Guild Wars 2

Any opinions on what the best shield skin is for your mesmers?

I’m thinking Wall of the Mists might be contender – figuring I should figure it out now to buy/craft before the expansion hits and prices go up.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/d/d1/Wall_of_the_Mists.jpg/197px-Wall_of_the_Mists.jpg

I think it is reasonable to believe that this “bug” making fractal weapon skin drops LESS in lvl 40+ has been in place for a year or since the fractured patch hit. With this as an assumption, I see a few options:

1.) The Devs have been extremely neglectful of the fractal community. It is possible they knew of the bug and just didn’t care about us – however, more likely, under this theory, they really did not know that the bug existed until recently – likely between the last patch in late September and the patch today. This occurred even though there have likely been 100+ thread posts of people complaining about fractal weapon drop rates. In addition, all the compiled data spreadsheets with 100s or a couple thousand as their sample size have indicated that the 30-40 range had a drop rate of fractal weapons that was DOUBLE the drop rate in 40+. These spread sheets and findings have been all over this forum for the past year.

2.) The Devs are incompetent. Here, we assume that they did not neglect the hundreds of forum posts about bad fractal weapon drop rates. Instead, they either were not able to tell there was a bug (even with the complaints), or they knew there was a bug, but since they weren’t neglectful, they were just unable to fix it. Here, it took them many, many months to figure out how to change the drop rate of fractal weapons in 40+ fractals.

3.) They believe the community is unintelligent. Here, the idea is that it was never really a bug – the drop rate was simply lower due to incompetence, and accident, or trolling. However, thinking that it would be bad PR to say they just “increased” the drop rate in 40+, they decided to call it a “bug.” The community likes to see that bugs are being fixed. As long as people don’t think too hard about this “bug,” it is better to call it a bug fix.

Its possible other theories are accurate – in fact, I’m almost 100% sure that none of these is entirely correct. It is likely a mix of the three, or there could be a legitimate explanation – but I doubt we’ll be be getting to hear it : (.

I think I speak for many other players, but if I don’t, I at least stand as a sample size of one. Over the last year, I have probably spent 200-400 hours playing ONLY fractals. This was because for me, it is my favorite content. It is also because I have been trying my hardest to get a fractal sword. It makes me really sad to know that my goal could have been reached had it not been for this “bug.” I wish we had some communication about fractals – but alas, I have seen thread, after thread, after thread in regards to fractal drops go down the forum without a Dev response. It has made me feel like the fractal community is unimportant to the Dev team.

PSA: I did a 49 just now. We got Mai Trin. We made sure to rez Ellen. The first player to get downed logged out and logged back in. Usually this allows Ellen to rez the player and they can come back in and join the fight. Instead, he said he was unable to get back in. During the Mai Trin fight, the button could not be used to enter the Mai Trin Arena. He sat outside, afk, while we finished the ~10-15 min Mai fight, 4 man. Since it was not me who was stuck outside, I don’t know if he was lying and just wanted to afk – but assuming this player wasn’t a lazy bum, it looks like this “bug” has been fixed.

Oh, and in my lvl 49 fractal – after an hour of gameplay – I got an un-infused Purge Signet ascended ring. Which immediately got sold for 4.95s – since I have gotten 100+ ascended rings and don’t have storage for them anymore.

I’m sure other classes can do it – but the real question is how consistently can it be done on the first try >.<.
I’m sure mesmers can do it – more blocks and long range dps via phantasms/scepter – but the ticks from Agony and/or getting hit once will result in being downed/pancaked, whereas a heavy with strong passive heals is more forgiving of mistakes like getting clipped by a (now supercharged) AoE.

tim.1280:

Azrael.4960:

Got sword, axe and shield skins the last 2 weeks (while I was infracted away)

14 fractals – 3 skins?
Probably the perfect drop rate (not too rare but rare enough to be a grind….)
If only it was like this for everyone!

2 weeks could involve up to 42 chests that could drop a Fractal Weapon Skin. To see 42 chests would require ~31.5 hours to 84 hours of continual fractal playing.

If he only did a level 41-50 daily and only saw 14 chests and got three skins then the investment in time was a lot less, but still substantial, very likely in the range of 14-28 hours.

Regardless – very few people see that many fractal skins in a two week period – so it is either very good luck or he has invested ~3-6 hours a day for 14 straight days into getting them.

Nicely done! That was a lot of fun to watch – Mai Trin is a fun fight.

With that in mind, a few of my thoughts:

Your casual “It’s a nice challenge i guess but not that hard imo” is in stark contrast to your “celebration” upon completing the solo. Based on that video, I think we all know how difficult that was and how happy you felt at having conquered some incredibly difficult content. I think it is unfair and misleading to come here and imply that the fight is “not hard” when there is direct evidence at the end of your video that you were extremely excited at having completed the solo.

You extensively used consumables. This is NOT a knock against you – any soloer should and will likely use consumables, and most if not all high level PvE players use consumables in “difficult” content. I just wanted to point it out because many Fractal PUGs don’t even use nourishment/potions (although once you hit the higher level fractals the majority do).

The fight took you 16+ minutes. One or two misclicks during that time (lets say someone knocks on your door…you try to take a sip of a beverage…) and you have to restart. Even if it was “easy to solo”, the sheer amount of time this last fractal takes to solo (16-50 minutes is a good estimate) makes it silly to contemplate having to solo it every time someone wants to PUG a 50. Mai doesn’t always crop up, but it is always a possibility.

You are a warrior. Once again, this is not in any way a knock. It is just important to note that any and all damage you took from the passive Agony or getting hit from AoEs was very easily mitigated by the passive heal on your signet. No other class can touch this kind of passive healing while having such high survivability and damage output.

What this video shows is that experienced players (such as yourself) can conquer the buffed Mai Trin if they know the animations and fight mechanics (and have 100% no interruptions for 16+ minutes). A party of 5 people who can all almost solo Mai could easily defeat her as everyone will know what they are doing.

However, most PUGs have players with nowhere near this kind of experience or mechanics, and therefore the responsibility to be able to solo the content if you want to be able to do a PUG 49 or 50 becomes an unreasonable expectation, especially in light of the reward. I wish your video showed your reward for your 16 minutes of concentration and effort >.<. Hopefully you got a nice skin/chest ^.^.

Mai Trin has been my favorite PvE content in GW2 for awhile. The combat requires knowledge, some skill, mechanics and tactics.

After this update, my only complaints are twofold:

1.) There is no increased reward. No need to beat a dead horse but it isn’t just whining, the lack of adequate reward is an issue.

Receiving fragments/uninfused ring/infused ring is literally the equivalent of being given nothing or ~5silver.

At lvl 50, a person has already obtained ~10-20 rings from drops while leveling up to 50. In addition, they have received enough pristine relics to obtain 5 infused rings of their choice. Receiving nothing from the end chest after 1-2 hours of tough gameplay leaves a disconnect between content difficulty and rewards. Maybe if the gold reward was increased to be similar to Arah, at least it would be a decent way to make some cash. However, adding in a way to exchange pristine relics for skins/ascended or making lvl 50 skin/ascend. drop rates much higher would be the preferred fix.

I 100% believe high level fractals are now the hardest content in the game. It will be extremely difficult to PUG unless 3+ people in the party understand the Mai Trin fight mechanics, or the group randomly gets the other end bosses. In addition, if you roll a high level fractal that does not have an easily manageable instability (e.g. not 40,49,50), the difficulty beats the pants off of Arah in terms of difficulty, unless you happen to get the x4 easiest fractals (Fastest/Easiest set would be: Swampland, Snowblind/Molten Furnace, Aetherblade, Molten Boss/Solid Ocean (fastest/easiest, respectively)). Even then, some of the instabilities are brutal and will prevent PUGs from completing them anyway.

2.) This very difficult content is also now extremely difficult to PUG. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it increases the skill ceiling in the game overall, but but bad it does not allow people to access that level without having other players on the exact same or higher skill level on their friends list or in their guild.

Even if you can solo Mai Trin 50, that still doesn’t mean you can haul a bad group through her at a reasonable pace. Soloers often take many attempts to get it right – one missed block and you’re spending the next 10-20 minutes trying it again. They also often use extra consumables, showing how especially difficult it is to solo. Even if your party does have someone who can solo it, it will certainly take an inordinate amount of time to complete the boss fractal unless they’re so experienced they can solo it on the first or second try.

The only way I’ll be willing to attempt to PUG a 49 or 50 is to make sure and question all party members prior to entry about whether they understand Mai Trin animations. I honestly believe that if 3+ people don’t understand this fight, it will sink a team. It is not fair to boot 2-4 players who don’t understand the fight after they have invested 45min-1.5 hours in the other three fractals, but honestly, that is the only way a lot of PUGs will be able to complete their fractal if they rolled Mai and their team isn’t wholly competent.

People citing their level 30 or 40 Mai Trin victories (after multiple party wipes) are not discussing the same issue. They fixed Mai Trin’s scaling, meaning at lower levels (I’m not sure at what point the “scaling” stopped working) it is possible that she has not changed, and groups can likely manhandle her via stacks and having a couple people who really understand the fight. Level 49 and 50 is the real kick in the pants, and is what I would now consider extremely hard to reliably PUG. For me at least, I don’t think the risk of having a ton of my time wasted is worth giving PUGs a chance at 49+.

MysticHLE – I also ran sw/sw and sw/fc, but that was when most groups could just stack near her and tank Horrik AoE dmg and Mai melee hits – fast dps was a boon.

With the severe damage increase to all forms of damage, the fractal has become almost entirely about having extremely strong mechanics…it is very easy to dps Mai 25% with no stacks – the hard part now is getting there while carrying constantly downed PUGS.

AoE Phase

The AoE cannon phase can be completely skipped by doing the following:

Have a mesmer portal by the second button that opens the doors leading to the arena. After everyone gets teleported in, the mesmer can portal back and wait by the door during the entire fight. The mesmer can open the door when the AoE phase begins, and if everyone leaves right after the phase ends and the mesmer stays – this can continue for the rest of the fight. Also – other classes can do this too if they warrior greatsword skill 3/sword skill 2/ranger lunge towards the door before it closes after everyone gets teleported in. I would only recommend this for high level Mai fights and when everyone knows what they are doing. Having only 4 members can be an asset (easier to get her in Horrik’s electrostatic shots/aoes) if people can handle dpsing Mai but struggle with the AoEs. This also only works if done at the very beginning of the fight or if the group wipes & respawns. Once that door closes behind you its either the cliff or the sword.

Other Tips

• Stealth whenever you can.

• Move as little as possible. Mai & Horrik employee T-Rex cannoniers who can’t see you if you don’t move. The less you move, the less AoEs there will be. Small precise movements away from the other players on your team will lead to an easier cannon phase for everyone.

• Heal/swiftness whenever you can to raise the odds of you surviving getting clipped and avoiding aoes.

• Do. Not. Rez. If you are very skilled/used to this fight, then you’ll ignore this advice anyway because you know exactly how it works. Generally speaking – never try to rez someone downed from the AoEs. By standing/moving near them, you ensure their death as stacks of AoEs will target you both. Only touch them with a small amount of rez/healing if you know exactly what you’re doing and are ready to roll away at a moments notice.

• Stay away from the two short edges and the wall with the door in it. The edge with the cliff on it (leading to the airship) is the furthest away from where all of the cannon shots come from – and it therefore gives you the greatest amount of time between seeing the red AoE circles and the shots actually landing.

Mesmers -

• Bring Scepter/Sword and Sword/Focus as your two weapons. Throw down Focus 4 as a reflect/cripple and focus 5 for another reflect and dps. Use offhand sword 5 (Phantasmal Swordsman) for some dps.

• More than anything, you become a blocking machine with these weapon sets. You should be able to upkeep reflects (Feedback, Temporal Curtain, Phatasmal Warden) for a huge majority of the fight, and if you make sure you’re the furthest from Mai at all times, you can easily block every single one of her long-range-insta-kill-shots with sword 4 (Illusionary Riposte) and Scepter 2 (Illusionary Counter). Not only can it help your team immensly, but it will also make you feel like a B.A. because you negate about 25-50% of her fighting capabilities. Also you get some consistent minor ranged dps from the scepter auto attacks.

• Also, your clones can block her long range pistol shot if they are physically in the way of the projectile right after she fires it – but don’t rely on this method O.O I have seen her bullets curve.

If anything I have stated is wrong or misleading or you disagree with it:
State what you have the issue with, why you think it is wrong, and what you believe is more correct in its place. I’m not an expert and just want to raise the level of PUG fractal expertise so I can go back to doing 50s with random players >.<

This is a public service announcement

Very briefly about myself:

I have played Mesmer as my main since beta – I play nothing else in high level PvE.
I play 1-3 hours a day, I usually try to complete a daily 50/49 & 40/38 fractal.
I have done a lot of fractals and consider myself very proficient at completing them.

7/1/2014 Mai Trin

Mai Trin has been majorly buffed. No need to go into the details, everyone above is accurate. She 1 shots anyone who does not properly block her long-range-teleport shot. Damage from her & Horrik’s other skills has also been increased/scaled.

I have previously almost exclusively played in PUGs for FOTM of all levels, and have either found the grounds to be very competent or carriable at 49/50 etc.

It is my opinion that FoTM lvl 50 can no longer be reliably done with a random pick up group because on the 1/3rd chance you get Mai…you will be unable to complete it.

It is possible if your team is really all experienced, but I believe that even many lvl 50 fractalers don’t understand many of the boss fights and their animations – and therefore will be a liability on the new Mai Trin fight.

In a lvl 50 PUG group, after 5-10 group wipes, I explained how the fight worked and stated that I would permanently be the furthest away from Mai and block all her shots so the rest of the party only needed to worry about kiting from melee & her x3 electricity bolts. We were able to get much further this way but in the end (partially thanks to the new build and the PUGs being unable to repair their armor) we could not defeat her.

I will be looking for a high level fractal guild in the next week in order to fix my situation – I don’t want to waste 1-2 hours in a fractal and not have a chance at the fractal skin I’m looking for to show for it.

Tips for Mai Trin:

• Stealth: Use stealth during the AoE cannon phase to give your team some breathing room so they don’t have to avoid the cannons for as long. This does not “reset Mai” as many people incorrectly believe – this only occurs during the Mai Trin fighting phase, and even then only if all 5 people are stealthed (it is very easy to throw out your stealth then attack so that your’e the only one visible while the others rez). I always bring Mass Invisibility and sometimes bring Decoy as a mesmer on this fight.

• Condition Removal: Bring condition removal – her stacks of bleeding are brutal, as is the fire from Horrik’s cannon. Make sure to bring your own condition removal. I always bring Mantra of Resolve or Phantasmal Disenchanter (I’ve been favoring this recently) as a mesmer.

• Reflects: Bring reflects. You can reflect her long-range pistol shot. Instead of her teleporting to you and instantly killing you (yes, her buff makes her 1 shot everyone at high level fractals), when this attack is reflected she instead teleports whoever reflected her to herself – so make sure you follow up with a dodge

• Cripple/Chill: These are not super useful, but if you can get through her Unshakable and defiance stacks, they can slow her down for a bit to make kiting easier.

Mai Trin & General Strategy

1.) Don’t spam attacks against Mai until she has 7 or less stacks. Focus on sticking close to her and getting her in the electric AoE to get rid of her 10 stacks of Captain’s Shield. Spamming abilities not only does almost no damage when she has a lot of stacks, it also makes it very difficult to see her attack animations – the people spamming attacks will not only do no damage, they could potentially cause the death of other players.

2.) One of her attacks is a long range pistol shot that results in a shadowstep (teleport) to whoever she hits. She always targets the person who is farthest away from her. It has a huge tell: She turns to face whoever she is targeting and raises her arm and points it at her target Babe Ruth style. It takes about 1-2 seconds, and gives players plenty of time to see it coming. BLOCK this skill. You cannot dodge/evade it – mistform or a block is the only way you’re not getting shot by this (beyond reflects).

3.) Her other attack involves spinning around and shooting 3 lighting bolts out of her skirt. These can be dodged/evaded but cannot be blocked. These usually deal ~1/2 health to a squishy character. They cannot be reflected. The tell on this skill is much shorter and harder to see coming, so just be ready to dodge as soon as you see her twirl.

4.) Rez people as quickly as you can, especially if they aren’t completely dead. Only one person should go to rez, everyone else should attempt to take her aggro. Be mindful of who the furthest person away is – if you are the rezzer and its you, get ready to cancel rezzing to block the attack. If you aren’t the rezzer, make sure you get further away from Mai than the rezzer and get ready to block the attack in an attempt to keep the aggro off the person rezzing.

What I’m looking for:

I’m looking for a guild that has a relaxed/casual general attitude, but elitist and extremely rigorous when it comes to completing high end PvE. I would love to join others with a similar mindset on daily or weekly fractal/dungeon runs. I would definitely be up for learning or upping my game for speedruns – and I would also be up for teaching etc.

Send some mail ingame. I’m 100% up for application/interview/whatever the process is – I’ll do whatever it takes to to join a like-minded community to enhance my GW2 experience. I also think I have a lot to offer in terms of GW2 experience, cheerful demeanor and life experiences.

A Little About Me:

I spend most of my GW2 time doing some quick dungeon runs, world events and Fractals. I am passionate about fractals – they are by far my favorite content in the game.

I am a GW1 Vet – I obtained 45 HoM points and frequently did UW trapping, FoW shard solos/chest runs, 55/SS everything, Forge Runs & SF Sin dungeon runs.

I usually run a 49/50 & 38 fractal every day. I play mesmer, ele, warrior and guardian. Mesmer is my main, and it has been since beta.

3/18/14
Fractal lvl 39 – Uninfused Ring
Fractal lvl 29 – Infused Ring
Fractal lvl 19 – Empyreal Fragments

3/19/14
Fractal lvl 39 – Empyreal Fragments
Fractal lvl 29 – Uninfused Ring
Fractal lvl 19 – Uninfused Ring

3/20/14
Fractal lvl 41 – Empyreal Fragments
Fractal lvl 35 – Uninfused Ring
Fractal lvl 28 – Empyreal Fragments
Fractal lvl 15 – Empyreal Fragments

3/21/14
Fractal lvl 42 – Empyreal Fragments
Fractal lvl 36 – Empyreal Fragments
Fractal lvl 29 – Empyreal Fragments

This is a small sample but represents ~15 hours worth of playtime in fractals.

The dust/fragments are not useful to me because I don’t craft much & could easily get way more from dungeon runs (I had 20 stacks of each but literally trashed 30+ overall stacks for storage space).

I currently have ~6 infused rings and ~20 uninfused rings in storage that I might have to sell for their 5s because I can’t sell them to people and they can’t be salvaged.

I make ~1.5-2 gold per daily run. I salvage all my drops for ecto/luck.

Fractal relics are only useful for skill points at this point, and pristine relics are only useful in that they convert to fractal relics…which are still not very useful.

This amount of time spent attempting to get ascended gear/fractal weapons and having absolutely nothing to show for it seems to be a bit off. This is easily the most difficult PvE content in the game.

I think that ascended weapons/armor, or more realistically, fractal weapons, should be purchasable for fractal relics. 2k fractal relics…5k…10k…whatever keeps them prestigious would work for me. This would make it so that even if I don’t get lucky with drops, at the end of each run I’ll know I am slightly closer to achieving my goal. However, because this is not the way rewards are being implemented in FoTM, right now I am statistically no closer to getting the items I seek than I was ~ two weeks ago, and yet in that time I’ve put in 40+ hours trying to get them and have very little to show for it.