Guild Wars 2

Dear ArenaNet,

I had a great time! really fun game and I love the style (which is what 1st attracted me to the game). Three cheers for Daniel Dociu who is one of my new favs. I do hope you will one day re-release “The Art of Guild Wars 2”. You guys did a great job and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

But it’s time to move on. I have personal projects I need to devote more time to and just a lot of RL going on. I could just cut down my play time but I know how I get with games like these. So I think it’s just time to say farewell.

Just wanted to stop by and say thank you!

All for it. Would be a great option. I’d be much more attracted to a “LFxM vanquish run” than a “LFxM speed run.”

@randomfightfan
Good post! I’d run dungeons with you any day.

Not sure that it automatically means this every time, but I see where you’re coming from. I usually avoid people that use the term “noob” altogether, in a lfg post or just regular chat. It’s always been, in my experience, a poor show of character and I am most likely better off never having to rely on them to do their part in any kind of team situation.

If I see a lfg post asking for specifics, that’s fine. I don’t usually bother with those groups either (they seem to be in too much of a hurry) but at least I’m thinking “ok, they just want that kind of a setup.” and not “ok, that guy’s kind of an idiot.”

Melchior.2135:

If there is a grind in GW2, it is too slight for me to even register. I’m not saying that the game couldn’t be improved by removing grind entirely, but I am saying that statements that this game is unusually grindy for an MMORPG are so absurd that they rob the people who suggest them of any credibility, for all time.

Hearing people complain about grind in WoW kinda made sense. You could spend all day doing you MMO “job” and not get a chance to actually play (tho most could have done what I did and just quit the silly thing alltogether). But coming on here and reading posts that make dailies sound like a human rights violation, to me, is nothing short of completely bizarre.

The Stain.4169:

Again…maybe this is a skill issue with me….but the very point of this thread is how less skilled players can get along and play with more skilled ones, right?

That would actually be a much better thread topic or even one that was actually about etiquette, this is more of “personal pet peeve” list thing. At least as far as the OP.

cesmode.4257:

I’ve played Aion(for about 1-2 months), WoW(6 years), WAR, SWTOR, Eve, Tera (3 months), Rift, and now Guild Wars 2.

I know Aion has an insane grind at higher levels, and so does Tera. But this game is nipping at their heels, maybe even passing them.

Whether or not you think people like me are misinformed or dilusional, the fact that so many people feel GW2 is a grind when the game was highly touted as a non-grinding game, is a problem. Perception is reality. If a large portion of the playerbase feels that the game is grindy, it probably is.

Among other reasons, this is why I have stopped playing. I don’t need a second job. I have a regular 9-5, then upkeep at home and a family to spend time with. I don’t need to feel compelled to log into a game to do dailys or dragon chest farm just to keep up with the masses.

This is not why I bought the game.
So disappointed.

I was used to doing a normal daily, crafting daily, anywhere from 1 to 5 faction dailies, dungeon daily, pvp daily, raid weekly, and anything else I forgot an it definitely felt like a second job. Here my one daily takes 15 minutes, I never dragon farm, and really don’t NEED either to keep up with anyone. Tbh, I am a little surprised that after 6 years of WoW, you would call GW2 a second job.

As far as “perception is reality”, a lot of people used the perceive that the earth was flat. :p

@ Geoffroy. thanks for your 1st post. kept me from typing out pretty much the same thing.

Only thing I could add is how silly I find “Joining on a character lower than 80 when you have one or multiple 80s”. I have no problems with a LFG that say 80s only, that’s fine but I’ve had plenty of smooth runs with full groups of low lvl players, total disasters with full geared 80s, and vice versa. Sure, good gear and having traits open certainly helps but the proper tool in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to use it is still useless. Skill counts for a lot in this game. I seen a ton of low lvl alts do just fine, I enjoy lvling alts like this myself and it’s never been a problem.

There were some good points in the OP but the harsh attitude is not something I would consider proper “Dungeon Etiquette” any more than a misplaced time warp.

There’s one aspect that is kind of important as well, the fact that there is no monthly to pay. This makes a huge difference in how ridiculous obtaining minor things in game can get. The longer it takes, the longer you play, the longer you pay subscription fees. The story I wrote in the OP is not exaggerated (mostly) and I wouldn’t have ever come here if it was the same. Sure you have to kill stuff and do dungeons to get rewards but without that, it wouldn’t really be much of a game.

During a Sylvari story quest:

…So, do you know Waine well?

Absolutely. Waine and I have been old friends since we were tiny, weak, pink fleshlings.

You mean since you were…children? Right.

DeWolfe.2174:

This game has grind because there is only one real method of getting what you want, by killing.

I did try to ask mobs politely for exotics but they just made funny noises and tried to hit me.

It seems to have relaxed a bit but I still come across forum posts or people in chat going on about how grindy this game is. Yes, I too was a little concerned when they 1st announced ascended but it could be those that think GW2 is a grind have either not played other MMOs or just forgotten what they are like.

If GW2 was really a grind MMO it might be something like this:

Instead of just joining one faction (ie: Whispers, Vigil, Priory) you can join all three. This is something most people will want to do because…

Whispers has a bonus stat you can add to shoulder armor.
Vigil has a bonus stat you can add to chest armor.
Priory has a bonus stat you can add to head armor.

Oh yeah, and these can not be found anywhere else in the game.

So you decide to start with the Priory. You head over to Lornar’s Pass (which is now a 75+ map) and start on the hearts. After getting thru a good portion of the map you get a little message in chat saying “The Durmand Priory sorta kinda thinks you’re ok!”. Hooray! You’re reputation has now gone up and you can access their vendor. Thing is, you only have access to buy a 6 slot leather pouch. It’s not until your reputation with Priory reaches “head over heals, take you home to meet the parents in love with you” can you start to buy the things you really want. So back to the map…

You’ve finished the map and are only halfway to t2 reputation with the Priory (of which there are 5). So what now? Well, turns out there are skritt in this one cave in this one corner of the map that sometimes drop this thing you can turn into the priory to boost your standing with them. After collecting, let’s say, a billion of them, you receive another message “The Durmand Priory would be ok with holding hands with you in public!” That’s fantastic because it’s just opened up a daily you can come here to do aaaaand lets you buy this emblem thingy from the vendor you can wear in exp dungeons so they’ll like you even more.

Time goes by, leaves change their hue, and after many dungeons, dailies, and skritt droppings that blessed message finally appears… “The Durmand Priory thinks you’re the cats pajamas and wants to have your children!” Alright! You finally made it! You rush off the priory vendor and… whoops, did I forget to mention the priory vendor only accepts Durmand Dollars? Well that’s ok, by this point you already have 80. What do they have for 80? Well, there’s a t-shirt with an Asura wearing DJ headphones that says “I’ve got Gixx in da mix” but the bonus stats you’re after cost 800! No no, that’s fine. Now that they are so fond of you, it opens up a whole new daily that gives you 10 Durmand Dollars a day. Alright!…

And as snow slowly falls out your window, you see you’re finally reached your goal (which took a little bit longer than you expected because you broke down and bought that t-shirt). Congratulations! You now have an extra +3 precision and healing power on your hat!

Now… Off to the Vigil!!!

Vorch.2985:

• AC got a lot more challenging. This is no longer a level 35 dungeon

I agree with this. I feel bad for anyone new to the game who tries this, especially with a pug group. A bit of a harsh intro to exp dungeons if you’re not familiar with them.

I really don’t mind most of the changes that were made, that being said, I’m never going in there again if it’s not a full guild run. I have no problems running it with guildmates but I’ve tried to go in there since the patch with full pug groups and only finished any instance 2 out of 5 attempts.

It’s still better here than in other MMOs (of which I’ve only played one other).

Yeah, I’ve seen some silly ones but prefer them over the “JeffWarrior” or “IPWNURMUMLOLZ” type names I used to see all the time.

Wow, people will really complain about anything. Most days, because you have more variety in dailies, I wind up finishing off 2 or 3 categories simultaneously.

Mesket.5728:

I want to dual weild thiefs! One thief on each hand!

I’m a Norn, I could easily dual weild 2 Asuras

Hahahaha! I would love to see that!

Prism.5649:

Esplen.3940:

I’ve been playing a mesmer for nearly 800 hours and I can easily say: No.

Anyone who believes the Mesmer is a poor profession in WvW/PvE very simply does not know how to play as one. Having a high playtime does not mean someone is a skilled player and it does not mean someone is qualified to give a proper, unbiased judgment.

Mesmer right now is incredibly useful in Fractals (I say Fractals because Dungeons are so faceroll easy that a permanently Moa’d player can be useful in them) due to high damage, extremely high mobility, the most powerful Armor skill in the game (Chaos Armor dominates and can be given to everyone in the group with Ethereal Field + Blast Finisher), and the ability to reflect projectiles.

In WvW Osicat already showed you proof that Mesmers are beasts. To anyone who believes Mesmers are bad at escaping…Torch #4, Decoy, Mass Invis, Focus #4, Blink, Shatter #3, we have plenty of tools to gtfo so I can’t really see how people think we’re bad at escaping.

What people need to realize is that the skill level needed to be effective is not balanced across the professions. Warriors can run into combat, close their eyes and bang their keyboard and still do decent damage. Mesmers, Thieves, Engineers, and to an extent Eles need to actually learn how to play the game in order to be effective.

TL;DR
So if you’re having trouble with the Mesmer or believe it to be underpowered then (and I hate saying this but in this case it’s true) there is a very simple case of Learn2Play.

Well said.

I was actually a little surprised by comments about mesmers not being a viable class in PVE or having low DPS. I’ve started running around Orr at times with just sword/pistol to switch it up because GS can be almost too easy. Mesmers are great! Don’t let the negativity on these forums discourage you from enjoying this really fun class. There is a little bit of a learning curve to tho. Don’t stress, you’ll get it.

Xocolatl.6890:

Let me repeat that again—L-A-S-E-R.

I thought the same thing, from a different point of view apparently. “Wait. What? Shooting lasers out of a great sword?! I gotta get me one o’ dem!”

@plasmacutter

I think I sorted it. switched out all my rampager pieces for berserker, kept the couple PTV ones, got a little more toughness in my trinkets with zerker gems. and kept the 0/10/10/30/20 build.

kind of a newb mistake with all the condition gear. damage ticks too slow when you’re that squishy. Now I have really nice DPS with some survivability. I have to stay on my toes a little (which is what I like about this class) but can take a few hits without it taking a big chunk of my health. Most fights now are quick enough and I’m moving around so much there isn’t time for me to take too much damage anyway.

Went with something similar in sPvP and was pretty happy with that as well, tho that side of it still needs adjusting.

plasmacutter.2709:

guy might have been running 0/20/0/30/20, or even 20/20/0/30/0 to be bursting like a thief.

Thanks, I’ll give those a try. What about gear? I get that PVT really helps with survivability but is there enough damage with that gear to stack it that much?

I’m a new lvl 80 D/D ele. I really enjoy this class and how dynamic the gameplay is. I really appreciate the depth of this guide and found it quite helpful tho once hitting 80, I went in a different direction as far as gear and, to some extent, my build.

Instead of the 0/10/0/30/30 and getting all PVT gear I went with 0/10/10/30/20 and a couple PTV and a lot of power/precision/condition damage.

For how fast paced the gameplay is, my damage output just doesn’t seem to match up. Did I gear up wrong? I usually PvE but, occasionally do a bit of sPvP. I was in one today on my mesmer and went up against a D/D and this guy had the burst damage of a thief or a warrior. I’d never seen anything like it.

I really want to stick with this class but I feel like I’ve hit a wall. I’m obviously doing something wrong. I could really use some help.

I would be tempted to go out of my way to get this bow if every now and then one of the unicorns had Nigel Ficke riding on the back yelling “I do have some white hot moves!” or playing a little Daft Punk.

2:13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgM3sb9vr-U

Kaiyanwan.8521:

potelli.1749:

I personally use Priory’s Historical Greatsword. With reflections turned to “All” the sword’s blade reflects the beam and with the fact that you can see through the sword makes it super sweet.

I use that too, it is very mesmerish in my opinion.

Me too, don’t usually spend that much on one skin but it’s too perfect not to. Tho I wish they hadn’t tweeked the look of it with this last patch. the tablet doesn’t look broken and the tip of the blade isn’t cut straight across anymore. Still love it tho.

Thank you for those

But I’m not so much asking about builds as much as gear stats.

I looked a bit and if you know of an existing posts that fits, please link it

So I’m hitting 80 soon and need to get some gear. Doing mostly PvE and lots of dungeons. At the moment going for a 20 20 0 0 30 build. Prefer GS/Staff but that’s where the rub is I think.

Condition damage is great for staff but not so useful for GS. So I’m guessing power/precision/crit stats on armor?

Then condition trait for staff but then for GS is it better to go power/toughness/vital and then slot it for extra damage since i don’t really need condition damage even tho I lose precision? If that makes sense :p

Now that my mesmer has gotten to 45, it is sooo much more fun. Even getting comfortable chain pulling. But I’d even say it gets a little better after 20. I tried this class once before and this time around I cleared up 2 big mistakes from my previous attempt with this class:

I stopped thinking my clones were supposed to be tanks and I learned to use staff instead trying to force GS to fit every situation. It’s tough to not want to shoot lazers out of a giant sword but staff, at least for me, makes things a lot easier.

Very very very very silly.

If it had been a male and a female Sylvari in the exact same scenario and the same exact dialog, no one would post a “Does heterosexuality in Sylvari feel rather forced?”

seanairt.3795:

digiowl.9620:

Dunno, having a event boss or similar coming after you while your clones are basically worthless gets annoying fast. Mesmers do not have the hitpoints of the necromancer, nor the direct firepower of the elementalist, meaning that illusions are how we are supposed to stay alive by having the opponent confuse them for us. Seems to work much better in PVP than PVE at the moment tho.

The part I bolded is, I think, where I think the difference is for folks who think early mesmer is hard vs those who think it is easy. While I think its great when the illusion confuses the mob, I’d say it isn’t what they’re there for. Illusions exist so that you can shatter them. While one shatter (and early in likely your summon skills) is on CD, swap weapon to throw up another couple of illusions shatter them, swap back and summon a couple more illusions (using utility skill if need be) and so on. Early levels should have all their shatters on near constant CD.

All the earlier points on staying mobile still apply.

Ok, I think this might really hit the nail on the head. Because I, admittedly, was of those that would get frustrated by my illusions rarely catching any aggro. While what little PvP I’ve done on my mesmer, Illusions are really fun for messing with peoples heads, this is a perspective I need to play with a bit more in PvE.

@takatsu, thanks for that last post, that was helpful.

I think different classes just make more sense to different people. Some classes feel natural from the start, some need a little time to adjust. I just finished lvling a guardian so for me this feels like quite a switch plus I don’t usually play casters so it’s not a style of play I’m used to.

I don’t think that most people saying that they are having a tough time are necessarily complaining about the class but just trying to learn.

I’m lvling a mesmer atm and am finding it a little difficult as well. I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a lot about the class I have yet to learn which I think is really the point of this thread and not a whine session.

So instead of (and I don’t mean all of you) going on and on about how at level 2 you ran over to Sparkfly Fen, pulled the whole map at once, and then one shotted the lot of em’ without a scratch, maybe just some pointers about how to actually deal with multiple pulls, CC, and such.

Thank you Tyber for going into detail. Learned a bit from that. Still learning the more subtle parts of this class. Tho I’m not real big on staff, I like the GS & hammer or GS & sword/torch I’ve been going with. I went ahead with the 30 0 10 30 0 build so I could try it. haven’t given it a full test drive but ran around Orr a bit and I was quite happy with how fast I was taking things down.

What I’m wondering is, is this such a bad build or is it just a matter of play style?

It’s for PvE and I think this might be a bit better:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUUQJARSlYgSBXESIEg4ER1j4dP7h9oiZ0jXFoIA

hhmmm… I think I might need a little help. Here’s another try at it:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQFARlYgSBXESIEgYFRuArCDsmR8uHmiKmxrCUE

ref.8196:

Well, the first thing to do is to use an up to date build editor http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?

The one you linked is out of date, zealous blade is a grandmaster trait.

…and enter the noobaliciousness

Recently hit 80 and I am trying to figure out a well rounded build. Use GS and hammer when solo or GS and sword/torch depending on my mood. Sometimes septer/focus when ranged is needed. looking for a nice balance between damage and survivability.

I think this would work well:

http://www.gw2builds.org/create/bwe_1/guardian#0.0.1.0-3.18.12.11.3-20.25.5.10.10-5.12.3.6.8.2

I can be a little noobalicious from time to time so any advice on what does/doesn’t work with this build is appreciated. cheers!

This is a bit of a mix and match set but I’m quite happy with it.

I read (somewhere) in another forum to have all the graphics set on best performance except for render sampling which is set to native. It seems to help for me.

As far as why this helps? Hopefully someone more awake than I am at the moment can clarify that.

I can only hope there is no grinding with this idea. It’s one of the reasons I stopped playing WoW. If it comes to that, I will probably just ignore that content altogether, there’s no way I’m doing another gear grind treadmill.

I have to admit, the artwork I saw in a lot of the previews was a big pull for me to try this out. I would love to get my hands on a copy of “The Art of GW2” but it’s been sold out since the first time I went to the online shop. I’ve looked around a bit and the only copies I can find are on Amazon that were obvious bought by people taking advantage of there being none available because they’re listed around 200USD!

Anyone know if there is any news about a re-release of this book?

Actually, I’m bringing in a couple of RL friends and would love to find a home for us all. Want a social guild that is actually social, laid back, and up for laughs and repair bills. We all played WoW a bit, tho didn’t realize it til after we all quit.

We’re all into all bits of the game: PVE, PVP, Dungeons, long walks on the beach, and candle lit dinners.

@Akmon, thank’s for sorting that.

I really like GW2. I realized at some point in WoW that it had become a numbers game and the adventure was over for the most part but this seems to feel all about the adventure, which I’m lovin’. As far as groups, I was thinking more dungeons. I’m used to wandering around solo tho I’m not at all against teaming up.

I just really enjoy dungeons with people you know. I love when wipes result in “loooooool!!!” and not a rage quits.

@Kaii and Glitch…
What servers are you on? Kaii, you said TC, which server is that? Got a feel yet for how social it is?

I’ve played GW2 for a few weeks now. I played WoW for a year and then some. Was in a great small guild. Really friendly, always chatting and joking about, really got to know each other, and did dungeons together constantly. In with some nice people but guild chat is often quite and only done group runs maybe twice now.

Daddicus.6128:

Now if I could just get the people to stop verbally speaking “lawl”, meaning “Laughing Out Loud” (abbreviated LOL in chat sessions).

Yeah, this kinda creeped me out a little the first time I heard it.

Hi all!

Name: Aank
Main Character: Jaankin
Current Server: Seafarer’s Rest
Interested Activities: Socialising, Dungeons, PvE, Occasional PvP
Active: Mostly evenings and random times on weekends
Additional Comments: Like to wander about. Will often stop in the middle of a quest to go explore random spot. (will sometimes try and do that after finishing dungeons as well, often with additional repair costs.) Am not in any kind of hurry that I wouldn’t stop for a chat.

I thought that might be it. That clears it up for me. Cheers!

So, I am getting the hang of most of what’s going on with pvp items/crafting and such. I found on a few blogs about the steady weapons and now know that they are meant for the purpose of “theory crafting”. Now, all I need to do is find out what theory crafting is and I’m good to go… Probably

My only guess is the steady damage is to hone your rotation or something?

^What he said ^
I may have misunderstood the question. :p

oooohhhhh… That makes sense. I’ll play around with that a bit.

Cheers

Could someone give me some examples on combos and finishers for this class? I’m lvl 19 using pistol and shield (feels most effective atm) and flamethrower kit and then jumping about trying to find what feels right.

I really want to like this class but I feel a bit useless at the moment. i can’t even seem to get at vistas and skill points if there are too many mobs about.

I’m quite sure it’s just that I haven’t quite grasped the basics on this class yet.

If that’s your play style, find a class that sounds interesting and take em’ to the pvp start zone for a test drive.

dimgl.4786:

This is all completely a matter of opinion. Many players feel the need to get to the end because the game has levels. Once you’re 80, you have reached the end and now you want to actually start playing the game. This is mentality fueled by a decade (or more) of gaming.

This is kinda what I’m saying and, yes, it is a matter of opinion. What I’m saying (my OPINION) is MAYBE instead of “Once you’re 80, you have reached the end and now you want to actually start playing the game.” MAAAYBEEE do that from level 1. At least, that’s how I’ve been going at, I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit, and I THINK that might make a difference for SOME players “mentality fueled by a decade (or more) of gaming”.