Guild Wars 2

(A little self-awareness game, highlighting your own mistakes. Maybe the flaws in your own play can help someone learn a bit about themselves! While my message to myself is for PvP, the thread is for everyone. )

Dear Chaos,

People call you good at this game, but you know in your heart you’re really not! You still random dodge for the sake of mobility from time to time, despite how much you advise against that very thing! Stop that, fool, no matter how cool jump-dodging may look. Speaking of jump dodging, you make it so easy to get immobilized in mid-air! The immob bug keeps locking you out of your skills!

Remember when you used to pay more attention to your skill bar than the actual fight? That was a bad habit that developed out of when you used to click all your skills. It’s a good thing this game allowed you to use (Shift+1 – 5) to replace 6 – 0 or else you may have had to go back to the clicker-days. When under stress (like when fighting Rylock) you go back to that habit, and when playing other classes (like Ele) you still do it all the time! Its uncomfortable, but keep working on forcing yourself out of that.

Speaking of, habits. Make it a habit to duel other classes more often, you used to suck at fighting other Mesmers until you had supcutie beat you into the ground for 3 hours (Jeezus I didnt realize how terribad my mic was. Supcutie had the patience of an elder dragon for putting up with that!) Spending a little time versing classes you don’t know too well like Engineer and D/D ele would be a massive help. Those ESL Monday tournaments -and all the gems they offer- are calling your name, get in there!

Now lets talk about Mainhand sword… For one, iLeap into Blurred Frenzy has become such a reflex that you keep doing it automatically. There is so much you can do out of iLeap, erase that reflex and start getting creative (at the very least that’ll help you stop wasting blurred all the time.) Blurred is a better defensive tool anyway, which is crucial since you don’t roll with Decoy all the time.

Also.. Get back up on your guide-writing fool!

- Signed, Chaos.

Are you in existential crisis? It is the second thread dedicated to your remaining improvements!!

For noobs like me, things are easier. The list of improvement is obvious, though it is hard to pick the next one to focus one. Currently, I am working on my no-autotargetting abilities. I finally can phase retreat where I want, though I still need some practice on most maps.

I also need to use that stupid dodge key (I’m still double tapping, and I don’t dare yet simply removing the double tapping to force me…). Then there’s the “stop panicking when you’re targeted”, as for some reasons as soon as I see my life getting downed, I forgot all my skill and just try to dodge and heal, which is particularly interesting when my heal is on CD… Then there’s the “stop trying to overcompensate for your team lack of organization… by rotating in an even more unorganized fashion”: when I see my team being stupid, I just start roaming the map solo to cover the uncovered points and end up 1v3 too often.

So yes, everyone has points he wants to fix (even supcutie I’m sure), but it is too early for new year’s foolish resolutions

Is it? Apparently I have a memory-loss crisis. O.o

And dude scrap that double-tap. Just go and disable it and never look back! You’ll adjust and be better for it (especially on jumping puzzles.)

Btw.. What build do ya run?

That video makes me nostalgic for Raid of the Capricorn.

Main thing for me is if I get bursted down to low health I tend to blow my Shatters to heal up (Restorative Illusions). It’s saved me a few times but more often than not I would’ve done better (read: survived) if I conjured a few Illusions before I facerolled my F keys.

And yeah I too tend to pay way too much attention to my skill bar when things get heated.

I’ll leave aside the narcissism of the post for a moment. Communist Russia used to hold “self criticism” sessions. The were a kind of masochistic secular confession.

Yes, Chaos, having seen you in action you are very good. Here’s my suggestion if you want to improve;

Teach, I have never understood a subject better than when I was asked to prepare a class. Start by teaching how to make shatters hit.

At your suggestion, I invested in a gaming mouse. That eliminates the issue with shift + keys if I understand accurately.

Jump dodging is a habit I never developed since I double tap movement keys to dodge. This would perhaps help you avoid the jump.

Mainhand sword is very good at getting me killed. There’s another class suggestion; mainhand sword in PvP.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Is it? Apparently I have a memory-loss crisis. O.o

And dude scrap that double-tap. Just go and disable it and never look back! You’ll adjust and be better for it (especially on jumping puzzles.)

Btw.. What build do ya run?

I run this. I really love this build and while probably not the best ever made, I feel quite useful using it.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-R3SZ;1ZUF61I7-WV71;9;4TUV;0236156147;4UBo620;0Uwl6Uwl60T

I guess you’re right about double tapping, maybe I should do that sooner than later.

Embolism.8106:

Main thing for me is if I get bursted down to low health I tend to blow my Shatters to heal up (Restorative Illusions). It’s saved me a few times but more often than not I would’ve done better (read: survived) if I conjured a few Illusions before I facerolled my F keys.

And yeah I too tend to pay way too much attention to my skill bar when things get heated.

Yes, that’s exactly the situation I am facing! I forgot to try to do my staff rotation to get more protection, I forgot to actually generate some clones before shattering to get more healing out of it + some decent damage etc…

I double tap, and I don’t care. I don’t like the dodge button, I need those buttons for other things.

I’m rusty anyhoo, but:

Pay more attention to the enemy and my own personal placement in the fight. This goes more for when my greatsword is on cooldown and I’m not running around the fringes, but I’m always terrified to run INTO the fight. Along with this, and when playing lockdown, I need to capitalize on the interrupts more, chain them correctly and conserve clones to strip stability when an applicable enemy reacts.

There was a point when I was really good at dodging to avoid damage, then that changed when I started running PU. That needs to change back.

And finally, the be-all, end-all for me: Perfect handling condition classes without running any condition cleanse. It’s possible.

Watching the video, it’s quite fun to hear that while the mesmer meta spec isn’t massively different (except for PU), the overall class balance is.

Silverkey.2078:

Watching the video, it’s quite fun to hear that while the mesmer meta spec isn’t massively different (except for PU), the overall class balance is.

Keep in mind any discussion balance wise is pretty much null/void now since it was done so long ago. There may be some carryover concepts but for the most part we’re in a new meta.

skcamow.3527:

Silverkey.2078:

Watching the video, it’s quite fun to hear that while the mesmer meta spec isn’t massively different (except for PU), the overall class balance is.

Keep in mind any discussion balance wise is pretty much null/void now since it was done so long ago. There may be some carryover concepts but for the most part we’re in a new meta.

That’s exactly what I was saying
I’m pretty much aware of the current meta, and it is fun to see how it changed. Yet the mesmer build is overall the same. That’s sad!

Silverkey.2078:

skcamow.3527:

Silverkey.2078:

Watching the video, it’s quite fun to hear that while the mesmer meta spec isn’t massively different (except for PU), the overall class balance is.

Keep in mind any discussion balance wise is pretty much null/void now since it was done so long ago. There may be some carryover concepts but for the most part we’re in a new meta.

That’s exactly what I was saying
I’m pretty much aware of the current meta, and it is fun to see how it changed. Yet the mesmer build is overall the same. That’s sad!

Ah! Sorry I read your post wrong. Yeah pretty much the same in the way of play style and mechanics. Quite a bit different under the covers though.

Silverkey.2078:

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Is it? Apparently I have a memory-loss crisis. O.o

And dude scrap that double-tap. Just go and disable it and never look back! You’ll adjust and be better for it (especially on jumping puzzles.)

Btw.. What build do ya run?

I run this. I really love this build and while probably not the best ever made, I feel quite useful using it.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-R3SZ;1ZUF61I7-WV71;9;4TUV;0236156147;4UBo620;0Uwl6Uwl60T

I guess you’re right about double tapping, maybe I should do that sooner than later.

Embolism.8106:

Main thing for me is if I get bursted down to low health I tend to blow my Shatters to heal up (Restorative Illusions). It’s saved me a few times but more often than not I would’ve done better (read: survived) if I conjured a few Illusions before I facerolled my F keys.

And yeah I too tend to pay way too much attention to my skill bar when things get heated.

Yes, that’s exactly the situation I am facing! I forgot to try to do my staff rotation to get more protection, I forgot to actually generate some clones before shattering to get more healing out of it + some decent damage etc…

Speaking of, I took a look at your build, if you wouldn’t mind a few suggestions…

• The trait spread is interesting, but I don’t know if Illusionary Inspiration would be as useful as Mental Defense. It may very well be, but I think Mental Defense is worth exploring.

• Sigil of Renewal isn’t going to make much -if any- difference here. I’d recommend Hydromancy on Staff (its glorious) and maybe Fire on scepter. With Signet of Inspiration (and/or Illusionary Inspiration) you wanna grab Sigil of Speed. 20s of Swiftness on kill is no joke and easy to share. I share (with a very similar setup and WITHOUT pack runes) over 1 minute of swiftness constantly.

• You may not wanna hear this but .. I’d highly recommend swapping out either Harmonious Mantras for Deceptive Evasion (more damage/survivability) or Mantra of Concentration for Blink/Decoy. I know you’re a support build, but positioning is still crucial.

• Runes of the Pack or Altruism would offer as good as or better support as Mercy Runes.

Just some ideas!

Ithilwen.1529:

At your suggestion, I invested in a gaming mouse. That eliminates the issue with shift + keys if I understand accurately.

He isn’t actually saying that shift+keys is bad, he’s saying that sometimes he degenerates into manually clicking skills.

That being said, both gaming mice and using key modifiers (shift, control, etc) work well, it just depends on your personal preference. I have huge hands, so I have no issues binding my shatters I ctrl+12345, because I can reach that easily. Fay, on the other hand, has tiny hands and can’t reach that far, so uses a gaming mouse to activate a lot of keybinds instead.

Ithilwen.1529:

Jump dodging is a habit I never developed since I double tap movement keys to dodge. This would perhaps help you avoid the jump.

Jump dodging is a really useful skill to know, but it’s not always the right thing to do. It allows you to do a maximum range jump even if you’re in combat, crippled, or chilled. This is really used I for obvious reasons, but it does have the downside that chaos mentioned of being able to get immobilized in midair.

Double-tap to dodge is generally regarded as the wrong way to go. The reason for this is that it’s imprecise compared to using a keybind. It’s easy to accidentally activate it during normal movement, whereas keeping it to a keybind makes it very controlled.

Ithilwen.1529:

I’ll leave aside the narcissism of the post for a moment. Communist Russia used to hold “self criticism” sessions. The were a kind of masochistic secular confession.

Yes, Chaos, having seen you in action you are very good. Here’s my suggestion if you want to improve;

Teach, I have never understood a subject better than when I was asked to prepare a class. Start by teaching how to make shatters hit.

At your suggestion, I invested in a gaming mouse. That eliminates the issue with shift + keys if I understand accurately.

Jump dodging is a habit I never developed since I double tap movement keys to dodge. This would perhaps help you avoid the jump.

Mainhand sword is very good at getting me killed. There’s another class suggestion; mainhand sword in PvP.

Hm.. You know, I do agree. I feel I learn the most when teaching and I enjoy teaching so much that I should be doing it more! Also.. The original idea of the thread didn’t exactly get communicated the way I had hoped. xD Narcissism was not intended! /hairflip

Need to learn a bit more about some other classes skills/tells, especially with all the new elite specs coming.

Need to sort out my interface devices which could do with being better. It’s already difficult enough finding a comfortable location for F5. I prefer the shape of my ss ikari mouse, but the scroll wheel is kitten awful and the two side buttons not enough.

Need to continue to learn to save cooldowns when kiting – this is ongoing refinement.

Continue to improve situational awareness in 1v2+ scenarios.

I hope you’ve gotten a better mic/computer/headset/noisereduction technology since the recording of that video, background noise issues always make me twitchy.

I only had time to watch the first 20 minutes, but it was interesting recalling about how weak mesmer was in pvp during the spirit ranger hambow meta.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Speaking of, I took a look at your build, if you wouldn’t mind a few suggestions…

• The trait spread is interesting, but I don’t know if Illusionary Inspiration would be as useful as Mental Defense. It may very well be, but I think Mental Defense is worth exploring.

It is one I am considering. Currently, I am terrible at using the signet. It often lies unused (because of my panicking often) and therefore the trait is my only effective boonshare. But I hope to time it better so that I can give up on the trait and use mental defense (and think about not shattering it too early if possible).

• Sigil of Renewal isn’t going to make much -if any- difference here. I’d recommend Hydromancy on Staff (its glorious) and maybe Fire on scepter. With Signet of Inspiration (and/or Illusionary Inspiration) you wanna grab Sigil of Speed. 20s of Swiftness on kill is no joke and easy to share. I share (with a very similar setup and WITHOUT pack runes) over 1 minute of swiftness constantly.

Is the hydromancy on staff to ensure they don’t escape chaos storm? I tend to rely on the small heal when in extreme situations, but usually at this level, this barely postpone my death, so I am curious about suggestions.

• You may not wanna hear this but .. I’d highly recommend swapping out either Harmonious Mantras for Deceptive Evasion (more damage/survivability) or Mantra of Concentration for Blink/Decoy. I know you’re a support build, but positioning is still crucial.

That’s a toughy. Harmonious mantra I have tried without and I hated it. I literally end up spending my time loading my mantras and not doing anything else. Sure, the damage increase is not so useful to me (although since I swapped from settler’s to celestial my damage is very acceptable) + I proc Restorative Mantras more often, but I actually use my mantras not only for the healing but for their actual effect.. For the mantra of concentration, it is currently my only decent source of stability (absolutely mandatory for mantras + always very good for stomp/rez). The only way (which I tried) is to swap for bountiful disillusionment. I tried that recently and it gave very nice results, so I keep it as an alternative. My main problem was the lack of might generation of BD compared to CI. I also tried running illusion instead of dueling for more might on shatters, but then I missed harmonious mantra. Things may be different in a team that provides enough might already. So definitely some viable alternatives.

• Runes of the Pack or Altruism would offer as good as or better support as Mercy Runes.
  Just some ideas!

I must say I really love mercy runes (and I’m not the only one, look at Go4GW2 NA with the support guardians of radioactive I believe using it often instead of soldiers). Faster rez + higher health once rezzed is massive.
I did consider rune of altruism, and I also think it is a very good alternative (especially since mantras do have a short CD) for a stronger boon support (I currently lack boon duration which is sad considering the quantity I produce…)

Overall thanks for your suggestions, I am constantly trying new stuff, so any input is appreciated.

@nearlight: Omg dude I didn’t even realize how cringe-worthy my MIC is. Definitely better now. I can’t believe supcutie didn’t mind sitting through that ear-damaging nonsense.

@Silver: It also helps you escape sticky situations. You’re under attack, swap to staff (hydro procs) phase retreat. Does a decent bit of damage (1k on marauders) and an extra condition for Warlock to work with.

@Curunen: I will totally be hitting you up for arena time.

Dear me:

• stop trying to ress people, you know all the aoe will be there in a second and you’re squishy
• watch for those static fields
• only use blink offensively if you have other defensive cooldowns ready or if you are pretty sure nobody will survive to retaliate

Dear me:

- get used to the f****** GS or you’ll never do a decent shatter combo.
- stop fighting to long in 1vs2 or 1vs3
- don’t run around like a startled chicken when you get focussed
- and finally find a build that suits your play style AND helps your team

mostly just know when you disengage and not panic.

Dear Zin,

Stop dodging to make clones in melee range BEFORE an attack. Why would you dodge and waste endurance on a clone that’s going to die instantly when you could have avoided the damage instead?

Stop dazing randomly. Actually pay close attention to animations and learn to interrupt the right abilities. MoD only has 2 charges and 20 seconds is a long time in PvP.

Abuse Blink spots more often, and learn the Phase Retreat spots. Also, stop Phase Retreating and then Chaos Storming. Do it the other way around! Another thing, stop using iWarlock at the same time as Phase Retreat, especially if you already have 2+ clones up. It’s a waste.

Find other things that you need to work on.

Dear Buton,

You know you’re good but you also know you’re not great. Something’s been holding you back and it’s far past long you did something about it. You know what I’m talking about. Once upon a time you we’re a hardcore gamer. For breakfast you ate SEGA, for dinner, Playstation. You grazed heavily on PC titles. But as time went by you got into girls, fell in love, and made some pretty big life decisions. Pretty soon you had a family, and after that the time you should have been spent gaming slowly but surely got frittered away into investing time on them. Whether it be working to provide, or investing in quality, life altering time with your kids, you’ve been blowing it all on your family.

If you want to be great, if you want to find a serious team, enter some serious competitions, and go the whole distance, the first step is to strip off the chafe from your life and get serious. If you can’t do that, well, it’s already over to begin with. You know what you gotta do big boy, and you know you have it within you to succeed. You’ve just got to take the plunge.

~ Signed, Your Inner Demon.

Dear me, in order to improve in sPvP, you must… actually care about doing that, first.

Considering I’m not ranked at all, staying far away from it, and not getting matched against anyone else caring as a result (the odd day or two a month I walk into sPvP), I don’t watch for enemy animations, I don’t try to time dodges, no nothing. Not because I couldn’t. I do that in WvW combat if it’s smallscale. I just cba. I do sPvP to get some dailies done, and then I’m out of there again.

I can’t even get myself to care enough about sPvP to bother to improve. It’s not even my character I’m playing there, rather some sorta-copy of it. :S

Dear me, Stop playing PvP and/or typing this, you’re burning the dinner. Oh f…