Guild Wars 2

To all who may concern, in this post Colin Johanson hints about new way of “obtaining” Lodestones in the future.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/T6-Dust-Crisis/page/7#post2193354

I think we could wait for these “solutions” to craft our gifts of light…

All can be shrink in one statement:

“I didn’t find anything that i really enjoyed.”

And that’s a good, personal statement, but so it’s:

“I enjoyed everything of it.”

Technically, the event were very good, you could access them from Lion’s Arch, they were instanced in the right way (Jumping puzzle, for example, was doable everytime, instead of logging sunday morning to not meet the darn Norns and Charrs), they were different in style (a Capture the Flag SPVP) or in fun terms (Bell Maestro) and while you could not having enjoyed the rewards, there were nevertheless, unique skins, recipes and toys.

So, while i respect your personal opinion of the events, i think you can admit that there were people who liked to “enter the Wintersday/Christmas spirit” and enjoyed doing even the most frolicking events.

Not all the events are epic or world-threatening… but that doesnt mean they couldn’t be enjoyable.

I noticed this usually happens when people reconnect/jump maps/enter WvW.

When you or the party involved has to pass through a loading screen it always mess up the context menu for awhile.

One good solution to keep this behaviour from happening and giving a chance of epic defenses 10v30 at the walls, is giving downed player a harsh downed penalty, as, "every time you’re downed, every player gets a cumulative 10% bonus to damage against you, until you waypoint (or until you exit from WvW, or until you repair, etc.).

This will keep people from resurrecting over and over and over, when you know that a good bow hit will one-shot you unless you retreat from the fight. That will encourage staying alive both in defense and in offense, to avoid ground-tanking over and over.

Your answers are really all very good, i thank you all for your helpful hints. I choose Mystic’s answer, but all of them were really good.

I encourage readers to continue to put their answers in this post, which i found to be a good source of material for the novice trader.

Sorry for the ambiguous title, 45 characters ftw!

What is for you the best practice in making money at the start, i.e.: with less than 15g to start? No Gems, pls.
Please, don’t tell me “farm, nub!”, i guess there are possibilities even at the start to make money.

I would also like a preference order in these activities i have found to be somewhat profitable:

- flipping crafting materials
- flipping sigils/runes/upgrades
- flipping weapons/armor
- crafting weapons/armor (buy materials, and then sell)
- crafting sigils/runes/upgrades
- salvaging weapons/armor
- “salvaging” dropped containers
- buying weapons/armor to play in Mystic Forge
- others?

Thanks in advance for all of you that will provide meaningful answers without trolling. I don’t ask you to reveal your trading secrets, only telling us, if you’d like, your preferences in trading.

RollingBob.8502:

It’s just a skin as far as I can see, what is the issue?

^^
This.
All this issues for a skin, if you have the money, buy it.

No, i won’t acknowledge you’re a better player because “you have a legendary”. Show me your skill in the battle, instead.

Same thing for all commanders i meet. I always gauge them during WvW and i have in my friend list the “good” ones.

You can have the legendary and be a commander, all dressed in Abyss Black and Pure White, but let me see how you fare in World vs World… no advantage, we are not in Wow.

Too few informations.

Were you geared up as glass cannon?
Were you starting with an obvious lead (easy to block)?
Did your conditions fade quickly, or did they run almost the full course?
Did you notice huge heals on him, or small trickling heal that continuosly replenished him?

Try giving us these answer and we could point you to the right build.
As a guess, i bet that was an AH build, with Pure of voice and Shouts.

But why? They don’t give you more orbs than the other salvage kits… Am i missing something?

I remind doing that less than two weeks ago. Bought some green armor in Orr, combined four of them in the forge, and it gave me… a normal green, that i sold to the vendor.

I am not at the game ATM, but i will try again as soon as i get home.

Nappychappy.7046:

I like WvW, but like sPvP, it gets old fast… Surprisingly enough I do have some friends, and a ton of guildies, but again… SSDD ya’ know?

I don’t know what “SSDD” means, i am sorry, but “It gets old fast”, well this is a computer game, all gets “old fast”. For me, WvW is replayable enough, because i am not one of them zerglings that follows around mindless hitting “1” on everything that moves.

I really like entering WvW with my 4 guildies and:
- wreak havoc in supply camps
- hitting caravans
- intercepting stragglers who try and regroup with the main zerg
- stealthing my group away on key places, waiting for the main zerg to pass and retaking quickly (even an undefended small tower can be taken quickly with 2 flame rams and a bit of outside help)
- communicating to commanders what i am doing so they can focus on guiding the zerg elsewhere

That doesn’t get “old fast” to me.
That said, to remain in topic, having or not having a legendary won’t change that style even a bit. I am working on it, but that’s not my main goal. So, buying it is out of question for me.

Quarktastic.1027:

Iavra.8510:

My Mesmer would kill to have the Guardian’s scepter

Not because of the auto-attack, i guess ^^ Smite and Chains of Light are indeed great skills (although smite could deserve symbol status).

Smite is terrible unless it’s used against a single opponent. Since the number of hits are shared amongst targets, the more targets there are, the less damage each individual target takes.

All AoE attacks are limited to 5 targets now, so at most you get 5 hits from them, at least the scepter hits 15 times, so even if there are 5 targets in there, they’re hit 3x each. Better than nothing, but i am using staff as my ranged weapon.

Nappychappy.7046:

I think once you have the legendary, you only play to show it off in LA.

That’s my opinion, I mean after you have it, what’s left?

Mmm, World vs World, sPvP, playing with your friends/guildies?

If you have no friends to play with, and dislike PvP, you are right (but you picked the wrong game…).

Never tried with Invader’s Gear, but you can put karma-bought weapons and armor in MF. It is one of the few methods to turn karma into gold.

Fildydarie.1496:

AdaM.6735:

Crafting is terrible in this game. Only used for 10 levels.

You’re absolutely right. I had absolutely no advantage by having a full set of gear prepared for myself every 5 levels. There is no way that this was useful at all.

All those potions I made? Well, I sold a lot, but I an’t argue with the buffs and exp bonus from them. Same with the food I made.

Those weapons I crafted? No, I didn’t make money selling them to people trying to gamble on ectos and precursors.

You’re absolutely right, there is no advantage to crafting; I could have just spent more money have the same result.

It depends on what you perceive as “advantage”.
If the “advantage” is having better gear at any level, you’re playing the wrong game (limited gear progression).

The advantage, as in all thing in GW2, is the ability to choose. You can choose to craft your armors/weapons instead of doing 20 dungeon runs to be able to have the stats you want.

I have maxed all crafting professions and didn’t regret it. Spent these 30g, when they were scarce, i have a title to be proud of, and if some friend would like to play this game, i can easily provide them with a better than average starting gear.

Remember, in this game “advantage” doesn’t mean “better gear”.

And, in a previous dev post, they said some of the armor box are bugged at the moment (berserker’s and rampager’s). So it could be the case for apothecary too.

You don’t have to purchase the recipe, the materials you mentioned will get you the RECIPE. Crafting the box itself is the next step and you will need additional materials.

Having even a little bit of magic find helps alot in my experience, if you want to find crafting materials. And bring a good salvage kit with you! The Commendation salvage kits are the best, 250 charges and they don’t cost that much (donating 12-16 green items will do the trick).

You can gain 10 levels for each full professions (400 skill). So at most, that alt could go for lvl 21-23. Plenty of levels to do

Unless you want him to learn all eight professions and craft all the way to lvl 80.

Crafting is mostly a leveling tool, not something intended to “make your own items”, even if you can do that buying materials from the TP and powerleveling your profession above your actual level.

I don’t know if you mean how to “craft an item” or “level a crafting profession”.

The first, and most important thing to do is going to your favorite profession trainer (they’re stationed near the crafting stations, and have the same icons as the professions) and asking them to “become a xxxxxxxxx”. You can only have two active professions at the same time, but your progress in the old professions is not lost, you only have to pay to re-activate them in the future.

If you want to simply craft an item, you have to:

- Discover his recipe (or buy it in some cases)
- Craft the item selecting its recipe in the crafting station pan (the hammer icon).

The second step is self explanatory, you select the item, it tells you in the right pane which ingredients are needed (and if you can already craft one or more of these items), then when you have the correct ingredients you hit the “Craft” button and you have the item.
Take the time to read what ingredients are needed, often the “components” are other crafts already present in your list.

The first point, “Discovery”, is tightly related to leveling the profession, because it is the best and fastest way to raise your crafting ability.
It involves putting one or more items in the discovery pane to “find” the right components for a new craft.
What components are needed is what most guides tell you to “use”, and that means making them (if they’re crafting components like linings, or panels, or even ingots from ore) or finding them as loot (if they’re fine components as claws or venom sacs).
When you make a correct discovery, a blue icon will appear in the right pane, telling you that you made a discovery, and hitting the confirm button will discover the item, crafting it, and giving you a lot of extra experience.

Most profession rotate on the concept of “insignia” or “inscriptions”, with cook and jeweler being the exceptions (but as they’re advanced professions, i suggest you don’t start with them).
Basically you make the “pieces” of an armor or weapon (i.e.: lining and panels, or hilt and blade), and then couple them in the discovery pane with an insignia, doing combinations you haven’t used yet.

I hope this helped you, you can ask more if needed.

You can, however compensate with foods and oils.

Plates of Lemongrass Poultry are amazing, and you could find some use from Quality Maintenance Oil or Superior Sharpening Stones.

Philosoraptor.7862:

Does anyone know the cap for boon duration increases?

AFAIK, There are no hard caps in this game, however, i don’t think stacking +boon duration is a good thing, as you will detract from more useful stats to get it at an acceptable value.

A fair value of +40% is just amazing, and will let you use your shouts almost non-stop.

You haven’t posted your trait, however, check if you have the (convert 5% toughness to precision) trait, and, if your damage is again sub-par, try with some food and oils.

Plates of Lemongrass and Quality maintenance Oil could work wonder.

If you have to run three runes of the pirate, then you should exchange the other runes for ruby orbs, as suggested, because they’re better stat-wise, and if you’re not getting the bonus set, it is all wasted IMO.

As for steal, keep in mind that if the thief has Bountiful Theft and/or Thrill of the Crime, you’re in for a nasty surprise, as his attack steals your boon, gives him a daze skill to use, along with fury, might and swiftness.

If the boon stolen is “Protection”, you’re getting hit for 33% damage more than before… go figure.

Regarding toughness, nothing has changed for me.

Doing the dragon is still a respectable way of losing 30 minutes of your time.
If you aren’t geared glass cannon, you can be near the ice column doing adds, and then getting a charzooka and bringing down the wall.

Now the fight is much more a “event” than before, when it was over in 10 minutes with no difficulties. Only thing they have to do now is balance the loot against the time. I am sure they will do that when the “farming” has reduced to a considerable extent.
At least a guaranteed rare could be reason enough to do the dragon, while farmers could find it desirable or not, and that should balance difficulty with reward.

Events shouldn’t be faced with 60+ people, they are scaled for 20-30 at max, but when all the farmers show up to get the loot from the adds, then the event is outscaled and it becomes trivial. That could be the reason that moved Anet to modify it to make it less appatable to farmers and more to players.

TLDR; They did right, now they have to balance the reward.

Speculating on Ascended Weapons, when they don’t exist even in the most obscure recesses of the database, is moot.

I suggest you just go for your preferred skin. By the time that eventually ascended weapons will be released, you will probably have means to get them much more easily than now. The game could change in a way or the other, so planning for a perceived “vertical progression” when it could be 1-2 year later, is overkill.

TLDR; Enjoy your game now. Go for the skin.

Are you sure it was a CRAFTED draconic coat? If that’s the case, it should work.

However, if you put the right ingredients in a MF recipe, it says how many of them do you need under each ingredient (try putting only 1 of them per type in the pane).

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

The problem with Mighty Blow isn’t the cooldown. Well, it can be part of the problem, but let’s address these one at a time. Say you’re fighting a guy. Since you’re a guardian with a greatsword, you’ll probably win in a 1v1. You chop him down a bit with the auto-attack and he panics and heals. At that point you can snare, symbol, and whirl and bring him back down again. Depending on his class and how much health he actually had left you may or may not kill him, but either way he’s not going to last long after. If you’re using a hammer you may be able to weaken him the same way with your auto but if he heals Mighty Blow won’t get him back down. Even if you crit you hit 5k tops, but most classes can heal for more than that with their defensive options. Without spike damage to counter spike healing you’re just going to be chasing each other around forever.

You have a point, but keep forgetting that i have 2xtimes of MB compared to WW. So, you have to double my 5k hits when comparing with WW. And that 2 MB will be comparable to a WW.

Moreover, the hammer swing time isn’t 1.25s even though the tooltip says that. A full hammer chain is 3.6s. The first two swings are .8s each which leaves 2s for the symbol swing. That’s a really long time to be sitting there doing nothing.

I don’t want to argue without proof, so i will try with and without traits, but i seem to remind that wiki times were right when i tried last time for the lifeleech build. Also, don’t be fooled by graphics… only watch the CD of the animations, graphics could be lagged, you have to time when your button changes again to the “first” icon.

Moreover, even if the swing itself does hit at melee range (and it has to be melee range or only the symbol will deal damage) you’re barely dealing any more raw damage than the GS auto unless they actually sit in the symbol while it ticks. Otherwise, you’re doing almost the same damage but taking 2.5x as long to do it. That’s not equivalent DPS no matter how you slice it.

If they get hit by your third attack, they will get hit by four hammer hits, three for the chain and one guaranteed for the symbol. Yes, it isn’t equal, but not 2.5 times far as you say, and you have to sum that you’re getting protection with it (granted, you’re getting might, and that’s the only reason i could yield to GS having much more autoattack damage).

And yeah, Mighty Blow is 6s untraited. The effective cooldown of a skill is animation time + cooldown since it doesn’t start recharging till after the skill is complete.

According to the wiki is 0.75s activation + 5s CD, while WW is 0.75s activation + 10s CD. So is 10.75 against 5.75 = 1.87 times faster, not 2x, still a lot faster.

The reason crits are important for Mighty Blow is because it’s a single-hit skill. That means either you hit a big crit or you hit nothing at all. Your non-crit MB might hit for as little as 1.5k. If you hit a good MB, wait 5s for the recharge, do another MB and that doesn’t crit, you have to wait another 5s to try again. If in the meantime they’re avoiding your hammer autos you’re basically doing next to nothing that entire 10s interval. Even with full Radiance and a berserker setup your crit rate is only 55%, so it’s almost a 50/50 chance of getting nothing out of the skill at all. By comparison, WW hits 7 times, so numbers are much more stable. You aren’t as likely to get massive damage (i.e. they all crit) but you won’t get crap either (i.e. none of them crit). It’s just a matter of numbers.

Problem is, multi hit attacks can be dodged midway, while a single hit attack cannot. When we start WW, there is always a possibility the opponent reacts with a dodge to the telling animation (the first spin) and will nullify all but the very first hits, cutting at least 4/5 of the total damage (especially if it dodges away to avoid projectiles too). That’s not the case with Mighty Blow, either they see it coming in the 0.75s activation time (and it doesn’t have a telling animation if you’re near to them), or they’re smacked in the face.

And i know that crit is all that matter in the hammer, i stack precision and toughness, with knight armor set, and i was thinking of switching to rampager jewels to get more precision. I run Precision food and oil, sometimes switching to lifeleech food if i feel tanky.

Running both weapons with an high crit, i tend to use them both, i tend to use WW if the enemy is packed, while i use MB if the enemy is dispersing or is “on the ball”. Multihit against Onehit has always been a staple of DPS theorycrafting.
Incidentally, if Empowering might didn’t have a 1s CD, Whirling Wrath could be the DPS skill of the century…

Ancora una volta rinnovo l’invito a unirsi a noi, magari approfittando dell’occasione dell’evento natalizio

Contattatemi ingame e/o postate le vostre apply sul sito nel primo post.

Exterminans.9723:

So much of this has been removed with GW2. The system has been reduced to a pure buttonsmasher. And what people call “skill” in GW2 is nothing more than pure timing and reflexes. Call out targets, stay in pug, synchronize combos over teamspeak and thats all. Theres nothing more to the game.

Then… what is “skill”? Who is the “skilled” player, or better, the skilled TEAMS?

I think that:
- dodging at the right time and knowing when to retreat
- using your abilities at the right moment
- coordinating with your group and doing teamwork
- focusing the right target when there is need to burst
- adapting your strategies to the group

is what a skilled TEAM has to do.

At the contrary, the unskilled team:
- whines because it is instagibbed by boss abilities (solution: tank and trinity, so i can tunnelvision heal or pew pew DPS without interruption)
- whines because their abilities have too long CDs and they can’t DPS/heal (solution: specialize roles and give more specialized abilities)
- whines because there is no structure and tactics (solution: trinity)
- whines because feels it should do much more damage and the boss have too much health (solution: specialized roles so i can pew pew more)
- whines because some bosses are too hard (solution: trinity)

but, read, the solutions are already there. Up in the previous list. I don’t think that the skill of the player should have to limit to “building a good spec”. It is part of the game, but the most important is TEAMWORK.

digiowl.9620:

It is not about reinstating the trinity!

As for water, only 3 professions produce them, and only with 4 skills between them!

1 engineer (regenerating mist tool belt skill, when having healing turret equipped, PBAOE on the engineer. 60s cooldown), 1 ranger (Healing Spring PBAOE heal and regen 45s cooldown), and 2 elementalist (Geyser at 20s and Healing Rain at 45s, staff required).

Not that they matter much, at they at best (maxed out healing power) heal for 1/5 of the low health professions. Two of them require the profession to be in the heat of things, and only one of them has a cooldown below 40 seconds.

You can activate them multiple times, you know? With my 5s Hammer Blast Finisher, i can activate Ranger PBAoE 3 times. I will activate it, not him, he doesn’t have to be in the thick of battle, he can put the field and go away, i will blast it as melee. They only have to stay within 600.

When my ranger friend calls “Water Field”, i always strive and activate them at least 2 times. That’s 1.4k Heal per activation. Then he can do a Projectile finisher through it, activating Regeneration on me and other people around. And that’s only 2 people, wonder what will happen if all five people Blast the water field (all classes have blast in various weapons).

That’s only healing. I could delve in Weakness (effectively halves incoming damage), Might (Adds up damage) and various other mechanics, that involve GROUP effort instead of pushing “Taunt” or “Heal”.

greg.3792:

I do laugh when people say GW2 is skill based. Sure positioning and the occasional dodge is important, but I would hardly say it was skill based. Perhaps if it was not tab targetting and more like a FPS you could say that.

I liked how SWTOR you could respec into different roles. and I agree with the OP that removing roles did not enhance the game as much as they hoped.

I agree you do not necessarily want the old tank + healer that do all the work but you could make having a tank change a hard dungeon to becoming easier. As long as most classes can fill the tank role.

I think you obviously play mostly solo, have no clue about the Combo system and are content with your play-all-your-abilities-when-off-CD style.

Do you need a healer? Play a class that either does or blasts Water Fields. Then, you’re a STRONG healer, my blast heal 2.5k AoE to all my party, and i can do them 3 times for field, while continuing to do DPS in the meanwhile. You can even combine with your abilities, i think the best healer is a Shout Warrior with Blast finisher with a Ranger or Elementalist in party.

Do you need a tank? Melee with a Thief or Necro in party and activate their poison field and smack away. Or be poisoner while your friend tanks.

You get the idea. You want Taunt, and Heal. So you can push your magic button and it’s all settled down, i can pew pew pew, the healer can tunnel vision heal, and the tank can be smacked in the face by lobotomized mobs that answer to an asura tank “Taunt”… eheh

Reinstating the Trinity will simply make me buy WoW. The trinity there is much better implemented than in other younger or immature clones out there.

Stamen.9240:

I am currently playing about 1/10 the amount of time I played at launch and have returned to other things.

Fractals were an amazing addition, but they changed everything. Besides the struggle in group formation (yes I know about the LFG website), nothing about the game fits my schedule. I don’t have the ability until late at night to just drop my kids’ needs. I need to be able to do something and stop what I am doing from time to time to assist with homework, baths, etc.
[SNIP]I personally just got tired of not having anything to do, and what I want to do has too many hurdles for me to consider fun.

I read this with interest, because i have the same concern as you. I have two kids (3 and 1), and i am often needed to help my wife in all the evening chores.

I found two solutions to play with serenity:

- Running dungeons only with my friends and guildies

They know me and are understanding if i have to afk for 5 minutes. Besides, it is much more fun anyway!

- Farming in well structured areas like Frostgorge and Southsun Cove

You’ll find refreshing farming in these lvl 80 areas, because, unlike Orr, there are several “safe places” to park your PC, even in Southsun where it is more crowded, you are often only a cliff jump from safety, and only the Veteran Karkas have crippling abilities. There are mines, nodes, a few events (between the two zones, you will complete your daily without trouble) and lvl 80 loot. Southsun Cove is free travel to and from Lion’s Arch, too. Frostgorge has Jormag as an added bonus. So you will find stationing in these areas better than in the mob-filled Orr.

A last advice: if you find playing in off-peak hours (late at night, for example), try moving to a different server with a compatible time-zone. It will help you immensely in your tasks

I really wanted to read all thread, but it really derailed badly after the first few posts.

So i’ll answer directly to the OP. What you’re looking for, is already present in the game. You have to bring your friends to understand the “combo” system in the game, it will work wonders with your result and understanding of the combat style of GW2.

An example, i often run with my ranger or elementalist friend. I have an habit of asking them to call water fields, so i can Blast them with the hammer and give area heals to everyone. We have used and abused this and other tactics to provide us with what you feel is lacking: structure and coordination.

They’re now so used to it that when i get my ele alt, it all feels out of place, and i have to “Dragon’s Tooth” the fields to not let them down…

So, TBH, i don’t feel this style “lacking” if properly used as is, instead of asking to be changed back in a style that doesn’t belong to GW2.

For this reason, i don’t feel the need for the trinity either: we can all do all roles with the proper coordination. Do you want “Shield Wall”? Try blasting/leaping a poison field…

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Combo

Ravenmoon.5318:

KensaiZen.3740:

Hammer players play the waiting game. They can survive any full burst from any class and when the damage has been absorbed they destroy the enemy as he has used up all his skills.

In reality though, hammer users go for crit rate. That means lose some in the armor department, that means that usually the GS users are more “tanky”. I mean … I’m happy 3400 armor user and I deal nice dmg in WvW. Alone I make a zerg back off and focus me while I’m in renewed focus while my zerg is bashing at theirs. Fun 10 seconds xD Agroing zerg is almost like CC a whole bunch of mobs. It’s funny actually, it ALWAYS works O_O

To go for crit rate, usually i go for knight armor. More precision (thanks to the trait) and more tanky.
I do like aggroing the zerg too… i suggest however aggroing with GS and WW…. this tend to disperse them, you can then put a WoR and start hammering away

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

If we’re talking greatsword vs. hammer for practical use in PvP, greatsword is miles and away the superior choice. I’ve used both considerably and I can confidently say that hammer is pretty much crap unless you’re using it specifically to snare someone so you can switch to GS.

While i have the utmost respect for your knowledge of GS, i would like to point that both weapons have about equal value in PvP and Pve, with a little preference for GS in PVP and Hammer in PvE.

I would like to explain why, quoting your post. Have to snip them for message length.

Let’s look at the advantages of GS:

1) It has way better burst. [SNIP] It’s not IK tier burst but it’s strong enough to rip through a weakened opponent, especially given that:

Mighty Blow can be used 2xtimes of WW, that you have to put that into consideration. WW can be totally avoided with skill, but it is more difficult to avoid 2 mighty blow in the same time (provided you can stay in the fight at least 5s). That said, GS is certainly more bursty than hammer.

2) GS has the best sustained DPS in practice. [SNIP] Mighty Blow isn’t actually that much damage either, it’s a single hit for about 4-5k every 5 seconds (if traited) and potentially nothing at all if it doesn’t crit. It’s a 50/50 proposition that means you could potentially go 10 whole seconds without dealing any damage to your opponent at all.

This, i beg to differ. Hammer Auto-attack doesn’t work as you said. First 2 hits are normal, wide, AoE attacks (exactly as the Greatsword), but the third has a chargeup of 1.25s, not 2s, and IS NOT MELEE, it’s RANGED (look at the tooltip and on the wiki)
So while you can avoid the “third” GS attack by walking forward, you have to DODGE to avoid the third hit, especially if i am moving towards the target in the charge time (you can move during the charge time without interruption, you can even dodge, cancelling the charge time!).
So, no, Sustained DPS is the same, if not a little better from the hammer, because the third chain hit actually hits two times, one for the swing and one GUARANTEED tick from the symbol, putting that in pair with GS and even a little more.
Obviously in PvE that’s amplified by the fact that targets don’t move.
And, Mighty Blow is 5s UNTRAITED (read the wiki). I cannot understand why you say it doesn’t do damage if it doesn’t crit, and why should i wait 10s to do damage… i will wait 5s at most… Or i could debate that if your WW doesn’t crit, you’re wasting 20s doing no damage?

3) The hammer snares really aren’t that good. [SNIP]

ZE is really obvious, but the real use is to snare an opponent that is already in melee with us, so it is unavoidable because is part of my swings at point blank. It is also a nice catcher for when you’re chasing, as most people don’t watch their back while fleeing, making connecting ZE easy.
Someone already answered about the defects of Binding Blade, but i have to point out that is one of my favorite skills of all times: Pull, Interrupt, and Whirl Finisher in one shot, i wish to have that in the hammer instead of Knockdown (useful but counterintuitive on a melee weapon…)

4) The prot from the hammer symbol is worthless. Are you going to sit in it the entire fight? The opponent will be moving away from the symbol, not towards it. If you sit in it to get protection you’re not hitting them. If your opponent is a ranged class you’re taking damage the entire time. You’re reducing your damage taken in exchange for not dealing any. That’s not really a good tradeoff.

You don’t need to sit in the symbol, you only need protection from the first hit, 1s protection is enough to have the first 2 hit of the chain under the boon. If you spec/rune on it, you can have protection almost 100% uptime without nerfing your mobility or damage.

To be fair, I do use Hammer/GS for the swap combo a fair bit. It’s pretty decent. That said in terms of overall usefulness in a PvP matchup the GS is way better.

To be fair, me too!
I find that Hammer and GS complement each other really well, i use GS for WW burst, then switch to hammer to take advantage of MB and protection (and snaring, rooting, etc), and then is spin time again

Go to Trading post, in the section “Items i’m buying”, you will see all your buy orders. Click on the button on the left side to have your money deposited back in the TP.

@Ravenmoon:
I don’t really understand your point.
- Every single Hammer attack is AoE too.
- Mighty Blow brings up Area Retaliation on our symbols and fields, every 5 seconds (instead of 15s for Leap of Faith)
- You can easily walk from stomp range, no sir, third hit is not melee, is RANGED hit, homes on your feet even if distant (try it), range is only 170 but sufficient to not simply “walk away”
- Whirling Wrath, is indoubtly the most powerful guardian DPS skill, is 7 hits + 2 projectiles on a single target. Damage listed in the tooltip is for the total (barring increments due to traits), and i often try to combine Mighty Blow + JI/Ring of Warding + Whirling Wrath to inflict massive punishment on the target. I found however that the 5s CD on Mighty Blow makes me much more adaptable to have that the 10s on WW. Personal opinions, too.

- I don’t see how a hammer could save me, just pls, hammer gives you PROTECTION almost 24/7, it means you get 33% less damage, your 15k suddenly become 20k, how can you tell this. Maybe you have trouble getting the third hit done, but i assure it will land, in the meanwhile, however, nothing will save you, not even the Greatsword.

- That thief could be surprised if you react swiftly with a Banish in his face… just when he thought he has you in her hands, slam! He’s far from you and you can heal without interruptions… With the GS you don’t have this option, but, that said, i found Binding Blade MUCH MORE USEFUL, only not in the case you post.

I play with both Hammer and Greatsword, and often i respec when going to certain activities.

There are strong points for both of the weapon, and IMHO these are the most versatile guardian weapons.

Greatsword has great utility and damage. I realy like the pull, especially in WvW and PvP. Spin is always beautiful, even if not so efficient as i would (bolts tend to miss even targets which are very near).
Symbol is so-so… being stationary while casting it is a liability, but can be overcome with good movement skill. Greatswords AoE like Hammer, and has builtin might.

Hammer has strong CC and damage. The utilities are completely reversed from the GS. Where the GS pulls, the hammers knocks away. The hammer has root, while the GS has not. Even if the chain is slower than the GS, most people are fooled from the third hit. But, the third hit is RANGED, not MELEE. Most people oversee that, you hit even if the foe has gone away (400 or 600 range i think).
So, third hit, and symbol, are mostly assured (especially if larger). DPS is the same of the GS, except that Hammer has protection boon , while GS has Might, and that tips the scale a little toward Greatsword DPS.

What i really like of the hammer, and the reason that it is my mainstay weapon, is the Combo Finisher: Blast. Sure, Greatsword has three combo finishers, but they are 2 Whirl and one Leap.

If you have familiarity with Combo Fields, you should know that while Leap applies the “Combo Buff” only to you(or debuffs to your target), and Whirl makes “bolts” that give boons (or debuffs) on hit.

Blast, however, spread the effect on an area. I ALWAYS coordinate my Mighty Blow with my Ranger and Elementalist teammate to spread a Water field into a 1.5k+ Area Healing (*3 times), all the while keeping hitting my foes with a large AoE attack.

I much rather prefer this “fire and forget” approach to Combo, that aiming for my teammates with the spin, hoping to get them.

TLDR; both weapons are right for their job, doing DPS. While either has their own advantages and disadvantages in some aspects of the game.

I really like playing Guild Wars 2. Mainly because i am not a hardcore player, i haven’t finished all the things that could be done in this game, because i tried everything in moderation.

I enjoy every aspect of the game, but i understand that some player may be frustrated from the lack of vertical progression (i.e. gear) that has been only recently introduced in Fractals dungeons.

Still, i will enjoy looking for these adventures too, because i don’ expect the game to cater to MY wishes, but i try to adapt to the game as it changes (hopefully for the better, sometimes not).

There are some things that i don’t like (atm, Fractals, Ascended Items, lack of Boss Waypoints in dungeon), but i usually try to move on.

I really expect this game to become better with time (as WoW has done till the recent years), and even if some choices are not quite what i like, i will wait and try all of the new features in moderation.

I think most people suffer from burnout, due to the WoW-style that imposes running to maxlevel-maxgear-cookiecutterbuild to be ready for the next “expansion” or raid.

Playing without this mentality will bring back new life to your game, at least that has happened for me.

Ah, playing with guildies, friends and especially with A LOT OF THEM, is better yet.

On Desolation server i see people in every zone i go, admittedly there are a lot more in Lion’s Arch, Orr and Frostgorge, but that’s normal as the 80s station there.

I strongly advise you to join a larger guild. I know, we have our bestestbest friend 7-people guild-with-our-historical-tag, but joining a larger guild will not detract anything from the other guild (if it is quiet, it is quiet), and will give you a new perspective on the game.

Because, these game is meant to be played with other players. Forget farming, forget money and gear, and try going in a dungeon or on the events with your friends/team/guildmates in Teamspeak.

It wouldn’t be so efficient, but… i bet you will have fun again. Even wiping for hours (as we did in Arah last night without having a clue about the “speed routes”, hehe ).

Quaz.4931:

Lionaeron.5724:

Shifty.5187:

None of those things give you a direct advantage in PvP, nor are they that much of an advantage in PvE.

They need to keep the game profitable, and I’m glad they do it this way as opposed to a subscription. Most of the things you can buy are purely cosmetic, and the other things kinda make the gameplay easier, but not better.

I noticed you conveniently left out WvW, those boosters give clear advantage over others – speed/regen boost anyone? An advantage is an advantage, doesn’t matter how you try and spin your words, you just make yourself look like a goober.

THANK YOU, somebody bloody gets it. My post was explaining that you do get SOME advantage with real life money – which is not what the trading post was meant to give.

If anyone thinks getting free gold (in terms of time spent in game) isn’t an advantage, they need to rethink their thought train (or give me their gold, cus hey – it gives no advantage!)
And if you think having 20% less ectos isn’t an disadvantage then.. well I just don’t even.. The black lion kit is one of the best items in game, even if it is the only thing the chests drop that is worthwhile.

My point was that the gem store DOES give SOME advantage for money, and you cannot argue that. You can argue HOW MUCH of an advantage it gives, but it does give SOME advantage to players with money to spend and those without.

And my summary point, that the first few replyers seem to have ignored, explained that people don’t want to buy an advantage from the store, they want to buy cosmetic things that they can show off and collect.

I can get the same boosters from Daily Chests, and Black Lion Chests (keys may be dropped from mobs, happened to me quite a few times).

I never bought anything from the Gem Store, and i have 10+ boosters per type sitting in my bank (and inventory) doing nothing.

So, your point is moot. The Gem store doesnt’ give unfair advantage, it only speeds up the process, but i can get all i want from the Gem Store or other activities in the game without spending a buck.

However, your point stands in that me and the majority of people would like new and better looking cosmetic items in the shop. Hopefully the Winter Event will give something nice …

Brutal Arts.6307:

Thanks for attempting to read my mind with your condescending copypaste however you’re wrong on all counts. I’m doing fractal 20 for a shot at the weapon skins. Anet, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make these a random drop from fractals 20+. If I want to get a few of these nice looking skins to spread across my characters I have no choice but to keep going into fractal 20+

No matter how much “skill” you have Jade Maw’s undodgeable unblockable agony will sitll hit you, hence the need for agony resist.

If that’s the reason, i fully support you and feel your pain for the RNG. Hopefully ArenaNet is devising new way to obtain ascended items out of the Fractals, so you (we) could get them without resorting to mindless grinding.

That said, i don’t think your goals (skins) are that of the majority of people spamming “LFG XX Fractals”… i am simply not optimistic enough.

Have you tried runnning the game as Administrator?

Brutal Arts.6307:

Fabsm.5897:

You know, you don’t HAVE to grind for the rings. You’re perfectly efficient without them, if you’re a good player.

You know, you don’t HAVE to be able to survive Jade Maw at rank 20. You’re perfectly useful being dead after the initial agony, or being dead weight for your team. Oh wait, that’s wrong, looks like you DO need to grind out 2 rings if you want to not drop like a sack of bricks afterall.

Sorry, i am copypasting from another of my posts, but the answer is essentially the same.

But then, why are you even doing Fractal 20… to get even more rings or backpiece?

If you’re a good player, you’ll be good even without them. You choose to keep grinding, and you lament you aren’t dropping items that merely make possible for you to … keep grinding more.

I am doing Fractals as i do all other things of this game, as a possibility, not as the ONLY possibility. But maybe it is because i don’t make pugs and only play with friends and guildies. I play to enjoy the game, not to have the xxx-stats-more-than-you.

I probably will stop doing fractals at lvl 10 for this reason. And then move to my long-term goals, building a legendary, a good tPvP team, and a good WvW squadron.

Oh, the last two things don’t drop in dungeons. Nor do skill. And i am glad that in PVP, all your rings and backpieces mean nothing.

I hope this could make you think twice on this insane WoW-style grinding.

Maestro.5376:

Fabsm.5897:

I don’t feel your pain.
You’re perfectly efficient without those rings, if you’re a good player. Why raging so much?

Because there comes a point at which rings/agony resist is a necessity or you die without fail at Jade Maw health checkpoints. And if your entire party is extremely competent but RNG has seen fit to not reward them with any rings….

It becomes impossible to complete Jade Maw at 20 unless everyone has a (default) infused backpiece + slotted infusion.

But then, why are you even doing Fractal 20… to get even more rings or backpiece?

If you’re a good player, you’ll be good even without them. You choose to keep grinding, and you lament you aren’t dropping items that merely make possible for you to … keep grinding more.

I am doing Fractals as i do all other things of this game, as a possibility, not as the ONLY possibility. But maybe it is because i don’t make pugs and only play with friends and guildies. I play to enjoy the game, not to have the xxx-stats-more-than-you.

I probably will stop doing fractals at lvl 10 for this reason. And then move to my long-term goals, building a legendary, a good tPvP team, and a good WvW squadron.

Oh, the last two things don’t drop in dungeons. Nor do skill. And i am glad that in PVP, all your rings and backpieces mean nothing.

I hope this could make you think twice on this insane WoW-style grinding.

Kid Taylor.5479:

If I were very rich, all I would need to do is to show off the highest amount of gold I had at one time in a screenie. Unfortunately, I am not. Most of this thread seems to center around methods which can only be achieved with the use of a large amount of gold. What I would like to ask is whether there are any methods which do not require a large amount of capital to begin with and yet can be worth the user’s time.

Flipping small items is a good way to make gold when you haven’t a large sum to begin with.

Sigils, Runes, lvl 60 rares, you should focus on usable items that have a good demand.
Market is fluid, so i cannot point single items.

Most of the other ways involve gambling at one point or another, so i suggest you invest only 50% of your capital maximum in these methods .

JackBurton.1803:

I don’t know who cares about this but here it goes.

I followed the idea Brutally had about using a Superior Sigil of Blood and omnomberry pies…

This combination gives you a 96% chance to steal health on crit.

It works like a champ. I use a Knights Hammer + All Exotic Knight’s Draconic gear. ( Ugly as kitten btw )

Toughness out the wazoo and low HP. ~ 13,000 +/- a hundred.

I feel like my only Achilles Heel is a sharp damage spike… but you can time Aegis from “Retreat!” or Virtue of Courage… which along with “Renewed Focus” gives you 3 Aegis chances vs. any Champion/Mob.

I highly recommend the Knights’ Armor + Knight’s Hammer (TOUGHNESS!) and then rolling with a Superior Sigil of Blood + Omnomberry Pies.

0/5/30/30/5

Try adding Superior Sharpening Stone or Master Maintenance Oil to the mix for added spice

I wonder why in the wiki Maintenance Oil are supposed to “increase precision” when they do the same thing as the stone… bug?
Edit: they in fact give precision, wiki is wrong.

I don’t feel your pain.
You’re perfectly efficient without those rings, if you’re a good player. Why raging so much?

Zogyark.4597:

Enfrayia.8179:

You do a fractal once a day for the ring, how is that grinding?

Twice if you do lvl 10 and 20, and unlucky people like me should because the rng gods and odds are against us, this could take anywhere from 2-4 hrs a day which is my total gaming time after I get home fromw ork, I’d rather do what I want however after getting so far I feel compelled to at least get a ring, even after that it will probably not be the stats I want therefore I’d have to do it again and again = grind

You know, you don’t HAVE to grind for the rings. You’re perfectly efficient without them, if you’re a good player.