Guild Wars 2

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Jurica.1742:

This is nothing more than a staff + greatsword shatter build. All you did was removed portal and added veil there and removed mass invis and added time warp there.. Then you put condi food there which does nothing other than lower your damage, rabid staff, soldiers gs, zerker armor ect. So many wrong things..
To clear up the thing about halting strike – it’s great.
A guy is at 10% HP, you know he will heal, you interrupt his heal. Not only does he not heal, but you may of killde him there with halting strike damage. You really do interrupt so much in this build. It’s all L2P. It’s much less RNG than you may think. I was fooled at first as well..

Food and various things was leftover from another build so I apoligize, and will update it. Also, any advice here is appreciated.

Edit: A couple of people in game gave me these traits on top of the build you linked.

So…I’m not trying to take credit for the traits given here, if that is what you want credit for—more so this playstyle. It’s just that this seems to be a meta GS/Staff mesmer build and many mesmers don’t use GS/Staff combo unless trying to make a support build.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Halting Strike offers pretty good damage even in this build, definitely no arguments there, and I do agree that frequent Chaos Armor can be a big help… I’m just having a hard time seeing how this build differs from a standard shatter build beyond Veil and Null Field.

It looks to me like it’s more that your personal shatter playstyle is slightly different.

This playstyle is different but I thought it was worth putting up for people to get ideas for possible mesmer comp builds. Chaos armor can be a big help, and especially when you can have it up almost the entirety of when you are using staff. You simply phase our of a field, pop staff 4 chaos armor after, and then you are ready for another phase retreat out of a field. That means you are taking less damage the entire time in staff making it a better defense which it is anway, but also stacking condis on your enemy simply while taking hits in staff making this playstyle a less passive staff build. This build has max condi damage so I thought it only made sense to stack condis using chaos armor.

The only problem with this build is that you are so glass it isn’t funny and using simply blink and veil to avoid enemy almost isn’t enough. The staff phase retreat and deceptive decoy helps a lot but you really have to do a lot of damage quickly and use chaos armor only in prolonged cooldowns for heal, veil and blink while trying to kite as much as possible and do a lot of damage. I’m even thinking of trying eagle runes as I find a lot of times I am downed but have my enemy only at half life, and then I get to a point of doing little further damage—I think eagle runes might work in some cases doing that extra spike damage when enemy is past 50 percent health.

Kadj.6725:

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Hey Grey, I could be missing something due to the build link but… isn’t this a standard shatter build with some glamour utility support?

Odd – he changed from gw2skills to intothemists, but the build is almost exactly the same. I believe this is the previous version; swap Mass Invis for Time Warp and Portal for Veil. There might be some gear differences too, but it mostly looks the same.

Here’s my problem with the build, starting from the top…

1. Halting Strike is the most wasted slot by a mile. Diversion, Chaos Storm(randomly), Illusionary Wave – those are your interrupts. Diversion is traited well enough on its own(shattered concentration), but it still has a long cooldown for the -maybe- 2k damage you’ll be getting from Halting. Chaos Storm won’t work when you need it to, and Illusionary Wave… it certainly works fine, but I feel like the quirks in how you have to use it just make it unreliable at times.

2. “Phase Retreat through Veil for Retaliation” is the worst strategy I’ve ever heard. Think about it for a second; you’re blowing a 90 SECOND COOLDOWN for a 5 SECOND BOON, 2 of those seconds potentially being spent in stealth. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you’d get more value out of Signet of Inspiration’s passive… or you can go with Decoy to just plain slip away and heal up.

3. Compounding Power is great, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t shake the feeling that you would get more mileage out of picking the two Mind Wrack traits(replacing Halting Strike as per above) for more damage. You’ve got Mind Wrack’s cooldown as low as it will go, and Shattered Concentration.

4. You have almost entirely glassy gear, but insist that using Chaos Armor is the way to go. If I want you dead, you will die regardless of the 30% chance of gaining Protection/Regen/Swiftness.

The core problem, I think, is that you’re trying to do too much at once, with a bit of bad strategy(using Veil for a crap boon) for good measure. You want to abuse all of the fun tricks Mesmer has, but without any specialization – hell, without any reasonable swiftness access - you’re not going to accomplish a great deal.

You can go a couple different ways.

You can skew more towards interrupts; I’m a huge fan of using interrupt traits along with Imbued Diversion(giving up IP in the process), but in group fights you’ll probably want Mirror Images to get more clones out. Also consider the daze mantra, and try to pick off people attempting to heal.

… OR you can go straight up shatter, as I was advocating above.

But either way, you’ll need to drop the bad strats; Chaos Armor is good, Retaliation is alright, but you really need to supplement anything based on taking damage with higher defense, and even if you’re using Veil for your group roaming, you should never pop it just for Retaliation; leave Retaliation to a hammer guardian or something.

This build is the GS/Staff shatter build except it’s more for group support and damage than anything else.

I understand the build is a little omnidirectional, but the build can do a lot of damage while providing staff use with a bit less passive utility providing the chaos armor. I understand chaos armor as a less important attribute to Mesmers who when glass should try avoid getting hit—but having chaos armor up much of the fight helps a lot more than you would think. I’m not saying this is what you would want when trying to 1v1—but even so, I’ve managed to kill enemies 1v1 using this build only using chaos armor when in the most defensive moments while optimizing phantasms and shatters.

If you look at a PU phantasm mesmer you pretty much have the same trait points in damage—only you have condi damage as well. Here I’ve chosen to ignore traits that people get stuck on and focus on utility (as we are focusing on stats with traits more for damage.

With this build we have a lot of chances to interrupt people(Chaos Storm, Diversion, Illusionary Wave), making Halting Strike a much, much better choice over Mental Torment.

Compounding power could be swapped for Precise Wrack although compounding power gives you an all around damage boost—nuff said.

You are right in that you dont’ want to be taking all that damage trying to get people trying to hit you in chaos armor—but chaos armor gives enemy random conditions when they hit you. Iberzerkers have a lot of power and when you shatter clones strategically only adds to the damage.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Hey Grey, I could be missing something due to the build link but… isn’t this a standard shatter build with some glamour utility support?

You have “phantasm/shatter/support” in the description and I definitely see the shatter/support aspect of it but… no real phantasm emphasis. The emphasis on Chaos Armor also seems somewhat misleading; you only have 1 way to combo Chaos Armor (Phase Retreat) and in a glassy shatter build you really don’t wanna get hit that much anyway – armor or not (same goes for retaliation).

Well you will be wanting to use your iberzerkers as much as possible and not just shattering willy nilly (which is why I had persisting images so they had a chance of not dying instantly in aoe blob fights)—we still have enough power and precision to make phantasms do damage, and great aoe damage on multiple enemies.

Your right you don’t want to rely on chaos armor, it’s just a bonus that you can keep up quite a lot. Phase retreat has a quick cd, and if you pop it in chaos storm, then in succession pop chaos armor staff 4, by the time that is down you are ready for another phase retreat in time warp or null field.

I understand the build is experimental right now and I’m not saying it can’t be expounded upon or changed so any input is appreciated. I just think in groups having chaos armor up on your allies almost back to back in opening engagement can be very successful as it gives conditions to all enemies attacking you wether melee, ranged or condis (with of course a small cd of conditions on hits.)

I guess this build attempts to make mesmer viable in comp builds by providing good ranged damage behind melee while trying not to sacrifice viable group utilities. If you have a melee group driving in front of you engaging enemy just hang back and do as much damage as possible while putting fields all over your front line.

azizul.8469:

chaos armor build was put to death when they put a cooldown on how many times enemy can get condition damage when they hit you…

yeah, its minimal but you can get some good stacks—better than nothing I guess with staff…its so passive

The Chaos Mesmer

Variation Staff/GS phantasm/shatter/support
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VP;4VPk0127cVV71;9;4JJ;0T16-09;526A;6vhrTvhrTJ0F81-F0-F33dLVQWVX_2f3l_-30M-2i;6V53F-0P;9;3V;9;9;9;1VSs5m

1. Works like staff GS shatter mesmer with great power and added condis plus added phase retreat from staff.
2. Optimizes staff abilities by optimizing chaos armor and makes for less passive combat when using staff—you will have chaos armor up the majority of the fight with staff.
3. Use Null field/phase escape sparingly to remove conditions and maintain chaos armor—also you now have your chaos storm/phase, chaos armor and time warp/phase to keep chaos armor up back-to-back the majority of the fight (you should have chaos armor up every time you are using staff and allow enemy to hit you as long as you can keep chaos armor goin—if you can sustain the damage.)
4. Use phase Retreat through veil to gain retaliation.
5. Berzerkers and spam skills do a lot of damage with stacks of vulnerability, as well as your shatters.
6. Mobility and condition removal slightly harder with this build than normal traits.
7. Great for roaming with a group with blasts and your 3 different fields to provide chaos armor—and not too shabby anywhere else either if you practice (get enemy down to half life just spamming chaos armor the whole time they chase and hit you—then bring out the heavy shatters and berzerkers).

Let me know any input. =)
thanks,
Graey

Also, you can phase escape through veil to get retaliation for that extra big spike damage from retaliation!

zaxon.6819:

not sure what i am seeing here.. is this this exact thing as every other shatter build but without the good utilitys? why does it have its own name as a spec when its been around for years.

The main thing in this build that makes a big difference is that you want to use time warp, staff skill 5, and null field along with staff 2 phase escape to constantly have chaos armor up—so you will be optimizing your ethereal fields with your phase escape which is a combo finisher. This gives you four ways to get chaos armor almost back to back along with staff skill 4 chaos armor. This will stack a lot more condis on your enemy when they attack you on hit and does about half of the damage to get them down. I’ve found this to be great in groups or solo and your opponent will do half of the work for you just attacking you. It’s very situation oriented and you only have null field to remove condis, so you’ll want to be strategic when you use it, but i’ve found using null field when condis are high usually is enough. I’ve literally been practicing this build having chaos armor up most of the fight and downed enemies not even using attack skills and just watching them hit me and stacking all sorts of condis—this on top of your ability to use berzerkers and shatters with addes condis and vulnerability it is worth some mention (especially if you are looking for something with good damage and utility for group roaming). Try it and let me know what you think!

The build has been changed dropping portal and decoy for maximizing support for your group. The build is now using null field instead of mantra for the added chaos armor.

nice build, I will definitely use some of these ideas. I’m also now playing around with 4/4/3/3 mainly trying to keep a bit of offensive but taking the 3 in chaos and 3 in inspiration for the regeneration from phantasms and then the protection. So far I have gotten regen and protection but how often or how close to phantasms you have to be is iffy. I was playing around with even using Grove runes for the healing and protection—not sure if its worth it though, like you said a Mesmer can only be so tough anyway so might as well try to put out as much damage as possible while kiting.

Ross Biddle.2367:

So my impressions are. If it works, great. Other than that your trait, rune, and sigil choices make for a SUPER boring build. I think it pretty much boils down to “Kite and use my weapon skills.”

Nothing wrong with that. It’s just, nothing nothing with that.

Well then go PU condi or shatter dodge roll your heart out, I’m not saying its the best build just different. this build is harder to play than PU so it’s not that boring. Try staying alive with no clones or invis…hardly boring.

The condi’s can be a problem so I might opt for menders purity although nrow phantasms are already easier to destroy

Ah yes, you are right my bad, I was thinking of null field.

Also, if you are fearless get rid of decoy and replace it with portal! Drop a portal before you blink and after you blink you can really play with your enemy then.

also, any Mesmer use Superior Rune of Air, the ferocity and swiftness look like they may be good for wvw. ..

Zelulose.8695:

Looks like your having fun. I also posted a pvp build with gs/staff. It’s fun stuff keep at it.
I’m having fun with boon stripping gs/staff right now.

Thanks! Let me know any thoughts you have on this build. And thank you for reading my wall of text if you made it that far =)

I wanted to put this updated build up for anyone interested in trying a really fun build for mesmer that extrapolates on the staff/Gs shatter mesmer and also really shines when you are roaming with a small group. This is basically your GS/Staff shatter build except we trade utilities and elites to get optimal ethereal fields and chaos armor as well as play style is perhaps more situational when in combat.

The Chaos Mesmer
Variation Staff/GS phantasm/shatter/support

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VP;4VPk0127cVV71;9;4JJ;0T16-09;526A;6vhrTvhrTJ0F81-F0-F33dLVQWVX_2f3l_-30M-2i;6V53F-0P;9;3V;9;9;9;1VSs5m
1. Works like staff GS shatter mesmer with great power and added condis plus added phase retreat from staff.
2. Optimizes staff abilities by optimizing chaos armor and makes for less passive combat when using staff—you will have chaos armor up the majority of the fight with staff.
3. You have FOUR independent chances to gain chaos armor almost back to back if you let your phase escape cd while in staff. Use Null field/phase retreat sparingly to remove conditions and maintain chaos armo—in between chaos storm/phase, your staff 4 chaos armor and also Time Warp/phase can last long enough for two chaos armors out of it if you time it right with phase retreat. (you should have chaos armor up every time you are using staff and allow enemy to hit you as long as you can keep chaos armor goin—if you can sustain the damage coming out of it.)
4. Use phase Retreat through veil to gain retaliation for extra spike damage.
5. Berzerkers and spam skills do a lot of damage with stacks of vulnerability, as well as your shatters. Your enemy will have way more condi’s just by them hitting you, so save the shatters and berzerkers when kiting and you know can get some good hits in.
6. Mobility and condition removal slightly harder with this build than normal traits.
7. Great for roaming with a group with blasts and your 3 different fields to provide chaos armor—and not too shabby anywhere else either if you practice (get enemy down to half life just spamming chaos armor the whole time they chase and hit you—then bring out the heavy shatters and berzerkers).
Let me know any input. =)
thanks,
Graey

Master of Peace.

MFoy.3284:

Very very disappointed. Here’s why:

o Starts with a Jumping Puzzle
Because who doesn’t like Jumping Puzzle’s? Almost everybody. Sure it was easy but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

o Pitch Black Areas
No. Just No.

o Arcade Games
Honest I thought I was getting an RPG not a massive collection of Whack-A-Mole, Run-With-A-Kit games. Felt totally out of context and had all the depth of a Mud Puddle.

o Too much “My Little Pony”
Or maybe it was more of a “Rainbow Brite” vibe but I have to ask…what age range are you shooting for? The 6 to 8 year olds?

Between this lame drop and getting my Longbow Ranger nerfed every other week I have to wonder how much longer this game is gonna last?

Actually like the dark area where you need a torch to see well around you—this might be cool for deeper exploration underneath Tyria.

The my little pony and rainbow bright references…I like the art style a lot in gw2, but yeah they could pick up the story and interactions to be a little more adult feeling.

WHERE IS THE kitten DRAGON?!

Boneheart.3561:

Greyalis.2309:

Boneheart.3561:

Greyalis.2309:

yes bone i’m a lackluster individual!

Not at all, i’m just saying you can make stories interesting without adding in factions and enemies all the time—look at jr tolkien, he wrote LOTR with only one bad guy basically and minor supporting bad guys—and that book has more lore than all of gw2

If you want a discussion, keep the snark comments to yourself.

I think you mean one bad faction; Sauron wasn’t the top evil, nor the most devastating. But yes, that story did seem cut and dry, “point A to B”. Personally, I couldn’t get past page 16, that book is boring as hell.

I’m just saying you can make stories interesting without boiling down whose the good guy and bad guy.

Well don’t ask me loaded questions with backhanded implications. I wasn’t being snarky but trying to be a soothsayer for your even more snarky question =)

My question clarified what you seemed to enjoy in storytelling, I was asking your confirmation.

If you feel insulted, perhaps it’s best you avoid the forum completely. A simple misunderstanding and you seem ready to burn down your own thread.

Ok, then the simple answer is this: yes, I like stories that are point A to B, or with complexities so subtle that I miss them. Is that snarky? I can’t tell anymore.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Greyalis.2309:

Yes, but a book can go way more in depth than can a video game monthly patch with a quests and text bubbles.

Sure, look at game of thrones, no shortage of characters, factions or subplots there—but would every one of those chapters be a good world event?

I haven’t read Game of Thrones. I tried, but it just wasn’t my taste I guess so I can’t use that as a comparison.

Still, just because this is a game does not mean that the plot needs to be linear, or even streamlined. You could go into just as much depth in the game as you can in a book since in the game you can actually portray what’s happening through the medium, where as you have to describe it via words in a book and hope the reader has a good enough imagination to picture it. It’s really not any more complicated to keep track of the various characters rendered via text vs rendered via a 3d model.

I just feel the story as of now feels slightly convoluted as a general player—not one that is entirely dismissive of lore or story, nor one who stands up at gw2 conventions and asks where the hell Traehorne is. Just that I feel I have to force myself to be interested in what is going on, and also that to really enjoy the story that is going on you have to simply “enjoy the story”—but not to the extent that a normal person would really enjoy it.

Perhaps the new journal will help me, but I still feel in general much of GW2 is disjointed in some ways.

Boneheart.3561:

Greyalis.2309:

yes bone i’m a lackluster individual!

Not at all, i’m just saying you can make stories interesting without adding in factions and enemies all the time—look at jr tolkien, he wrote LOTR with only one bad guy basically and minor supporting bad guys—and that book has more lore than all of gw2

If you want a discussion, keep the snark comments to yourself.

I think you mean one bad faction; Sauron wasn’t the top evil, nor the most devastating. But yes, that story did seem cut and dry, “point A to B”. Personally, I couldn’t get past page 16, that book is boring as hell.

I’m just saying you can make stories interesting without boiling down whose the good guy and bad guy.

OMG, Well don’t ask me loaded questions with backhanded implications. That seemed like the obvious answer did it not?! I wasn’t being snarky but trying to dissarm your even more snarky question =)

Yes, but a book can go way more in depth than can a video game monthly patch with a quests and text bubbles.

Sure, look at game of thrones, no shortage of characters, factions or subplots there—but would every one of those chapters be a good world event?

yes bone i’m a lackluster individual!

Not at all, i’m just saying you can make stories interesting without adding in factions and enemies all the time—look at jr tolkien, he wrote LOTR with only one bad guy basically and minor supporting bad guys—and that book has more lore than all of gw2

IMHO I think the stories are getting weak, I believe they should in fact include all of this stuff in time perhaps—but let us first get a good connection to the characters we do have. I know a lot of people didn’t like scarlet briar character—but I would have said let her still be alive even, I barely even know anything about this character and I am a regular player. Now that she’s dead, I can’t even make a strong connection as if there really is one atm with whatever is going on now with these “soundless” sylvari.

Even then, why even make a new faction of “soundless” sylvari—can’t they just use the nightmare court again somehow?

Even in Zelda, Ganon never lost any of his potency. And he was re-invented each time to become part of a new story.

Just think of “Ganon” and all that power. Now think of “the elder dragons, Scarlet Briar, the atherblades, the Zephyrites, the nightmare court, the soundless, the secret sylvari, evon gnashblade, keil, the inquest”—craziness.

I guess what i’m getting at is, please no more factions. . .. .unless you make Tengu. ..

I’m just tired of all of these factions everywhere and random villains popping in and out—it’s making me feel drained, and it’s somewhat taxing to keep everything in order. Everything is so omni-directional and plots are overly complex and perhaps convoluted. The villains we are getting I care little about as they are as complex as the ten or so factions working around them (perhaps secretly or who knows.)

I would rather just still be fighting Zhaitans minions all this time—it’s simple, strong, and I can understand it.

I’m just being honest, I was personally disappointed—and I’m a Sylvari, so you know I’m a no BS, objective person.

butch.8136:

Greyalis.2309:

Here is what I would have wrote for season 2:

The zephyr’s were really Tengu using magic to disguise themselves all along. All of their lore was made up vague stuff to make them more plausible. They do have connections to Cantha but have recently held up in “The dominion of Winds” and have been using their four winds event as a way to finance their kingdom in secret, as we know Tengu are weary of interacting with the outside world.

The old tengu lore that says they will make their new home under a star that rises was n’t the domimion of winds but maguuma—the star being the explosion in the sky, a sign or omen for them.

We come to maguuma only to find tengu everywhere and now the style and powers of the zephyrs becomes apparent that it was Tengu mysticism all along. We are still unaware of what caused the explosion, but Tengu believe it is an opposing clan that dissapproved of their dealing with Lions Arch, while the tengu see the explosion as an omen to build their new city here (a starting area in the future for this race.)

It just so happens that the opposing Tengu are corrupted and stand by Mordremoth who is here as well, and before Tengu can make their new home here he must be destroyed.

You can make dry top in a couple days and make this story (which counts for a whole year?). You’re pro, Anet should hire you.

BAM…screw you society!

Here is what I would have wrote for season 2:

The zephyr’s were really Tengu using magic to disguise themselves all along. All of their lore was made up vague stuff to make them more plausible. They do have connections to Cantha but have recently held up in “The dominion of Winds” and have been using their four winds event as a way to finance their kingdom in secret, as we know Tengu are weary of interacting with the outside world.

The old tengu lore that says they will make their new home under a star that rises was n’t the domimion of winds but maguuma—the star being the explosion in the sky, a sign or omen for them.

We come to maguuma only to find tengu everywhere and now the style and powers of the zephyrs becomes apparent that it was Tengu mysticism all along. We are still unaware of what caused the explosion, but Tengu believe it is an opposing clan that dissapproved of their dealing with Lions Arch, while the tengu see the explosion as an omen to build their new city here (a starting area in the future for this race.)

It just so happens that the opposing Tengu are corrupted and stand by Mordremoth who is here as well, and before Tengu can make their new home here he must be destroyed.

To me the story even needs work as far as the script we are hearing. It sounds too much scripted as if we are listening to robots almost “Hi. How are you doing today?” “I’m very well, thank you.” They do put some funny things in there,but what about voice distinction—we are using all human voices and not creature voices .Make Asurans sound like little creatures and make norn voices deeper and more interesting, charr’s need raggedy growly voices. I mean ESO has Dumbledore for god sake lol.

Xenon.4537:

Greyalis.2309:

I can write a story for the rest of the year in a couple days.

Can you deliver that story through an interactive medium including scripted and programmed actions and interactions, 3D character models, environments with lighting and detail, etc all in the span of a couple days? If so I’d love to play your game and see how it is.

I can make dry top in a couple days yes. That was a response to" if we got too much content now what would we do the rest of the year?" How is that a valid argument? If we go from point A to point B all at once how would we ever get to point C?

RyuDragnier.9476:

Want your face smacked with something big and obvious? Well want no more, for here is the biggest and most obvious thing I’ve found! Mordremoth’s influence is far indeed.

That is absolutely incredible. All joking aside, I would have preferred a giant Mordremoth boss dragon that was hard as hell to beat that we could play the rest of the year, drop new skins or legendaries.

To me, it’s all very too “omni-directional” puzzle stuff atm.

twoscoops.6913:

ekimsfree.9406:

I don’t think people understand what a “Story” is…

The problem is that I don’t care about the “story”. To me, the Living Story is just the method by which new content is released. So when a supposedly large update comes along – it is the start of season 2 after all – and all I have to do is go from one green point to the next you can be sure I’ll be disappointed.

My version of good living “story” stuff is the fractal update or Tequatl i.e. somewhat challenging, new, repeatable content. Even if it has nothing to do with the story.

I have to agree some with you. I feel like story is not GW2’s strongpoint, but more the awesome models, art and mechanics of it. I mean if you want a good story go play Skyrim, or ESO—I think the world is way more immersive. Now if you want beautiful game mechanics, skins, models and pretty colors that is where GW2 becomes a kitten game. Why not focus on this aspect. Story is important of course, but how many of us want to read a book and how many of us want skeksi new tengu bodies and skeksi new skins? We want to add stuff to our obsession of specialization and power mongering, not simply try to be immersed like we are playing skyrim.

Dont’ get me wrong—i’m not a hater and love GW2, and I like the way they did without all the cutscenes this time around within the stories—I like the chat bubbles in game better.

I feel like a lot of energy and excitement was diffused with this update—perhaps my fault for hyping it up so much. But I literally cannot believe that this is the extent of arenanets capabilities on such an occasion to be worthy. Meh maybe I’m just used to expansions—and this is what I really want.

Vol.7601:

Greyalis.2309:

Vol.7601:

So you wanted everything to come out on day 1? The entire new map? An entirely new boss instance where we fight Mordremoth and finally kill him? And what then?

This is a story, and if you lay everything down on day 1, then there is no point

Yes! So what? We aren’t getting expansions any time soon. Instead of working forward to all this big stuff, why not just give it all to us now and work backwards from it? This would have made more of an impact. I can write a story for the rest of the year in a couple days. .

Let’s go back to Living Story Season 1. Would it make any sense for us to have Lion’s Arch destroyed on day 1, with the breachmaker still in the air and Scarlet mulling about? We would have so many questions. Who the heck is Scarlet? What are these robot things? Why is there a giant drill? That’s information overload, and there is no information as to what/who.

You release a dragon on day 1 of season 2, and you’re destroying all the potential content that you could have designed leading up to it. And then you have months, maybe even a year of downtime where nothing gets released. Go look at the past few months here and see how restless players were when we didn’t have any significant content updates.

Your points are valid, but are you really satisfied? Really? Look at Tequatle—boom out of nowhere—and if there was “content” leading up to it, players like me were oblivious. It didn’t matter though, Tequatle got me excited and was one of the best content patches to date IMHO as far as pve.

I feel like there is a sacrifice the game is making for the writers of the story and the living world aspects. Living world is great, but I would rather see real tangible major events within the game more frequently and build conjecture around it, rather than the other way around.

Vol.7601:

So you wanted everything to come out on day 1? The entire new map? An entirely new boss instance where we fight Mordremoth and finally kill him? And what then?

This is a story, and if you lay everything down on day 1, then there is no point

Yes! So what? We aren’t getting expansions any time soon. Instead of working forward to all this big stuff, why not just give it all to us now and work backwards from it? This would have made more of an impact. I can write a story for the rest of the year in a couple days. .

Here’s one. . . . “GW2 I need you to become the game you were always meant to be, not tomorrow, not next month…TODAY.”
~ Tywin Lannister

Perhaps I did hype myself up a bit too much, or have yet to fully understand the depth of this new content; although, I feel like the hype surrounding season 2 update was warranted. We were given little clues leading all the way up to the patch, and rumors of Tengu and new legendaries abounded within the community (of course I was skeptical, but then my mind started to wonder).

In any case, I logged on to play some pve content (something I rarely do as a level 80.) In all, the new content is pretty much your average world event to me—so far… The new map is great, but I feel the one thing bugging me is that this was a chance to smack us in the face with something big and obvious—not shroud everything to come in further drawn out mystery. To me, this would have been a great last season 1 event. I feel like I’m still waiting for something big—which i’m sure will happen.

Until then, I will work at Dry Top content.

and another, it would be nice to see this type of archetype. .

Furthermore, it would be optimal to have a profession that could perhaps use spears on land as well as tridents. Since water combat is limited and is perhaps even being phased out, this is an easy way for us to see these weapons more in game.

Kekai Kotaki piece of what a possible gladiator concept could look like!

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/july-01-2014/

I’m stuck at work, please tell me what is happening!

I think there should be factions like ESO but perhaps this doesn’t determine your race. Any race can be any faction but make a living world event where you have to choose one—perhaps with a new level cap.

The lion statue I feel could look a lot better than it did. I would also keep parts of LA destroyed and perhaps fix up the traders forum area only. I really like the new fort mariner area.

Underwater, the gladiator skills are much the same as land skills except with cc skills like javelin pin and impale—these would utilize z axis control effects on enemy.

I got bored and made a hypothetical profession—so enjoy! The gladiator would be the 3rd soldier profession.

The gladiator is a skilled heavy armor class that utilizes three different stances in much the way an elementalist uses attunements. It is a lot like the elementalist of melee for the soldier classes.This class would get a new weapon introduced—the pole arm (spear), and this would be the only weapon available to this class for balance purposes and because the gladiator has so many different abilities according to each stance. I would hope this profession would have a high skill ceiling and would be great fighting alongside other professions. Each stance would have a cooldown.

By switching between 3 stances in battle, the gladiator can effectively match any enemy, and be a strategic profession to master. This class would fill a specific niche differently than other classes, but most like a damage dealing aoe melee class like a guardian mixed with an elementalist. One of the stances I thought would be cool is one where you are immobile and you would kneel, but with some cool abilities to make it interesting (Legion.)

Stances: Barbarian, Legion, Interceptor

Weapons available: Pole arm

Barbarian Stance Skills
1 Stab—Attack enemy in front of you dealing damage (no cd.)
2 Lunging Death—Lunge forward and attack enemies with extended reach (4 second cd, enemies under 50 health take 25% more damage.
3 Frontal Assault—attack enemies in a cone in front of you with a flurry of stabs (2 sec duration, blocks projectiles).
4 Scrape—Swing your pole arm pushing back all enemies (10 sec cd.)
5 Hooking Wound—extend out grabbing enemy and pulling them to you.

Some Traits that correspond with Barbarian abilities:
1 Advanced Pole Arm=Stab can hit two enemies.
2 Increased Lunge=increases range of Lunge
3 Pole arm’s advantage=decreases cool down of scrape ability by 3 sec.
4 Barbarian Mastery=increases all damage when in barbarian stance.
5 Master of the Pole=Stab hits all enemies in front of you.
6 Lunging barbarian=Lunging death now hits when enemy is under 75% health.

Legion Stance Skills (kneeling, and immobile)
1 Javelin—Throw your pole arm at enemy damaging them. (no cd)
2 Kneeling Prayer—all incoming damage misses you, removes 2 conditions. (4 sec duration, 10 second cd)
3 Outward Offense—stab all enemies around you with a flurry of stabs around you. (aoe heavy damage, 20 sec cd)
4 Radial Slice—push back all enemies around you radially. (aoe)
5 Puncture—stab your foe damaging and bleeding them. (no cd, bleeding stacks)

Some Traits that correspond with Legion Stance:
1. Advanced Arm=Javelin Pin increased range
2. Penitent Kneel=kneeling prayer removes 2 conditions on nearby allies.
3. Puncture Armor=Puncture cannot be blocked.
4. Slice Eyes=Radial Slice now causes blindness.
5. Offensive Legionairre=Outward Offense cool down is decreased by 6 seconds.’
6. Poision Tip Puncture=Puncture now causes poision as well as bleeding.

Interceptor Skills
1 Javelin Pin=Throw your pole arm immobilizing enemy for 3 sec. (10 sec cd)
2 Lascerate Legs—Cripple all enemies nearby with a powerful whirl. (aoe 5 sec cd)
3 Whirling Intercept=intercept and block all projectiles (aoe) (10 sec cd)
4 Pole vault=vault yourself backwards. (escape)
5 Impale=—impale your enemy immobilizing them for 3 sec. (10 sec cd)

Some traits with Interceptor:
1 Pinning understanding=range of javelin pin increased
2 Leg specialist=lascerate legs now bleeds foes.
3 Whirling reflection=whirling intercept now reflect projectiles.
4 Pole vaulting champion=pole vault has increased range.
5 Impaling Execution=Impale cooldown is reduced by 3 sec.

Possible Elite Ideas:
Massive Rain=call down a legion’s spears from above damaging and immobilizing all foes (aoe)
Gladiator’s strength=gain an extra spear to duel wield two spears increasing all damage by 25 percent for a short time.

Let me know any thoughts or extrapolations!

thanks,
Graey

Thanks Wyrden!

Here is build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQJAWBFlptINOqhatRSNCTf/vSyhgS+tB-T1xHwA9U+N4RA4VXgq9HAcFA0r+DTlgAA-w

Or if you could be a doll and post link for me! =)

I hate videos too because they take too long, unless I need to see how they play.

Yes, I posted it this way for now because I am on a work computer and gw2skills is blocked lol.

I will work on a link soon don’t worry.

I understand the frustration while not having traveler runes also, but hopefully you will be with a small group and can get swiftness for which pack runes will give you duration boon. If anything you have blink which is now on shorter cd and further reach to travel, and also chaos storm can give you swiftness more often than not.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQJAWBFlptINOqhatRSNCTf/vSyhgS+tB-T1xHwA9U+N4RA4VXgq9HAcFA0r+DTlgAA-w

This build is a subtle change from my previous Might Witch GS/Staff Mesmer build. You still get good might stacks while having Fury almost all the time which you will share with your allies. You use staff for added support and escapes, but primarily will solely use your GS in a fight for damage. This build a lot of fun for wvw solo or small groups and I have been able to down three enemies trying to kill me without PU or Shatter. You have little invis in this build which is what I wanted, but added toughness and escape from Staff and you have to become optimal using Blink. You will moderately chip away at your opponent even without i-berzerker simply by having almost roughly 30% extra damage from fury and stacks of might—which is an attempt at maxing out power and burst.

Weapons: GS/Staff
Gear: Berzerker
Runes: Superior Rune of the Pack (6)
Sigils: Energy + Battle on both weapons
Food: Meat & Truffle Stew
Utilities: Deceptive Decoy, Mantra of Resolve (or aoe for groups), Blink, Time Warp
Traits:
Domination: Empowered Illusions, Greatsword Training
Dueling: Phantasm Fury, Far-Reaching Manipulation
Chaos: Master of Manipulation, Chaotic Dampening, Bountiful Interruption

Small version—Open up with Staff for toughness and escape and engage enemy, you will probably get hit with at least one condition in any fight, which is good for Fury using Pack Runes with a 25% chance which almost always procs in a fight. When you get fury—roll out and GS I-berzerker while maintaining distance with blink or decoy and pew pew. Keep an eye on conditions and make sure to recharge your mantra right before you blink. I’ve been using Time Warp in sink with my blink to get a lot of damage off at distance to get that extra burst. You wills start to see in prolonged fights that you have almost perma fury, as each stack increases fury duration plus any and all damage you take is likely to proc fury.

Let me know your thoughts!

Thanks,
Graey