Guild Wars 2

You have to go through one mission on your first character (maybe 10 minutes), then you can buy a portal scroll from one of the vendors in Ember Bay, and all the alts can use it to get there without doing any missions.

I got so tired of the endless supply of basic ascended mats that I just ended up destroying all of the material “eaters”. Now I’m free to insta destroy any bloodstone/empyreal/dragonite that shows up in my inventory, without thinking I’m losing out on something.

Fun little fact of my GW1/GW2 gaming – at the start of this year, when I stopped actively playing GW2, I went through my online banking logs and when I averaged all the box prices plus store/gem purchases per month it turns out I gave NCsoft around 4.5 euros per month over the last 10 years. Sure, it’s nowhere near 12 euros monthly plus box prices that p2p games would’ve cost me, but it was still a number that kinda surprised me.

GW2 can be played periodically, you can drop it after you become bored, and come back when there’s something going on you might be interested in.

Just a bump for this, reported it in game as well. Pact commander still doesn’t work.

ZombieLeach.5862:

I’ve been experiencing the same issues for about a week now and have talked with Anet’s customer service as well as my isp’s customer service. From what I’ve gathered from comcasts, time warner, and AT&T outage maps there are outages in Austin Texas where the NA GW2 servers are (at least from what I can tell). This means that it’s not Anet’s fault for the lag, but the internet company’s in charge of those lines. I’d suggest running a Trace Route on your connection with Anet’s servers and contact your isp to get the issue sorted out. I need to call my isp again since their last “fix” didn’t change anything.

I’m in Europe and the same thing is happening here as well. I doubt the phone company in Amsterdam (or were the servers in Berlin?) are having the exact same problems as those in Austin. This is some sort of Anet network code issue that creeped up with the latest patch.

I’m not from Australia, but I’ve been having the same sort of 500-4000 lag spikes every few hours that seem to persist for about half an hour. Started yesterday, and same thing happening today. Other online games working fine, so it’s definitely a problem on Anet’s side.

Yes, during the last 2 days I’ve had horrible lag spikes as well. All other games and internet programs work ok, so it’s something on Anet’s end.

Yep, after seeing the amount of charged quartz I’d have to wait around for, I just deleted my Device and forgot about this thing. I can put in the farm time without a problem, but I refuse to wait around for no reason at all.

The mission stalls at the very start, after the initial chak attack and when Taimi is supposed to start doing her event. She never starts it. Tried in 64 and 32 bit client.

As far as pets go smokescale is better than the bears, since it has an invuln under your control and an evade sort of under your control (it’s the first skill it uses when swapped in), plus it helps a bit with breakbars as well. And it’s a second (or third) tier pet in terms of damage as well.

shadow.6174:

Stephane Lo Presti.7258:

Bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug that affected map completion.

There were apparently more than one bug with map completion. This fix didn’t give back any retroactive rewards though.

After further testing, I can confirm the results of others – got map completion reward for Southsun on everyone except the two 100% characters, got Tangled Depths reward on my 4 day old revenant. Didn’t get rewards for: retroactive Dry Top/SW/Southsun completion on one of the 100% chars, completing Dry Top after the HoT patch on the other 100% char, completing Verdant Brink and Dragon’s Stand.

Bumping this to first page, it’s a pretty gamebreaking bug for completionists.

foste.3098:

Elorna.5329:

From my testing leopard is actually a bit slower than lynx, cause the extra bleeds go a long way. Especially now that cats have 1000 cond damage.

Actually the bonus condition damage pets got from the patch is bugged and only effects the number shown in the tooltips not the actual skills.

For example the lynx rending pounce and maul tooltips state that 4 stacks of bleeds are applied for 10 sec doing 5.200 damage (520 dmg per tick), but they actually do 3.280 damage (so 328 dmg per tick).

Similar thing with the hawk can’t remember the exact numbers since i am not ingame but it should deal 225 dmg per tick, the actual number is ~130 dmg per tick.

This is a big issue that has gone unfixed for 4(?) months.

Wasn’t the bug that pet skill tooltips use your condition damage instead of their own? And any bonus cond damage (like the one from the trait) doesn’t get applied. But base values still get applied afaik. Just like precision, only the base prec and fury determine the pet crit chance, while any trait bonuses, spotter and banner get ignored.

Adrian Guardian.9480:

Thanks for the numbers. I’m wondering how owl and leopard would do, since they’ve got F2 snares, I remember testing long ago and leopard did really well.
lol@wyvern kill times.

From my testing leopard is actually a bit slower than lynx, cause the extra bleeds go a long way. Especially now that cats have 1000 cond damage.

Guild wars 1 already had the main solution to this problem, don’t know why they removed it in GW2, especially since the pets became a permanent profession mechanic now. All pets in GW1 moved 20% faster than the base player movement speed, plus that bonus wasn’t counted against them when they had additional speed buffs (so a RaO buffed pet would be going at 45% movement speed, instead of 25% that the player received).

Pets were actual sustain damage threats there, I’ve won countless RA and HA games by having the pet on one target permanently while focusing others with the rest of the team. Especially useful was locking the pet on warriors, made them think twice about frenzying.

They should just implement the same 20% buff to GW2 (which would stack with swiftness, or the BM minor). We’d still need adjustments to most of the pet autoattacks, but it would be band aid solution for starters.

The slightly different version of this build posted here – https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Three-Strong-Druid-Builds-In-PVP is the better one. Glyphs are clunky and their condition removal seed is also harder to use and less reliable than a simple cond remover like traited survival skills.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Puck.9612:

GW1 pets were cosmetic skins…

Except for the Roller Beetle, its tons better than any other pet

And the bear, it’s tons worse than all the others.

Another +1 for this bug. Finished Verdant Brink on a 100% character, got nothing, finished Dry Top on a different 100%, same thing. Finished Southsun Cove on a bunch of below-100%, got the reward.

Also didn’t get any retroactive rewards on one of my 100% chars, that had Southsun/DT/SW already done before HoT shipped.

mistsim.2748:

well I wouldn’t nerf anything right now until our core weapons and avatar mechanics are fixed =) please don’t take away stuff without buffing us in other areas.

That’s not how it works for rangers, first you nerf anything that is at all competitive with celes or other top tier SPvP options, then 2 months or several years later (variable) you give out small buffs.

Sandzibar.5134:

So Roy just asked me to compile a list of stuff to nerf into the ground in next weeks adjustment patch.

So far I’ve got:
1) the smokescale
2) lingering light

:D

It will be compensated by a 1% increase in AF generation and 2% slower decay! Weeee! :p

Jaguar: Winnah
Stalker: Kitty
Lynx: Rhys
Hawk: Henry
White raven: Poo
Black raven: Poe
Any of the drakes: Filip
Wolf: Vicky
Dog: C A T (that’s what his collar says)
Any of the spiders: Spiderpig
Shark: Sharky Longears
Any of the jellyfish: Henrietta

I rarely use the others. When HoT comes and if smokescale isn’t overnerfed she’ll be Janine. Tiger will be Karl.

Sic em should really become a “teleport pet to target” effect. They can remove the damage boost from it all together if they wish. Sort of how Strike as one worked in GW1. Although in GW1 you didn’t need that skill, because Anet knew that if pets were to be any threat they need to be faster than players. So the base speed of pets was 20% over players and stacked with speed boosts, not capped at 33%.

That build relies completely on long cooldown utilities and the consequent oneshot potential. I expect it knee-jerk nerfed anyway, even tho a single dodge or even a double dodge would’ve been enough, not to mention blocks or other evade/invuln frames. That buffed up charge is literally the only thing you have to prevent in that entire build setup, and it’s on a 48 second cooldown (if the signet is traited).

Smokescale is strong because it’s actually one of those pets (the only one?) that can get its highest damage skill to actually hit. All pets would be “OP” like that if they didn’t have the “stop while attacking” problem.

Silv.9207:

That youtube videos is old and the pet AI was fixed a lot with the last patch, making things like that no more happen (or just sometimes).

Anyway, if the skill is the one mentioned before (pet skill 3-4), the only way to evade it is dodge/block/immune because it’s a multi-teleport attack that hit’s a lot of times.

if that skill hit every time for 3k the total damage on a single target can be higher than 21k, in 2 seconds.
It’s a little too much also for a full buffed pet, don’t you think?
And it’s not even the activated skill, that skill cna be the one that hit you for 10k.
Activated+pet skill = 31k in 3-4 seconds?
That has not to happen.

The activated (F2) skill of the pet deals no damage, it’s a smoke field that lets the pet evade attacks while it stands in it (so pretty much pointless in any PvP situation other than to use it as a way to blast stealth). The damage skill is the skill 4 that the pet activates on its own and it’s pretty much the same as revenant sword 3, just on a twice as much of a cooldown.

Even with this showing how bad pets are against moving targets, there’s already crying about smokescales’ damage on the “revenant-like” skill. Expect a nerf on smokescale, before anything at all happens to pet “stickiness”.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/pvp/What-the-problem-with-druid-s-pets/

Hammerguard.9834:

How did anyone even equip a new pet in sPvP? I can’t get any of the new ones and nobody in HotM is using one either.

That was WvW not SPvP.

I’ll try the immobilize druid tomorrow.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWRjEqQLL2xCOsAVLWyEM4ZaPdo6k4SANumkVA4AcyGODM-TJxHwACeCAh2fAwlAoYZAA

The pets would be the smokescale and dog, but that site doesn’t have the smokescale listed yet.

Ehecatl.9172:

Unrelenting Assault is that pet’s F2. That damage doesn’t seem too excessive given it’s on a 30+ second cooldown.

It wasn’t the auto attack chain if that’s what you’re worried about.

It’s not the f2. F2 is a smoke field that deals no damage but makes the pet immune to conds and evade everything while in it. That’s the last skill of those he activates on his own. I think the cooldown is 25 or 30 seconds. It’s pretty much like the revenant sword skill 3, just on a longer cooldown. It’s great when you’re the only target of it since all of the multihits end up on you, but kinda weak if it hits multiple targets.

Just to echo some of the other people, astral force is generated way too slowly with “standard” ranger weapons, way too quickly with staff. Once you finally do have access to astral form, the skills themselves feel clunky and hard to land. Also too many heals, almost no damage. The cond removal wisps are a good idea, but again, too hard to actually use effectively, both because of the clunky targeting and the delayed effect. The daze skill is great, altho a shorter daze but a faster cast/faster drop of the actual beam would be preferable. Not losing all astral force when leaving the form is a must, add a cooldown to the transform (like deathshroud probably). Self root on astral skill 5 just further adds to the “uncomfortable” feel of the entire form.

Wyverns straight up can’t hit anything that’s even slightly moving. Pets in general have problems with moving targets, but wyverns are on a different level. The tiger f2 is really nice for melee stacks, but kinda pointless outside of them. Smokescale and bristleback are great and an example of what a melee pet and a ranged pet should’ve been all along.

Glyphs need a rework, probably just a complete overhaul of their effects. Glyph of empowerment could be a good group buffing effect, when comboed with Frost spirit, Spotter and Sun spirit. But it would need either a longer duration on its effect (10-12 seconds, on a traited 16 s cooldown seems ok for a 10% damage boost), or a larger damage increase (20% for 6 seconds on a traited 16 s CD). That one can be salvaged with number tweaks, but the others probably need a lot more. The idea behind the elite glyph is pretty creative tho.

This is like the most red-post topic ever! Nice reads.

Zenith.7301:

Elorna.5329:

Yeah in that case, the more the mobs move, the better immobilise sources become. Or alternatively, ranged damage, both of which ranger brings.

But not as a condi spec.

Condi ranger has even more horrendous cleave, its only condi cleave being bonfire, and axe/torch is a shotgun spec, meaning point blank melee. Condi ranger has no ranged options, since shortbow is horrendous and has been overnerfed over the years thanks to pvp.

It’s even more inflexible than its power variant. It has no mobility whatsoever as well or built in dodges. If the power build was lacking depth, the condi spec is about as one dimensional as it gets. The power spec has the luxury of bringing in warhorn for blasts and call of the wild which is actually sorta decent if only in need of cooldown reduction (knock it down to 25 secs cd), and it can bring offhand axe for extra reflects or path of scar’s pull and disruption.

And if they ever do buff greatsword, it’s gonna be a pretty awesome weapon. The power weapons synergize a lot better anyways, as condi you’re stuck pretty much with axe/torch and that’s as far as it goes.

Jerus.4350:

Zenith.7301:

Elorna.5329:

Yeah in that case, the more the mobs move, the better immobilise sources become. Or alternatively, ranged damage, both of which ranger brings.

But not as a condi spec.

Condi ranger has even more horrendous cleave, its only condi cleave being bonfire, and axe/torch is a shotgun spec, meaning point blank melee. Condi ranger has no ranged options, since shortbow is horrendous and has been overnerfed over the years thanks to pvp.

It’s even more inflexible than its power variant. It has no mobility whatsoever as well or built in dodges. If the power build was lacking depth, the condi spec is about as one dimensional as it gets.

Splitblade, bouncing axe, flame trap, sun spirit… am I missing something?

Yes? Listing abilities does not comment on their effectiveness. Splitblade only functions at all in point blank range, so it’s not really cleaving, bouncing axe is the worst, most horrendous and useless autoattack in the game, and flame trap, as I said, is basically a bonfire clone. Sun spirit can be used by any ranger spec and will be for the benefit of the group (ranger will bring sun, frost, storm spirits unless they make Glyph of Empowerment not total garbage as a 10% damage boost for 5 seconds on a 20 sec cd, which is basically a 2.5% group damage increase or basically around a third of frost spirit’s bonus, aka terrible).

Yes, in case the “permanently moving bosses” is a thing, and especially if they’re immune to all CC while the break bar is up, then power is the only way to go for most professions. Hell, ranged power even.

Yeah in that case, the more the mobs move, the better immobilise sources become. Or alternatively, ranged damage, both of which ranger brings.

Rising Dusk.2408:

SlyDevil.3952:

Good thing the condi ranger build has better dps and no animation locks :P

Shame that it has a ramp-up time and requires enemies stand in your bonfires.

The ramp up time is pretty short, since the damage is mostly out of fairly short duration, high damage burns. As long as the fight is about 10 seconds long, all your burns would’ve been applied and lasted for the majority or all of their duration. And “standing in bonfires” is the same as expecting mobs to stand in hundred blades, lava font, symbols, etc. We already assume they will stand in our AoE for most of the PvE damage builds to work to their fullest.

Not to mention the condi build can bring entangle to ensure the “stand where you want them” much more easily than the power build.

If it wasn’t for ele’s damage and the ease of that damage’s application, it wouldn’t even be used at all. Engie can stack might just as well or better, ranger can stack fury just as well and has extra unique buffs. But engie has a complicated rotation and ranger sword 1 can get you killed, plus the damage coefficients on skills are mostly kitten. On the flip side, with Icebow getting nerfed, thief is the one with more things to worry about than the ele about staying in the meta. Other than really long skips, engie can completely replace it while adding more damage.

Nice seeing Gaile still supporting the ranger cause. Since 2005, no less.

Well frankly, the “comp” that I presented would work without frailty sigils imo (as long as the engie uses a 40% cond duration food). And having an engie at all is probably more important than anything except warrior in the post-Icebow world.

I dunno about the bug you’re encountering, but the only one I had (since go for the eyes got fixed) was needing to press f2 twice if I have the taunt trait equipped. Without that trait it seems to work as before.

Yeah, I read it, it’s gonna be another fortifying bond. Frankly, I’m ok with that.

Actually f2 traits are bugged, not the skills themselves. They fixed go for the eyes, the taunt trait still needs the same treatment. The weakness trait seems to work fine.

I see it as a viable class, dunno what you’re drinking. But it won’t change the fact that warriors are still needed because of banners and EA being such huge damage boosts. So if they’re already needed, and they’re taking that traitline, there’s really not much of a stretch to assume they’ll also keep PS.

Frankly I expect the future “meta” to be engie (for vuln, blind and stealth stacking with helping the initial might stacking as a secondary role), warrior (for EA/banners and PS to keep the might high throughout the fight and initial vuln stacking as secondary), ranger (for spotter/FS/fury stacking with initial might and vuln stacking as a secondary role and axe 5 as a tertiary role when long reflection times are preferred), ele (for fury stacking and initial might stacking) and chronomancer (for alacrity/quickness and reflection).

EDIT:
Hell, in a perfect world revenant would replace ele, cause ranger can probably handle fury alone, especially if aspect of nature is popped here and there by the revenant, but it will take a lot more to push the ele completely out of the meta and they still do have the best power based damage even without the bow (or close up there with engie).

They should just split it between PvE and PvP, or remove quickness and protection from the list of shared boons, since it’s pretty balanced and almost needed for ranger to be as viable as other classes in PvE.

What’s even the difference between a PS warrior and a weapon swapping warrior in a group situation? The only thing discipline brings is the 5 sec weap swap for better autoattacks while 100b is on CD (and some quickness, but with the close approach of the chronomancer, that isn’t a big deal). But you lose the boon % damage boost and EA which brings the entire party up by probably 5% if not more. Regardless of Phalanx Strength I seriously doubt any sort of warrior build without EA could make up the group damage loss in personal damage increases. That’s why “others can do it” is probably true in the case of might upkeep. So unless we’re talking about a group that has more than 1 warrior, EA alone is reason to never touch discipline or berserker.

About your insistence on warhorn – it really is completely redundant to keep it during actual combat. With pet f2 (5 might), blasted torch field with horn 5 (6 might), swapped pet after you enter combat (3 might, 6 if on a fire field), you alone provide the party with minimum 14 stacks that last around 20 seconds. Not assuming a warrior among the other 4 people is completely nonsensical even for the worst of pugs. Any warrior can get it and keep it on 25 from there on. Not having axe 4 is just a weird way to kitten yourself for no real reason. And axe 5 is actually pretty useful as well when chained reflection is needed, since the change to its radius.

About Sun spirit – you obviously don’t take it if there’s no guardian or mesmer in the group to provide AoE quickness.

About Storm spirit and the “vuln problem” – guess I’m a bit biased on that account since I almost always duo with my engineer guildie. The other classes add about 10 sustained overall I guess like you said (maybe more if they use frailty sigils).

Did anyone catch the F2 for the tiger? I can’t seem to find it anywhere on the internet. I think it’s a pounce-like attack with some sort of boon, but I didn’t see which one.

Any pet can tank the non veteran and veteran mobs in open world PvE. And drakes can tank all champions that come to mind, maybe if there’s a champ you can’t solo with drakes, swap in a bear. You’re just gimping yourself for no reason having bears all the time.

The only real advice is opening Beastmastery traits whenever that option becomes available (I think it’s level 20 or so in the new leveling system).

The description says blast, so I guess you never read the skill UI.

Holland.9351:

Both those traits look just terrible.

They are.