Guild Wars 2

I generally agree with you, though I think some of the changes could also be optional new traits to give staff/Druid some more offensive capabilities.

For example, start off by giving Staff 1 a bit of burning as a baseline. This might end up being part of a trait itself, but I don’t think it would be overpowered to make it baseline.

Next step – new trait that works with burning. For example:

Solar Attunement – Staff 1 now gives a unique effect to target enemy called “Solar Attunement” – 1 stack that lasts 10 seconds per attack, stacks intensity. If you use Staff 1 on a target with 3 stacks of “Solar Attunement”, the target loses all stacks of it and bursts into flame, afflicting them with additional burning and creating a small fire field around them that does minor burning to all foes who stand in it.

^- More damage for Druid and fire fields for might are also useful in group settings, win-win.

Another idea:

Solar Magnification – Staff 1 now afflicts targets with a unique effect called “Solar Magnification” – 1 stack that lasts 7 seconds per attack, stacks intensity. Solar Magnification increases the duration (and/or damage, depending on balancing) of all burning applied to the target. Maybe 5-10% increased duration/damage per stack?

^- Like the previous trait idea, more damage for Druid but also syncs well with professions that use lots of burning (Berserker Warriors, Guardians, etc.). Also has a lot of synergy with Sun Spirit (as well as being flavorful given that they both have to do with the sun). Unique effects also make a profession/spec stand out more, though of course this makes it harder to balance because no one else has it.

What do people think of these ideas?

Yeah, Druid is quite different from standard Ranger, but the purpose of many of the Elite Specializations was to offer something to the profession that they were lacking in before (Ranger – Druid – Group Support, Necro – Reaper – Melee Damage, Engineer – Scrapper -Melee Damage, etc.).

Unfortunately I agree that ours doesn’t fit in that well with the base class (unlike Nature Magic (our original support trait line), for example), but I’m hopeful we’ll see some changes in the near future.

As to the question of more elite specializations – almost undoubtedly. ANet hasn’t 100% confirmed this, but it seems like each profession will get a new Elite with each expansion (if they plan to continue with expansions). So, it might be a while before we get a new one. But feel free to play without it!

I just want to take a second to thank the lovely Gaile Gray for her support in this forum over the last few hours. A lot of humans say not so nice things on the Internet, and Gaile reads through all the good and bad and still offers us warm words of support. Online games need strong communication between players and developers to make their wonderful worlds flourish, and Gaile helps us do that with a passion you can’t help but feel.
I’m personally not that happy with the way this situation has been handled by almost everyone involved, and I hope it will be resolved soon. However, seeing Gaile’s comments here have made my day, and helped rekindle a bit of my hope in ArenaNet. So thank you.
Your fan,
~F

^ I agree with the above posters, but will add this:

The reason you can kill things faster at 40 is because that is when you can get the trait “Deceptive Evasion” (20 points in Dueling), which gives you a free clone on dodge. With two dodge rolls, that means you have 2 more clones to throw around. This trait allows you to do a lot more burst damage through shatters, as combined with other skills like “Mirror Images” and the clone/phantasm generating skills on your weapons you will be able to do two full (three clones/phantasms) shatters within a few seconds of each other, possibly even three. This allows you to kill ordinary monsters MUCH faster.

You should look at some proper guides to really learn how to maximize your burst, or you can experiment on your own (which is what I love to do). For now, struggle to make it through these early levels, though it may go faster if you work with others.

Good luck out there, fellow Mesmer!

I think it’s really funny that you have a male and female Asura with the same name, especially funny with the twin backstory. I have a female twin myself (and I’m male) so I can imagine how confusing and ridiculous that would be.

The name itself is good, especially if it’s pronounced Tol-bak, since the two syllables would make it more Asura-like. I also think it would be great if the male was named “Sir Tolbiaq” or “Mister Tolbiaq” or something of that nature to make more of a contrast to “Lady Tolbiaq”. But, nonetheless, good job. Overall: 9/10 for the sound and backstory of your name(s).

I have two little Asura that I waddle around with xD

Anjiol (Pronounced An-jol, though most Inferi-EHEM “Non-Asura” pronounce it An-ji-ol). He’s an Elementalist that, somewhat unusually, likes all the elements equally. He seeks the higher truths (being a Synergetic College member) and doesn’t care much for ordinary, day-to-day things. I gave him his name because it sounded like an Asura name and because his ears look like wings (Anjiol – Angel).

Festt (Pronounced just the way it looks) is a different minded (though some would say “mad”…simpletons…THEY JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND MY GENIUS!) necromancer with a passion for fire, due to the fact that his face was burned and his lover immolated by Destroyers. You’d think that would make him afraid of fire but…. that’s Festt for you. I gave him his name because it sounded like an Asura name and because it is part of two words that fit him well: In-Fest (hinting at his necromantic side) and Fest-ival (hinting at his playful, psychotic-in-a-good-way nature).

Drunken Mantis → Funny name! Definitely fitting for a thief. Not exactly your typical Sylvari name, which is why I’ll give it an 8.5/10.
9.5/10 if your character drinks copious amounts of alcohol xD And 10/10 if he also has a mushroom head ;-)

I’ve got two Sylvari, so you can rate ’em both:

Fiodoir – Mesmer of the Priory. Name chosen because it means Weaver and my last name is Weaver :-). Pronounced like so: “Fio – door”, kind of like “Theodore”.

Adaerc – Guardian of the Order of Whispers. Name chosen just because it sounded like a Sylvari name. Three ways to pronounce it, haven’t settled on one yet, so tell me which one you prefer: “A-dark”, “A-dirk”, “A-de-rik”.

Ticket Number: 130608-000006
I submitted this ticket on June 9th, 10 days ago.
I completely understand that taking care of an issue like mine (changing an account name) is absolutely not top priority, which is why I don’t mind waiting for it to get done, but I also don’t think that something so small should take that much time to do. Of course, I have no idea how busy you might be (and probably are) and how long this sort of procedure may take, so please take your time fulfilling my request.
Good luck, and thanks for your time!
~F