Guild Wars 2

Since they never talked about it in ready up or in patch preview notes

this picture sums up everything for us.

Hopefully the AI will improve along with the ranger pet and engineer turrets. If so, I may start using them for fun at least… although the bow will still be useless.

I would rather they do it right than do it rushed. Frankly, I would rather they never touch them again if they have no clue how to make them better. Something as bad as these needs to be reworked from it’s foundation. That’s not one or two patches. I bet that’s going to take over a year to implement …. and they haven’t started.

What’s wrong with Spirit Weapons? They are the most functional of the Ai skills in the game and the only i can see wrong with them is that have a chance of getting AoE’d?

@Dirame.8521
I seriously can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not. I’ll bite and assume you’re not.

Dirame.8521:

What’s wrong with Spirit Weapons? They are the most functional of the Ai skills in the game

That’s like being the shiniest kitten in the in the toilet. I don’t agree with them being the most functional either. Every class has issues with their AI, but I think Mesmers have us beat on functionality. If you want to count Ranger spirits, then them too.

Dirame.8521:

the only i can see wrong with them is that have a chance of getting AoE’d?

Just a chance? Spirit weapons are dead in no time in most situations. Limitied to basically fighting random mobs in the open world and off-point in sPvP.

I remember when the game first came out spirit weapons were a big thing at least in spvp at that time they couldn’t take damage so would last their full duration or until the guardian is killed. Then Anet changed that and everyone stopped using them.

So to my knowledge thats the main issue with them now, is that they die too quick to be of any use although I’m sure the ai is wonky too.

I can’t understand the reasoning behind not doing anything with them. Completely abandoned branch of utilities on a class has to be considered an unintended weakness and a barrier to build diversity. Why the balance people at ANet aren’t extremely worried by these skills lack of usage in Dungeons/WvW/PvP is something I would love to know.

Just because they didn’t mention anything in the new trait section, does not mean there are not trait changes for them. We’ll have to wait and see what the main patch holds before we make a full-on decision as to whether they’ve touched up the Spirits or not.

For right now though, the only problem I’ve seen with the Spirit Weapons is that they have a range in which you can activate their skills and this is a problem. If you’re in range of your target and your spirit weapon isn’t, it’s going to miss it’s attack and that is not something you want to have happen when you’re about to get your kitten beat.

If they can make the range of attack tethered to your range of attack then that would be great. So if you are close to your target and your Spirit hamemr isn’t, your Hammer will still hit with it’s activated attack because you are in range. That’s the only problem I see at this point in time. Pets dieing to AoE damage to me is just the circle of life.

Dirame.8521:

What’s wrong with Spirit Weapons? They are the most functional of the Ai skills in the game and the only i can see wrong with them is that have a chance of getting AoE’d?

I don’t think having the most functional AI skills ingame (not even sure that’s true) is a defining factor in what makes SW’s good or not.

I think there are few things wrong with them:

1. They have the worst deficiencies of both a skill and a pet (a leashed pet that doesn’t go more than melee weapon range on top of that)
2. Are they worth a skill slot?
3. The traits to buff them (arguably mediocre) are all over the traitlines

If the only thing you see wrong with SW’s is they can be damaged with AoE, I don’t think you’ve given them enough of a chance to suck hard enough.

Obtena.7952:

Dirame.8521:

What’s wrong with Spirit Weapons? They are the most functional of the Ai skills in the game and the only i can see wrong with them is that have a chance of getting AoE’d?

I don’t think having the most functional AI skills ingame (not even sure that’s true) is a defining factor in what makes SW’s good or not.

I think there are few things wrong with them:

1. They have the worst deficiencies of both a skill and a pet (a leashed pet that doesn’t go more than melee weapon range on top of that)
2. Are they worth a skill slot?
3. The traits to buff them (arguably mediocre) are all over the traitlines

If the only thing you see wrong with SW’s is they can be damaged with AoE, I don’t think you’ve given them enough of a chance to suck hard enough.

Well, the only time I’ve used SWs is in my Guardian burst build to get the 3 second KD. Allows you to set up a nice burst combo. In that situation, I don’t need to have it up until I’m ready to let it rip. So really, I rarely notice anything majorly wrong apart from the weapon missing when I’m within range of the target and the weapon isn’t.

Dirame.8521:

Obtena.7952:

Dirame.8521:

What’s wrong with Spirit Weapons? They are the most functional of the Ai skills in the game and the only i can see wrong with them is that have a chance of getting AoE’d?

I don’t think having the most functional AI skills ingame (not even sure that’s true) is a defining factor in what makes SW’s good or not.

I think there are few things wrong with them:

1. They have the worst deficiencies of both a skill and a pet (a leashed pet that doesn’t go more than melee weapon range on top of that)
2. Are they worth a skill slot?
3. The traits to buff them (arguably mediocre) are all over the traitlines

If the only thing you see wrong with SW’s is they can be damaged with AoE, I don’t think you’ve given them enough of a chance to suck hard enough.

Well, the only time I’ve used SWs is in my Guardian burst build to get the 3 second KD. Allows you to set up a nice burst combo. In that situation, I don’t need to have it up until I’m ready to let it rip. So really, I rarely notice anything majorly wrong apart from the weapon missing when I’m within range of the target and the weapon isn’t.

So you’ve never used the shield, sword, or bow? Don’t get me started on the bow xD

Dirame.8521:

Well, the only time I’ve used SWs is in my Guardian burst build to get the 3 second KD. Allows you to set up a nice burst combo. In that situation, I don’t need to have it up until I’m ready to let it rip. So really, I rarely notice anything majorly wrong apart from the weapon missing when I’m within range of the target and the weapon isn’t.

Well, their you go … I wouldn’t say that experience gives a sufficient exposure to what is wrong with SW’s.

Kasei.8726:

Dirame.8521:

Obtena.7952:

Dirame.8521:

What’s wrong with Spirit Weapons? They are the most functional of the Ai skills in the game and the only i can see wrong with them is that have a chance of getting AoE’d?

I don’t think having the most functional AI skills ingame (not even sure that’s true) is a defining factor in what makes SW’s good or not.

I think there are few things wrong with them:

1. They have the worst deficiencies of both a skill and a pet (a leashed pet that doesn’t go more than melee weapon range on top of that)
2. Are they worth a skill slot?
3. The traits to buff them (arguably mediocre) are all over the traitlines

If the only thing you see wrong with SW’s is they can be damaged with AoE, I don’t think you’ve given them enough of a chance to suck hard enough.

Well, the only time I’ve used SWs is in my Guardian burst build to get the 3 second KD. Allows you to set up a nice burst combo. In that situation, I don’t need to have it up until I’m ready to let it rip. So really, I rarely notice anything majorly wrong apart from the weapon missing when I’m within range of the target and the weapon isn’t.

So you’ve never used the shield, sword, or bow? Don’t get me started on the bow xD

The bow sucks no questions asked. The main function is crap and the activated function without ground targeting is just a slap in the user’s face.

I’ve used the shield in PvE. Works well enough.

The Sword is the best one in my opinion but it suffers from the same thing that the hammer suffers from, having it’s own range.

@Obtena

Does that mean I can’t ask what you guys think is wrong? I mean really, if I didn’t ask, this thread would just be a bunch of people saying things are bad without actually saying why.

I just don’t know what I would even want from a spirit weapon. Pets are always the worst mechanic in MMOs and every pet dependant class wants some way to get rid of them.

I mean seriously you want some autonomous summon to do your gameplay for you? I’d rather have whatever effect they grant as a pure cast on demand, brainless summoned drones are always going to be just that.

Dirame.8521:

@Obtena

Does that mean I can’t ask what you guys think is wrong? I mean really, if I didn’t ask, this thread would just be a bunch of people saying things are bad without actually saying why.

By all means, and you were told so I think there shouldn’t be any more debate on it. I think the problem is that the whole question of SW’s has belaboured on these forums so badly, that anyone who isn’t aware of what the multitude of problems with SWs are seems like a troll.

Gundail.7594:

I just don’t know what I would even want from a spirit weapon. Pets are always the worst mechanic in MMOs and every pet dependant class wants some way to get rid of them.

I mean seriously you want some autonomous summon to do your gameplay for you? I’d rather have whatever effect they grant as a pure cast on demand, brainless summoned drones are always going to be just that.

Geez, You guys got me started again…

If we get rid of the drone AI, I would want one of three options:

1. For the Guardian to wield the summoned weapon. Like an Engineer’s weapon kit except it has a cast times, duration, and cooldown. It would replace our 1-5 skills but still allow us to use our utilities.
2. Make the AI more simplistic, direct, and quick. The spirit weapons would move 3x their normal speed to a specific target or targeted area, do their job quickly, and disappear.
3. “pure cast on demand”
   • Bow of Truth – The bow flies out to the targeted area and removes X conditions and heals over time. Lasts 10 seconds.
   • Hammer of Wisdom – The hammer knocks down the targeted foe AND applies weakness for X seconds.
   • Shield of the Avenger – The shield flies out to the targeted area and constantly blocks projectiles for 10 seconds. Like the normal Shield of Absorption skill, it knocks back enemies in the area when casted.
   • Sword of Justice – The sword whirls in a target’s direction, slashing foes along its path (Warrior’s Whirlwind Attack). Cripples enemies for 4 seconds on hit.

Yeah I wish I could control the location of my shield… I hate when its bubbling in the corner because the target moved