Guild Wars 2

As a PvE player trying to enter into the WvW scene, I don’t have much experience with WvW myself. I, like many others, understand some basics, but I don’t want to stay mediocre. I want to feel powerful and helpful, but I feel like dead-weight in zergs, just being a tank and taking damage.

I will spare the details, but my build isn’t complete, so I’m not really asking about that. I’m mostly concerned about positioning, when to fall back, etcetc. I know corridors are something to be wary about, as an example, but what should I check for? I also feel intimidated by the red names piled, not to sound like a kitten, which makes me think the engage is unfavorable. Anyway, I digress, any way I can improve myself? Not necessarily on these things, but I kinda want to learn the ropes of WvW after retiring from PvE for awhile.

You have to play with a group if you want to learn group dynamics.

If you want to solo roam, learn to flip camps before swords pop up on the map. You have less than a month to do that though, because swords will be removed for a while.

As you get the feel of the flow of the maps (and the borderlands flow completely differently than Eternal does) you’ll start feeling it, and then you’ll be better able to modify your build to suit what you’re doing and/or who you’re with so that you synergize.

If you are not in a guild, you could join the community TS while you are following a commander. It’s a lot easier to listen than reading chat and trying to figure out what’s going to happen next.

If you are following a zerg you are following a commander. Pay attention to the commander at all times. What they ask of you, where they move, siege they place, etc. Despite what people say, there are more dynamics to zerging than meets the eye. If you lose focus or tunnel vision on that one guy that’s getting away from you you’ll probably wind up dead. Use your utilities wisely, don’t separate from the pack and most importantly, if the commander says “push” you push.

Also, there are many other things you can be doing besides zerging in WvW. There are scouts, roamers, havoc/sniping groups and maintenance (although this one is kind of niche as most who are scouting are also doing maintenance).

A few tips for you to help you get started:

1. Always check what you’re building before you build it. If blueprints are placed they are not always placed by the commander, don’t build it unless the commander tells you to (this is assuming you are with a zerg).

2. Do not take supplies from an upgrading tower/keep. An empty tower is a dead tower. Let it upgrade and let it refill before taking supplies from it. It’s best to take supplies from camps as often as you can. Fully upgraded keeps are usually fine to take supplies from as well.

3. Protect your yaks! Yaks are extremely important, if you see one being attacked whether it’s by NPC creatures or another player, do what you can to save it. They take a while to respawn and their deliveries are crucial to the upgrade progress of your structures.

4. Keybind a “look behind” button and anytime you’re solo, use it often. Thieves and other roamers make quick work of the unwary. I know, I’m a seasoned roamer, and the people who forget to check their backs don’t last long.

5. When making scout calls be as specific as possible. When people say something like for example “Mendon’s help” it’s not very informative. That could mean 2 people or 20, it could mean it’s being attacked or it’s about to. If you make scout calls be sure to include; Server, estimated numbers (5 – 10, 20 – 30+, etc.), location, direction headed if applicable (eg. 10 – 10 Deso’s headed NW SMC) and predominate guild if applicable.

6. And lastly; Make friends, have a good time, learn the maps, learn the rules of server and get lootz. Being in a party is a good way to share boons and to make friends, roaming is a good way to learn the maps inside and out, and paying attention to activity on the map will help you to learn the flow of your server.

Good luck and welcome to the real end game (;

The best way is to join a WvW guild.

I’d echo the point about joining a WvW-focused guild. From there, you will have guild runs with co-ordinated groups and, hopefully, experienced commanders driving them. You’ll also almost certainly be required to join TeamSpeak or the guild/server’s voice communication platform of choice. This will allow you to hear the commander which will improve your play and understanding enormously.

Delta.4697:

As a PvE player trying to enter into the WvW scene, I don’t have much experience with WvW myself. I, like many others, understand some basics, but I don’t want to stay mediocre. I want to feel powerful and helpful, but I feel like dead-weight in zergs, just being a tank and taking damage.

I will spare the details, but my build isn’t complete, so I’m not really asking about that. I’m mostly concerned about positioning, when to fall back, etcetc. I know corridors are something to be wary about, as an example, but what should I check for? I also feel intimidated by the red names piled, not to sound like a kitten, which makes me think the engage is unfavorable. Anyway, I digress, any way I can improve myself? Not necessarily on these things, but I kinda want to learn the ropes of WvW after retiring from PvE for awhile.

Join a guild that has a Teamspeak channel. (Most servers have their own dedicated Teamspeak server).

Your skill level and more importantly your enjoyment from WvW will increase immeasurably.

Most guilds bar the top tier fight guilds are always looking to recruit new players.

Edit:- By the way, make sure you are in a WvW map when asking for guilds to join.

Tanking damage is an important thing. Be sure you play the meta classes (guard, warri prefered) and if you are a heavy run with 3.5k+ armor. Gs or hammer/staff with gua and hammer/sword+warhorn with warrior. Stability, ah build with gua and shout support with warrior. Your personal damage is secondary. Stay alive, keep others alive.

Team speak team speak team speak team speak team speak team speak WvW guild team speak team speak map chat team speak team speak

McWolfy.5924:

Tanking damage is an important thing. Be sure you play the meta classes (guard, warri prefered) and if you are a heavy run with 3.5k+ armor. Gs or hammer/staff with gua and hammer/sword+warhorn with warrior. Stability, ah build with gua and shout support with warrior. Your personal damage is secondary. Stay alive, keep others alive.

under no circumstances do you need THAT much armor. You hit diminishing returns on the Armor stat at 3k, which is about as much armor as you will realistically need. Once you hit 3k armor, you’re much better off stat-ing into damage.

Hamster.4861:

McWolfy.5924:

Tanking damage is an important thing. Be sure you play the meta classes (guard, warri prefered) and if you are a heavy run with 3.5k+ armor. Gs or hammer/staff with gua and hammer/sword+warhorn with warrior. Stability, ah build with gua and shout support with warrior. Your personal damage is secondary. Stay alive, keep others alive.

under no circumstances do you need THAT much armor. You hit diminishing returns on the Armor stat at 3k, which is about as much armor as you will realistically need. Once you hit 3k armor, you’re much better off stat-ing into damage.

Nonsense,more toughness will Always be better,if you know your builds you can make sure your dmg is coming from other sources.

Caedmon.6798:

Hamster.4861:

McWolfy.5924:

Tanking damage is an important thing. Be sure you play the meta classes (guard, warri prefered) and if you are a heavy run with 3.5k+ armor. Gs or hammer/staff with gua and hammer/sword+warhorn with warrior. Stability, ah build with gua and shout support with warrior. Your personal damage is secondary. Stay alive, keep others alive.

under no circumstances do you need THAT much armor. You hit diminishing returns on the Armor stat at 3k, which is about as much armor as you will realistically need. Once you hit 3k armor, you’re much better off stat-ing into damage.

Nonsense,more toughness will Always be better,if you know your builds you can make sure your dmg is coming from other sources.

He’s right about hitting 3k armour. After that it’s a waste. Maybe can just go a little over, like 3.1k. I used to have 3.5k but that was early 2013.

Diminishing returns does not exist on armor! In Guild wars 2, damage is calculated as damage divided by armor. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Damage_calculation. That’s a linear equation. Yes I don’t know the individual weapon ratios and attacker strength but because there’s only one divisor and due to the beauty of algebra it doesn’t matter.

If an enemy did 10 million damage (obviously numbers are made up, but thanks to how math works, the numbers are merely for simplicity) and you have 2000 armor

10,000,000/2000 =5000

If you have 4000 armor, aka twice the armor….

10,000,000/4000 = 2500 (Half as much damage, as you’d expect from doubling your armor. (2000 armor /4000 armor = 1/2) —-> (2500 damage/5000 damage) = 1/2 aka 50% less damage then before.

So what happens with 3200 armor, a 62.5% boost? (2000 armor vs 3200 armor) = 0.625. You should take 37.5 percent less damage.

10,000,000/3200 =3125
3125/5000= 0.625
100%- 62.5%= 37.5%

Now when people talk about diminishing returns, they’re talking about how adding a fixed number to a larger number has less effect. Obviously 100 toughness means more to a person with 2200 armor then it does with someone with 3400 armor. And so they sort of accidentally land on the same conclusion, because it’s true, that’s why stacking a stat too much can be a waste due to stats being limited how they could be acquired. But what’s the difference between that and other stats? 200 power means less when you have 2500 power then when you have 1800 power. 2000 health means a lot more to someone with 12k health as opposed to 23k. So that’s why overstacking a stat can be considered less efficient. In many cases, getting excessive toughness will hurt you elsewhere, such as in damage, and also toughness doesn’t mitigate conditions.

This depends on heavily on class. You can’t just throw out stat benchmarks without knowing that. Classes with better healing or if you take a build that wants to invest in healing power benefit a ton from having more toughness, so this depends on a host of situations and variables that I don’t think it’s proper to set a general rule across all the professions. Obviously a power thief should really not head towards 3k armor at all but exceptions abound everywhere! You obviously don’t need as much armor when you’re roaming, or in small groups as opposed to zerging. And you don’t want to run glass in zergs.

Oh, advice eh?

• Dodge
• Always look around you so don’t just autoattack a door; look for trouble!
• Dip
• Duck
• Dive
• Don’t waste all your big cooldowns on NPCs or stragglers
• Get on voice chat and follow your commander like a fly on kitten
• The #1 cause of death in zergs is bad positioning; no stats will save you. If you look at the map and see that you are opposite to your sea of dots and the enemy is in between you, then you’re doing it wrong. Please resist the urge to come out to “snipe” the zerg without coordination from your group because all the other side sees is “HEY TARGET THAT BAG!”
  • Speaking of commanders. If you choose to follow one, it’s your responsibility to act with group interests in mind and not to act on your own without telling people. If you completely disagree with the commander, feel free to go off on your own group or follow someone else.
    • Do not whine or attempt to create dissent in public because this can only have 1 result— your server will fail. There’s no point to start drama and get farmed when you could be doing the farming. There are too many cases where people complain and could have accomplished something had they just shut up. Exceptions abound if people are being abusive. You fight as one, you win as one, you lose as one. The most important thing is that the group can act decisively.
      • Bullets are cool. Sue me.
• Don’t stand in red circles, if you see them…
• Dodge
• Build in vigor (or energy sigils) as needed so you can have an easier time dodging.
• Keep track of your stunbreaks and damage reduction (protection) and avoidance (blocks, invuls)
• Do not randomly spam AOEs when the enemy is stacked up tightly and buffing themselves. Chances are they will have retaliation, which can be a quick end for you if you don’t pay attention, especially if you are playing a squishier class.
• Eat food. Even low level food is often better than no food. Food with – condition duration is very helpful so you don’t need too many cleanses. Something mediocre like http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Loaf_of_Tarragon_Bread which is dirt cheap can make a difference. It just requires 2 copper (!) and a double click every 1/2 an hour to instantly gain a -14% condition duration reduction and some damage reduction when stunned which is very helpful against hammer trains. Don’t be lazy.
• Use utility consumables too. This isn’t as critical as food; If you think it’s too expensive, then just buy the level 45-60 versions.
• And if you don’t remember, dodge.

FrouFrou.4958:

If you are not in a guild, you could join the community TS while you are following a commander. It’s a lot easier to listen than reading chat and trying to figure out what’s going to happen next.

Please remember that there are hearing impaired and deaf persons who read these forums and play WvW.

Reading map chat is a necessity.

atheria.2837:

FrouFrou.4958:

If you are not in a guild, you could join the community TS while you are following a commander. It’s a lot easier to listen than reading chat and trying to figure out what’s going to happen next.

Please remember that there are hearing impaired and deaf persons who read these forums and play WvW.

Reading map chat is a necessity.

How dare you! I’m sure there are blind people too, now you hurt their feelings! How can you even sleep at night, you monster?

Caedmon.6798:

Hamster.4861:

McWolfy.5924:

Tanking damage is an important thing. Be sure you play the meta classes (guard, warri prefered) and if you are a heavy run with 3.5k+ armor. Gs or hammer/staff with gua and hammer/sword+warhorn with warrior. Stability, ah build with gua and shout support with warrior. Your personal damage is secondary. Stay alive, keep others alive.

under no circumstances do you need THAT much armor. You hit diminishing returns on the Armor stat at 3k, which is about as much armor as you will realistically need. Once you hit 3k armor, you’re much better off stat-ing into damage.

Nonsense,more toughness will Always be better,if you know your builds you can make sure your dmg is coming from other sources.

true enough a 4k toughness can dishout perfectly good damage if he is build for retal spam and reflects