Guild Wars 2

I think the issue for me is really about symbols and symbol builds. Perhaps the traits for symbols need to be re-examined in light of this symbol change on greatsword. For that matter, perhaps the whole Zeal tree (with Greatsword and symbol traits, both) needs to go under the microscope.

I like these ideas! Well thought out post for sure.

I haven’t watched the forums in a while, but a quick search seems like ArenaNet has not responded to this and other threads at all; confirmed?

It would be wrong of me to post in the other threads supporting this topic (re: breaking symbol builds) without posting in this one too.

Once again, just longing for a response from ArenaNet.

But when there are so many traits for symbols (look at the whole Zeal line) it seems like an un-necessary and stinging slap in the face to nerf the whole of the symbol than to nerf the real threat: retaliation.

Any change to the root of the problem (namely: retaliation) would make much more sense and be much more valid than just cranking up the cooldown on the symbol (which gets multiple benefits from traits and is the backbone of a whole build!)

I agree that the nerf has really slowed down the temp of the weapon – it doesn’t feel as active. Waiting for auto-attacks is the reason I don’t play with hammer (and why I forged a Mystic Claymore).

I use the GS a part of a symbol build. It gives those around me a field in which to combo, to remove conditions, I traited it to provide healing and vulnerability.

And now they’ve taken that away from me… to fix a problem with retaliation.

I got over the order problem – spent a lot of time slamming my GS into the ground instead of leaping at my target… but whatever.

What I want to know now is why my symbols, the source of damage, healing, combos, etc. (and yes retaliation) got nerfed so badly.

Just to be sure people understand something (the people saying it’s not that bad), this is all the traits this GS nerf affected (just to apparantly combat the retaliation aspect of GS).
-
Symbolic Exposure – Symbols apply vulnerability to foes.
Symbolic Power – Increases damage of symbols.
Writ of Exaltation – Symbols are larger.
Writ of Persistence – Symbols last longer.
Writ of the Merciful – All symbols heal allies.
All the above traits have had there usage halfed on GS because the symbol doubled in cooldown, add to this the loss of DPS on the GS itself due to the cooldown. So due to the above, do people really think a 5 second less cooldown on leap is worth it? – i sure don’t.
This nerf affected a lot of builds THAT DON’T USE retaliation.
The simple fact is, Anet either need to revert the cooldown or double the symbols duration and damage to make up for the cooldown.

This. A thousand times this. I ran a symbol build and I didn’t care about retaliation – nerf it rather than nerfing the entire symbol.

Mystic Claymore and Superior Sigil of Strength both fill me with heavy regret now.

Tossing in my vote for a response to the notes. An explanation.

Lagz.9538:

They should have just left it the way it was and changed the length of retaliation!

This.

As a 2H guardian that just bought a Mystic Claymore and put Sigil of Strength on it, I’d like to have some explanation as to why I just got nerfed – and now my muscle memory is all screwed up!

Some background – I’m playing 2H greatsword and staff with a spirit weapon build. My goal is for a full Draconic Knight’s set featuring berserker’s accessories, damage runes and damage sigil.

I did a little experimentation yesterday and I was finding that of the Scholar runes were really quite impressive – though largely because I was dummy testing and always at 100% health. I paired them with a Force sigil and was really happy. I am also tempted by on-crit sigils such as the classic Strength or the cheaper Air.

I’m curious though – what have other people found? What other combinations of runes and sigils work wonders? Are there must-haves for the spirit weapon greatsword, staff situation I got going?

I did some testing last night and found that in fact multiple +Might duration runes DO stack, however all they do is maintain at least one stack. The rate that stacks fall off looks constant and unchanging, despite the total duration for Might itself lasting longer.

I’m planning on wearing the crafted Knight set for dungeons. I use a 2H symbol/spirit weapon build that I put together.

My plan was to maximize the 12 stacks of Might that I give myself (and others) with Empower (Staff #4) by using a combination of Runes to increase duration of Might (of Fire, of Strength and of Hoelbrak totally +60%). Only now I’m not sure this works… can anyone confirm?

Further my plan was to use a Sigil of Strength on my GS and a Sigil of Purity on my staff, allowing me on-crit effects and some synergy with my Might stacks. Apparently, though, the Sigil of Strength doesn’t give more than 1 (2?) stacks of Might no matter how much you crit. Again, can anyone help me confirm?

+1 ~ I agree and would like to see this in game

What if you wear multiple Runes that give +20% Might duration? You still only get one-at-a-time from the Sigil?

Pirate.4631:

All proc and on swap sigils share an internal cooldown.

So there is no way that Superior Sigil of Strength can provide more than one stack of Might?

Though it has already been said, I wanted to re-iterate for emphasis.

It would be nice to to have an option that dims or reduces the graphics of many spell particles in the game except your own, so you can actually see what’s going on. This could be extended to show only your group’s particles as well, or only the monster’s, or none at all.

I’m finding as a melee fighter that when I get up close to a monster or enemy, my ability to correctly perceive that enemy (their actions, inactions, weaknesses, animations, effects, etc.) is inversely exponentially proportional to the number of other players involved. Further the constant flashing is causing my eyes strain.

I just came upon this thread. Was this ever answered? Do you only get one stack on a crit, that lasts for 10 seconds? So with high enough crit chance you can keep one stack up at all times?

Yes, as I mentioned I know that Sigil of Strength is crafted. What about Rune of Strength?

So it seems to me that not all sigils and runes are crafted, is that right? Some of them are just random chance drops from mobs in the world (already attached to items).

I’m looking for Superior Rune of Strength (x5), Superior Sigil of Strength and Superior Sigil of Purity. I know that the Sigil of Strength can be crafted, but what about the other two?

That’s for PVP. “PVP Plated” is the actual term.

Oh! I hadn’t realized that you were looking for Mending Greaves. I too was looking for these. You’ll find them off a renown heart vendor in Iron Marches who sells them under the name “Warhound Clompers” – http://www.gw2db.com/items/62015-warhound-clompers.

A quick Googling reveals them from a heart – http://gw2.mmorpg-life.com/help-kennelmaster-warsnout-track-the-separatists/23031/.

Enjoy!

A great way to search for an item with the same skin is to use the thumbnail image. It sounds weird, but if you use a site like GuildHead or GW2DB you can find the thumbnail of the item you want, and then search among all other items for the same thumbnail (filter by weight, for brevity’s sake).

While I don’t get motion sickness, my eyes seem to get sore easily from all the bright flashes of particle effects..

Ah! I found the Devourer Handler’s Gloves using this Google result:
http://gw2.mmorpg-life.com/help-braxa-scalehunter-tend-to-the-devourer-nests/23028/

I think the boots must be accessible the same way, from a karma reward.

When you say ‘not found’ or ’couldn’t find these’, what do you mean exactly?

If these skins are exclusive to story rewards that I’ve already completed, then that sucks. How will I find them again?! Do I have any other options?

Gloves?

http://www.gw2db.com/items/62033-devourer-handlers-gloves
or
http://www.gw2db.com/items/59540-mending-gauntlets

Hmm these look promising for the boots. How do you know where to acquire them?

http://www.gw2db.com/items/62015-warhound-clompers

Edit: Also found them as these:

http://www.gw2db.com/items/59515-mending-greaves

I found the Wiki resource @ http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_karma_merchant_items#Heavy but the gloves and boots don’t look promising.

Surely the one-off story items are not the only way to get certain skins in the game…

Oh no… so does that mean that I won’t be able to acquire the gloves & boots in PVE…?

I posted in here earlier with a request for a PVE match from a PVP set and I’m at it again.

Anyone know where the PVE equivalent of “PVP Plated” can be found? I know the chest, helm and shoulders are called ‘Outrider’, but what about the gloves and boots?

Here’s a link to what the set looks like: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Human_female_PvP_Plated_armor.jpg

Any help would be appreciated!

Oh, nm, I found them – they are called ‘Wren Shoulderpads’ and I randomly came upon a karma vendor in Malchor’s Leap who sells them.

I am looking for the model in PVE that corresponds to the PVP Dark shoulders. While I’m not sure about the rest of the armor, the shoulders can be seen here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Human_male_PvP_Dark_armor_(rear).jpg.

Anyone know?

Wow, what a fantastic suggestion, I had no idea! I’ll be sure to try that.

@ Kissy,

The PVP Locker has all armor models? What do you mean ‘bought the lowest level I could’?

Yeah I appreciate that, thanks. I like some pieces of the exotic sets, and might use them here and there, but it gets expensive to make or buy TWO exotics just to get one. I’m broke and cheap, so, looking for the most efficient way to get what I want. 8 )

The problem with such a search is that I’m looking for more than just exotics, and more than just sets.

For instance, say I really like a level 55 crafted helm (I’m making this up, but suppose) and a level 80 rare pants, and a level 75 masterwork shoulder, etc. I want to see what they all look like together without having to commit my (exceedingly rare and expensive) transmutation stones, and also without having to find each of these items in game and use the Preview feature.

As title states, I’m using my crafting to make my exotics for stats, but I don’t like the way the set I’m crafting looks. Transmutation to the rescue! (I have all my level-80 worthy transmute stones ready to go)

Problem is, I don’t know of a great way to see ALL possible armor models in the game such that I could plan my look – I’d want to be able to pick & choose specific pieces from lots of different ‘sets’ or models that exist. Does anyone know of a resource to do this? Website? Phone app? Method in-game that’s surefire?

@ Valador,

Indeed I know about the Preview feature, but at the same time I wanted a place to preview the models out-of-game as well; as well as merge sets together (helm from set A with legs from set B, and so on).

@Wafflesomg,

A good start, thanks. Ideally it would be a model viewing applet allowing you to drag pieces and see what they’d look like real-time. I’m asking too much, I know.

Are there sites that allow you to look at 3D models of armor piece by piece, allowing you to do a mix-and-match preview? WoWHead had built something like this before, but it looks like GuildHead hasn’t picked it up (perhaps more difficult to render the models of GW2).

I personally don’t like any complete sets, but I like pieces from a number of different ones.

Hmm ok, thanks for the advice.

So gear does make a difference, meaning there is incentive to acquire and wear gear, though it sounds like it is very minimal. This is in contrast to, say, sPVP where skill is the only thing that counts since all gear is equal. Do I have that right?

Supposedly you can both level and attain gear in WvW. I thought I’d give this a try experimentally with my necromancer, but first I want to understand the system better.

Leveling makes sense – kill players, complete events, earn xp, karma, etc. all the same as PVE.

Now the point of gear. And this is a conversation that I’ve had from different angles as I try and understand how ‘dynamic scaling’ works. From the wiki (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sidekick):

In WvW, characters will have their effective level boosted to 80 but do not receive any new abilities or gear, and experience must still be gained to unlock them. Therefore, higher level characters will still be more powerful than lower level characters, despite both having the same effective level. Levels gained in WvW are kept and a player may level to the maximum 80 entirely within WvW.

This tells me very little, specifically about how I am enticed to bother with gear at all. If I am level 20 wearing all level 20 blues and I enter WvW, what is the net result on my ‘effective level’? Suppose I upgrade one of those to a level 20 green, what then?

Fair enough, thanks!

So it sounds like ‘crafting’, or perhaps buying crafted stuff from the TP, is the answer here. Guess I should get my armorsmith up from 221.

With my lack of anything exotic and being sub-400 in both crafting skills, sitting at only 50K karma and 7g, makes me wonder just what the heck I have to show for my time!

I have no idea how people already have full sets of exotic gear.

I’ve been 80 for just about a week now, have been running around 100%-ing zones cause I was told that’s a great thing to do in order to get crafting materials (weaponsmith 393, woo) and globs of ectoplasm, which are apparently important.

I have participated in every event I’ve come across, often running long distances to encounter them. I have more karma than anyone I know @ 50K, and more gold @ 7. I have a full-time job and a real life that I’d like to not see fade into obscurity, but feeling smug I went to see what I could afford when it comes to exotic gear. That was a nice stiff slap in the face.

42K karma per piece?! 20g per piece?! Was I ever humbled. Yet when I come over to read these forums, countless people suggesting they have a full set of exotics, including exotic weapons – it feels like most of the world already has their full set of exotic items, many of which I assume are ‘best in slot’ or equivalent.

Am I doing something wrong? Did I miss the express route to exotic wonderland? I’m not suggesting that’s all I want out of the game, of course, but it’d be nice to understand how to correct my focus.

Oh, and too extend my question – are all ‘nearby’ definitions the same?

I have a question about the definition of ‘nearby’ – abilities are rife with the term for enemies and allies, and yet I have not been able to find a definition of this concretely. Has anyone tested the range and found a good metric for measuring?

Schakal.6091:

Revenge of the Fallen? Seriously? Shouldn’t the Zeal line for this build be Spirit Weapon Mastery -> Eternal Spirit -> Wrathful Spirits?

Yes, absolutely right. Ha – I took Revenge of the Fallen actually as a bit of a joke as I showed this build to a friend (I’m down a lot, what can I say). When I picked up the build tonight I took those three majors.

Schakal.6091:

I’m also not sure how well Spirit Weapons and Symbols really synergize in regular PVE. The Hammer of Wisdom and Sword of Justice engage enemies where they are and give them no incentive to come into your Symbols.

What do you mean by ‘regular’ PVE? For me everything but bosses (read: champions or occasionally tough veterans) die quickly enough that I’m not terribly worried about synergies. When I’m tagging mobs with my staff, I can use the Symbol of Swiftness anywhere I need it to be (which is usually around where my spirit weapons are).

Schakal.6091:

In big Boss Fights on the other hand I can see this being a wicked effective build, especially if the’re a lot of CC involved.

Yes, this is primarily what my build was designed to do – the weapons are on 20 sec cooldowns and are out for ~30 sec or so. Command is a 10 sec cooldown, giving me 3 knockdowns, damage bursts or healing circles (as per weapon).

Schakal.6091:

That said, I’d always pick Writ of Persistence over Writ of the Merciful but that’s me thinking of Mace and Hammer, where the Symbols already protect. Staff and GS don’t protect people in them per se. This is very much a matter of preference and weapon loadout though.

I don’t have a decent hammer to test this out, but I agree – hammer is much more of a protection/control 2H, while GS lends itself way more to damage straight up. One of the things I like about the build is the flexibility in weapon selection; 4 of the 5 symbols available are covered in 2H weapons.