Guild Wars 2

Minions aren’t fixed before or with the arrival of the new xpac?

I tried a minion build for casual pve farming and it was absolutely unacceptable the amount of damage I was putting out while having them bug out every fight.

It seriously boggles my mind that they are still completely worthless bugging out 99% of the time. Minions being a huge part of what the necro is (or could be rather) and not have them functioning is game breaking at times. Granted they probably won’t ever be in meta builds I’ve always enjoyed minion classes something about raising dead minions is exciting. GW1 was FANTASTIC, disappointing that they don’t do their predecessors justice.

I for one am upset that it has gone on this long, and if they think I’m going to shell out cash for an expansion while shipping it with broken mechanics they’ve got another thing coming.

I’d be bit of a let down to me, especially since I remember people on reddit mentioning that Arenanet hired an AI guy for Heart of Thorns.

Well, AFAIK they couldn’t really bump the pet AI until they could do the same for all NPC (something on their end, I forget). That said, I’ve been begging for MM fixes for a long time. Beyond AI stupidity, they desperately need some sort of AoE protection too. They just simply get stomped on in many cases for both PVE and PVP (PVP especially with no real means of condition defense, condies run their full duration and strength and can melt them in seconds, especially if they’re caught in a bunch). Unfortunately, its really not that likely we’ll see any real changes for quite a while.

LastDay.3524:

I’d be bit of a let down to me, especially since I remember people on reddit mentioning that Arenanet hired an AI guy for Heart of Thorns.

who wrote the AI until now then? an intern?

RashanDale.3609:

who wrote the AI until now then? an intern?

Garm. He’s had a lot of time, but the lack of thumbs and being and NPC really limits his performance in that role.

They hired someone about 9 months ago who is an AI specialist. The issue in GW2 isn’t necessarily the AI itself (although it is super basic) but that they are so limited in their vertical movement that tiny changes in height of what they are walking on completely screws them up. That is why minions almost never have issues if you’re standing on a flat area and don’t move too far, but bug out super easily if you are moving a lot.

Bhawb you forgot the minion’s natural predator. The blade of grass.

Its not just minions, if the ai in general doesnt get better, whole pve xpac will suck.

Idk, I find pebbles to be more dangerous to them. Also water, in many cases.

I Wouldn’t be surprised if they nudge us into the new specialization where the minions don’t work.

I recently ditched the entourage, in favor of a Plague build. It’s so much more fun, though I do rather miss Bob (golem) once in a while.

If they havent fixed it by now I dont think an xpac is a natural time for it. Unless there is some ghost pet that can ignore terrain

Specialization will provide a new elite so at least there will be more alternatives to using flesh golem, thats guaranteed. Better not be a new pet anyway.

Kilger.5490:

If they havent fixed it by now I dont think an xpac is a natural time for it. Unless there is some ghost pet that can ignore terrain

Specialization will provide a new elite so at least there will be more alternatives to using flesh golem, thats guaranteed. Better not be a new pet anyway.

I always did wish they’d replace our things with spirits that could float, but then we wouldnt be necromancers in the same way :/

They can just increase the vertical “step” allowance, allowing them to walk over things that normally would stop them up.

ronpierce.2760:

Well, AFAIK they couldn’t really bump the pet AI until they could do the same for all NPC (something on their end, I forget). That said, I’ve been begging for MM fixes for a long time. Beyond AI stupidity, they desperately need some sort of AoE protection too. They just simply get stomped on in many cases for both PVE and PVP (PVP especially with no real means of condition defense, condies run their full duration and strength and can melt them in seconds, especially if they’re caught in a bunch). Unfortunately, its really not that likely we’ll see any real changes for quite a while.

The problem with giving them AoE protection is that in this game, most attacks are AoE. So if you are fighting a Minion Master Necro 1v1, many of your skills will take a log time to destroy the Necro’s minions because that same AoE protection would apply to them.

Knighthonor.4061:

ronpierce.2760:

Well, AFAIK they couldn’t really bump the pet AI until they could do the same for all NPC (something on their end, I forget). That said, I’ve been begging for MM fixes for a long time. Beyond AI stupidity, they desperately need some sort of AoE protection too. They just simply get stomped on in many cases for both PVE and PVP (PVP especially with no real means of condition defense, condies run their full duration and strength and can melt them in seconds, especially if they’re caught in a bunch). Unfortunately, its really not that likely we’ll see any real changes for quite a while.

The problem with giving them AoE protection is that in this game, most attacks are AoE. So if you are fighting a Minion Master Necro 1v1, many of your skills will take a log time to destroy the Necro’s minions because that same AoE protection would apply to them.

Wouldn’t be really any different than Turrets as they are already, other than mobility, which isn’t really a concern for Turret engies fighting in a specific place anyways since they’re all ranged unlike minions.

At least you guys can choose to use your minions. Think about poor mesmers when you speak about the lame minion ai. Sometimes my phantasms run off and have a picnic in a nearby flower field instead of attacking the mob.

fluxit.8247:

At least you guys can choose to use your minions. Think about poor mesmers when you speak about the lame minion ai. Sometimes my phantasms run off and have a picnic in a nearby flower field instead of attacking the mob.

Sometimes… but frankly, I’ve had better luck with phantasms than minions. At least theyre spawned directly at the enemy and are more bursty, so each attack counts a bit more. They’re definitely not perfect, but I haven’t had as many “kitten ” moments with phants than Minions. Plus, summoning them skips any current terrain differences you and your enemy might have.

The issue is that if they buff they, it has to be only in PvE. minions are already strong enough in PvP

style.6173:

The issue is that if they buff they, it has to be only in PvE. minions are already strong enough in PvP

They’re actually not though. They have bad group play and a horrible weakness to conditions and Aoe for any real use in competitive PVP. They’re okay against some builds in 1v1 at best. They’re not what I would call necessarily “okay” or “in a good spot”. At best, lower rating players just find them annoying because they don’t understand how to handle the swarm.

I don’t have an issue with AoE in PvP. Plenty of other issues, but not AoE.

Bhawb.7408:

I don’t have an issue with AoE in PvP. Plenty of other issues, but not AoE.

In wpvp mid fights ele/other condies/warriors (general splash) doesn’t give you any sort of issues? O.o like ending up petless in many of those fights? Of course they’d be less of a problem if we were fixed in OTHER ways, of course, but I just don’t really see any of it happening. A non sacrificing (still minion) cc break would be welcome too:

Cleric, transfusion, plus renewal sigils gives a lot of AoE healing. Not that I don’t end up with dead minions some of the time, but bone minions die anyway, bone fiend avoids a fair amount of damage, Flesh Wurm essentially never dies due to damage, and Flesh Golem eventually dies, but again it takes a lot time. I don’t expect them to live forever, but generally speaking they live long enough for me.

I try to stay away from big fights though, that’s just not my job. I am better off pushing far point if home is safe and other people are fighting mid. And if I do fight mid, I still bring a decent amount of utility and tankiness, although the minions die a bit more often. Not ideal, but I’m not totally worthless.

Maybe we can get a weapon that summons minions on its final auto chain. Much like mesmer staff