Guild Wars 2

Have done this fight with a necro, engineer and an elementalist. Here are a few things that helped me:

As everyone has noted, use the ramp to get up on the platforms. When you find it for the first time, check its location on the mini-map so when you get knocked off the platform you don’t waste time trying to find it again, especially if you’re like me and get disoriented easily. (I found the platform filled up almost completely with bombs, so I got knocked off a lot…)

Aerin always ports back to the platform at the top of the ramp. Wait for him there or range attack from there till he ports back and you can melee or use close-range spells.

When he puts up his shield the Sun crystals you need to break it will always spawn near the top of the ramp. Wait for them there, target him, then smash his shield. Be sure to have him in your target… otherwise you will just run off the platform. And be ready to type the 5 key to remove the crystal asap so you can use your normal attacks as soon as shield is down.

There is a rock on top of the ramp. Use it to LoS Aerin if you need a bit of time to recover HP.

Good luck.. hope this helps. FAIR WARNING: This is a fairly easy fight compared to some of the ones that you need to do later on.

I started off playing Sylvari cause I love gardening, and named them after different plants I grow. Then, I played one of each other race to get the PS achievements, and started to enjoy the Charr animations. Now I play three Charr all named and somewhat looking like three cats I rescued: a grey tabby ele Charr named Purrleeta (for my cat Perlita), a grey & black thief Charr named Grracie (for my kitten Gracie), and a long-haired grey warrior Charr named Furggy (for my kitten Fergus). It’s so much fun playing GW2 with my cats as characters in the game, lol.

Just rework the minions. Some ideas could be:
- eliminate cooldown to recast minion when it is killed or at the very least start minion re-cast cooldown on creation rather than death of minion
- significantly reduce cooldown on minion command attack skills
- add life force regen for necro to at least one minion
- change minion debuffing on target to minion buffing for necro and/or group
- add a “come-to-me” command or apply necro dodge/evade to his/her minions
- blood fiend heals apply to minions as well as necro

I’m not sure if they can be considered a race or a faction, but if they can be called a race, I’d love to play a Zephyrite. Lots of possibilities for lore in their personal stories, and they fit in well with the existing classes. Would be especially nice if they had a slightly more alien appearance to reflect their evolution during their time in space.

Account access for:
- gold
- wardrobe (for both armor and weapon skins)
- crafting resources
- dyes (awesome number of dyes and ways to change colour scheme)
- miniatures

Resource nodes that can’t be stolen by other players while you fight off nearby mobs

Skills on your hotbar that actually change when you swap weapons… seems intuitive, but haven’t seen it done elsewhere

Jumping! (even though I suck at it)

Map discovery with waypoints, PoIs, vistas and skill challenges… and level-appropriate play, so you can continue to enjoy lower-level maps even at end-game

Dry Top.. man, what an amazing map, with sandstorms changing things up, tiered levels for access to merchant goods, fun world bosses, boosted jumps, and very clever geography

Living Story… love how they roll out in small bits that you can unlock as you like, and the impact they have on the main maps…. couldn’t believe what Lion’s Arch looked like when I came back after a few months absence… not many game companies would have the courage to do that to their game

Overall multi-dimensional game play… just seems so much you can do with and for your toons compared to other games I’ve played…. whether exploring, world questing, crafting and resourcing, I guess WvW and PvP (haven’t ventured into that though), living story, fractals, dungeons, jumping, etc. etc.

My main comparison is with Age of Conan which I’ve played since it launched. I find it to be more one-dimensional (raid same places over and over and over), less ability to customize toons both for their gear and their skills, and combat that is less dynamic and more pre-set by whatever combo you select.

More and more, I find myself spending my time in GW2 and not with AoC.

In announcing its choice for MMO Game of the Year for 2012, Ten Ton Hammer has this to say about GW2:

“Rather than simply tapping out the same tired cadence we’ve all grown a bit too familiar with as new MMO releases parade by each year, Guild Wars 2 attempts to take the industry in new directions, bringing some much needed vitality and swagger to the genre.

“GW2 is an expertly crafted game, and the passion and creativity of the developers shine through in every aspect of gameplay. GW2 also manages to pack in more value than pretty much any other game released this year, offering a compelling experience whether you’re a diehard PvE traditionalist, hardcore competitive gamer, master strategist, or role-playing enthusiast.”

I couldn’t agree more. Grats ANet!

Shadowdawn.7946:

Only way I know of right now is to make Sylvari ranger and pick Fern Wolf in bio.

Actually, a ranger from any race can train a juvenile Fern Hound for a pet. According to the GW2 Wiki, they can be found in the following locations:

Maguuma Jungle
The Grove
Upper Commons
Scholar’s Terrace
Reckoner’s Terrace
Caledon Forest
Trader’s Green (Slightly northeast of the Town of Cathal Waypoint)
Brisban Wildlands
Zinder Slope (Slightly north of the Watchful Source Waypoint)
Sparkfly Fen
Darkweather Rise (Around the Brackwater Waypoint village)
Thundertroll Swamp (At Dryground Waypoint)

Steamspur Mountains
Mount Maelstrom
Bard’s Valley (Nearby the campsite)
Ashen Waste (At the Gorlois Spine point of interest)

Ruins of Orr
Straits of Devastation
Lightfoot Passage

Trahearne is a necro…. and so is my main Sylvari. But, I got to like the Sylvari most of all the races, so leveled three in the three different factions:
Necro – Priory
Guardian – Vigil
Engineer – Whispers

Ranger or thief might have been a better choice for the Whispers/Sylvari, but the engineer is so much fun I don’t care.

Sylvari are my favourite race in GW2, and I try to give them plant names that match the colour I’ve made them. My yellow/orange Mesmer is Fritillaria. My blue Ranger is Anchusa. I was hoping they could be names of plants I have in my garden, but most plant names had already been taken by the time I made them. At least I have a fritillaria, but not an anchusa (will have to look for one next spring). I have a blackish necromancer I would like to rename… hopefully that will be possible in the future.