Guild Wars 2

I’m going to be speaking from the viewpoint of an average player in solo queue, it’s been a while since I was ranked in the top 1K so everything I talk about is from my experience playing solo queue with some different classes at a medium level

*This is not meant as an insult to any particular classes or playstyle. Although I do believe certain classes and builds require far less skill than others to be successful with, I don’t think that everyone who uses them is skill-less (obviously).

First of all, the way I see solo queue matches currently is this:

If you are winning consistently, you are most likely playing an AoE condition spam build (necromancer or engineer), or an AI heavy build like minion necro, spirit ranger, engi with a bunch of turrets, or competent shatter/phantasm mesmer. I see these classes dominate in solo queue over and over. Of course, personal skill level and team organization plays its part, but it feels like BuildWars most of the time.

Basically: AoE condi spam> AI doing the work for you> Bunker>Rotational burst or midrange play without AI

In solo queue, I COULD play on my D/P thief and I’d do alright. However, if I get on a minion mancer I can literally stand in one place, spam staff 2,3,4,5 and then my offhand weapons 2,3,4,5 and I can beat people trying 10x harder than I am. It isn’t fun for me, it isn’t fun for them, and it cheapens the gameplay experience. However, unfortunately, it wins.

Skilled, tactical play has taken the backseat to what amounts to literally napalming an entire area with condi cleave or sending an army of AI minions to do the work for you.

I realize my analysis might not be correct at all levels of play but I feel like the need for countering AI is making it necessary for people to bring as much AoE as possible into fights. In addition to AI and condi spam making for an incredibly low skill floor, it just makes fights look like a confusing mess. I’ve tried showing GW2 pvp to friends and they are pretty unimpressed because everything is so hard to see and it looks like a mess.

If Anet wants this game to succeed, please, start also considering balancing the amount of skill required to play certain builds. I’m not a skilled player, but I’d at least like to not be continually running into builds which literally require no skill to outplay others.

I think condition spam largely started as a means to counter a highly evasive meta. AI partners have been around for a long time, and haven’t really had too much of an impact on the game otherwise.

I know this because I’ve been running AI heavy builds since launch. Turret engineers, minion necromancers, spirit weapon guardians, and mesmers in general. Only class I have that doesn’t have an AI build is my thief. I usually run these due to my incredibly shaky hands, bad vision, and lack of gaming mouse and right click options renders my aptitude to play at a remarkably low level. Yes, I will never be one of the “skilled” players.

Anyway, in the time that I have been playing the game with largely AI partners, I have encountered the many flaws that AI partners have. These flaws haven’t changed. At all.

#1: They are vulnerable to AoE. And no, this isn’t limited to just condition spam AoEs at a distance. Classes with good melee cleave would demolish minions. If you send a bunch of AI pets to attack a greatsword wielding guardian, one symbol of wrath + whirling wrath combo later they were all dead.

#2: They are useless against soft control and high mobility. The worst thing for any minons to run into is chillblains, because once they are frozen they can’t run quick enough to do anything. The more evasive classes will spend their time running about, and minions will spend most of their time chasing that player in futility. So things like cripple and swiftness would also neutralize pets.

#3: Minions do not scale up for larger fights. In a 2 vs. 1 scenario, minions offer little to no protection and also split offense greatly. Whereas most forms of attack can hit 2 players as easily as they hit one, other than special abilities the AI pets do not cleave. So, offense gets diminished, the AI dies a lot quicker, and then

#4: should the AI fall, you become defenseless. To be effective, you have to invest a lot in the AI pets for them to be useful, and those are points other players spend in other places that don’t fade away when a narrow escape obliterates the pets.

#5: Pets generally provide no defense for being focused anyway. Yes, that rocket turret and flesh golem and hammer of wisdom can provide decent control and defense against closely clustered enemies, but they themselves won’t save you when being focused down by two or more players who are spread apart. AI generally aren’t stun breakers, aren’t stability, and are a somewhat randomized control, so because of this any AI user can find their pets neutralized by a good focus and ambush. The only innate defense that AI pets have is limited body blocking.

#6: Other than field control and some offense, AI provides very little utility. Any time you see a necromancer running a minion master build, you know they don’t have the pulls and the fears and the corruption that regular necromancers do. They have damage, and some controls that are innate to most pets, and it ends there.

#7: Other classes can combo various things off of your pets. There’s nothing worse than when a necromancer doubles up their conditions by using epidemic on a pet, or a thief uses the pet as a CnD target, letting them close in on you effortlessly, or when an engineer or mesmer ricochets some bouncing projectile, hitting you twice instead of once like if you were by yourself. Having squishy mobs surround you isn’t always the best strategy.

And I still see these flaws in every AI heavy build I have. Time has not changed them. However, there is a distinction I’ll have to make between what an AI build is, and what some people are calling an AI build.

Spirit rangers are not a true AI build. The spirits themselves are roaming buff bots that have an alternate skill available for when they are in use. Unlike Thieves Guild or Spirit Weapons, they don’t actively attack and engage the opponent, and don’t use AI at all, really.

Phantasm Mesmers, however, can be considered an AI build. Although phantasms are a bit different from every other AI, in the sense that phantasms merely appear wherever they are needed. Phantasms don’t have a true AI to themselves, because they don’t hang around and use complicated aggro management tactics. Instead, they spam their respective attacks against their target relentlessly, without needing line of sight. Being tied to weapons kills, and as well as being really spammable is something that is unique to phantasms also. These factors make phantasms incredibly powerful, and distinguish them as the best “AI” in the game, if you would call them that.

All that aside, regular AI builds can be quite potent in 1 vs. 1 scenarios, where their high control can sustain damage and assist the main player in their own damage.

Thanks for the detailed response! I definitely agree with some of your points and you brought up some stuff I hadn’t considered.

I guess AI is not the correct term for screen clutter/physical passives like spirits.

1. I agree that AoE really brings the hurt to AI builds. I find it almost a necessity for it against minion necros and spirit rangers in particular.

2. Although I do agree with this (except in the case of spirits or iDuelists), for soft control to have much effect on AI it needs to be AoE, otherwise it would be too much of a waste of time to bother applying. This further emphasizes the need to bring AoE.

3. This is true in some cases, but in others I don’t think so. For example, stone spirit or the necromancer trait which allows minions to siphon life and transfer to the necromancer. Also, other types of what I’ll call screen clutter like engi turrets or the mesmer phantasm shield skill can help in 2v1 situations. Not only that, but on my minion necromancer I find it quite easy to use a soldier’s amulet bringing my HP pool close to 30,000 and toughness close to 3,000 while still retaining decent DPS due to my minions

1. Although it’s true that if your AI is destroyed you are left mostly defenseless, the same could be said about having regular utilities on cooldown. Many classes require specific traiting to make utilities effective, and many traits deal only with utility use.

1. I agree, although I’d say playing as a minion necro I feel that I’m somewhat able to hide in the midst of my minions as well. In fact, I’m sure I’ve gotten stomps off just due to the fact that the enemy couldnt target me fast enough because of how much screen clutter I caused. This might not be as much of a factor in high level play where teams are calling out targets and working together, but it most definitely is an advantage in mid level solo queue. Note: I say this even as my necro is a Norn, and I’m sure that factor could be increased by switching to an Asura.

6. I don’t agree with ‘some offense’. Minions and phantasms both provide a tremendous amount of firepower.

7. This is definitely true and something I hadn’t considered.

In terms of flaws with AI, I’ve definitely noticed improvement over the past few months. Minion necros now regenerate health outside of combat which is huge in my opinion. Ranger spirits had two traits combined I think (?). Phantasms I guess have remained mostly the same but are really, really strong in 1v1 scenarios.