Guild Wars 2

Same issue after maintenance as others seem to be having. Error code 1083:5:7:1595:101 upon trying to get past the character select screen.

Hey there, everyone!

Our guild is named the Inglorious Order [IO]. We’re a bit of an oddity in two ways. The first is that our guild has been around since the headstart period, but we’ve always kept it a tightly-knit, small community of close friends up to this point – we’ve never had more than 30 people in the guild at any point up to now. The second is that our guild is based in SFR, but we’re primarily (approximately 90%) people from the United States/Canada, most of which speak only English.

The latter of these two points makes for an interesting experience, because we’re avid WvW’ers first and foremost who are usually nocturnal creatures (active hours usually spanning ~9:30 p.m. – 2 a.m. EST except on weekends, when people are on at nearly all hours ending in p.m.), which places us squarely in SFR’s night crew/downtime. However, we don’t just do WvW! In fact, there are a few of us who absolutely abhor WvW (strange that people like this can exist, huh?), so we try to go off and do regular ol’ PvE stuff with them as often as possible. This stuff ranges the whole gamut, if we’re being honest – Fractals, dungeons, map completion, etc. – but we do not really have any active sPvPers in our guild (not to say they aren’t welcome; we just may not be the best fit for you). The one thing we haven’t really dipped our fingers into yet has been guild missions of any sort, which is why I’m making this post. We’re fully upgraded in all research lines for our guild (lotta work involved there for a small guild, let me tell you), but we’ve just lacked the numbers so far to do any bounties/other.

And that, ladies and gents, is where you come in! We’re happily welcoming players of all experience levels and game-types (and we don’t care what language you really speak, either, just note that bridging the communication gap will be a bit harsh). If you’re interested in joining up with us for some fun shenanigans, hit me up in-game (character name is Expoh, account name is Legerdemain.1365) or here on the forums, and I’ll send you an invitation as soon as I’m next online tonight (work sucks, luckily the forums aren’t blocked)

1. Your elite skill is spades better than any elite the elementalist currently has available to them (excluding FGS for movement), which seems to make it a no-brainer that you’re going to take it in nearly all situations. There needs to be a bit of a tone-down here, since I doubt ANet will buff the others to be in-line. This ability will likely get you somewhere about 6-7 attunement swaps depending on how well you utilize it, and it currently has a CD of only 100s in your idea. In its current form, I couldn’t see this elite having anything less than a 150s CD, especially with the trait you have to lower the CD of stances by over 40 seconds just through using them and 20% increased duration, which is basically a 33% reduction on this skill, putting it at actually about 66s CD

2. ON TRAIT III and IX: You’re taking away one of the key weaknesses of elementalist that allow them to have such high dps, utility, and basically everything else by giving them a potential additional 4,500 health just through traits. The elementalist is meant to have lower hp than the other classes; this is the trade-off they make for getting all that they have.

3. ON TRAIT I: This is such a lackluster trait that I doubt it would ever even be considered an option in its current state. Chill reduces movement speed by 66%, superspeed increases it by 50%, so you’re still at a 15% detriment here. At the very least, this would need to cleanse the chill for a 20s CD on 3s active, and I honestly still wouldn’t look at it unless it applied to other movement-impairing conditions like cripple and immobilize.

4. ONE TRAIT II, MASTER MINOR, VIII (assuming this one also increases condi removal from combo field interaction): Another weakness of the elementalist that adds counterplay is that their condi cleanse is mostly tied to their water attunement skills, so they have to specifically go into that attunement to save themselves from melting, which means a player can condi spike an elementalist on the tail-end of their water attunement rotation for maximum effect. With these traits, you’re removing a LARGE part of this counterplay from the game, which is not only too strong, but something that I feel shouldn’t be done.

5. ON TRAIT IV: I’m sorry, but what is this? 20% more damage on a master trait that could basically equate to always having 20% increased damage in all combat scenarios provided you don’t drag the fighting out and provided you manage your stances well? Let’s look at elementalist and see how broken this trait really is when applied to them. Let’s assume you want to go full glass dps and not taking arcane, which will provide you with: Bolt to the Heart for 20% on foes under 50% hp; Burning Rage for 10% against burning foes; and 10% while attuned to fire – also, on the occasions where you get a foe disabled, Tempest Defense for 20%. Do you not see how broken an additional 20% damage could make elementalist? Also, 80% potential increased damage to elementalist while some other professions are struggling to get near a 30-40% modifier? Doesn’t seem balanced to me.

6. ON MASTER MINOR ALONE: Is this REALLY needed? From the way the rest of this is reading, this just seems like a bit of wishful, WISHFUL thinking.

7. ON TRAIT V: There is no ICD listed on this. Plain and simply, it is so broken without one.

8. ON TRAIT VI: I actually see nothing particularly wrong with this one, but I feel it could see some abuse when used in conjunction with the elite stance. I feel an ICD (a short one; something maybe like 2s) could be applied to the trait and still function whilst adding a bit more thought to weaver play, since then you’d have to plan your attunement swap spamming with the elite to get off whichever of these conditions you actually want vs. others.

9. ON TRAIT GRANDMASTER MINOR: I see nothing particularly OP about this one by itself, but with the damage modifiers that elementalist already has, I feel 15% attack speed may be able to be abused with the elite stance. Perhaps 2% per stack would suit this better?

10. ON TRAIT VII: I feel this has already been addressed as being a bit too powerful, especially if the stance already in use reduces its own CD. With how strong the stances you have are, this trait could really be broken down into one or the other, and I feel people would still consider taking it.

11. Your sword auto-attack chains are too strong. Reflecting projectiles, equivalent of distortion, a (albeit short-range) blink that blinds (which basically means the blind would be undodge-able…), equivalent of ~12 stacks of might just for attacking w/o rune of strength… Honestly, I don’t know what to tell you here other than that these are BrokeN with a capital B and an N as well, because why not.

12. Your attunement weave effects are just OP, especially when used with the elite. In rapid succession, you could go Fire > Water > Air > Fire… to continually blind, stun, and knockback your enemy. Also, smoke fields haven’t been given to elementalist on purpose, I feel, so I doubt they will be given to them in the future. Doing so may push ele to a point where thief is no longer needed, which isn’t what I think ANet wants.

All-in-all, I really have no idea how to fix these problems; I just wanted to point out the things I noticed on my first read-through that seemed broken. Some may not be, oh well. Anyways, off to work. Great idea regardless of the criticisms I have for many of the things you’ve come up with.

Alright, well. That’s all I’ve got for now. Heading out to work. Feel free to take over my thread, as I see you folks have already done. =P

Personally, I’m the most in favor of one of the ones I see them being the least likely to implement… I’d really like to see the choice of stat allocation without the crushing restriction of traits attached to it, but it seems like ArenaNet specifically wanted to move away from this, thus the choice of tying these previously-chosen stats into armor. But hey, maybe that’s just the portion of me opposed to change. Who could say?

Potential readers, I’m going to use this reply to brainstorm possible solutions/suggestions to my aforementioned worry. I’ll likely come back here throughout the day to edit this and put up any additional courses of action/solutions I can think of myself. Feel free to make suggestions as well, and I’ll include (with credit) any in this post I find feasible/interesting and have not thought of myself, on the off-chance that ArenaNet sees this forum thread and uses my question on the livestream – they may be open to our suggestions on this on the off-chance they have no solution, who knows?

• Offering a one-time stat change to ascended armor pieces
• Allowing a laurel refund of ascended trinkets equivalent to/slightly lesser than (to prevent people from buying from WvW and exchanging in PvE for higher laurel value) their value from the vendor
• Creating mystic forge recipes to change ascended armor/trinkets into others at a cheaper cost than outright buying/crafting new pieces
• (A bit far-fetched, seeing how it’s similar to what we’re losing) Forget the stat-boost to equipment/base values, allowing players to allocate the difference in stats lost from this change themselves (i.e. allow a system similar to the current trait system we have to exist, but it only applies to stat bonuses, offering potential boosts up to what we’re losing, only with the ability to spread points more diversely due to traits not being tied in with them)
• (Also a bit out there) Creating a new trinket slot, with the stats on the items for this slot equivalent to values lost (i.e. supposing we’re losing 300 in all traits – a likely underestimation – the trinket could have values of +100 X stat, +100 X stat, and +100 X stat)
• Create a gold standard for ascended armor (i.e. merge all sets into one), and allow players to switch the stats on ascended armor anytime outside of combat at will (If this is done – I doubt it will be – please, please, PLEASE make it so we could socket runes into our ascended armor and swap between the sets socketed into pieces at will. And if this is done, do the same thing for legendaries, because I honestly don’t see why we can swap the weapon stats on these but not the sigils. A Twilight with a sigil of hydromancy can work great in WvW warrior solo-roaming, but it serves little-to-no purpose in a PvE setting, and having to swap sigils back and forth between this and a sigil of force is a bit expensive/unrealistic)
• Allow some form of recycling potential on Ascended armor/weapons, possibly either through kit or a npc, offering a percentage amount of the materials required in the crafting process (possible return rate of somewhere between 75-90% of the cost? Possibly return all materials needed except the inscription/insignia used in that recipe, since one could assume the only reason you’d do this would be to change the stat type of that item, for which the previous insignia/inscription is not needed?)

Question here for Twitch broadcast tomorrow:

Previously, it was directly stated that there would not be an increase in the max level cap nor the coinciding gear in the HoT expansion, as doing so would create a gear treadmill in the game to acquire the best stats, and a more horizontal progression was desired going forward. With the most recent announcement of plans to tie stats wholly to the character base value and our equipment, I find myself with a lurching fear that this same effect will inadvertently be produced.

For example:

I currently run a Mesmer build of 2/6/0/6/0 for WvW zerg fighting, and I find the additional 3k hitpoints I get from those 6 points in Inspiration to be key to my survival in a good number of encounters. The gear I currently run is a combination of ascended berserker armor and ascended knights trinkets, none of which offers vitality, so I assume I will be effectively losing this extra survivability when HoT drops. Because of this, I foresee myself having to grind towards some new armor/trinket items of ascended quality to produce the same/similar results to the build I currently run.

So, my Q: Is any consideration being given to the fact that these changes to stats being tied more to equipment may effectively be creating a gear treadmill for veteran players who already have ascended armor/trinkets of armor/stat types that work for their current builds? If so, are there any plans in place to alleviate this potential grind, or will we be forced to acquire new equipment entirely should our previous build become unfeasible/lesser with the release of HoT?

Siphaed.9235:

The mini watch knight wasn’t just for the Queen’s Jubilee, it was introduced during the Clockwork Chaos thing in relation to Scarlet’s invasions and related to S1 lore about how she corrupted the Watch-Knights into her own minions

Okay, I’ll give you this one. But how is the Gift of Magnanimity ANY different from the Gift of Candy Corn, pray tell?

rapthorne.7345:

Seasonal content will return, I’m certain, during the appropriate season. For example the candy corn node returned last year when it was previously believed to be only available for the Halloween content of 2013

Eh, well, I guess I’ll just have to sit on a bank full of empyreal fragments for a year then, operating on the chance that I’ll get an item, huh? My opinion here, is that the Star of Gratitude should not have been implemented in the way it was, but that, since it was, I’d like to see it offered outside of a limited time event like Wintersday, much like Mawdrey II with Mawdrey. I just feel like this was poorly done, so I’m admittedly a bit kitten about it. I know the item itself is tied to a collection. Would it be outside the realm of possibility to suggest that this collection be made available outside of Wintersday with possibly a bit more difficulty attached to it, so players like me could have access to it but still have to work for it?

Edit: So, I never had to purchase the Gift of Candy Corn, which you explicitly used as an example, but according to https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gift_of_Candy_Corn, this item is offered at the Laurel Vendor. So, I’ll ask you: how does this differ from the Star of Gratitude/Gift of Magnanimity? All are items from a past holiday event that no longer exists, and the Gift of Magnanimity could be said to be the Wintersday equivalent of the Gift of Candy Corn. Is it just a matter of time? Will I have to wait one/two years before I can gain access to the items I missed?

rapthorne – I’m not discussing items offered through the actual Living World Season 2 content. What I’m making mention of is the items offered through limited-time events, such as the Christmas one, which offered an additional home instance node as well as the Star of Gratitude, which I explicitly mentioned. These items are just as unavailable as those that were offered in Season 1; gems are not a factor in any way, shape, or form.

Olvendred – While I understand the point you’re making, I feel that you could also argue as to what an event such as the Queen’s Jubilee brought to the progression of Living World Season 1 other than a type of festival, yet Mini Watchknights are offered, and the Crown Pavilion returned at a future date with other things offered. Next Wintersday will undoubtedly reoccur, but how are we to know that any item from the past Wintersday will even have a mention there? Much like the Crown Pavillion, although some differences do exist.

Hey, everybody.

At this point in time – and since the ending of Living World Season 1 – the laurel vendors in the major races’ cities have offered the vast majority of items rewarded from achievements during that first season in exchange for a combination of laurels and gold. Everything from quartz nodes to fused gauntlets, we can obtain it provided we’re willing to pay the listed price.

However, we now find ourselves a few months after the end of Living World Season 2, and this option is not currently available for any items players may have missed obtaining from holiday events that occurred throughout that second season. While I understand that Season 2 had nowhere near the amount of items offered for a limited time as Season 1, there were still a few events that offered up items that portions of the player base wish they could have been there for. Most notable in this regard – for me and many of the players I interact with, at least – is the past Christmas event. In my own case, I’ve played since GW2’s head-start period, and I’ve missed very few of the limited-time events/items (Flame and Frost is the best one yet; cry your hearts out, SAB-lovers), with the only ones I’ve missed being due to periods of real life infringing on my leisure time. The past Christmas was one of these periods, what with my having to leave my computer to visit with the family for an extended period of time, since college now affords me little opportunity to see my loved ones. The torture of watching the opportunity to get that handy Star of Gratitude needed to keep the scourge of empyreal fragments to a minimum slip through my fingers on my phone was absolutely awful.

In short, I’d like to make the suggestion that laurel vendors be updated to provide the opportunity to purchase missed items from Living World Season 2, so that players like me who missed one of the events could have access to the items no longer obtainable like those from Living World Season 1. Or, hey, if plans are already in the works for this to occur, it’d be nice to at least receive a confirmation that it is being looked at (unsure if this is the first post of this nature). Or, if this is an impossibility, perhaps you could just let me down gently, so I can go drown myself in my empyreal fragments whilst crying softly.

Edit: Seems to be a bit of confusion about what I’m talking about here, so I’ll clarify. I am NOT referring to items offered directly from Living World Season 2 chapters or their respective achievements. The only items I’m referring to are things that were available for a limited-time, such as the Gift of Magnanimity/Star of Gratitude.