Guild Wars 2

I know a lot of people transmutate their legendaries, prob atleast half the people who have them. I wonder if a transmutated legendary will get the update. Some people expected to have to transmutate again for ascended, but didn’t expect to see an update feature, where you could change stats when ever out of combat.

In the post the dev mentions this is a nice feature so people wont have to transmutate their legendary weapons, so they obviously know its a big issue, yet no mention if transmutated weapons will be updated as well. Kinda scary since they still never fixed the issue with a transmutated twilight/sunrise from creating eternity. I am sure the programing could be done if they really wanted to.

I guess we will see if the devs care, or there will probably be rage on the forums.

I guess half the people didn’t read the thread here, as half of the pictures look like they could be substitute kindergarten teachers :p.

Yes for now, it appears we will just have to listen to 95% of horn players, playing the highest notes over and over like an ambulance siren -.- .

It would greatly improve the ambiance of every town, if most people were playing actual music.

daimasei.4091:

“Does this program allow someone to play faster, better, longer, or more accurately than someone who doesn’t use it?”

YES

I would have to disagree, have you ever tried to macro a song, without having any previous knowledge of reading tabs? It def isn’t better, or more accurate than someone that knows how to play a similar instrument in real life.

“Does this program allow someone to ‘play’ when he/she is not at the computer?”

YES

Well you have to be at the computer to press the initial macro key, and it would be kinda pointless to step away from the computer for that 30 second macro song, as you generally play it not just for others, but for yourself.

Playing an instrument is playing the game and therefore rules apply to instruments too.

But don’t listen to me, just use macros on your vuvuzela and enjoy your ban

Note: For 800 gems it will be a great idea being able to record a tune and being able to send some codes to other players so they can play it automatically.

I remember many months ago, someone was playing a bunch of zelda tunes, which I thought was pretty neat, he said he macro’d it. Who knows if hes still bringing a smile to the citizens of tyria, or has been hung in a public display for treason.

I have already tried it out, with no prior macro or tab reading knowledge, it sounded like a drunk Norn street performer, nails on a chalk board may have sounded better(needs some practice, and understanding of each delay of the song note). Prior to actually reading the grey area about the issue. Just initially seemed harmless. No ban yet(would be redonkulous if I was), so doubt I will at this point, after reading their stance on macros tho, I don’t want to risk trying it again(unless an official word), if they can’t determine the difference between a macro for a musical instrument, or a farming bot.

As for abusing it for not being kicked, I could imagine that may be an issue, but the timer for the horn is 1 hour, so what, regular afk boot time is what 30mins, so that would only double your available afk time. If that’s the case, have the horn timer for 30 mins if that’s the only issue. Choir bell timer is like 1 min, so obviously don’t have a case there.

I have never heard of anyone paying anyone for playing a song, its def not a customary practice. People could pay anyone for doing anything I suppose tho, listing waypoints, giving info, its really up to the person on what silly things they want to spend their gold on. I would never accept money for playing tho, I already have my legendary and no need for money anymore. This is just for entertainment, I’m not trying to start a guild wars 2 lucrative instrumental charr boy band.

I would like to bind some music tabs for the choir bell & Marriner’s Horn. The issue on macro’s for music tabs is in the grey area though.

Quote from Gaile Gray:

ArenaNet cannot approve or review or “vet” any third-party programs. Our general policy is that anything that gives advantage is forbidden; anything that imbalances the game in favor of one player over another is strictly disallowed. With that said, we are aware that some utilities help players without impacting others, that is, they do not give anyone an advantage over someone else.

Our development team is not able to review third-party programs to kitten their components or give them any sort of approval. We make our policies clear in our User Agreement, Rules of Conduct, and the Conduct Breaches and Outcomes document, which you can find in the Legal Documentation section of our website: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/ You should know the following:

If you chose to use any third-party program, you do so at your own risk.
We cannot offer support if the third-party program impacts Guild Wars or Guild Wars 2 and, for instance, makes the game unplayable.
If you choose to use what you believe to be a “benign,” or non-advantage-giving program, be sure to get it from a legitimate source to protect yourself from the possible addition of cheats or key-loggers.

The best way for a player to kitten whether a specific third-party program could have any impact on another player or a PvP opponent is to ask:

“Does this program allow someone to play faster, better, longer, or more accurately than someone who doesn’t use it?”
“Does this program allow someone to ‘play’ when he/she is not at the computer?”
“Does this program allow the user to gain undeserved rewards?”

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”—or even “maybe”—then we strongly recommend that you do not use the program because to do so may place your Guild Wars or Guild Wars 2 account in jeopardy.

In the future, we will be working directly with the community to develop app support for Guild Wars 2, so stay tuned for more info!

As part of ArenaNet’s policy on third-party programs, we are often asked about multi-boxing and the use of macros. Here is our policy:

Macros

Guild Wars 2 players are permitted to use macros as long as the macros are programmed with a 1 key for 1 function protocol.

This means that if you program a macro, it must require one keystroke per action. You may not program a single key to perform multiple functions.
For example, if you Press A and it results in the casting of a single skill, you’re ok. If you Press A and it casts multiple spells, you’re not ok.
You cannot program a macro to perform the same or multiple actions on more than one account at a time.
You cannot program an “auto-clicker” macro that, for instance, opens chests while you play elsewhere.

Dual- or Multi-Boxing

You may use more than one account at the same time.
You may use more than one computer at the same time.
You must be actively playing on each account.
And as stated above, you may not program your keyboard to perform functions on more than one account at a time.
a. For example, if you press W on your keyboard to move forward, a single character on a single account should move forward. The keystroke or mouse click should not perform functions on more than one account.

“Does this program allow someone to play faster, better, longer, or more accurately than someone who doesn’t use it?”

no, maybe, no, maybe. I think live players can play better than macro users, as they have a better understanding of the delays for the notes, and probably play , and practice instruments in real life.

“Does this program allow someone to ‘play’ when he/she is not at the computer?” No

“Does this program allow the user to gain undeserved rewards?” No

One key stroke activates many actions tho, which also goes against what was mentioned, although I’m sure they didn’t have music tabs in mind when mentioning these rules.

I think it would be much more enjoyable for the player, and the audience if we could macro music for these two instruments we have. An official word would be much appreciated.

Ryuujin.8236:

The devs need to balance the usefulness of stuff besides DPS to achieve this however; right now the PvE metagame is all kinds of broken.

You talk about not making enemies bullet sponges; but take lupicus for example. One group downed him in 46 seconds using crazy DPS, no control, minimal support – most groups would take minutes to down him, and it’d be a tough fight – how hard people will find a fight is heavily dependent on how long the fight lasts and that in turn depends primarily on DPS.

Increase hitpoints, fights last longer, glass cannons are more likely to die, but then badly-built characters, or bunkerish characters get bored as the fight takes too long. Lower the hitpoints, fights become quicker but glass cannons literally faceroll through the content.

It’s quite the conundrum how to make things challenging while keeping the challenge relevant to all classes and builds.

That group that downs Lupi in 46 seconds have probably fought him hundreds of times, know his every movement, and when to cast certain skills(reflect ect). Please go Melee lupi with a pug full of berserkers and see if you can imitate his results, it should be entertaining .

Guild Wars 2 players are permitted to use macros as long as the macros are programmed with a 1 key for 1 function protocol.

This means that if you program a macro, it must require one keystroke per action. You may not program a single key to perform multiple functions.
For example, if you Press A and it results in the casting of a single skill, you’re ok. If you Press A and it casts multiple spells, you’re not ok.

Also remember reading you can use a macro, as long as it doesn’t give you an edge over other players, play for you while you’re away ect.

Now my question is can you use a macro to record songs for the choir bell? It gives you no edge in the game, how ever one key stroke does activate many others to play the song. Already tested it out before reading their policy on macros, but knowing it gave no edge over other players, or to generate income was common sense. Although if they cant distinguish this from a farming bot, I would hate to get banned for something this….

It would be nice to get an official announcement on if we can use it for choir bell songs. As there is a nice selection for tabs for it, although people who play it live would have some gripes with it, just look at it this way, a tab & a macro doesn’t mean you can play it as good as a live player, you still have to have some idea of how the song sounds, pauses between tones ect. .

Nike Porphyrogenita.8137:

Congrats on your time. Altered: time starts from the start of the dungeon, not magg blowing the door. This is how speed runs for cof have been measured for months, and it is the standard.

Measured by some, not by others. If you watch youtube videos of speed clears, half the videos start on magg blowing the door(for months), other half when gate opens at start of dungeon. No one can say which is the standard, it may be the standard for your groups.

Most of the many differnt players I have encountered, in the many months I have been farming this dungeon, have timed from magg, its a preference. Its just preferred by most people I’ve met, to time at mag blowing door, as there are usually some scragglers either selling, no prompt, dungeon entering errors, or afk. Its also not a test to see who can bugg ferrah fastest. Not every mes portals ferrah, and not everyone first up to the cut scene even knows how to bug ferrah.

If you’re going for a full accurate dungeon run time, people should start timing their video as soon as the 1st person enters the dungeon, till the last person exits and you’re back in Fireheart Rise.

So you can have your standard, ill have mine, don’t tell me its how the majority of people time their speed runs, cause its simply not true.

Player Character.9467:

Sithaco.4673:

Player Character.9467:

Sithaco.4673:

Just for all the people posting times, quickest one I’ve seen is my buddy doing a 5:42 run with 1 mes 2 thief 2 war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOuOmNL4yEY

All the same mistakes espada made last time.

1. You CAN’T use hounds twice. The ENTIRE POINT of speed running is to repeat it. Hounds has a 4 minute cooldown. Using it twice per run requires that there be 8 minutes between each slave driver and 8 minutes between each final boss. Your best possible REPEATABLE time is then an 8 minute run with that setup.
2. Because you are repeating runs, your actual time is from any specific point in 1 run to the exact same point in your 2nd run, not from gate to boss.

OK no, the whole point of the video is to get the quickest run, not multiple runs, or anything ok? THE quickest run.

Nobody cares what you can do in ONE run. If I had a character that insta killed everything in 1 dungeon on a 24hr cd and it couldn’t do anything else, sure it would be convenient for ONE run but it wouldn’t accomplish anything in terms of efficiency.

Yeah, its not practical, since the point of the speedclear is to farm over and over for currency. There was mention of a different food being used as well. I am pretty sure most recordings that are posted on youtube, were people that were set up to do multiple runs, and play like they normally play, with omnomberry bars ect. .

Harrahou.4518:

Altered Dimension.2834:

Ok my bad, initially thought you started at gate blown, as most people do when they time videos as not everyone uses the ferrah glitch, or ports her. You could have knocked off a few seconds from porting ferrah btw, now someone will beat your time just based on that :P. Just noticed two of the people in your group I run with normally as well .

Quote:But then you are wrong because that is not the whole dungeon run. Must start timer from entry gate where the armour repair is. You minas well time an hour run if this is the case then, to see how many take breaks, how long it takes for you to kill slave driver with no TW, find a non contested server, & selling ect. You could be faster than other groups, but you could also be generating less money if you’re not proficient with your off time.

I think the real question is how consistent do 2 thieves run this path at 5:42. Thieves mixed with the meta (war/mes)have the potential to run this the fastest(its nice to see thieves proficient at least in one dungeon) , but that doesn’t mean much if its not consistent. I saw shadows video, and it was so badly edited (due to failing on other parts) you couldn’t get a grasp on their real time. All its takes is one person to die on effigy to mess up your time(or somehow a few die on acolytes). With any thief though, you basically have to sacrifice a HB on a war, to bring a bow for might(as they lack party might). “Might” be something to think about.

Nikaido.3457 I normally kill slave driver way before TW ends, reason for that was cause I poped tome for zealots thinking tw was on CD, preventing me from getting a few extra attacks in. Like I said, my old video was just the one time I decided to record it. Not everyone in that party was using an axe off set, most with not even one ascended piece of gear.

I would have to re record another, now that I run with better people, and am more knowledgeable about it myself. Donno if it will beat 5:42 from entering, i’m sure under 6 mins tho, which is fine with me.

2 thieves is only what we do for timed runs really, if we farm with 2 thieves we average around 6min runs because we have no TW and use different foods, less caring about specs etc. But for our attempts at timed we make sure everyone is ready before we start. We had 6 attempts I believe and 3 trials. We beat our previous record on first attempt but 5:42 was our best. We are gonna record again soon and hopefully drop down to 5:35

If you use any food other than Omnomberry Bar, it isn’t an accurate speed clear time, but it would def help to break records if that’s your only intention.

Ok my bad, initially thought you started at gate blown, as most people do when they time videos as not everyone uses the ferrah glitch, or ports her. You could have knocked off a few seconds from porting ferrah btw, now someone will beat your time just based on that :P. Just noticed two of the people in your group I run with normally as well .

Quote:But then you are wrong because that is not the whole dungeon run. Must start timer from entry gate where the armour repair is. You minas well time an hour run if this is the case then, to see how many take breaks, how long it takes for you to kill slave driver with no TW, find a non contested server, & selling ect. You could be faster than other groups, but you could also be generating less money if you’re not proficient with your off time.

I think the real question is how consistent do 2 thieves run this path at 5:42. Thieves mixed with the meta (war/mes)have the potential to run this the fastest(its nice to see thieves proficient at least in one dungeon) , but that doesn’t mean much if its not consistent. I saw shadows video, and it was so badly edited (due to failing on other parts) you couldn’t get a grasp on their real time. All its takes is one person to die on effigy to mess up your time(or somehow a few die on acolytes). With any thief though, you basically have to sacrifice a HB on a war, to bring a bow for might(as they lack party might). “Might” be something to think about.

Nikaido.3457 I normally kill slave driver way before TW ends, reason for that was cause I poped tome for zealots thinking tw was on CD, preventing me from getting a few extra attacks in. Like I said, my old video was just the one time I decided to record it. Not everyone in that party was using an axe off set, most with not even one ascended piece of gear.

I would have to re record another, now that I run with better people, and am more knowledgeable about it myself. Donno if it will beat 5:42 from entering, i’m sure under 6 mins tho, which is fine with me.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but 5:42 is no where near the fastest, its actually considered a mediocre group for that time. I regularly run under 5 mins from gate being blown, while playing on my guardian. I have a video posted a few months ago(post quickness nerf), recorded with a 5 min 17s(still slow).

I will probably record a new video of a clear of under 5 mins, yet again on my guardian. I am sure most of the people who run this path, think you can’t speed clear with anything other than wars(although atleast one probably needed for banners), mes & the occasional theif.

The people who say who cares, don’t farm the dungeon. The people who speed clear care, because they run it all the time, and optimizing yourself with traits & max gear(6 ascended, full zerk & right sigils/weaponsets) make it entertaining to see that time invested in your character pay off. It is one of the few places to test your dps.

Most have never received a 1 token(near 5 mins or under) reward from speed clearing this dungeon, although you get less tokens & silver, its desired, and a goal setter for enthusiast.

I do speed runs on my guardian(with 3 wars & 1 Mes). I Have 5 Min runs from mag blowing gate. Obviously you can manage 5-6mins runs on many different groups(full zerk), not just a 4 wars & 1 mes.

Get your mesmer fully zerked out before you try to speed farm this(or you will most likely be kicked). You could just join a regular group that is farming it with no requirements, to get an idea & some extra gold for your equipment.

The only thing you really have to do, is push the targets by the turrets to the right turret. Lay your teleport down at the gate for bolders, when it opens run as fast as you can before bolders appear, and blink to the other side. Don’t lay down Time Warp on the last boss till banners & everyone is in it, fairly easy ^ ^.

To OP, guessing you edited your full video because you failed on other parts. It doesn’t matter how fast you kill the boss’s/gate, if you dilly dally on the other parts, have stragglers running to boss ect. Guessing it was a 6 min+ run, that’s why you had to edit it several times. Lets get that full video posted, to actually back your statement.

Infidel.8412:

Not any faster than a warrior group from what I saw? I also take down gate as fast as that with frenzy axe. You can say “well, but we are just as good as you can see…”, but most thieves will not be.

Most warriors will not be either. You think just cause you’re a warrior you’re good? You will probably find more bad zerk warriors than you will zerk guardians/thieves. Warrior is a straight forward profession, appealing to the average newbie, that just wants to be able to melee, and bash stuff, without much thought behind their actions.

Players skill always trumps profession of course. I have seen more bad warriors, running blue/green accessories/back pieces, and or running around swinging their swords in Time Warp(without hitting anything), than you would imagine. I agree people need to ditch the mindset that 4 wars + 1 mesmer is the optimum build. People like to follow cookie cutter meta builds tho, cause their imagination can’t surpass what someone has laid out for them.

I don’t know why you would edit the video, instead of showing us your full run time out of gate. Fast gate button kill, but everyone pretty much knew thieves have the ability to do it the fastest.

Lets see a re post with your full run time. Good run none the less, gl at trying to get randoms to run it tho, just about as bad as trying to get a guardian in the party.

Some people will always be critics or biased. Those are the people that will always stick to the meta. For all the others-

Point of this video is:
When I first started farming CoF, I had trouble getting into groups, as most were stuck in the 4 war 1 mes META. I would get kicked, and common reason would be, we get 5 min runs with 4 wars. I rarely pug now, but this could show other guardians it can be done, or change a farming groups mind, on giving them a chance, if a 5 min run is good enough for you that is.

jul.7602:

Altered Dimension.2834:

Post Quickness Nerf
Video I created to showcase some guardian dps. I know a lot of guardians probably have trouble getting into CoF speed clear groups. Perhaps this will enlighten some people. Not my fastest time, but fast none the less at 5:18.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPTcE5MXjGY

Just to debunk a few things in this post. The timer started when the door busted down, not when the dungeon was initiated.Your real time would be more like 5:55.
I could easily notice the foundry defense took 3-4 seconds longer to kill.
Slave driver was notably slower. If you can’t kill slavedriver in 1 timewarp than your dps is low.
For 25 stacks of might from signet of inspiration, you were also quite slow. According to your youtube timer, it took you 8 seconds. Post quickness nerf a warrior can kill gate controller within 3.5-4 seconds.
Your effigy was also slower than normal.
Guardians don’t come evan close to the raw DPS of warriors.

As a rule of thumb for dungeon run timer, no one times it when you step in the dungeon, most time it when the gate busts down -.-. We’re not timing if you can bug ferrah or how long it takes for members to enter the dungeon. Like mentioned not the fastest run. Slave driver is normally killed prior to tw ending, think it was due to me casting tome of wrath, to drop zealots fevor, rather than attacking when tw was already up(not knowing if tw was on CD).

Gate time like mentioned depends on if quickness activates on my weapon, then I could do it in about 3 seconds, and it was 6 seconds from when I hit it to when it got destroyed on that one. A video of me just doing gate in 5.3seconds(ive had faster) for the Mr. Debunker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcaLXVLUm88

All depends on RNG, crits ect. Still faster than most wars i’ve seen, even without quickness activating :P.

When you run fast, mesmers TW will ususally be on CD for slave driver anyway, which is when guardians zealots fervor comes in handy, another full party quickness + fury.

laokoko.7403:

ya i mean, if you can show 4 guardian 1 memser and do comparible time etc etc… i can agree but i don’t think you can.

The main thing is those banner, vulnerability stack, might stack. Guardian can do might stack but they can only do it using staff with empowered while not attacking.

What it really shows is 3 warrior isn’t too much diff from 4 warrior since they get enough might/fury/banner/vulnerability stack.

My friend is actually a guardian, and rightfully so there isn’t too much a diff between 1 guardian/3warrior/1 memser group compare to 4 warrior/1 memser. But that is mainly because you only need 2 banner, and there’s enough vulnerability/might stack.

Actually guardian can get 3 stacks of might from activating virtue of justice if trait correctly. As well as get stacks of might every second for every crit attack, if trait ed right. Both while attacking of course.

Forestgreen.7981:

I don’t get the point of showing the 1 guardian in the group. You got 3 warriors doing most of the dps and you as a guardian just bangwagoning on. You could have been a thief, ranger, necro etc and clear time wouldn’t have changed much. If you cleared it with 4 guardians + 1 mesmer in 5:18 minutes then I’ll be impressed.

Guardian’s dps has always been lackluster compared to warriors since they don’t inflict massive invulnerability + raw damage to boot in PVE.

I would like to see that. I am sure that is a faster time than some 4 warrior groups. Point is, most people like you can’t see outside the box. I am sure 4 guardians + 1 mes could do that time, but its hard to find 4 good fully zerked out guardians. Not saying a guardian can out dps every warrior(some yes ^ ^ ), but if you spec them right, and with buffs, it could be a smoother/faster run with one in your party.

Post Quickness Nerf
Video I created to showcase some guardian dps. I know a lot of guardians probably have trouble getting into CoF speed clear groups. Perhaps this will enlighten some people. Not my fastest time, but fast none the less at 5:18.

Gate only:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcaLXVLUm88