Guild Wars 2

Prime candidate for this guy:

Does anyone else find it strange how Anet will respond to Revenant with massive changes in design direction based on player feedback, yet a class which has arguably been broken since it’s release stays that way for years despite feedback from those exact same players?

I’ll let someone with more experience in Necro field the response to each of your points. I was only trying to get across my impression of the class so far compared to other classes I’ve played. I don’t have access to everything yet since I’m only 60.

It sounds like it gets a little bit better at max level, however.

Huh..well thanks for the info guys! I guess I didn’t know as much as I thought about WvW. I don’t spend a lot of time there, to be honest.

Update: Level 60 now. I’m really starting to understand why Necros hate not having good access to stability, evades, or blocks. The ping-pong reference is true, and it’s already infuriating. Literally every time I go into WvW or PvP I spend half the time knocked down, knocked back, or otherwise not in control of my character. If I wanted that, I’d still be playing WoW.

I’ve never experienced anything quite so bad on any of the other classes.

JediYoda.1275:

Maybe or they where used to take control of the map before you logged in? Did you ask you server in TS or ingame chat about them?

I did. There was no response. These golems were in our own territory’s base, which can’t even be assaulted by the enemy. Not the garrison, the home base.

Also, it’s not a faceroll matchup. Each realm’s score has been within 5-10k of each other for the entire week so far.

Anyway, I thought it was just a little bit strange, whatever the reason for it.

At the time of this screenshot, my server controlled 90% of the map. So I’m guessing this was done by a spiteful member of another server to waste supply?

Yeah, I logged into WvW just now and saw this. I’m not even sure what to make of it. Waste of golems? Set for a movie where Golems take over WvW?

I’ve just started playing GW2 again, so I don’t have any of the super-fancy costume pieces that some of you might have access to. I’m working mainly with whatever normal light armor pieces are available, with a few unlocked pieces. I think it turned out pretty kitten well, all things considered.

BTW: Asura rule the world.

It might be possible that I play too many Asura characters….one for each class(except warrior, because they’re way too OP).

I don’t even understand what half of the things you just listed are. Heh! Sorry, that’s my fault. I’m still learning the new mastery system(last time I played GW2 it wasn’t implemented). I’m certain it’ll make sense by the time I reach 80, tho.

As for WvW, I’ve got a pretty good understanding of it from my time playing other classes(mostly guardian and engi). In Zerg vs Zerg situations, 90% of the time it’s just who has the bigger zerg. You only have to be so careful when you’re in a large enough group. I tend to avoid solo roaming. Honestly, I just don’t find it all that fun. Too much kitten swinging going on.

Up to level 40, mostly through crafting and running around WvW getting what explorer locations I can while they’re available. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the mastery system. But I took the advice of several people and started using a dagger in the main hand. I’m still not entirely sure what offhand I like best. They all seem to have their uses.

I’m guessing it’ll be quite a bit longer before I start to really get a handle on the finer nuances, but so far it seems like a decently fun class.

Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me! Any tips and/or suggestions on how to not break my keyboard would be appreciated. I understand it can be a frustrating class to play with all the nerfs being rained constantly, but I want to stick it out to get a real understanding of the class.

So please, anything that can help me be a better player, don’t hesitate to post.

Ok guys, I’ve tried necro a few times in the past, but never gotten further than level 10 or so, and that was years ago. Now I’m going to give it another shot before the new expansion launches, just to educate myself.

I don’t pretend to be an expert, and I’m about as casual as it gets when it comes to sPVP or roaming in WvW. But I’m going to give necro and honest shot and run it all the way to 80 just to see what it’s like.

I know right now pretty much the entire community agrees that necros are suffering some un-necessary nerfs. I intend to play despite all the naysayers, and find out for myself what the class is really like. I’ll update this post, every couple days or so, with my thoughts and impressions on the class. What I say will probably not be super analytical, and instead how I FEEL about the class. Maybe this will be useful for the discussion on the class, who knows?

Anyway, wish me luck! I THINK I know what I’m getting myself into, but I might not. xD

I’m curious, has Anet at any point in time come right out and said what they feel the necro should be in terms of team fights? Or how they’re meant to perform(or NOT perform, as the case may be) in group PVE such as dungeons?

Yeah, sorry, nerfs. I was on my phone at work. Auto-correct strikes again! xD

I don’t even play necro and I’m disgusted by how many nerfs necros are getting.

It’s not a balanced class, and it already struggles for group utility. I don’t understand the reasoning behind the current changes at all.

I am not a necro, nor have I ever played one. But I find the discussion interesting. One thing I noticed is that many necros are claiming they’re able to handle almost anything that comes at them while roaming. However, I’m seeing a distinct lack of video proof. It doesn’t need to be your own video, but having some solid evidence to back up your claims would be nice, even if only for instructional purposes.

And if for some reason you can’t provide video evidence, at least lay out your general build and strategy for your playstyle while roaming.

Don’t just say you can do something which is unlikely, show us how you’re doing it and explain how you’re doing it. Fight the QQ by educating other necros.

What if thieves actually stole their kit depending on what class they were up against, like they already do with the single ability we get from Steal? Instead of only getting a single one shot ability, we got an entire kit of 1-5 slot weapon abilities?

If thieves had kits, wouldn’t they just be engineers?

As a new thief player, I especially value instructional videos. This is even more true when there argument and discussion like what’s going on in this thread.bI often learn just as much about the strengths and weaknesses of a class from such posts.

ResJudicator.7916:

Not sure where all the salt is coming from. The players he fought are probably on par with half the people posting in the forum. I only watched a few of the fights, but in the first one the ele wasn’t killing himself on confusion. He procced it a few times when going through the water rotation in order to cleanse all his other condis (which would have ticked for more). He didn’t have enough cleanses to strip the confusion, so he kited until it wore off.

I’m guessing the players caught on to the needle trap after the first duel. It was setting up most of the damage in the build, and it’s not something you run into often, so these guys were probably caught off-guard (although they should have figured it out midfight).

I think the main point of the video is to just show how survivable the dire stat makes condi thief. Especially in combination w/ perplexity (which punishes people for attacking you).

I have to agree. It was a showcase video detailing what’s possible under specific circumstances, and to point out the things which might need balancing with condi-thieves during a time when devs might be looking at changing things(beta for HoT).

I don’t think it was meant at all to be a bragging or shaming vid.

Um….I know these are just videos to show off crazy stuff, but is there a reason why you cut off your skillbar from the bottom of your recording?

Thanks for the offer! I think I need to spend some time re-learning the basic game first, though. But once I’ve got my feet under me again, I’ll definitely start looking for more advanced training.

I can guess at what some of that means, but can you elaborate on them?

Don’t thieves already do very good DPS? Or is it only spike damage?

THE SCEPTER THIEF (Con-Man)

lulz

I am just now starting to play GW2 again after a long break, but even I can tell you that there will always be an overwhelming amount of bad thief players. Every video of a good thief showing off amazing feats of skillful play will spawn hundreds of bad players who think just rolling a thief will turn them and into batman.

It’s the nature of every stealth class in every MMO.

Just because you haven’t run into a good thief doesn’t mean they don’t exist, or that the class is bad.

WOW…OK. So I’m learning that a LOT has changed in the past year or so. It’s looking like I have to re-learn the entire game, not just thief.

Are there any REALLY obvious changes that I should watch out for? Core mechanics? I see there’s a new condition called torment that hurts when you move. Anything like that?

Sorry, I didn’t read the entire thread, since there appears to be intermittent trolling/bickering. I’m just now trying to re-learn how to Thief after not playing for nearly a year.

Is it possible that LR could be changed for HoT? Or is that not very likely?

Ok…so I haven’t played GW2 in a long time, and I’ve been lurking and reading the thief forum for the past couple weeks. It’s really making me want to play again. But the main concern I have is that I never really learned how to be a ‘good’ thief. I really only played it just enough to understand the general idea of how the class works at 80.

But now I’m thinking I want to sink some real time into the class with HoT coming ‘soon’. Has anyone ever put together a set of training or instructional videos for the complete novice? I could surf youtube and watch videos until my eyes bleed, but most of them assume you already know most of what you’re doing, or don’t explain anything at all.

I was hoping for something a little more structured to help me learn the basics, then practice, and eventually master all the different aspects of the class. Maybe with some “Thief vs XXX” instruction in WvW, sPVP, and with some PVE basics thrown in.

I’m willing to put in the time and work to find these videos myself. In fact I’m doing that right now as you read this post. But I figured I’d test the waters and see if someone had already done it to save me some time.

Thanks in advance!

Sorry, I don’t have a lot of crazy costume options unlocked. But here’s my asura engineer that just dinged 80 today. Went for an almost medic/steampunk kind of look.

I’ve been leveling an asura engineer. She’s so kitten cute….lol. The expressions are priceless, and some of the animations are downright hilarious!

I read in another thread that the mini-pet thing had been patched. Can we get confirmation on this, one way or the other?

Just hit level 80 on my engineer. Lots to read up on and think about. Is the info early on in this post still accurate?

Also, at the time of this post it’s only 18 days away from the patch that’s supposed to update engis. Should I hold off spending my laurels and WvW badges on gear until the meta shifts? Or will the patch largely leave gear choices unchanged?

I don’t have a build. Why do you think I’m asking all these questions?

You say dodge the big attacks. What are the big attacks or combos I should watch out for?

I was thinking more along the lines of sPVP and WvW videos for learning. The solo PVE vids would be for inspiration for what the class can potentially accomplish, and restore some of my faith in engineers. I’m a fan of all aspects of the game, not just one.

I switched up my sPVP build to focus on crit/condition damage. I did a little bit better over the last 10 games, but there are still players that feel like I’m fighting a brick wall, and they hit like a truck. With no exaggeration for effect, I’m landing hits on them, but their health isn’t hardly moving. And when they hit me, large chunks of my health drop.

Is there a REALLY good set of instructional vids somewhere? I’ve been watching Wolfineer, but mostly that’s WvW. I’m hoping for some good sPVP vids that really break down what to do in various situations, and what builds are good for what environments.

Ok, so I’ve been playing engineer for a couple weeks now. I clearly understand that there’s a LOT that I still have to learn about the class. But something I’m not understanding is sPVP.

Granted, I know I’m on the bottom end of the spectrum right now, since there are many people who have been playing for a long time. But what I don’t get is when I’m dropping my bombs on people, and landing hits wearing berserker gear, but I see enemy health hardly moving. But when players do the same thing to me, my health drops SUPER fast.

What am I missing? If I’m specced for full power, why am I hitting like a wet noddle when my hits land?

The other thing I’ve noticed about engineer is that unlike other classes, it seems like our most powerful abilities(bombs and nades), have to be manually targetted, while other classes can just tab target and roll their face on the keys for attacks. I know this is a skill issue, but it seems to me like I have to work super hard to achieve the same results as other classes. Am I off base here? Is this just a noob mistake because I haven’t fully mastered the class?

Anyway….I like the idea of the engineer, but right now I’m extremely frustrated with it. I think I need to go watch some crazy pvp videos, or engis soloing dungeons or something…..

OK then, just run around with a bloodlust rune in one of your weapon slots. Still better than most everything you’d use while leveling.

Some additional tips to help speed up leveling:

Get yourself a bloodlust weapon to swap out with your regular one, and try to keep 25 stacks up.

Always have a food and a potion/oil buff. Doesn’t matter which one, you’re after the bonus exp from kills. If you level cooking first(it’s the cheapest anyway) you’ll have plenty of options.

You could potentially farm black lion chests for boosters. There’s lots of guides on how to do this. That’s time you could be spending leveling your engine tho.

Make sure to remember to use birthday boosters to level 20 before starting with professions.

Get speedy kits FIRST before any other traits. Perma run speed will save more time than just about anything else.

Rifle 5 will jump a lot of places, but rocket boots will go just a little bit further, making some jump puzzles very quick if you aim correctly(OS is super fast!)

It’s my understanding that the fastest way to level up is through crafting. Then jumping on the EotM train with an exp booster running.

If you actually want to level through the pve zones, I’d say equip zerk gear and bomb everything. That’s what I’m doing.

I’m getting better at nades, but I normally play holding the right mouse button to turn. It’s throwing me off how I need to release mouse lock to throw a nade accurately.

I tried bombs a few times in sPVP, but usually I just get owned too fast to learn anything. Not sure what the deal is there.

I actually just watched a Static Discharge WvW video where the engi popped her ult every fight. At first I was ready to dismiss it as just spamming ult for a win, but then I realized that every fight was 1v2 or 1v3.

Honestly I think it’s less about the build, and more what the player does with the build.

Thanks for the advice!

Is mastering grenades pretty much mandatory? I’ve found that the inability to target a person directly, no auto-attack option on 1, and the somewhat slow projectile speed makes it extremely difficult to land hits on players. I’ve watched a few engi videos, and it seems like people are just hitting like it’s no big deal. I suppose that’s the reward of practice. Or is there some trick to it that I’m not seeing due to inexperience?

Just like the title says. I’m having the most trouble managing all the different kits, but also with correctly targeting grenades.

I’m not sure if I need a build that uses less kits, or if I just need more practice. It seems like when I focus on paying attention to what kit I’m using and targeting grenades, I forget to move out of the way of stuff and dodge. And if I start dodging a lot and paying attention to the battlefield, I tend to lose track of which abilities I’m using.

Any help here?

Thanks for the replies, guys!

I think what it sounds like I’m looking for is the T2-T3 kind of combat. More or less even matchups without too many of those periods of time where things just die off. My work hours land square in the middle of prime time for North America, so I’m either playing during SEA times, or middle of the day for NA.

Also, thanks for the advice on farming up the gold! That should give me the time to really get a firm grasp of what’s going on.

Larger wrench for Tool Kit, with gear shield on off-hand.

Dual-wield bomb casks for Bomb Kit; possibly with a fun little ‘lit fuse’ animation in combat.

Two-handed, big grenade launcher for Grenade Kit; also makes it less ‘why can I throw those farther than I can shoot.’

Carried bandages and stimulants for Med Kit.

Flamethrower and Elixir Gun both have distinct weapons already.

I like Wrench + Gear shield for Toolkit. Would need to add maybe a slight tell for when the block was actually active?

Stick of dynamite + lighter for bomb kit? Isn’t there already a legendary torch or something that looks like a lighter?

Grenade launcher for nades seems perfect!

Medkit is the only one where I feel the backpack is kind of appropriate. But I would still prefer an option without it.

Yeah, I run a lot of MMOs using WASD for strafing in the 4 directions. I also bind QERZ and 1-4 since those are easiest to reach. I use a standard 4 button mouse with a mousewheel for zoom.

I use a cheapo standard keyboard. $10 special! Durable, but no worries if it breaks or gets something spilled on it. I’ve been really considering upgrading mouse and keyboard for hardcore gaming, but I’ve been playing this way for so long it’s hard to envision keyboard and mice being worth more than $10-20 each.

What’s mostly getting me is getting my fingers to remember which key works with each kit. Especially when each kit does different things using the same keys. Any tips for building muscle memory? Or is it just a matter of practice?

I’m slowly learning to manage all the different toolkits and options that engineers have. It’s taking some work, and it’s the first time in an MMO that I’ve actually REALLY felt the lack of an expensive gaming mouse that has macros and such.

Does anyone have any suggestions for keybinds that make playing an engineer a little more manageable? I’ve already changed my settings for grenades so I don’t have to double click. But are there any other such settings that help?

Ok…so I can understand that the devs want there to be some kind of visual representation for what toolkit your engineer is currently using. That makes a kind of sense. What I don’t understand is why that necessitates giant hobo-packs.

The flamethrower and elixir-gun could both easily work exactly as they are with just the rifle. Remove the backpack entirely from the kit, and allow engineers to display their normal back graphic. Why is this a problem? Why can’t this be arranged as a checkbox display in the equipment page?

Mines, nades, toolkit, and bombs could easily also be represented with hand-held items. The game already supports carrying various items in either one or both hands, including giant bombs, chickens, sticks, rocks, and any number of other items. Engineers could be seen carrying a giant bomb in both hands, stick grenades ala world war 2 style, wrenches, bandages, or maybe a giant syringe for the medkit(some people might not care for it).

I really don’t understand why it’s such a huge issue to give players such a simple graphical option when they’ve been clamoring for it since launch!