Guild Wars 2

So, is this game purely cookie-cutter based, or what? Going into GW2, I was under the impression that the game is skill based, but this doesn’t seem to be the case… seems to be gear dependent or something.

So I’m wandering around in WvWvW, and go in for a 1v1… I’m struck first, and the first hit takes half my HP, the second hit finishes me off… this was against another thief.

Again, later, I go against another thief, who dual pistol barrages me and nearly kills me in 1 skill. That’s like 15,000 damage from 1 skill. Why am I losing HP this fast? When I go in for damage, I’m seeing numbers in the 100-200, even with abilities. For me to do 15k damage, which I see other people doing in 1-2 seconds, it takes me a good minute… so W T F?

People keep saying Thief is OP, and tons of burst damage, etc. etc…. I’d like to know how to achieve that… cause 100-200 damage an attack isn’t cutting it.

Toughness needs a boost, for example… Focusing on damage you will easily double if not triple your DPS, if you focus on toughness you will get maybe a 40% defense boost.

But yes, if a game has gear it will of course be somewhat gear based, otherwise whats the point of getting good gear. Skill comes into play that if you know what you are going up against and know your class you can prepare and use skills accordingly.

I use a toughness/healing build and a power/crit build. Have exotic sets for each, which is why i know toughness needs some work, but that being said if i had to fight my 2 builds against eachother i’d say toughness/healing would win almost everytime.

First, you’re not level 80. Second, you didn’t get the Exotic gear yet. Third, your build is damage/crit based vs. toughness/vitality.

The answer: No, it is not cookie-cutter based at all. You can be effective at whatever you choose. Some thieves right now are playing with the backstab build. They are very squishy if you learn to fight them.

In WvW you have fully geared players now. Meaning sub-80 you’re doing almost nothing. Go to sPvP and get a feel for how it will be when everyone is geared.

To backstab builds, anyone with the up-ranked to 80 icon is a free kill.

Sounds like they are using Glass Cannon builds and you haven’t invested anything into personal defense.

Only way someone can do 15k that fast as a Thief.

Well, I am level 80, secondly you’re right I do not have exotic gear. Again, my impression, as this game was advertised, was that is was going to be skill based, NOT item based, which is what it seems to be… and also, all my gear has some toughness on it, along with the skill line of Shadow Arts, for increased toughness, which doesn’t seem to do much.

Granted, I’m only using what I pick up and craft, but saying that you need “Exotic gear” and “Glass Cannon builds” makes this game sound very very cookie-cutter.

So basically, go get exotic gear and build glass cannon, correct? COOKIE-CUTTER!

I thought wvw was a little different since you were using the world/pve gear options in there. STRUCTURED is where you have a completely separate game with only x, y, z gear config options so it’s like a component of your build, and no one can specifically win by way of acquiring more gear in order to faceroll everyone else who might have just started. Since that’s the hugest flaw with enjoying the pvp in nearly any other game, I’ve been hooked on this since i first used it to test professions in the stress tests. I am gaining some pve levels but am spending the majority of my time buildcrafting and playing random matches in structured.

No, cookie-cutter means a specific build which with good skill results in more arena wins over losses compared to other builds. If you’re in WvW it’s not applicable. And even in sPvP no one is using glass cannon and doing well against skilled players.

For WvW, I might not do tons of damage, but my role is confusion, escape, and support. So do I expect to die to the 1/100 thieves I run into who are the glass cannon? (no) Sometimes I do though. Actually only once. But that was before I began getting gear.

The gear caps quickly. And I spent like 3 gold to get rare items for EVERY slot I have as soon as I hit 80. So it’s not gear based, it’s very skill based. The gear helps you avoid the insta-kills you are experiencing with lesser gear.

I spend hours and hours in WvW and rarely ever die. I don’t burst down undergeared targets as fast, but I survive huge mobs. I run through enemy lines all the time.

The question is what are you spec’d into doing? Because if you’re not glass cannon – meaning, you’re not trying to pick one target and down him as soon as possibly hoping he doesn’t have friends nearby to stun you and insta-kill you as well – you’re either support or control or any number of other things which are useful in their own right.

Meaning, not cookie-cutter.

When in sPvP you backstab that Warrior for 2k, he turns around and stunlocks/100 blades you in 2 seconds to death, you will rethink the glass cannon for sPvP.

I play WvW. I have a non-standard build. I have the following roles:
1) Ranged damage with AOE (Shortbow)
2) Ranged area damage debuff (Cluster Bomb into Gas Canister field)
3) Extremely effective seige weapon destroyer (Cluster Bomb walls)
4) Downed player revival expert (Shadow Refuge)
5) Enemy mob of players escape artist (Shadowstep, Shortbow teleport)
6) Straggler wrangler (Shortbow teleport, Shadowstep, switch to crippling dagger throw)
7) Force multiplier (Thieves Guild during an out-numbered fight)
8) Enemy distractor (Go in first, take the first shots of all enemies while using dodge and Shortbow’s Evasive Shot(?) to avoid all damage, then break target with stealth-heal)
9) Low-Health-Enemy sniper (Find enemy at 50% health, steal to get right on target, heartseeker burst him down, shadowstep out if too many people target you fast enough, otherwise finish the enemy)
10) Enemy lines masochist (Shadowstep into enemy lines, Death Blossom as many times as you can before low health, Shadowstep back to safe location)

That’s 10 roles and I didn’t even switch out my skills at all for those 10 roles, which I normally do depending on certain situations. Meaning much more variety.

(Quick compare to WoW Rogue. Mutilate Mutilate Mutilate Vanish Garrote Mutilate Mutilate or some other such nonsense (and I know it’s much more dynamic but come on it was pretty plain PvP))

The fact that killing someone isn’t as easy as bursting them to downed state, especially if they have friends or a group, means the glass cannon is exactly what it’s designed for – downing a single player quickly – but if he has friends and if there is any crowd-control or AOE, the glass cannon is very weak and has to run. He should excel at single-target kills, but those are rare to come by in WvW or sPvP.

This very skill based game has me laughing nightly.

There are some backstab builds on YouTube. Note that they always kill a single target who is alone. I’ve seen one where the guy was attacking into groups, however many times he was running away with 1k hp left after bursting on someone and getting all the AOE from enemy teammates. If you can pull off escape all the time, it’s great. Otherwise you will get owned pretty quick against someone who is aware what’s coming.

Heck now when I see backstab thieves (durrr signets) I dodge the moment they disappear (steal→stealth for them, but they still have to get to my back) and then I just Cluster Bomb my feet a bunch of times and they come out of stealth in downed state.

I’m confused. You claim that the game seems to be cookie-cutter based, yet you then go on to explain how you were destroyed by two different types of thieves, one used melee (presumably), and the other used pistols. The face mashing you received should be proof enough that different builds are viable.

As far as gear, the one thing you can not say about the game is that is gear dependent, like WoW. With very minimal effort you will receive the best gear available to you when you hit 80. After that, the only ‘upgrades’ out there are cosmetic.

I think you need to re-examine your builds, your itemization, or your skill.

• Any build can be viable, situationally. If your build does not contain toughness or vitality, then you need to realize that any hit is going to cripple you, and so getting in the first hit is very important.
• Itemization is important. It allows you to make up for some of the shortcomings of your build. Enjoy playing your build, but having a hard time with survivability? Stack vitality/toughness gear. Got plenty of survivability in your build but want to pack more of a punch? Power/precision will be your friend there.
• Lastly is your skill, which is by far more important than any of this. You definitely do not know how to PvP with your prof/build at this time. You definitely have not researched all of your skills and skill combinations. You haven’t gained a familiarity with all of the classes so that you can counter them. And you know what? That is fine, because neither have we. The game is too new. Even the best players have a to learn. Right now, you’re merely frustrated that you are not stomping faces. Well, again, that should be proof that this is a skill-based game. If you hit 80 and started destroying everyone you came across, I would tend to think that the game lacked a skill-based learning curve.

I also come from a WoW background, and that is certainly a gear-dependent, cookie-cutter game. This game is anything but that.