Guild Wars 2

With the month being given a “Competitive Feature Pack”, I was saddened to see that Stronghold was not going to be given any love. Almost two years since the mode has been added and the most they’ve given is 1 more mist champion and a couple extra skins? I though by now Anet would realize that it’s time for the mode to have a major overhaul to make a more prominent component of the PvP scene.

I was wondering if the following suggestions would make any other fellow PvP casuals more interested.

First and foremost the mode is supposed to be casual, correct? It was removed from Ranked queue for that very reason. It’s a bridge mode between PvE/WvW and Conquest.

I think the biggest aspect to make the mode a more casual play would be to increase the team cap. 8v8 at minimum, 12v12 at the most (reminiscent of old Alliance Battles). The rest suggestions and numbers operate on the notion that the mode could be 10v10 which I feel would be the optimal amount, capable of being two full parties or any number of iterations with soloers, 2/3/4 man teams.

The biggest barrier for me is the reliance on NPCs to make progress in the mode. Remove that need and make all the actions focused around the players.
*Supply no longer creates doorbreakers or archers but creates bombs as items that players use to breakdown the gates

Bombs have an effect similar to the orb in spirit watch, removing access to skills, specific dodges (i.e. Daredevil dodges) but unlike the orb you allowed to be buffed (both with boons and others like stealth/superspeed). The effect also makes it so that getting hit by an enemy guard or siege causes you to drop the bomb (it also explodes)

Bombs have four skills

1. – Throw bomb (Range 900) deal damage to target area and inflicts 5% of the gates health if it hits.
2. – Plant bomb (240 radius, 1 second cast time) deal damage, knockback and inflict 10% of the gates health
3. – Bomber’s sprint – Leap? 3s Superspeed? 5s swiftness? (something like that) 10-15s cd?
4. – Bomb (smash?) (3/4s cast) Stun an enemy for 1s – 10s CD

Capturing Mist essence no longer summons an Mist Hero but causes the player who captured it to transform into the Mist Hero they have selected

o The transformation is standard across all professions (i.e. your stats/traits do not matter)

o The stats/abilities of your hero and dependent on which one you have selected

o When transformed you can be buffed but your icon appears permanently on the mini map

o You are given a breakbar

o An F1 charge ability that does massive damage to NPCs (i.e. the Lord) like the current NPCs have

In the scenario where more maps could be added, create certain themes for supply and additional capture points to use.

o For example make the current map siege focused. Add 4 additional ballista points (2 in the neutral area, one additional point in each base) that require two supply to build for team control

o Add an additional capture point that spawns reinforcement guards to bolster defense

o Additional map themes could be traps (supply allows for teams to build on certain trap points or return to their base and create less effective placeable traps), or points that spawn weapons, npcs with specific functions (get a tag that summons assassins, summon a raging beast to disrupt a limited area ), create minor transformations, etc. The possibilities are probably greater than WvW gimmicks.

Another important feature would be to add a quick-add feature for those in a queue (though if this isn’t supported by either players or devs I’d request at least the same kind of feature within a two minute grace period so that even if a player leaves early on, their spot can be filled rather quickly)

What do you all think? What else could they do to buff Stronghold? I think a higher player cap mode in sPvP could go a long ways for casual play. Alongside that even the new 2v2 with additional maps could go a long ways in a queue (though so sad to hear they confirmed it would just be with custom games). Other modes like 3 team King of the hill (5v5v5) could be done on maps that already exist (take out certain portions of the city maps for example)

There’s just so much potential for chaotic and casual modes in unranked queue, it’d be great to see or even at least hear about some progress to the PvP scene that doesn’t revolve around the ranked/competitive scene (which generally gets shot down anyway by complaints about matchmaking, balance, toxicity, leavers, etc.)

Short form:
Map

• Beautiful and stunning, I loved exploring this map
• Mini map/World map UI could be handled a bit better, was difficult at times to determine where vertically parts of the map were
• Really enjoyed the events and map lore (i.e. Zinn’s past and of course MOX!!!)

Story

• Way too short, needed at least two more instances. Also I’d incorporate more side-quests that give other plot lines some much needed attention.
• Plot = atrocious
• Your “twists” can also be seen as cop-outs so you don’t have to design main events and such later on

Gameplay

• Enjoyed the mechanics for the most part in the missions, though they were a little wonky at times
• Instances definitely gave an epic feel though in the end were anti-climactic
• Could’ve used more moments of legitimate combat instead of a primary focus on mechanics

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone has noticed the report functioning actually working for “Idle Player” and “Match Manipulation”, as in are the people deliberately throwing your matches still ending up in games with you?

I’m finding it ridiculous that every other game is a guaranteed lost because some player enters troll mode and wastes an entire match for his team, whether it be having a wipe at the beginning of the match or their team setup not meeting their standards (i.e. the not so awful double thieves).

I get losing, it’s part of the game, but what happened to playing said game up until the very end?

It’s sickening playing with these people, I can see near halfway or towards the end of the match some players giving up (the hopeless who can’t be bothered to include “comeback” in their playbook), which is inevitable but the ones who decide that not having a 100 point lead means they should waltz around the map to avoid the idle report and throw the match are able to walk into another game right after.

That’s ludicrous, these players get multiple reports for match manipulation and then they end up able to just go for another match where they can opt to repeat the same crap attitude should they so choose too?

Remember back in the day, GW1 leeching would dishonour you just almost immediately for stuff like that? What a dream that is today.

Currently if you are downed near a downed ally in PvP and said ally dies before you, you rally off of their death even though they are a teammate and not an enemy.

Incredibly game-breaking right now as when you get more than one enemy downed they can randomly revive themselves if their teammate dies before them.

Vornollo.5182:

No, just no.
Go play Thief yourself before you suggest something like this.
Take it for a spin (say, 10 proper games) before you reply to this topic again.

Cynz perfectly pointed out how ridiculous this entire topic is.

I played thief throughout the entire season as frustrating as it could be at some times with the current meta. I found in workable scenarios that this trait was simply overpowered in my opinion as it effectively prevents lockdown of a thief (which have always been the greatest profession to disengage and avoid lockdowns).

I merely asked what other players thought about it considering the effects of this trait.

What’s ridiculous is how toxic responses get on a minor suggestion to a SINGLE trait. You then have responses bringing about a l2p argument which is ironic in and of itself since the majority of players in this game have a hard time with even the idea of recognizing what might constitute “skill” with a profession by another player (unless of course they’re in pro leagues or the major competitive scene or your own team).

The point of the topic was merely to see what the rest of the community thought. I’ll stand by my opinion that the trait provides to easy of a means for dealing with soft CC and drastically increases it’s mobility beyond the thief’s already superior capabilities.

The thief would not be obliterated by an alteration to this trait so I don’t see why players see this as a cry for “teef nerfs”.

I think a few of you have some misconceptions about the general idea of thief play.

First off thieves aren’t mean to defend points solo (I mean sure some probably can against certain classes but it’s not optimal), if they are then the enemy’s team play is off and yeah, do whatever you want to get the decap by spamming stuff on point, that’s not what is wrong with the Dash.

More importantly, like I said before you all probably haven’t seen much for thieves due to the current meta so believing that they really needed huge buffs in the first place is kind of vain because really, the meta was what was affecting thief’s viability, not their builds in particular. This isn’t random bashing, I’ve tested and watched the trait used in matches with low counts of bunkers and the speed and ease with which a thief can escape and travel throughout the map is matched only by an invuln Mesmer stepping through a portal.

Good thieves in the past have always been able to deal with CC as it is. As it stands if you are one to complain about CC because you walked into a gravity well, a DH’s Maw or attacked an enemy with static aura, that’s really your own fault, not the class. True, an option for some kind of stability with the new acrobatics changes could allow for more sustained engagement but then why should we also be able to ditch out of a fight with even less effort than we needed to before?

And to me, it makes no sense that a dodge is capable of removing immob, the exact thing the condition is supposed to prevent compared to the other two soft CCs.

First of all, it’s not underpowered.
Second of all, the Stab on dodge is the one reason Necros have an easy time vs revs cause we can just keep corrupting stab and chain fearing for all eternity.
Lastly. The taunt triggers on the Revenant getting CC’d. That trait is however really strong.
Unhindered Combatant is indeed a really strong trait, the one weakness it has atm is the teleport bug. I would be in favor of adding 3-5 seconds ICD on the soft cc removal and or only removing 1 of the 3 condis every dodge.

I agree the teleport bug (which I’ve only experienced at varying times) can be troublesome with this trait but I like the idea of a possible ICD on the condition removal or some way that prevents the ability to remove multiple immob sources through sequential dodging.

Curious to know if anyone else finds that the Dash from the Unhindered Combatant Trait in daredevil is a little ridiculous.

I realize that thieves have been pretty scant the past two months due to their lowered viability in the bunker meta, but with the changes coming on Tuesday offer a more optimal place for thieves in a bruiser-esq meta.

This trait combined primarily with shadowstep (among other skills/traits) make the thief virtually untouchable unless you manage to load them up with every condition or spike them down faster than they can teleport away.

Thieves have always looked towards teleports, evades and stealth to cheat death but this trait kind of crosses the line when you become virtually immune to soft CC, have permanent upkeep of swiftness and even greater mobility than usual.

Just wondering what other people’s thoughts are on this, I don’t believe it’s been mentioned at all in the notes for the upcoming balance patch but I’d certainly hope that they remove the traits ability to remove immobilize on dodge (perhaps even chill) and lower the swiftness time to 5 or 4s per dodge.

Thoughts?

Hi all,

I’ve heard that today’s interview was just a partial (so there’s still time for better news) but I wanted to suggest a couple things and hear the community’s opinions on some defensive passives. I want to emphasize defensive passives because I’m biased and I find that making safety nets for players losing a fight and punishing players who are winning a fight poor design (feel free to disagree).

So for example, I’m sure most are somewhat disappointed with the change to Diamond Skin still being a intensely strong passive.
Old: Immune to conditions while above 90%
New: Lose a condition per second while above 75% health
See I was hoping for something along the lines of
“While under the effects of protection lose a condition every 2(3?) seconds”
This would be similar to how Shadow’s Embrace functions with Thieves and stealth, and requires the elementalist to constantly keep up the boon (which isn’t hard to do as an ele or better yet a tempest) and gives similar rewards to the upcoming ability but is done so as a reward for the player behaviour.

There’s a couple other passives that have counterparts across professions but provide more offensive capabilities that punish attackers more so than others.
For example there’s always a trait that produces an effect upon being controlled but Reaper’s Protection on the Necro and Eye for an Eye on revenant are highly offensive in nature, especially when you consider that stat/trait combinations can boost either the taunt or fear to last 4s.

I’d prefer traits similar to Last Stand or Protection Injection which give the player a bit of room to breathe but don’t entirely shift the momentum in their favour simply because the enemy made an offensive play.

(Also Tempest’s Defense is entirely on the fence for me)

To this extent I’m also more against traits like Self-regulating Defenses, Endure Pain, Plague Sending, Dash and any number of traits that give either a large safety net that encourages reckless play or provide them with a passive bonus that makes them impervious to certain elements of the game (Primarily Dash as a good example or even the proposed new Acrobatic’s trait that gives evasion at 50%)

Just wondering what other’s think about this area of the game, whether you agree with me and these should changed/removed or believe that these mechanics add interesting layer of complexity to the game?

Thanks for any and all input

Nice to see most people actually bring up some valid points and decently written opinions.

For me the living story is decently done for the most part, though I have to say it’s the holiday ones (Halloween, Wintersday, Dragon Bash etc.) that I enjoy the most and it seems to be the ones you guys do best simply because the other ones (related to the “story” part of the content) just seems a little off.

I’ve seen a few posts mention that with the story aspect is a little weak and I can’t agree more. You guys came up with all these ideas for villains and stuff where it wasn’t really needed. I mean some were good, other’s weren’t.

The Molten Alliance – Good prospect since by the end of the personal story/dungeons we’ve been pounding these guys into the dirt and while the content was stretched out quite far when it was originally released (albeit you didn’t have the whole 2-week release dates yet) I rather enjoyed the finale being the dungeon and I can’t wait to have it back.

Southsun/Karka – the opening of Southsun was great but unfortunately there was no point in coming back this place until you gave us the Karka Queen, which is something to keep in mind for future map releases (as there’s still a lot that we’d like to see).

Aetherblades/Scarlet – This is where the confusion and “why?” keeps coming from. What was the point of these two? Sure, ideas for new content but you’ve stretched them out over five months with the map invasions, new dungeon path, returning mini dungeon, which were all pretty good but at the same time why Scarlet? She has nothing over the more formidable forces in the game (eg. the Dragons and their minions) and frankly she’s just not that intimidating.

Point is, you guys came into this game with more previous ideas than you could ask for. You have all the GW1 related lore that could make for much more interesting content than Scarlet. Lots of us are still waiting for the return of the Mursaat!

Even disregarding GW1 lore if you’re going to continue a “living story” why not continue it where we left off at release? The only real one was the Molten Alliance but they just kind of dropped off the face of Tyria after a single foundry was downed.

Why not continue with Orr? You don’t have to delete the original Cursed Shores, Straights or Malchors, just make revised secondary maps that show the revitalization of Orr or continue the eradication of the undead. Personally for Orr, I’m still hoping we find Zhatain again in the depths of Arah with a more challenging dungeon path experience because, let’s face it, Zhatain was just disappointing.

So in closing, I’d much rather see the “living story” continue with the original plan of the dragons, or at least expand into them. It doesn’t have to suddenly be “Hey Jormag dungeon” but could be as simple as a new underground map with new destroyers and fingers crossed a Kilroy Stonekin mini game!

The tank in the Steel Tide mission isn’t usable, upon turning in either direction it turns the full way and kicks you off the tank.

I’m fairly certain he wasn’t the leader of the group. And player zoned and left the party but whether he did one before the other or vice versa I can’t know for sure since we were all in the cutscene. I’d suspect he didn’t leave the party before he zoned otherwise there wouldn’t be reason for him zoning to affect us since he wouldn’t have been in our party.

Still, this probably doesn’t happen too often but I’d hope theres a way for Anet to make sure it never happens at all. Sucked going through a 2 hour experience just to get teleported out before getting a chance to receive your reward just because one of your party members was impatient.

So, a friend and I were with three other people doing the story mode for Ascalon Catacombs. Took us sometime but had fun got through right till the end with Adelbern and we started watching the final cutscene.
About 5 seconds after the start of the cutscene we were suddenly teleported out of the dungeon to Plains of Ashford with four of us being confused and angered. Turns out one of the guys had instantly skipped the cutscene and left the dungeon which, I assume since the rest of us were in the cutscene, caused us to follow him on our way out, missing the reward and any credit for the completion of the dungeon.

Now is it because the guy left that we got screwed or just some random flukey glitch? (If anyone has info for the latter possibility it’d be great to know)

Hopefully something can be done about this; I realize its just a game but its unfortunate when you go through the dungeon and just because someone didn’t want to watch the end cutscene and leave early that his teammates get cut out of the end reward.