Guild Wars 2

Whoever told you support and/or defense is unviable is lying to you.
If having a low rank is upsetting you play unranked instead

Saiyan.1704:

I definitely agree that some classes simply carry a lot better (user error is greater vs condi teams, etc) but a pure mmr system would be worse for casuals who make up 90% of the game. I honestly think the League system can’t get a whole lot better unless Anet looks into a smarter Matchmaking system all together.

It’s awkward double posting in two threads so, i’ll just leave this here as to why a pure mmr system would be worse.

While I cant argue that longer queue times would be worse, the 2nd reason being that casuals would be upset is not really valid imo. Generally ranked anything is not aimed at casuals and gw2 even have an unranked queue. If someone gets upset that they have reached their peak in ranking then they should polish up their play in unranked instead.
The idea of a diamond that doesn’t understand that trying to rez with no teammates about when being watched for 3 mins is not helpful to his team doesn’t really makes the idea of ranked leagues worth

Fay.2357:

A good system rewards winning by matching the winning player with other higher skilled players until your competition is good enough that you stop winning. Our system rewards winning by attaching bigger and bigger weights to your feet until you stop winning.

100% this. I understand this season isn’t about prestige but this is getting out of hand. Lost 2 games in a row after winning two games due to a player that thought guardian scepter auto attack from range was sufficient enough to win a game (and being paired with this person twice) next game I felt their pain since there was a player on the opposite team that was in perma downed state since he believed that he would be allowed to res with me standing next to him. And in my head I knew someone on the opposite must have been on a winning streak.
The league system was a cool idea but doesn’t work in a game where carrying is a lot harder than in a moba (faster paced so less time to shotcall) and you don’t get stronger for doing well.
Honestly a pure MMR system would be best for everyone. 1000 is amber, 1200 emerald etc. Winning for losing a game makes you lose or gain mmr based on the matchmaking. So if a team has a “weight” on their side and lose they still lose MMR but not as much as if the match was even etc.

I originally had an idea of buffing the 3rd trait line unless its an elite spec to buff core specs but I love this idea so much more, since I believe its not just a power creep but more of a share especially with the mesmer chrono suggestion.
Could even make ele naturally have arcane traits such as elemental attunement or evasive arcana and then rework arcana

Eiffel.8937:

Something like this would be so helpfull

This 100%

I have experienced it as well, druids seem to cause it as well. I think it might be caused by being immbolised while being counted in midair or something. Blinks didn’t remove it but movement abilities did.

I agree there are classes like warrior and thief that are suffering from this meta where multihit aoe attacks do more damage than single hit attacks and where clipping a condi can end up doing more damage than getting cleaved in melee range.
But while I am sure that will be sorted out soon enough, I was just hoping for build variety sake if core specs would get some love.
Pretty sure like zinkz said another batch of elite specs will come out soon enough but until then it pretty such seems like we really only have the choice of 2 traitlines since elite traitlines are so mandatory for majority of classes.
But the idea of buffing a single traitline if you don’t go down an elite spec, “since in an essence an elite spec is a buffed core spec in a way” would make core builds viable again and thus matchup will feel more diverse again…once bunker is out of the way of course

zinkz.7045:

What makes you think they need to be balanced?

Before you get the wrong end of the stick, yes generally elite specs are stronger, but that may be the way Anet wish to try and balance things, they will I assume add other elite specs over time, so maybe in order to make things easier to balance they want to reduce options and will balance on the basis of 1 elite + 2 normal trait lines.

True, I did mention that maybe anet wants it like this, but just in case they didn’t and in case they wanted standard specs to not completely disappear this would be something they could do that wouldn’t be too hard to implement and would create build diversity which is always healthy for a community

Theologus.7085:

Or just improve base traitlines. Make it better and stronger.

I still feel there needs to be something more as elite specs bring SO much to the table at the moment. That simply buffing standard traitlines just like that will just add power creep.
For example, tempest will still pick earth, water and tempest and be stronger. Whereas with my suggestion the tempest will gain no benefit (and they don’t need it since they have overloads and shouts) but standard classes will get the buffed traitline and they can afford to make the buffs quite good since it wont be affecting the already strong builds

Curunen.8729:

The “Powered Up” core traitline in the third slot sounds like a good idea for a full core build.

Could be as simple as small value increases to traits or other unique effects.

That is what I was thinking, so it wouldn’t even be that difficult. Simple things like reduced internal cooldown for most traits would suffice

ITheNormalPerson.9275:

or they could just nerf the elite specs to be more in line with standard specs, to prevent this power creep in the first place.

This also needs to be done, but no matter what they do elite will always be stronger than standard specs regardless simply because of the new skills,mechanics and weapon they have as well. e.g. no matter how much you tone it down, chronomancers F5 as well as daredevils extra dodge (and daredevils are not currently OP imo) simply outclass standard build especially since it can be mixed in with standard builds

If everyone on LoL made a thread about a losing streak and how its the systems fault and not there own I think we would have run out of internet by now.
Not sure if everyone realises this but not everyone is going to get to legendary/diamond/ruby etc.
The reason you might be losing is because you are in the division you belong in at the moment

Like someone said, a good thief is still good but a bad thief really shows. But in the meta we have right now the worst players can get away with murder on their bunker classes. They dont need to rotate since they don’t die, they dont need to look out for tells or save their dodges for important aoes or approach classes in different manners its just autopilot.
Thieves are where the game should be at the moment where skill and knowledge determines the result not ignoring everything around you while you input your keys in a certain order

I’m not sure if this what anet had in mind but at the moment elite specializations are in most cases simply better than the original classes and as the meta goes on the gap is getting bigger and bigger.
As a day 1 HoT owner I would have still preferred if the original classes still held their own thus promoting build variety and since anet said they were up to some ideas these are 3 of my own. The third one I believe being the best idea.

1." Make it so that if you use a elite spec trait then you can only use one other trait line."
This one I think is too extreme but will really make people think twice before considering an elite spec and now normal builds have an advantage over elite.

2. “Make it so that certain skills are linked to trait lines”
So at the moment elite specs give you access to a new set of skills, but lets say for example the water trait line on elementalists gave you access to use cantrips, arcane lets you use arcana, earth signets etc.
Only thing is that most elite specs use only the skills that the elite spec unlocks so this could end up changing nothing.

3. "Whatever “normal” trait you put in the last slot is “powered up”."
If you don’t use an elite spec the specialization you put in the last slot has better effects. An example is if you dont go down the tempest trait line you can instead put earth as your last trait line.
While I won’t go through all of them I will kill 2 birds with 1 stone and mention that you can also balance out the earth trait line that everyone has been complaining about as well.

e.g. the minor trait line when in the last slot can instead reduce damage taken by 15% or increase the range in where you take reduced damage or both.
And diamond skin can be nerfed to 95% but back to 90% if chosen as the last slot.

This will really help improve build diversity as elite specs are no longer the obvious choice depending how these are balanced and even within builds without elite specs, people will now have to choose between which trait they want in the last slot

This is always the case in pvp games with league systems etc. Look at LoL, every now and again you will get a loss you don’t think you deserve and get punished but at the same time, unless you are the #1 player in the world you will get a win you didnt deserve and get rewarded for it.

Nova Stiker.8396:

Seriously, so many problems, so many they have yet to address.

• Players with high MMR are flat out PUNISHED.
• SoloQ players are flat out PUNISHED.
• People without HoT are flat out PUNISHED.
• Thief and Warrior mains are flat out PUNISHED.
• The 6 meta builds are ridiculously above the curve, anyone not using them are flat out PUNISHED.

So with all these problems, does ArenaNet just ignore, thinking it will fix itself? You made your bed guys, what you going to do?

You do realise that most of these problems are to do with leagues just coming out and a low population problem.
Anet will obviously balance and then people will find the next class to complain about, you don’t even have to look that far back in forums to find people whining about how bad necro, mes and ele were and how good thieves and warriors were.
In any pvp game the meta will always change and players will always adapt.
Even just go one month back and look at the rage about revenant nerfs which then quickly changed back to revenant being OP again

Much like in every game there is always a noob-killer class. I say this as a non-DH class but a game with lots of DH are not going to win against competent classes. Sure you could nerf them so that newer players find it easier but then they will be less viable in higher tiers.
Look at what has happened to thieves, their job was single target burst which has been nerfed since newer players couldnt/didnt want to learn to react to a thief or prepare for one, they were toned down to be easier for newer players but now their viability has gone. (also saying this as a non-thief player)
Even games like LoL, new players will get destroyed by characters like Katarina but she is completely unviable at higher level games

I’m now starting to understand why people don’t bother with forums. While there are some good posters, most are just people who dont even know what they are whining about.
The population is not as high as LoL therefore it takes longer to find close MMRs while sometimes still not even being that close.
If someone then decides not to hit the queue button you have now messed it up for 9 other people.
Now imagine if people were dodging queues on purpose but not getting punished for it, queues will be longer for everyone then.
So better to punish people who are at fault thean those who aren’t….simple logic I would have thought

Click bait I’m sure but there have been plenty of streamers that have shown you can win and promote without HoT classes

Alekt.5803:

Solori.6025:

zone.1073:

dank.3680:

I meant while in the Mallyx legend. Beating a rev would be as simple as – wait for Mallyx, stack immobile, ping pong and burst to your hearts content.

You just described how to beat any class. Burn their cooldowns, CC, burst. And revenants should be excluded from this formula because..?

You could just corrupt boon/strip boon, then CC it. Mall has no stun breaks, and unless they waste dodges they wont stack stab. ( though if they waste dodges you can just hit them with burst and they melt.)

I did not observe this “melting” as you speak of. I did everything right on zerker ammy and she stood under the full duration of Air overload without being close to death.

Was probably blocking or immune, something the majority of classes can do. That is why when I am ele vs reve, I wait out the glint heal before overloading

Vennyhedgie.5369:

Any little bit you do in pve can count towards progression for the Fractal wings.
Anything you do in pvp doesn’t matter jack kitten because in one match you could lose all the progress you’ve made.
Whoever thought this league system where rank 50s get matched against rank 80s can go get fired because honestly this is the most disgusting experience I’ve had in gw2 to date

You do know rank means nothing and its a reward, something this game has been lacking

When in the pvp window, in the top right hand corner there are 2 little boxes. One named stronghold and another conquest. Untick stronghold

I agree 100%, I really do hope Anet do not cave in with the difficulty. I like hard challenging content that if I do not play my best will punish me.
The fact that I can afk/alt tab half the time in the most dangerous parts of Tyria and be fine wasn’t exciting.
The fact that tequatl a legendary dragon, a big boss of the game has been reduced to a daily farm chest.
One of the main reasons I have stuck to sPVP for quite a while now is just to find myself in situations where I have to keep my instincts up.
Just wish I could enjoy this content on a class I have been looking forward to playing, might be too late but if they really wanted to gate this in some way or another. Gold gating it or making an early personal story which unlocks your elite would have been awesome

Kaiser.9873:

I think a quest should be the “gate” behind which the elites are locked. What kind of ridiculousness makes a core concept of the expansion gated behind essentially finishing the expansion? I will almost certainly have to play through every map before I am able to unlock 1 elite. Why would I play through it again on that elite? Poor design on ANet’s part imo.

This, I am fine with everything else, but not allowing me to play the expansion with the classes I have been looking forward to is a bit of a bummer.
Would have been much happier with a “mentor” that wanted gold or something

I honestly don’t mind the gated story mode. Collecting the hero points is fun and doing the events is fun, playing the game and getting experience is fun.
However, not being able to do that on the class you were looking forward to isn’t fun.
That is literally the only thing they need to change imo, the elite spec gate

If they are REALLY determined to gate it, I would rather they gold gate it

Honestly, I am enjoying the game a lot…..apart from the 400 hero point requirement.
The character I am most excited about elite specing doesn’t even have Tyria 100%ed and while I am perfectly fine with the story, raids, cosmetics or literally anything else being time gated, the reason
I wouldn’t have minded is because I would be doing it with a class I enjoyed and was looking forward to.

Because of this change I literally haven’t played the new map since I want to play that map with my elite spec so im just grinding wvw (which I usually enjoy but now playing simply to get those tokens….and is taking forever =/)

Please anet, find a way to make elite specs available before we play magumma

Plan to upload more from boht conquest and stronghold as I have a lot stored up from beta weekend 3

I think I am one of the few rare people that actually really like tempest

Agreed 100%, I don’t think I’ve seen icebow used once in PvP. This nerf will terminate it from pvp along with every other conjured weapon outside FGS. (Which is only used because the other elites are so meh)

There was a point where tequatl was only able to take crit damage on its head. I heard this was changed not sure of the reason why but this was actually an amazing thing from a design point.
It meant that “tanky” builds could go up close and get crit damage whereas less tanky builds now had a choice. Risk going close at the chance of dying easily or stay far but lose crit damage.
I do hope there are more bosses like this in the future that promote build diversity like this, since it doesnt force a build but doesnt rule out a build either

Not a necessary change at all but would be nice if arcana skills had more of a visual display.
Would help both sides have a clue what is going on, since as a user and an ally I find myself having to actually double check that I’ve used it by looking at my cooldowns.
I can only imagine as an enemy you would have no idea what hit you, in fact I can safely say through all my games in PvP and playing through PvE I have never noticed an arcana skill being used.

Doesn’t have to be much, could just give it a more pinkish hue much like the icon

I think the best thing to remember is that outside from condi having very HARD counters (Diamond Skin being one that hasn’t been mentioned yet) this is a team game. So if you happen to be weak against condi builds, don’t 1v1 them and if your whole team is weak against them that is bad team synergy.

Noob question btw but…

…with the new change of making both intensity based, is the only difference how certain traits interact with them. Just in case I’ve been missing another difference that may be going over my head

From the looks of what they doing they are only going to be making the game more diverse.
Noone really went anything except 6,6,1 and within those traits there were traits that were never going to get picked. This will create more diversity as there will be more worthwhile traits to pick, I would love to see anet make a trait that competes with Elemental Attunement since there isnt a single ele that doesn’t pick this.

Also we are going to have 6 trait lines to pick from, different sub classes, (druid, ranger), and don’t forget all the new utility skills we have to pick from. After the expansion, I think it will be a lot rarer to see someone with exactly the same build, because that is very commonplace atm

Could use league of legends system of creating leagues which you are put into when you hit certain MMRs. That way it prevents people with low MMRs farming easy wins

Could be a very unnecessary suggestion but what if the ranger’s rapid fire animation was red or something to give a better visual cue when further away.

lol thanks a lot. Missed out on it last time so didn’t want the chance to slip away again

In the news it states that the plush ram backpack in back in store for a limited time but I can not see it in the gem store or the black lion trading post.
Did I misunderstand the news or am I missing something

Thanks in advance