Guild Wars 2

I’m posting the MATLAB code I wrote to generate the tables that MyCondolences quoted. I didn’t include it in the main thread since it was a bit off topic, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a few extra eyes check it for correctness. I added a few comments and corrected a potential round off issue when comparing floating point values for equality (hence the 4.9999 and 0.9999), but otherwise it’s the same code that generated the tables I posted. I used fixed intervals between attacks which probably doesn’t model the bursty nature of many Thief skills, but I think it’s a reasonable first approximation.

function table = init_increase

max_t = 60000; % Simulation time in seconds
max_aps = 6;   % Maximum Attacks Per Second
table = zeros(11,7); % Initialize the return table
rn = random('unif', 0,100, max_t * max_aps, 2); % Big RNG matrix

for aps = 1:max_aps % Attacks Per Second
    table(1, aps+1) = aps; % Column label is Attacks Per Second
    atks = max_t * aps;    % Number of attacks to simulate

    for cc = 10:10:100 % Crit Chance
        table(cc/10+1, 1) = cc; % Row label is Crit Chance
        new_init = (1 + 0.1) * max_t; % Change 0.1 to 0.0 to remove Quick Recovery
        old_init = (0.75 + 0.2) * max_t; % Change 0.2 to 0.0 to remove Quick Recovery

        % Simulate Opportunist procs for all attacks.

        new_t = -10; % Time of last Opportunist proc for new_init
        old_t = -10; % Time of last Opportunist proc for old_init
        for i = 1:atks % Attack Index
            t = i / aps; % Time (in seconds) of this attack (evenly spaced attacks)

            % Check Opportunist proc for proposed changes

            if (t - new_t > 4.9999) && (rn(i,1) < cc) && (rn(i,2) < 50)
                new_t = t;
                new_init = new_init + 1;
            end

            % Check Opportunist proc for current implementation

            if (t - old_t > 0.9999) && (rn(i,1) < cc) && (rn(i,2) < 30)
                old_t = t;
                old_init = old_init + 1;
            end
        end

        % Percent increase of New value over Old value

        table(cc/10+1,aps+1) = round(100 * (new_init - old_init) / old_init);
    end
end

LoneWolfie,

The difference lies in how the attack times are spaced out. My calculation spaces attacks evenly, while yours has them all occur at the same time in a 5 second window (i.e. no interaction with the following 5 second window). Both of our calculations are edge conditions that don’t describe real attack rates perfectly. The real initiative gain values lie somewhere in between your numbers and mine.

I found it hard to determine what the Initiative changes would mean to the average Thief, so I wrote a simulation to estimate the percent gain (or loss) with the proposed changes under varying attack and critical chance rates. The first chart is for Thieves who only use Opportunist and the second is for those who use Opportunist and Quick Recovery together. These are steady state values using equally spaced attacks, but I think they are accurate enough to give us a better idea of where we will stand after the changes.

Initiative Increase (%) with only Opportunist

                  Attacks Per Second
Crit%  |    1      2      3      4      5      6
---------|-------------------------------------
       10 |   33    32    30    28    26    24
       20 |   32    28    23    19    16    12
       30 |   30    23    17    12      8      4
       40 |   28    19    11      6      1     -2
       50 |   25    14      6      1     -3     -6
       60 |   22    10      2     -3     -7   -10
       70 |   19      6     -2     -6   -10   -13
       80 |   17      3     -5     -9   -13   -15
       90 |   14      0     -7   -12   -15   -17
     100 |   11    -3   -10   -14   -17   -19


Initiative Increase (%) with Opportunist and Quick Recovery

                  Attacks Per Second
Crit%  |    1       2      3      4      5      6
---------|-------------------------------------
       10 |   17    16    15    14    12    11
       20 |   16    13    10      7      5      2
       30 |   15    10      5      2     -1     -4
       40 |   13      7      1     -3     -6     -9
       50 |   11      4     -2     -7   -10   -12
       60 |   10      1     -5   -10   -13   -15
       70 |     8     -2     -8   -12   -15   -18
       80 |     6     -5   -11   -15   -17   -20
       90 |     4     -7   -13   -17   -19   -21
     100 |     2     -9   -15   -18   -21   -22

High attack rate skills like Pistol Whip, Unload, and Cluster Bomb will take a hit, although recovery from bursting with those skills will be much improved. Sword cleave and Shorbow bounce will also be less effective in a multi-target environment. In WvW, PTV and other non-crit gear becomes more viable and should open up more build options. Overall, I think the Initiative changes are good and I’d like to thank all the developers who must surely have fought an uphill battle to “make it so”.

Would it be possible to pair lower populated servers together for a match-up or even a whole league season? So instead of 1v1v1 we could have 2v2v2 or even things like 1v2v2 or 1v1v2 matches? This would give a lot of flexibility in creating more population balanced WvW matches without actually merging entire servers.

I think it’s an interesting question, whether the prices of rare skins are inline with developer expectations, but I don’t think it’s one that can be discussed without a lot of heart ache. The BLT RNG skins are helping to fund this game and I can only assume that those are managed to maximize profits. Legendary items help keep Inflation in check by providing a materials and gold sink (through TP taxes). As much as I’d love to have some of these skins, I’d rather have a smoothly operating game that can be played at all levels without a subscription fee.

Water field on 3rd hammer auto-chain, preez.

I think zerg-ball is now mostly PTV. Starter gear is Invader’s/Soldier’s from tokens and Soldier’s accessories from an open Grenth temple.

I think the Downed State is fine for a game with no dedicated healers, however I think that the Rally mechanic should be disabled on WvW maps. This would solve some of the grouping issues we have when more experienced players don’t want up-leveled or under-equipped players fighting along side them.

When I first purchased GW2, I thought I would be playing it for the next 5 years based primarily on the zero gear grind philosophy. With Ascended gear this has all changed. There is no reason for me to spend six months fully gearing out an alt in GW2 when I could spend the same amount of time gearing out a main in an entirely new game.

Even if Ascended gear is the final tier, what happens when they introduce the 12 stat Infusions, or the +24 Infusions 6-months later, or the +20/15/+15 multi-stat Infusions a year from now?

I was going to spend 10$ a month on this game, and had spent $60 on the box and $50 dollars on gems so far. But I’ve stopped buying gems and will only resume when my main has converted all weapon sets and one set of armor to Ascended with max level infusions. Playing with max level gear is the game I bought, and that is the game for which I’ll continue to pay.

Thief:

Venomous Aura — This is a much needed change. All AOE buffs need to have a reasonable area, it would be nice if they could be standardized.

Larcenous Strike — If you reduce the boon steal from 2 to 1, this skill is going to need something. Maybe you could move the Initiative cost back down from 2 to 1, or reduce the cast time to improve its DPS. Otherwise you could just go back to the original Flanking Strike design while retaining the improved pathing and have a better skill.

Pistols — Can’t wait to see what you guys come up with.

Wood is not removed from the game at the same rate as metals simply because less wood than ore is used in what people craft on a large scale. If equal numbers of wood and metal nodes are harvested, wood will always accumulate unless vendored. This became very apparent in the initial leveling bubble that crashed nearly the entire wood market to vendor pricing. In order to address this imbalance, the devs increased the amount of wood necessary to make planks.

I think this is still going to be the case with Ascended crafting. If you add up all the wood and ore used in all the Ascended weapons crafted this month, more metal than wood will be consumed. But you really feel the wood pinch if you try to craft your Spirit Wood every day.

Scarlet’s Box >> Elixir of Heroes. I had to try.

I expect the JP reward is lowish since we can park alts at the top of various puzzles and just collect the chests once per day.

Voting for Evon over Kiel is a bit like voting for Palpatine over Organa. Sure, you might save the galaxy, but then Lucas would never have been able to pitch Starpeace to 20th Century Fox. Clearly entertainment value beats the tar out of good common sense.

The Shadow Arts Trait “Power Shots” could be changed to “Short bow and harpoon gun range is increased, and damage is increased by 5%.” This would give some play to a trait that few currently take.

Do NOT be fooled by your commander’s call to Stack. He wants to count your supply and under no circumstances should you let him know if you have any. Instead you should go take that sentry point to get WXP for free sieges to throw down at the next tower and build with YOUR supply.

If you do end up in a Zerg Stack, it is very important that you lay down all your Darkness, Poison, Smoke, and Light Fields. This will prepare your Zerg Stack to counter a veiled enemy Zerg Stack with Retaliation, Weakness, Blindness, and Stealth. The benefits are too numerous to enumerate.

When your commander moves out, it is very important not to follow immediately. We must wait and move out one by one so that, like Sand People, we will travel single file to hide our numbers. We all know the enemy will flee before us if they suspect an even fight, so we must lure them into a false sense of security by trickling in a few at a time. And that is when we will CRUSH them with our superior tactics and fighting skills for they are bad and we are hot because we are us and they are not!

May the zerg be with you.

The new 900 range on Cluster Bomb is a game changer in WvW. It removes the ability for Thieves to hit certain structures, and it means they need to stand in all the 1200 ranged red circles to land Cluster Bomb in a straight up stand-off. I guess I’ll have to shrug off being a third wheel at keep takes, but large scale open-field fights are going to require some adjustments. I’m looking at using Shadow Step to teleport in, dumping Cluster Bombs, and then teleporting back out. I’d like to use Sword/x to do that but I’m uncertain about living 10 seconds for the weapon swap, so I’d probably just flail around with the sword a bit and then get out. I’m also thinking about speccing for Tricks and pulling some poor dude to his death every 16 seconds with Scorpion Wire. It’s a cheap trick, but at least it has 1200 range

For large scale WvW, I use Soldier’s armor and Berserker jewelry. I think it is a reasonable compromise for a Thief not running a backstab or condition build. Use consumables and your rune set to tailor for more dps or more tankiness as needed.

I think the trap to remove supply could add some interesting game play. Traps that affect all players equally can be workable, but traps that target specific class abilities are kind of a slippery slope.

Here are some more examples of traps that would just make people feel bad about playing their chosen class.
— Cone of Silence: This trap prevents enemies from using Shouts in the target area.
— Reality Bubble: This trap dispels all enemy Illusions and transformations in the target area.
— Green Cleaner: This trap prevents all hostile ground effects in the target area.
— Broken Stopwatch: This trap prevents all enemy teleports in the target area.
— Bear Trap: This trap prevents all enemy pets and summons from entering the target area.
— Static Field: This trap prevents all enemy weapon/bundle/attunement swapping
— Pain Reflector: This trap reflects all self inflicted damage back to the enemy.
— Tranquilizer Bomb: This trap prevents all secondary power gain such as Adrenaline and Life Force.
— Discombobulater: This trap explodes all hostile summoned objects damaging the enemy.

Travlane.5948:

Agonoize.4021:

Divinity/Scholar/Lyssa/Beryl Orb/Ruby Orb/Pack

All depends on what you want from your thief and if you do WvW what your guild wants.

I play a thief as main in a guild that focuses on WvW mostly.

Stats : 19,5k Life,2800 Armor,3250 attack,55% chance,88 CD

A full Zerker thief cant provide that much and will not last in a sustained fight.
And being a free rally for the enemy is never a good thing.

how is this possible/ im wracking my brain. plz do explain :P

This is only possible by adding in buffs.

Equip Soldier’s weapons, Soldier’s armor + Beryl Orbs, a mix of Cavalier’s/BerzValk jewerly with a Soldier’s amulet (all Accended), and a Cavalier’s back piece.

This will leave your crit chance and crit damage lowish, so use Maintenance Oil and the Precision + 10% crit damage food, and then add in +250 Precision from a +10 Prec/kill Sigil. Maybe add in the Power and Precision Signets.

That gets pretty close.

My guess is that they went to Red Lobster to pick up a wagon load of crab crackers and bibs

The event today did mention the Lionguard testing out new weapons and most camps on the new islands have a box of weapons for players to try out.

The lady in the middle of the Hoelbrak crafting area who has “..seen creatures of metal and Steam” says that line about every 30 seconds. Maybe the timer was supposed to be 300 seconds, but a zero was left off?

For surviving burst damage, Vitality is better than Toughness when Health < 10 * Armor. If Health > 10 * Armor, then you could slide some points over from Vitality to Toughness to survive a slightly larger damage spike. As others have noted, Toughness does nothing for Condition Damage, but it does become more effective against direct damage as you get more healing.

It would be really cool if players could spawn a daily “story line” quest that targeted specific crafting needs. Defend a Mithril Mine, or Clear a Spider Lair, or Search for Lost Jewels. Stuff like that.

Assuming you are splitting a fixed number of attribute points between Vitality and Toughness (where the cost for a point of each is the same), and that 1 Vitality = 10 Health, and that damage is proportional to (Power / Armor) then:

The biggest burst you can survive is when 10 * Armor = Health.

You would err on the side of 10 * Armor > Health when you have enough burst survivability to give you time for healing to take effect. In general, if you don’t feel like you are surviving damage bursts, use 10 * Armor = Health to determine whether to raise Vitality or Toughness. If you handle bursts fine, then you could possibly transfer some points from Vitality to Toughness to sustain yourself better.