bags.

A Daredevil can clean a condition every second when he dodge a hit. That mean that a condi necro can spam a lot of condis against him and see his damaging conditions cleaned in 3 seconds, still if he can stack any kind of good damage on an always evading enemy.
Only a unskilled thief lose against a necro, and that necro need to be really skilled to kill a thief.

Dirame.8521:

NotASmurf.1725:

Dirame.8521:

Every time someone says “Elite specs are better than core.” I just have to come in and say, that’s not entirely true. It’s true in some cases but not for all professions. I still play my core necro just fine. 60% win ratio or thereabouts. Can still play my core guardian burst build, and my condi engie still kicks 80% kitten right now (weak against necros and dragonhunters) but you know, so weak and fragile those core specs are.

You can have some level of success with core specs that’s true, but everything’s better with an elite spec.

There hasn’t been a single non-elite build in the pro scene since HoT came out, except for 1 guy who at that time didn’t own HoT. Coincidence?

Not everything but in a lot of things, they do better. That said, certain match ups are better for base professions. Reapers will have a hard time beating thieves for instance but base necro has a 90% win rate against them.

Just spam headshot and autoattack to win vs base nec. Reaper at least has some pulsing Stability and anti-projectile. The instant fear is handy on base shroud but that’s all.

Ruru.1302:

LUST.7241:

Plus, the system right now is an ugly mess of pips, MMR, and trying to keep everyone at 50% while Unranked and Ranked are one the same. It’s a full on joke.

ur a noob if ur being kept at 50 50

If he’s at 50 50 it’s because he’s played too long…. Only “n00bs” or newer players have the privilege to be able to shoot up easily through ranks. The people who have played PvP long before seasons have a 50% win rate because they have played long enough to be established into the match making.

Most of the diamond/ruby players I meet, played PvP for years while most legendary players I’ve met only started doing PvP in season 1 or 2.

Pumpkin.5169:

JTGuevara.9018:

Damage is out of control. Back then, you actually had to consider which skills to use and how to manage cooldowns. Now it’s just all spam. Elite specs are just too low-risk and high-reward.

Back then you could play one of the many brainless easymode bunker specs, sit in a point and just contest it for the whole game. Wow, so much skill.
People have nostalgia glasses. They don’t remember hambow, d/d cele ele, turret engi, bunker guardian, spirit ranger and many others. It took almost a year with a pretty bad balance, but the balance we have right now is just as good as it was just before HoT hit. Of course there’s adjustments that are needed (mostly DH and druid a bit) because the game will never be perfectly balanced, but the balance we have right now never have been this good.

Yet you don’t even mention league season 1. That was the textbook definition of brainless easymode bunker specs.

Hammer/bow, d/d ele, turret engi don’t even come close to bunker chrono, bunker druid, bunker/heal tempest, DH. The old builds were beatable. When HoT came out, those elite specs ate the core specs for LUNCH. They still do, but back then it was much worse. There’s a reason ANet panicked at HoT release and took out Minstrel Amulet. Elite bunker specs were that rampant.

To be fair, minstrel’s never should have been put in in the first place. It would have been broken as hell even pre-HoT.

Silv.9207:

Dirame.8521:

Zelulose.8695:

Necro doesn’t stand a chance. Only the low skill thief playing high skill builds die to necro. Thief could play a dodge spam -no skill- build and win any day. necro is just a free burst eating punching bag.

These kinds of arguments could be flipped around so easily it’s really pointless to make them. I’m going to use your exact words whilst substituting thief for necro.

Thief doesn’t stand a chance. Only the low skill Necro playing high skill builds die to Thief. Necro could play a condi spam -no skill- build and win any day. Thief is just a free condi eating punching bag.

And on and on we’ll go all day until we agree to disagree. Certain builds are harder to fight, of course they are. Staff Thief for instance is harder but not impossible to beat (fyi, it’s all about timing). But you know, Necros are punching bags.

A Daredevil can clean a condition every second when he dodge a hit. That mean that a condi necro can spam a lot of condis against him and see his damaging conditions cleaned in 3 seconds, still if he can stack any kind of good damage on an always evading enemy.
Only a unskilled thief lose against a necro, and that necro need to be really skilled to kill a thief.

The thief for my old team is far from bad. He might be reading this right now (Hey Chocolate! o/) and I’ve kicked his heiney more times than you can count on core necro. On Reaper it’s more like he kicks my butt more times than not. Every time I play Core Necro he tells me to switch to the “Meta build” because “he wants to practice”.

The simple thing is, Core Necro has many things that can deal with the speed of thieves. The Meta Necro is too slow, and too evadable. And because more Necros play the Meta builds, more Thief players will say “Pff, I can beat necros. It’s easy!” and I will say “no you can’t”.

JTGuevara.9018:

Pumpkin.5169:

JTGuevara.9018:

Damage is out of control. Back then, you actually had to consider which skills to use and how to manage cooldowns. Now it’s just all spam. Elite specs are just too low-risk and high-reward.

Back then you could play one of the many brainless easymode bunker specs, sit in a point and just contest it for the whole game. Wow, so much skill.
People have nostalgia glasses. They don’t remember hambow, d/d cele ele, turret engi, bunker guardian, spirit ranger and many others. It took almost a year with a pretty bad balance, but the balance we have right now is just as good as it was just before HoT hit. Of course there’s adjustments that are needed (mostly DH and druid a bit) because the game will never be perfectly balanced, but the balance we have right now never have been this good.

Yet you don’t even mention league season 1. That was the textbook definition of brainless easymode bunker specs.

Hammer/bow, d/d ele, turret engi don’t even come close to bunker chrono, bunker druid, bunker/heal tempest, DH. The old builds were beatable. When HoT came out, those elite specs ate the core specs for LUNCH. They still do, but back then it was much worse. There’s a reason ANet panicked at HoT release and took out Minstrel Amulet. Elite bunker specs were that rampant.

But I did mention that at the beginning of HoT the balance was pretty bad.

And hambow, d/d ele, turret engi and the others were totally on pair with HoT op specs. D/D ele could 1v3 on point. Hambow and it’s variations plagued the game for almost a year. Turret engi was the easiest and most efficient decapper that this game ever had.

After 3 years the game found balance (with the patch that nerfed Blinding Ashes) but HoT came and obviously threw everything out of the window. And of course elite > core, because meta is meta. Off meta builds before HoT were also trash. But again, after one year, the game is finding a good balance again and actually is the best the game ever had post-HoT. There’s still plenty of stuff to work and balance, but coming here and saying that the game balancr before HoT was clearly better than our actual meta is just nostalgia glasses.

Pumpkin.5169:

JTGuevara.9018:

Pumpkin.5169:

JTGuevara.9018:

Damage is out of control. Back then, you actually had to consider which skills to use and how to manage cooldowns. Now it’s just all spam. Elite specs are just too low-risk and high-reward.

Back then you could play one of the many brainless easymode bunker specs, sit in a point and just contest it for the whole game. Wow, so much skill.
People have nostalgia glasses. They don’t remember hambow, d/d cele ele, turret engi, bunker guardian, spirit ranger and many others. It took almost a year with a pretty bad balance, but the balance we have right now is just as good as it was just before HoT hit. Of course there’s adjustments that are needed (mostly DH and druid a bit) because the game will never be perfectly balanced, but the balance we have right now never have been this good.

Yet you don’t even mention league season 1. That was the textbook definition of brainless easymode bunker specs.

Hammer/bow, d/d ele, turret engi don’t even come close to bunker chrono, bunker druid, bunker/heal tempest, DH. The old builds were beatable. When HoT came out, those elite specs ate the core specs for LUNCH. They still do, but back then it was much worse. There’s a reason ANet panicked at HoT release and took out Minstrel Amulet. Elite bunker specs were that rampant.

But I did mention that at the beginning of HoT the balance was pretty bad.

And hambow, d/d ele, turret engi and the others were totally on pair with HoT op specs. D/D ele could 1v3 on point. Hambow and it’s variations plagued the game for almost a year. Turret engi was the easiest and most efficient decapper that this game ever had.

After 3 years the game found balance (with the patch that nerfed Blinding Ashes) but HoT came and obviously threw everything out of the window. And of course elite > core, because meta is meta. Off meta builds before HoT were also trash. But again, after one year, the game is finding a good balance again and actually is the best the game ever had post-HoT. There’s still plenty of stuff to work and balance, but coming here and saying that the game balancr before HoT was clearly better than our actual meta is just nostalgia glasses.

I don’t agree, the game was better balanced in the old trait system. The game was perfectly balanced in the days of Turrets engi, except that with turrets the engi had a bit too much cc.

this just in:

someone in pvp does not like elite specs, league implementation, or esports focus.

news at 10

Pumpkin.5169:

JTGuevara.9018:

Pumpkin.5169:

JTGuevara.9018:

Damage is out of control. Back then, you actually had to consider which skills to use and how to manage cooldowns. Now it’s just all spam. Elite specs are just too low-risk and high-reward.

Back then you could play one of the many brainless easymode bunker specs, sit in a point and just contest it for the whole game. Wow, so much skill.
People have nostalgia glasses. They don’t remember hambow, d/d cele ele, turret engi, bunker guardian, spirit ranger and many others. It took almost a year with a pretty bad balance, but the balance we have right now is just as good as it was just before HoT hit. Of course there’s adjustments that are needed (mostly DH and druid a bit) because the game will never be perfectly balanced, but the balance we have right now never have been this good.

Yet you don’t even mention league season 1. That was the textbook definition of brainless easymode bunker specs.

Hammer/bow, d/d ele, turret engi don’t even come close to bunker chrono, bunker druid, bunker/heal tempest, DH. The old builds were beatable. When HoT came out, those elite specs ate the core specs for LUNCH. They still do, but back then it was much worse. There’s a reason ANet panicked at HoT release and took out Minstrel Amulet. Elite bunker specs were that rampant.

But I did mention that at the beginning of HoT the balance was pretty bad.

And hambow, d/d ele, turret engi and the others were totally on pair with HoT op specs. D/D ele could 1v3 on point. Hambow and it’s variations plagued the game for almost a year. Turret engi was the easiest and most efficient decapper that this game ever had.

After 3 years the game found balance (with the patch that nerfed Blinding Ashes) but HoT came and obviously threw everything out of the window. And of course elite > core, because meta is meta. Off meta builds before HoT were also trash. But again, after one year, the game is finding a good balance again and actually is the best the game ever had post-HoT. There’s still plenty of stuff to work and balance, but coming here and saying that the game balancr before HoT was clearly better than our actual meta is just nostalgia glasses.

I’m sorry, but this is all wrong.

The fact is that after HoT there was, and currently is, a power gap between core specs and elite specs. That is NOT balanced.

The game balance before HoT wasn’t perfect but it was CLEARLY better than after HoT. I just don’t see how people can dispute the obvious.

Jaxom.7310:

this just in:

someone in pvp does not like elite specs, league implementation, or esports focus.

news at 10

Yes quite shocking eh? lol