Guild Wars 2

Metabattle.com is a new site (still under developement) that’s based on GW1’s PvX wiki. Currently has ~80 builds and it’s time to start making guides – the first series of PvP guides are about mesmer phase retreat spots and covers ~40 spots atm.

This is the very first version, pop-up windows for galleries will likely arrive in a week to make it easier to navigate and even the site will go over some visual overhaul soon.

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Guide:Phase_Retreat_-_Battle_of_Khylo
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Guide:Phase_Retreat_-_Legacy_of_the_Foefire
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Guide:Phase_Retreat_-_Temple_of_the_Silent_Storm
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Guide:Phase_Retreat_-_Forest_of_Niflhel
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Guide:Phase_Retreat_-_Spirit_Watch

Skyhammer is missing because jump pads make Phase Retreat irrelevant, not like it has any meaningful.

If you feel any significant spots are missing, feel free to point it out

replace all of that with “use phase retreat with a ledge above/behind you and you will teleport there”

kodesh.2851:

replace all of that with “use phase retreat with a ledge above/behind you and you will teleport there”

Not necessarily true

kodesh.2851:

replace all of that with “use phase retreat with a ledge above/behind you and you will teleport there”

Let’s take Khylo for example. ~50% of the spots are so tiny that you must know exactly where to stand, especially images 4-7 of the Clocktower.

This is awesome. Gonna add this to the grimoire if ya don’t mind?

Chaos Archangel.5071:

This is awesome. Gonna add this to the grimoire if ya don’t mind?

Heh sure May Lyssa aid you.

Your examples 4-7 of Khylo should be reported as bugs (I assume you already have, but why even put it in a guide then?). That’s no longer teleporting up on a ledge that is otherwise also accessible through running, that’s straight up glitching through terrain, a wall. Technically it’s reachable through running, true enough, but I find using stuff like that as being pure exploiting.

Absconditus.6804:

Your examples 4-7 of Khylo should be reported as bugs (I assume you already have, but why even put it in a guide then?). That’s no longer teleporting up on a ledge that is otherwise also accessible through running, that’s straight up glitching through terrain, a wall. Technically it’s reachable through running, true enough, but I find using stuff like that as being pure exploiting.

All of these spots are legit, these aren’t bugs or glitches, these things exist since Beta. Images 4-7 are harder than 1-3, but that’s the only difference between them – they are both accessible by running, it’s not a terrain glitch, it’s just a less obvious thus more clever usage of terrain. Phase Reatreat is a low CD teleport skill, only real difference between this and Blink or Infiltrator’s Arrow is that it’s not ground targeted, which makes it harder to aim with.

I think this skill is great design and adds depth to the class.

How are you reproducing this with Blink then? Or a Shadowstep. You are teleporting through a wall, into a structure. Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean it’s not an exploit. Just because it has existed since Beta, doesn’t mean it’s right. Personally, I weren’t aware of it, nor have I seen many players take advantage of it when I have played structured on those maps, so I don’t think it’s necessarily widely known (Note, for clarification: I am talking about actually teleporting through the wall, not general teleportation up on ledges). Teleporting up on ledges and such, which you can also do with the ground-targeted Blink/Shadowstep mechanics, those I’m all for and think adds flavor to the professions that can do them, but when we teleport actually through stuff in the way presented in that guide, that should simply be reported and fixed.

And I agree, the skill is well designed, fun and adds depth to the profession. It’s just not working correctly if it sends you through a wall like that. That’s a very cheap way to get there. I remember when it used to constantly plop me below the terrain, they fixed that.

Absconditus.6804:

How are you reproducing this with Blink then? Or a Shadowstep. You are teleporting through a wall, into a structure. Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean it’s not an exploit. Just because it has existed since Beta, doesn’t mean it’s right. Personally, I weren’t aware of it, nor have I seen many players take advantage of it when I have played structured on those maps, so I don’t think it’s necessarily widely known (Note, for clarification: I am talking about actually teleporting through the wall, not general teleportation up on ledges). Teleporting up on ledges and such, which you can also do with the ground-targeted Blink/Shadowstep mechanics, those I’m all for and think adds flavor to the professions that can do them, but when we teleport actually through stuff in the way presented in that guide, that should simply be reported and fixed.

And I agree, the skill is well designed, fun and adds depth to the profession. It’s just not working correctly if it sends you through a wall like that. That’s a very cheap way to get there. I remember when it used to constantly plop me below the terrain, they fixed that.

It does not teleport you through walls, that would be unintended and impossible.

Let me tell you that it totally does not matter if a wall is there or not.

Phase Reatreat works in a different way – it won’t take you directly through the wall and won’t make you able to teleport into boxes and structures, the skill calculates the distance between you and the destination by how big the distance would be by walking – so the skill is using the stairs of the Clocktower, your destination is a simple high ground, the wall is insignificant. This is why you can’t teleport up to ledges where the stairs are miles away or the given terrain has no entrances at all – the skill has a range afterall, if the distance is too big or you can’t approach it by simple walking it won’t port you up – this pathfinding even excludes jumping, so only works if the destination is easily approachable.

So again, this is an intended thing.

If you want to know what unintended truly means: on Khylo Shadow Shot recognizes buildings as “enemies” (because they can take damage from Trebuchets), therefore if you shoot into the wall it will port you inside (the skill takes you to the target it hits). Now that is kinda unintended and it does teleport you throught an objective – but even that won’t take you into places you couldn’t get to by walking so even Shadow Shot is borderline acceptable.

And classes need these little things that people must learn to use over time The game would lose a really interesting and deep part by removing it (and there is no reason to do so).

witcher.3197:

And classes need these little things that people must learn to use over time The game would lose a really interesting and deep part by removing it (and there is no reason to do so).

I disagree: a skill behavior must be intuitive. If by you cannot guess what will really happen if you have not tried a skill in the same context (here loclisation/map) before..then it is bad design.

Kicast.1459:

witcher.3197:

And classes need these little things that people must learn to use over time The game would lose a really interesting and deep part by removing it (and there is no reason to do so).

I disagree: a skill behavior must be intuitive. If by you cannot guess what will really happen if you have not tried a skill in the same context (here loclisation/map) before..then it is bad design.

Well I doubt any skills have written guides to them when you are looking at the tooltips. You must figure them out yourself. Some are easier, some have tricks, that’s why guides exist

witcher.3197:

All of these spots are legit, these aren’t bugs or glitches, these things exist since Beta.

…

it’s not a terrain glitch, it’s just a less obvious thus more clever usage of terrain.

Said anyone who ever seriously exploited CoF or Arah or CM or HoTW or CoE or broke doors early in Forfire or used FGS or Tornado + Meteor or Portal to scale a keep wall, etc… etc.. etc..

Exploit is an exploit. if you cant reach it by jumping and you couldnt hit a player standing in that spot (NO LOS) its probably purely an exploit .

Yes Phase Retreat does some weird kitten, it used to blink you through the Floor every 6th time you used it but i would have called that a bug not a feature. If under that floor there was suddenly 20 chests that gave me 50g each i would have still called it a bug and Anet would have called it Exploiting as soon as i had made 500000g.

TY for the guide but i wouldn’t get too attached to these things, Pathing issues are ever changing and eventually Anet might actually fix them rendering these exploits Null and Void.

I must say I’m having a great time reading these totally clueless comments that ignore my reasoning and keep calling it an exploit. All of these spots are accessible by walking, not even jumping is required. And it’s called teleport for a reason. There is no such thing as “works every 6th time” – you just missed the spot 5 times.

It’s just so clear you never tried this and don’t know what you are talking about.

Nice Appreciated.

witcher.3197:

I must say I’m having a great time reading these totally clueless comments that ignore my reasoning and keep calling it an exploit. All of these spots are accessible by walking, not even jumping is required. And it’s called teleport for a reason. There is no such thing as “works every 6th time” – you just missed the spot 5 times.

It’s just so clear you never tried this and don’t know what you are talking about.

You do realize you are the one that are defending an exploit, telling people they are clueless, right? In the particular case of images 4-7 for Khylo, you are showcasing the need to stand in a very specific spot in order to teleport, not up on the ledge, but through the wall, into the building. It doesn’t matter one bit if you can run in there, it doesn’t matter in any way or shape that it is basically calculating the distance going up through the stairs on the inside, it doesn’t matter that you can reproduce it with a 100% success rate, you are still exploiting a flaw in the skill and map in question. That is the definition of a exploit right there. Taking advantage of a unintended way something works. Any fool with half a brain can see that you are describing a exploit, a glitch, a bug. Phase Retreat is not supposed to send you through solid objects. That wall, is a solid object.

Here’s something for you to try, go next to some boxes in the game, a quick and easy location would be right by the (currently disabled) Fort Marriner Waypoint in Lion’s Arch. Now stand with your back to the boxes and barrels right by the bank, Phase Retreat. Notice how you just retreated to the boxes, not through them to the other side? Yeah, that’s because it’s not supposed to send you through objects. The other side of those boxes are easily reachable through walking, there’s no elevation difference even. The game sure should be able to calculate it, right?

The reason people ignore your reasoning, is because it’s flawed. That’s like saying it is perfectly alright to dupe items when such a glitch is found. — “Hey, I can reproduce it 100%, the game allows me to do it so it must be intended, right?” Wrong. I didn’t look through all your guide’s locations, but for the other spots in Khylo, it’s a perfectly good guide. I just noticed the teleports going through the wall in your Khylo guide, and recognize them as exploits, so I didn’t quite get why you would put them in a guide, since you clearly must have reported them.

If a dev comes in here and states it’s working as intended, then I’ll be the fool and halfwit. Until then, I’ll see it as an exploit.

Lol at people getting angry at this. Those spots have been used in tornies, so I’m sure anet is aware of them. Intended or not, any decent Mesmer will use these. It should also be noted that for the Phase Retreat from the windmill spot into the inner clocktower to work, the crates in the alley underneath the clocktower will have to be destroyed first.

@Absconditus.6804 – from the wikipedia article you’ve linked: “however, the precise determination of what is or is not considered an exploit can be controversial. This debate stems from a number of factors but typically involves the argument that the issues are part of the game and require no changes or external programs to take advantage of them” / “These are commonly achieved by going through walls, crossing invisible barriers made by the programmers, or scaling ledges not intended to be climbable.”

None of these fit these spots (I’ve alreay explained how you aren’t going through walls) And pretty much what Neptune said – people use these on higher ratings every day since launch, even at the all-star tournament at gamescom or ToL matches and when there are events where the devs face the community, they see mesmers using these spots against them – so devs are totally aware of it.

Neptune brough up that you need to destroy boxes in a corridor in order to make a spot work – which proves that the boxes mess up the pathfinding and put the destination out of range. You need the specific spots so the pathfinding won’t mess it up – look at it in a similar way how a ground targeted teleport’s aoe ring turns red if you are out of range, or if you are aiming at the wrong spot it won’t teleport you up, only closer, it’s exactly like that you just don’t see the aoe ring for this one.

Every single thief/guardian teleport that needs a target works without line of sight and they can pretty much follow the mesmer to all these spots by pressing a single button, they don’t even need to aim, do you consider that an exploit too?

Neptune.2570:

Lol at people getting angry at this. Those spots have been used in tornies, so I’m sure anet is aware of them. Intended or not, any decent Mesmer will use these. It should also be noted that for the Phase Retreat from the windmill spot into the inner clocktower to work, the crates in the alley underneath the clocktower will have to be destroyed first.

Accepted by anet but bad game design.

I saw Helseth showing several way to use retreat…it was quick and so impressive…we saw he was a good player…but I was always surprised why in a specific spot you retreat on top of a rock and 10 cm near you don’t….bad mechanic.