Guild Wars 2

Before flaming, I have 5,500 WvW kills with GS/Hammer, so I do have a bit of WvW experience.

Locking people down with Hammer #5 is becoming a joke. Pretty much 3 out of 4 fights 1v1 I get into, people tend to “escape” from my circle. They roll, they teleport, they mist out, they stealth. Is there ANYTHING that doesn’t escape our #5? Why even have that skill in the first place if anything can escape.

I think the only thing can’t escape the circle is a necro….

Amy I the only one on this?

so far i no Kazak you face hackers that do that
i was on a hack site elitepvpers and alot of hacks for gw2 sadly

also teleport hack so in my few those players can teleport out of your ring easy
but its stil hard to proof a GM can look beter into that

but there are hacks sadly for gw2
if your in pvp and use your ring so they cant escape and you see them escape report them

Dude, yes. It didn’t hit me until now how frustrating that skill is to use. Its very easy to escape plus you have to be standing still to use it and any SLIGHT tap on your movement keys cancels your cast. Why can’t we most while we cast it or root you so you cannot cancel? That skill is constantly off cooldown for me because I don’t use it that much in WvW. In PvE it sees some use since mobs can’t dance around it as easily.

Genlog.4983:

so far i no Kazak you face hackers that do that
i was on a hack site elitepvpers and alot of hacks for gw2 sadly

also teleport hack so in my few those players can teleport out of your ring easy
but its stil hard to proof a GM can look beter into that

but there are hacks sadly for gw2
if your in pvp and use your ring so they cant escape and you see them escape report them

Not always hacks. If you have stability on you can just walk right out of it. And the ele’s mist form skill can take them out.

Alex Sanchez.6792:

Genlog.4983:

so far i no Kazak you face hackers that do that
i was on a hack site elitepvpers and alot of hacks for gw2 sadly

also teleport hack so in my few those players can teleport out of your ring easy
but its stil hard to proof a GM can look beter into that

but there are hacks sadly for gw2
if your in pvp and use your ring so they cant escape and you see them escape report them

Not always hacks. If you have stability on you can just walk right out of it. And the ele’s mist form skill can take them out.

maby not always but am sure some pll use it to win
and players always love to win

I am not sure they hack, some of the folks I did catch up and downed them. If they had a speed hack or something, a guardian would never catch up to them.

What bothers me is the skill mechanics. Why put something in for one class and give the rest of the classes a total escape. Even another guardian somehow escaped from it lol

Just a tip, push #5 and then immediately use Judge’s Intervention to lock them down…. though most of them just run off from it lol. Anyways, glad I am not the only one on this.

Its good in pve

Here’s the thing though: blaming it on hacks is the easy/lazy way out.

Every time someone is having a bad time against another player, it’s always “wah wah they’re cheating/hacking!” when the other guy almost always is not. As has already been stated, stability is one example of a counter to the hammer ring (and a relatively common one at that).

It’s more likely that you’re up against smart players that understand how to get out of the skill than it is that they’re cheating. The fact that it feels almost useless highlights a problem with the skill, not with other people. It’s too easy for people to avoid and doesn’t do anything else of use, so perhaps it needs tweaking.

Or perhaps its use is in zone control and forcing your opponent to utilize skills or resources they would otherwise use to cleanse a root. Perhaps it doesn’t need tweaking.

Kazak.8459:

What bothers me is the skill mechanics. Why put something in for one class and give the rest of the classes a total escape. Even another guardian somehow escaped from it lol

Just a tip, push #5 and then immediately use Judge’s Intervention to lock them down…. though most of them just run off from it lol. Anyways, glad I am not the only one on this.

JI isn’t a root, just a teleport and burn. You have to stand still and channel to create it, so most players will see you doing this and dodge roll out. If you want a guaranteed way to hit them with it, bring along Signet of Wrath or something and Immobilize them.

Guardians have access to Stability. Stability is a counter. That’s not surprising.

Doesn’t Signed of Wrath has 2s cast or something?

You first start casting #5, then right away push JI, it teleports you to them and finishes #5 locking them in. If you haven’t tried it, give it a shot, works great.

Yes, that’s probably how that guardian got away with stability.

Kazak.8459:

Doesn’t Signed of Wrath has 2s cast or something?

3/4 second cast, 30 second cooldown (reduced to 24s if you’re using a signet build).

JI jumps can be beautiful. I just wish it wasn’t taken away when reading from the book of Wrath

Both the Bane (knockdown) and Wrath signets have 3/4 s casttimes.

I still maintain it is a very good skill.
It might be a little easy to avoid, which should probably be tweaked, but it should most definitely have counters. Teleports and Stability make the most sense. Dodging our wards doesn’t, really.

Kerithlan.1659:

Judge’s Intervention isn’t a root, just a teleport and burn. You have to stand still and channel to create it, so most players will see you doing this and dodge roll out. If you want a guaranteed way to hit them with it, bring along Signet of Wrath or something and Immobilize them.

I’m not sure you completely understand it. You can cast Judge’s Intervention while casting Ring of Warding, so you teleport to the enemy and they instantly have the wall around them.

Oddly enough, not that it has any sort of relation but, Jarvan IV has the same issue with his last skill.

In all seriousness, I think the skill has a bit more functionality in PvE more than it does in PvP, there are just too many options for players to escape or otherwise avoid the area altogether.

Ynna.8769:

I still maintain it is a very good skill.
It might be a little easy to avoid, which should probably be tweaked, but it should most definitely have counters. Teleports and Stability make the most sense. Dodging our wards doesn’t, really.

Kerithlan.1659:

Judge’s Intervention isn’t a root, just a teleport and burn. You have to stand still and channel to create it, so most players will see you doing this and dodge roll out. If you want a guaranteed way to hit them with it, bring along Signet of Wrath or something and Immobilize them.

I’m not sure you completely understand it. You can cast Judge’s Intervention while casting Ring of Warding, so you teleport to the enemy and they instantly have the wall around them.

I’m fine with Teleports and Stability working on it. As that’s what they’re supposed to do, and it’s forcing an opposing player to use an ability to escape. I do the same thing to other classes with Stability, they should be able to return the favor.

If they fix the ability to roll out of it, I’ll be happy.

Genlog.4983:

if your in pvp and use your ring so they cant escape and you see them escape report them

I can’t believe you just blamed it on hackers. Seriously, do you say, “they must have been hacking!” every time you lose to someone? I’m not saying players don’t hack, but to use it as a excuse for every player that escapes our wards is ridiculous.

Kazak.8459:

Even another guardian somehow escaped from it lol

I rarely ever trap another guardian in a ward, because they have easy access to stability and generally just know what to expect from a guardian with a hammer.

As it stands, I only expect to get one knockdown out of a well placed ward, because competent players will teleport, have stability, or dodge to escape. I’ve found that I get the most usage out of wards against thieves since they usually don’t expect it, and don’t have easy access to stability besides Dagger Storm.

I don’t feel that the wards are useless, just highly situational. I think players should be able to either use stability to escape, or dodging to escape, but not both. I would make it so players with stability wouldn’t be knocked down by the ward, but they wouldn’t be able to just walk out of it. I’d leave teleporting and dodging alone.

Ynna.8769:

I’m not sure you completely understand it. You can cast Judge’s Intervention while casting Ring of Warding, so you teleport to the enemy and they instantly have the wall around them.

I admit that I didn’t think of that (although it makes sense since JI is essentially a free action). Having said that, immobilization and rooting are still the only ways to guarantee that the opponent stands in one place while casting it. If you teleport to someone immediately when they’re about to dodge (as a super unreasonable example) you’ll miss.

Kasei.8726:

I think players should be able to either use stability to escape, or dodging to escape, but not both.

The dodging thing could be an issue with the ward being relatively thin on odd terrain. There are very few places that are completely flat, so unless it also happens on flat terrain as well it might just be a bug/unintended glitch.

Most likely it’s an oversight or an intended feature of dodge mechanics, but it’s at least worth mentioning potential terrain issues.

Personally, I feel that stability shouldn’t get you out of the ring, since it isn’t a knock-down, launch, knock-back, etc. Dodge rolling DEFINITELY should not get you out.

So sounds like the majority here agrees about the skill being somewhat broke and needing a fix. Now if we can get Anet to read this post. I remember reading a post second week into release where Anet rep said the Hammer love is coming down to us… haven’t seen it yet

To fix #5:
-Not allow dodge to roll out
-Not allow stability to walk out, but also not knock down
-Allow teleport/mist out of it

I am good with those changes if they would ever be implemented.

Kazak.8459:

So sounds like the majority here agrees about the skill being somewhat broke and needing a fix. Now if we can get Anet to read this post. I remember reading a post second week into release where Anet rep said the Hammer love is coming down to us… haven’t seen it yet

To fix #5:
-Not allow dodge to roll out
-Not allow stability to walk out, but also not knock down
-Allow teleport/mist out of it

I am good with those changes if they would ever be implemented.

Wall of Warding needs the same love, though it’s shorter cast time and cast-on-move do make it a little better.

Drarnor, I use staff as well and totally agree, the cast time makes that an almost a junk skill.

Kazak.8459:

Drarnor, I use staff as well and totally agree, the cast time makes that an almost a junk skill.

It’s decent in PvE or WvW when you can see the enemies charging at you in huge packs and can predict it, but it’s otherwise clunky. It’s the only skill I don’t use when I’m using a staff. It takes too long to cast and doesn’t last long enough for what it does (stop movement in an area the size of a doorway).

The only time I use it during combat is in PvE when someone’s being revived. Not exactly useful for anything else.

Kazak.8459:

So sounds like the majority here agrees about the skill being somewhat broke and needing a fix. Now if we can get Anet to read this post. I remember reading a post second week into release where Anet rep said the Hammer love is coming down to us… haven’t seen it yet

To fix #5:
-Not allow dodge to roll out
-Not allow stability to walk out, but also not knock down
-Allow teleport/mist out of it

I am good with those changes if they would ever be implemented.

Stability SHOULD work on it. If they have to burn a counter ability, then it’s fair.

How dare Anet make it so people have counters to my unavoidable 5s snare. At least you can’t escape the ring by rolling/jumping anymore.

Also, stealth doesn’t get you out of ring.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

How dare Anet make it so people have counters to my unavoidable 5s snare. At least you can’t escape the ring by rolling/jumping anymore.

You can, and THAT is what needs to be fixed.

you still can leap in and out of it from dodge roll. its pretty bad.

It works at times when the enemy does not expect it but I agree there’s too many ways to escape a supposedly unescapable ring. It’s not that easy to trap the opponent with it anyway, takes a bit of skill or luck.

Usually hammer #3 does the job well enough though.

TheGreatA.4192:

Usually hammer #3 does the job well enough though.

Usually if my JI is down, I use 3 followed by 5, the timing usually works… but then they just roll out of it!

I think it is like TheGreatA said, it requires luck in WvWvW / PvP.

Personally I prefer #3 but even it is very unreliable.

you guys seem to only think it can be used to trap people in it … but most of the time i use it is to block the access to a certain area (ie : top of clocktower, for exemple), and the fact that you can just dodge roll in and out of it makes it stupid bad.
so instead of having 3 forms of CC with the hammer, you end up with 2, both of which are already stupid easy to evade due to their long and obvious animation.
hammer needs some lovin’ (and mostly fix #5).

i never knew about using JI while casting 5# . >>>

thank guys

In my opinion it feels like a self-defeating ability, and I rarely use it.

The time invested in the cast is better spent trying to stay on your target. 3/4 second cast is enough time to get out of its radius because you cannot move while casting, let alone dodging or using stability to walk out of it once it is cast.

Ironically many people try to use it to keep a gap closed, but it really just opens one up.

This is a move that requires too much of a setup to use a effectively, with terrible return on investment. Invest two skill cooldowns, just to have someone roll out of it once it down, and one of those cooldowns is a utility skill…so you are forced to put a skill on your bar that you may not normal take.

You CAN NOT dodge out of the circle. I tried it, it never succeeded. It’s all about Stability and maybe something else, but I’ve no idea what exactly.

And you can’t walk out of the circle if you’re stealthed, just whack the area with your attacks.

Edelweiss.9815:

You CAN NOT dodge out of the circle. I tried it, it never succeeded. It’s all about Stability and maybe something else, but I’ve no idea what exactly.

And you can’t walk out of the circle if you’re stealthed, just whack the area with your attacks.

you can certainly dodge roll into it. i see it all the time while defending clocktower. never tried to dodge out of it cause i never need to.

and to the guy that didn’t know you could JI + 5, JI + 4 is pretty awesome too.

Kazak.8459:

Drarnor, I use Staff as well and totally agree, the cast time makes that an almost a junk skill.

Arenanet has said during Beta that we can’t have a Line of Warding that is instant cast, cast on the move and ground-targetable. Only two out of those three together.

You CANNOT dodge out of the circle. I tried it, it never succeeded. It’s all about Stability and maybe something else, but I’ve no idea what exactly.

It’s not just Stability. You can dodge out (or in). Not always, but sometimes it works.

I have to say that the #5 is actually really useless in PvE as well.

Sherman.4631:

I have to say that the #5 is actually really useless in PvE as well.

Depends on what you need from it. In Dungeons, I use it to block.monsters off objectives,llike making sure the Gravelings get stuck around the traps in AC, as an example off the top of my head.

Sherman.4631:

I have to say that the #5 is actually really useless in PvE as well.

I like it in PVE. I often use it in dungeons to trap mobs that doesn’t stick to me or to prevent them from getting closer while they are showered with aoe. It’s pretty handy in some situations too, like CoE path one in the room where you need to activate the console for example. It’s situational though like #3 and #4 too.

With stability becoming more common in builds it is a lot more difficult to CC someone. It also doesn’t help that people can sometimes dodge out of the ring. Usually this happens most on uneven terrain and can be quite frustrating. In saying that, I still think it is a great skill to have and forcing someone to blow their cool down is get out of it is never a bad sign for you. JI + channeling skills is amazing in PVP though I rarely use it.

Well 5 is useful when they burn they cooldown or stopping thier focus attack for a moment to get out of our circle. I think anyone who got triped by that #5 skill can say that it is not easily jumped. atleast for me in arah when mobs do that to me I fail 50% of time to jump it and get caught in their foolish conditions