Guild Wars 2

Warrior is terribly dull to me.

Guardian is more fun, though when exploring I find I really miss having a permanent run speed boost.

Mesmers are not much fun to level IMHO. I really want to like the staff bouncy AOE condition sort of thing, but in your typical fight against typical grunts in the world it’s just way too slow. Also, no perma run speed buff.

I don’t seem to have the hang of eles for some reason.

I keep forgetting Rangers even exist (and don’t seem that fun to me when I remember).

Engineers have their moments, but until you turn into a grenade-spamming machine at level 80, things can get a bit rough, and I never really settle down with a particular playstyle. Bombs are probably best but I just don’t like playing that way.

I find thieves and necros are fun to level and continue to be fun at 80. Kill speed is good (especially on thieves) and they can be pretty survivable (especially on necros).

MMOs are huge projects. The production schedules for content has almost no relation to whatever it is people think their competitors, whoever they are, are doing.

Also your subjective measure of how populated the server is honestly says nothing about the financial health of the game. Simultaenous online players are a cost in terms of bandwidth and server load. Revenue comes from initial sales and from gem store sales, and you can learn practically nothing about either of those based on how many people are hanging around outside of dungeon entrances, or whatever you’re trying to measure.

Xae Isareth.1364:

The truth is that if you want to optimise, which is what the ‘useless’ in the title refers to, your preference has no role in it.

In other words, ‘useless’ does not actually mean ‘useless’.

If someone who was a fan of a DB spam build started a thread titles “Cloak & Dagger: Useless?” don’t you think people would be all over it claiming that, in their builds, it is absolutely not useless?

And how would that be any different?

Xae Isareth.1364:

You’re using DB to inflict bleeds. Great. then what do you use the other skills for?

As you no doubt already know, you don’t need any other weapon skills with a DB spam build, except for the occasional autoattack. That doesn’t mean the build is broken or the skills are broken. It means that it’s a build that doesn’t require 5 weapon skills.

A power D/D backstab build also only requires 2 weapon skills at its core.

You don’t have to use every skill on your bar if you don’t actually need them.

As I got near 80 I switched from a condi SB spam build to power D/D (trying a few other things first), and haven’t looked back.

Power D/D really doesn’t need another power-oriented weapon skill — it’s fine as it is. Frankly I see DB as a situational skill, just as I see HS or Dancing Dagger. I don’t use them in every fight, but they’re not worthless.

It’s just video game logic. The same kind that says that bats occasionally carry around plate armor, skeletons can bleed, fire elementals can be poisoned, you can fit 80 greatswords into your backpack, and if you ever need four spider legs you have to kill 37 spiders to find them.

My Sylvari Necromancer is just the coolest. She looks kitten, she sounds kitten (mostly). She does stupendous AOE damage when Locust Swarm, two wells, Tainted Shackles and Life Transfer are all going. She survives things that would drop any of my other characters, while in full Berserker gear. Keeping a run speed signet equipped at all times doesn’t make her feel kitten in combat at all. There are at least four different builds I enjoy (vampiric well bomber, spectre of death, max dagger DPS, and minion master when the AI happens to be working).

I am almost never frustrated when I play my necromancer — everything just goes smoothly. It’s a subjective thing I guess, but that’s just how it is for me.

I used to be a game developer, and while I was sometimes willing to talk about ideas or plans I had… plans change.

I’d have this list of cool stuff I wanted to work on, and things players asked for that made a lot of sense from a design perspective. And then reality stepped in, and those cool ideas never became plans or the plans never became designs or the designs never got implemented.

(If people ever wonder why devs don’t communicate as much as you might like, it’s partially this, and partially that communicating takes time and effort away from actually developing stuff.)

Anyway. Don’t plan on having access to every weapon in every class. Not unless they announce it’s coming in the next patch (and even so don’t hold your breath because it could fail terribly in QA or testing or something).

Gamers have a bad reputation for being offensive and treating each other without respect. Particularly where it comes to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia etc.

This isn’t acceptable. Gaming isn’t just a bunch of dumb kids. It’s mainstream, a multi-billion dollar industry, and people of all ages and types are into it. It’s a major part of modern culture.

Just ignoring vile behavior isn’t going to change anything, and telling people who are verbally abused literally every day (and in many cases, there are actual threats to their safety) to “just ignore it” isn’t very helpful either.

Showing that it is not acceptable and, for instance, can get you banned? That will make a difference, eventually.

Sadly, unless more things have been fixed than I think they have, some of the trait quests are basically impossible at the levels that you want the trait at.

Which means buying them. Crafting materials are selling pretty well, so making money isn’t completely terrible at least. Conserve your money when leveling; upgrade armor only when it’s 10 or more levels behind (or buy it from karma vendors) and weapons when they’re 5 or more.

Skill points can be an issue — so try to take only the most useful skills rather than situational ones, if you can. And finish every skill challenge you can find (many of them are a lot easier when someone else joins in).

And don’t worry about it too much if you can’t pick up a trait. Generally speaking, the first couple of traits don’t give you as much as the overall synergy once you have access to 4 or 5 of them. There are exceptions though.

No class is “worthless” in the endgame. Some of them are not desired by must-optimize-everything types for dungeon speedclears. But they all work, if you learn them. (And the ones that aren’t as good for dungeons can have PVP/WVW strengths…)

Among the ones you listed, for dungeons, Ele is highest DPS, a Guardian is good to have and a Warrior is good to have (if overrated). Rangers can do certain support setups well, but whether you’ll be welcomed or laughed at for dungeon groups is a tossup.

The support thing… basically “support” in GW2 PVE means “gives damage buffs” and in some cases, reflects. Nobody wants a healer

I always say “pick a class you like to play” because what’s the point of playing a game, otherwise? But different people enjoy different things, and maybe what you enjoy at level 10 is very different from what you enjoy at level 80.

Necro is a lot more fun to me, and at least in open world PVE, much more efficient.

But it’s really not hard to take characters from 50 to 80. Do both!

I use a Death Blossom +caltrop spam build. It’s effective. It’s not a “waste of initiative” because you don’t need that initiative for anything else. I prefer it over S/P.

Power D/D builds don’t need another skill. Condi D/D builds… really don’t need another skill either, because it just works.

Dusty Moon.4382:

They wanted to make the system similar to GW1, since many felt the game as it was to kitteny and too easy.

They changed the wrong things.

This’d be nice. I think I have stuff in my bank soulbound to characters I’ve deleted. :P

Issues with a first-person view, not already mentioned:

— it potentially gives more of an advantage to taller characters over short ones.
— LOS from head height is not necessarily LOS for targetting purposes, and a first-person view would highlight that effect and feel wrong. (Of course, some targeting is a bit broken…)
— some effects would most likely look bad for technical reasons without reworking them (beams, for instance)
— some effects rely on third-person view for context. (What would you see if you were stealthed, for instance?)
— some effects would be problematic for animation reasons. (What do you see when your character dodges, gets knocked down, does a shadow step, gets turned into a slime, etc.?)
— generally, FPS view is worse for situational awareness anyway.
— it limits ground targetting.
— overall it would probably take more development effort than it’s worth. It’s really, honestly not just a matter of changing the camera offset and turning off the character and weapon models; when the game is designed for third person view there are a thousand little things that creep in that look stupid or don’t work right in FPS view. (I am a former game developer, I started to do it for another game — one that never even got released — and it was a huge hassle.)

I started replaying the thief I left off over a year ago, and I’m going with this guide, more or less:

http://intothemists.com/guides/332-simple_thief_leveling_build_for_new_players

(Instead of caltrops I’m using the run speed signet, and instead of Thieves’ Guild I’m using Dagger Storm.)

I like it much more than S/P or D/P.

Necro is great for open world PvE and exploration. It’s not optimal for dungeons (which is what people really mean when they say "not good for PvE) but unless you care about doing optimized speedruns exactly according to someone’s predetermined instructions, that doesn’t really matter.

I always find warriors terribly dull. Guardians just seem a lot more fun to me for some reason. Necro is my current favorite though.

Blur.3465:

Here’s my Sylvari necromancer with new hairstyle.

Nicely done!

I’m quite happy with my remade Sylvari look, but currently posting from work so I can’t share the screenshot.

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Most of them AAA at start, and the only one that comes even close to the ascended grind is Aion at release.

I quit playing some of the games you listed because simply leveling was a dull grind.

Never having sought after ascended gear, I have never experienced anything that could be called a grind in GW2.

I have seen this thread in literally every MMO I have ever played.

Most of those games are still alive years later.

they either just like the aesthetics, want to be a hipster, don’t want to lean to melee or

what you’re saying just falls under the being hipster category

So like I said, it’s people being hipsters.

So again, you’re not arguing from a practical viewpoint, you’re arguing from a hipster viewpoint.

JCROY.5730:

Loved the C64..cassette tape anyone? XD

LOAD"*",8,1

I remember being terribly excited when I got that 1541 floppy drive for Christmas the year after I got my C64. It was like having a hard drive! 170k disks were huge! And those big EA games loaded in under an hour! Heh.

Sold Out.7625:

Pic of sensible armors that are so much better than a bikini has been supplied.

That middle one would look 70% less goofy if the half a skirt was turned 90 degrees clockwise. Oh well.

I kind of don’t want everyone to run around in swimwear all the time, but some of our armor looks pretty goofy while actually swimming. Having a separate option for swimwear and how it looks would be nice, but maybe limit it to areas in or near water?

People have described how they’ve used greatsword and why they like it. Some have gone into more detail than others.

maha.7902:

I want examples so I can tell you why greatsword isn’t worth taking for those examples.

Thanks for admitting your already obvious motive: to tell people they are wrong and prove your own superiority.

maha.7902:

‘What you’re saying just falls under the being hipster category, people with suboptimal play styles trying to shoe horn their favourite laser sword in to their build.

Thank you for adding absolutely nothing to the thread.

Video games are entertainment — in other words, a suboptimal way of spending time. The entire reason we’re here is because we’re the kind of people who like laser swords and so on.

If you value optimizing numbers over having fun, then let me tell you, a spreadsheet will work much better than sword/sword or sword/focus.

People enjoy using a greatsword. They have said so, here, in this thread asking about why people use it. They have said why they think it works — and you’ve made it your mission to tell them they’re wrong. That sure is some optimal behavior!

That’s me, adding conflict.

Oh, and addressing this, though I didn’t quote it at the time:

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

OP may not have phrased it as such but I think he was asking if there’s any OBJECTIVE reason to run GS over sword, beyond “I like the pretty butterflies”.

hendo.1940:

The OP is looking for practical reasons, not “play how you want” reasons.

The conflict arises where people try to claim it’s an objectively good weapon, and not just “I like lasers”.

It is, in fact, an objectively good weapon for certain purposes and playstyles. Even in dungeons some people have personally found a use for it, but they’ve been repeatedly dismissed out of hand in this thread. Because apparently anyone who uses a GS is among the “bads” and is “scared.”

It doesn’t even matter whether one proves, objectively, that optimum DPS is achieved by using exactly X equipment and pressing Y buttons at Z time and that greatsword never factors in to it. Other people have found ways to make it work, and they’ve given those as the reasons why they use it. The game is playable without turning everyone into totally optimized meta machines.

If you read the OP, it doesn’t specify dungeons only — in fact there is a paragraph specifically about WvW, and the last paragraph mentions its use in PvP. And nowhere does that post ask for objective reasons only.

There were a bunch of reasonable posts, before the “everything = dungeon zerk melee deeps lawlz” people chimed in, anyway.

Sudden Death: instant 10% LF gain, and DS and all DS abilities come off cooldown.

Well of Binding: every pulse (1 per second), enemies are frozen (2 sec), crippled (4 sec) and lose 100% of stamina; bleeding conditions are removed from all allies. Projectiles can enter, but not exit the well. Downed allies within the well cannot lose health and cannot be interrupted or stomped.

Zebulous.2934:

Since environmentalism is an anti human movement at its core: humans are evil, nature is more important.

This is such a wrong perception. It’s pro-human. I’m opposed to humans being poisoned, starved, irradiated, having their homes destroyed, etc. when it can be avoided. I’m opposed to civilization collapsing under its own stupidity because we ignored the warnings science has given us.

Nature is important because we live there and depend on it for our survival.

The Earth is doomed by the sun’s life cycle. I want humanity to thrive and reach for the stars and outlive the Earth. That won’t be possible if we ruin our own habitat first.

…and now back to Sylvari related issues.

My family had a Pong console, then a tank combat game, and then an Atari 2600 — and we hooked them up to our black and white TV. Eventually we upgraded to color… but when I got a Commodore 64 (best Christmas ever!) I had to hook it up to that same old black and white TV from the 70s…

Needs more skulls. Maybe put some small skulls in the eye sockets of the larger skulls.

(Eh, it’s not bad overall except the skull mask is a bit much.)

Dahkeus.8243:

I’m really surprised that we don’t have more older gamers since video games are such a great way to stay mentally active even when physical activity can be limited.

My grandmother-in-law is 80-something and plays Gamecube stuff pretty much every day. (She wouldn’t play GW2; she’s too paranoid of identity theft to get online, and considering she lives in the middle of nowhere, it’d likely be dialup or satellite internet with horrible latency anyway. But I bet if she did play it, she’d be as good or better than I am.)

Sure, and while we’re at it let’s get rid of WvW, and those pesky traits and skill challenges and elite skills and sigils and jumping puzzles and Warriors and Humans.

(Why would anyone want to remove a feature from an MMO, when MMOs need as much variety as they can get?)

ICEing.9237:

“LFG Zerk Only 7,000+ AP Ping Gear or kick!”

I take those sorts of things as a sign that that group will not be the kind of people I want to play with.

My current age is the Ultimate Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything.

A fellow gamer once told me “wow, you’re old” when I was 30. Heh.

dancingmonkey.4902:

Depending on the situation, I found tool kit and personal battering ram hand for situations in which more ranged skills are needed. By this I refer to the tool belt skills.

Yeah, at this point my basic SD combat setup is Healing Turret, Rifle Turret (usually best left unsummoned, or blown up), PBR and Tool Kit.

If I need to cover ground faster I’ll swap to Heal Kit, Elixir B and/or Rocket Boots. Though I will probably unlock Speedy Kits and swap that instead. (I really dislike the new trait unlock system.)

All things have a right to grow… and Charr guts make good fertilizer!

Static Discharge is a big damage boost for that setup, though. You can get pretty reliable run speed (not permanent but way better than Guardian or Mesmer) via Elixir B and Heal Kit 5 (though I find Heal Turret much less awkward in combat) plus the occasional Rocket Boots leap.

If you don’t take Static Discharge, that makes Rifle Turret much less attractive.

Eh. I’m still experimenting with it as I level.

Sylvari > Largos > Norn > Krait > Tengu > Skritt > Human > Quaggan > Grawl > Asura > Hylek > Dredge > Ooze > Charr

6/10, I don’t usually like names that aren’t namelike and it makes me wonder if a human would be named Thy Fleshy Doom.

(……wait a minute…. band name!)

My Sylvari necromancer is Xiliane, and my guardian is Mirrorbark.

SD build as I see it:

Still start with Tools, but you’ll want to use Static Discharge when fighting. (You can switch to Speedy Kits for running around.)

You’ll eventually want Firearms 6 (Hair Trigger, Rifle Mod, Modified Ammo) and Tools 6 (Static Discharge, Speedy Kits, Adrenal Implant) and Explosives 2.

Some good skills to take are any 3 of Rifle Turret, Rocket Boots, Personal Battering Ram, Elixir Gun.

The idea is you’ll open with Rifle 2 and fire off your toolbelt skills for damage. Use Elixir Gun 4, Rifle 3 and 5 and toolbelt skills when available.

(This is based on some other threads and memory of playing more than a year ago, so maybe not as effective as I’m hoping it will be?)

I really dislike bomb kit gameplay. I guess the alternative is a Static Discharge build?

Kalarchis.8635:

As others said, don’t pick D/D just because the forums told you to. Try all the weapons and find the one that you like best.

This is worth repeating. A lot of times, weapon and build advice found on forums is optimized for:

— people who have mastered the skills of the game (as a player) and are familiar with and understand the implications of various boons, conditions, combos etc.

— level 80 characters with all available traits and good gear. Or at least, characters of a level high enough to have utility skills unlocked and some of the traits that make the build effective.

— specific purposes (often a “PVE” build really means “dungeon clearing in a coordinated group”, which doesn’t necessarily mean it will or won’t be good for solo PVE)

I believe it’s worth changing up your weapons and playstyle every so often as you level, even if you find something that works well, just so you’re familiar with the available tools. How they work at level 50 can be very different from how they work at level 5 when you’re basically just unlocking the weapon skills.

Oh, and I love exploring and finding stuff, whether it’s a sarcastic NPC or a beautiful view or a champion event.

And this thread made me realize I just keep map chat turned off. I wonder if that gives me a more positive outlook toward the game and its player base?

hannah mee.7925:

I just think it’s silly when it bothers people in the train when someone else kills the champion.

that baby stealing dingo.7216:

Basically a bunch of random people are having fun playing the game; is this not the point?

Agreed on both counts. If I find a champion, and I think I can take it down solo (or with whoever else happens to be there) I will — and it’s not because I particularly hate the trains, it’s because that’s just what I want to do. And I’ll feel pretty awesome if I do manage to solo it. There is no “reserved” sign, and the trains don’t own exclusive hunting rights or whatever.

Likewise if I find a whole bunch of people camped in a spot waiting for the spawn, I will hang around and join in, because it can be fun. I almost never follow along to the next one.

My usual reaction to seeing the train running around is “that’s weird. Weird mostly in a fun way, but weird.”

“PVE Dueling” is an oxymoron.

Anyway, I agree with the idea of limiting duels to specific arenas, or requiring a Dueler’s Flag or whatever — something you have to specifically opt in for.

One of the other MMOs I play has basically unrestricted dueling. Almost without fail, this is how it goes:

— I’m doing something else, like shopping at an NPC or picking up/finishing quests.
— Somebody runs up to me and challenges me to a duel, without saying anything first. (Consider what this would be like in real life — someone you’ve never seen before runs up and yells “fight me to the death!” while you’re using an ATM or something.)
-- There is a big, obnoxious effect that makes it obvious that I’ve been challenged. Whatever I’m doing with that NPC is interrupted.
— I decline the duel.
— There is an 80% chance the person will immediately challenge me again, running around in circles and jumping around like a 6 year old who just ate a bag of sugar.
— I sigh, /ignore the player (the only way to block duel requests), and decline again. They keep running around in circles for a while and then go pester the next player they see. Or in rare cases, they follow me around, bunny hopping the entire time, probably trying to goad me into dueling (but their chat is blocked).

This happens pretty much every time I play it. This isn’t something I want to see in GW2, which (A) has a much better PVE system where everything is cooperative, and (B) has a much better PVP system in the first place, and © is much better at maintaining the tone of the setting.

::applause::

I do not believe in letting other people dictate how I should play.

I don’t either. If someone else is telling me what to do, it’s not play, it’s work.

Personal Story missions are generally more difficult than open world content at that level. (Sometimes it’s a huge difficulty leap.)

In general I’d wait until you’re several levels above them — you will be downscaled and it’ll still be a challenge — and to use caution. With rare exceptions, the gear rewards for PS missions aren’t that great anyway, aside from unlocking skins, so you won’t be missing anything that way.

Ah… note to self, find coffee soon.

spoj.9672:

Its a wvw build. But many people choose to use it for pve/dungeons. I have no idea why.

I figured he was talking about your “DPS Necro for PvE” stickied build?

BlackDevil.9268:

You could better compare Axe and Scepter of necromancer as also scepter has a burst skill that scales decent with power. Funny thing is, scepter is never used as power weapon? Why? Because dagger and axe both outshine scepter by far.

Wait, necros use axe on power builds?

On purpose?