Guild Wars 2

BLUna.7928:

Some PvP API would be fantastic. I think it would be really cool if we could potentially create something like dotabuff but it just does not seem possible at the moment. Being able to access things like match details (kills, deaths, points, builds players were running) would be fantastic not only for match sites but also for things like post game breakdowns in tournaments.

Ravenmoon.5318:

(snip)
Also sPvP could see some love, by having an API endpoint interfacing with the leaderboards, and maybe even a build data (not necessary, I do see how that can be used to gain unfair advantage, knowing your enemy and all). The basics could be covered, like rank, and some achievements data, like players killed, points made and stuff like that.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/api/Proposal-Structured-PvP-API/first#post4802052

I’ll write a PR this weekend…

match id’s could simply be a hash, all I want is something short enough to type into an app to get live stats…

The way to manage Thief v Ranger right now is to use infiltrators signet as a secondary gap closer. You can go from ~2100 range to 0 in under half a second and pop them for half their health. From there it’s just keep full pressure up and they pretty much always pop or blow signet (steath/sr and prep a repop)

Hi Lawton,

Sorry about the delay in my reply! I agree with the during match for rated/unrated, maybe make the match data available after match (and for 24 hours after?)

I also added GET /v2/spvp/match?since={$time} as I realized there was no api-safe way to scrape the data. This would allow me to get a list once every 15..30..60 minutes of matches that I needed to record.

For ArenaNet Hot Join servers it should be active in real time, and for Custom Arenas it could be a flag given to the room owner (and maybe a separate password?) That said, Custom Arena’s is the most important place for it to exist as it will allow a streamer / broadcaster to pull all the builds and show them together instead of having to load each person individually. It also can serve as proof of match for tournament organizers.

From a data retention standpoint I totally agree about full historical data being difficult to feasibly search/manage while keeping any meaningful speed to the api. I would hope for the following to be in the API:

• All Time data (totals, updated hourly)
• Current Season/Ladder sum data (totals, updated hourly)
• Last x matches/last x days (updated live, cached 15 minutes)

Beyond that, storing each match is actually trivial in that they’re all small json blobs that could be compressed and tossed into an object store (Amazon S3 or Rackspace Cloud Files) to be able to replay matches (it would also let us recreate MMR’s if at some point we wanted to tweak the glicko settings from back data)

If there’s anything I can help with to make this happen, please pm me or kick me a mail in game!

— Lumiere

So, some of us were asked at the party Saturday Evening by Colin what we wanted to see from a rework of Lions Arch (my answer was “Anything as long as it isn’t Kaineng”, and it got a good laugh)

(Holding an additional post just in case it needs it!)

GET /v2/spvp/stats/{$character_id}

Stats for a character/account over longer periods of time (season or all time)

Attributes:

• season: Season number or “all” for all stats. M

No Request Body

Response Example:
[pre]
{
"character": "https://api.guildwars2.com/v2/characters/24597629",
"kills": 24.
"skirmisher": 4208,
"defends": 4,
"captures": 49,
"neutralizations": 48290
}

(etc etc)

GET /v2/spvp/match?since={$time}

Get all available matches that finished in a time period (default last ?? hours)

{
“matches”: [
“link1”,
“link2”,
“link3”,
“link4”,
“link5”
]}

This would allow a stats site to get a list of matches to pull data from without requiring it to look as frequently (lowering the load on the api)

Response Example (in-match):

{
    "match": {
        "id": 24727692,
        "room_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/room/1004882",
        "score": {
            "red": 0,
            "blue": 0,
        },
        "map": "temple",
        "time_left": false,
        "players": {
            "red": [
                { 
                    "account_id": "somebody.2392",
                    "name": "Some Name",
                    "class", "Guardian",
                    "weapons": [
                        {
                            "main_hand": "mace",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "off_hand": "focus",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Intelligence"
                        },
                        {
                            "main_hand": "staff",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Battle"
                        }
                    ],
                    "rune": "Rune of the Soldier",
                    "amulet": "Cleric",
                    "utilities": [
                       "Shelter",
                       "Hold the Line",
                       "Sanctuary",
                       "Stand Your Ground",
                       "Renewed Focus"
                    ],
                    "trait": {
                        "distribution": [0,1,6,6,1],
                        "points": [
                            [],
                            [],
                            [4,5,11],
                            [2,5,11],
                            []
                        ]
                    }
                    "events": [
                        {
                            "at": "00:30",
                            "type": "capture",
                            "point": "gate"
                        },
                        {
                            "at": "01:02",
                            "type" "kill",
                            "killed": "somebodyelse.2492"
                        },
                        {
                            "at": "06:51",
                            "type": "temple_buff",
                            "buff": "stillness"
                        },
                },
                ... // repeat these 4 more times
            ],
            "blue": [
                {
                    "account_id": "somebodyelse.2492",
                    "name": "Some Other Name",
                    "class", "Guardian",
                    "weapons": [
                        {
                            "main_hand": "mace",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "off_hand": "focus",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Intelligence"
                        },
                        {
                            "main_hand": "staff",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Battle"
                        }
                    ],
                    "rune": "Rune of the Soldier",
                    "amulet": "Cleric",
                    "utilities": [
                       "Shelter",
                       "Hold the Line",
                       "Sanctuary",
                       "Stand Your Ground",
                       "Renewed Focus"
                    ],
                    "trait": {
                        "distribution": [0,1,6,6,1],
                        "points": [
                            [],
                            [],
                            [4,5,11],
                            [2,5,11],
                            []
                        ]
                    }
                },
                ... // repeat these 4 more times
            ]
        }
    }
 }

Notes/Explaination:

• Pre-Match the data provided is just the build itself, once the match starts it includes some event data to allow statistics to be generated, and to let someone post-match generate interesting tidbits to discuss like how quickly a team decapped behind their opponents.

Events:

• Point Capture Neutralize Defend
• Kills
• Resses
• Skirmisher
• Map Special Events:
  • Temple Buffs
  • Kyhlo/Skyhammer Weapon Use/Hit
  • Forest Boss kills
  • Legacy Doors/Lord
  • Spirit Watch Orb pickup/drop/score (half/full)
• Others?

GET /v2/spvp/match/{$match_id}

Attributes:

• password: If the room for this match is password protected, require that the password be provided.
  • Ignore the password if owner is logged in via oauth.

No Request Body

Response Example (pre-match):

{
    "match": {
        "id": 24727692,
        "room_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/room/1004882",
        "score": {
            "red": 0,
            "blue": 0,
        },
        "map": "temple",
        "time_left": false,
        "players": {
            "red": [
                { 
                    "account_id": "somebody.2392",
                    "class", "Guardian",
                    "weapons": [
                        {
                            "main_hand": "mace",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "off_hand": "focus",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Intelligence"
                        },
                        {
                            "main_hand": "staff",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Battle"
                        }
                    ],
                    "rune": "Rune of the Soldier",
                    "amulet": "Cleric",
                    "utilities": [
                       "Shelter",
                       "Hold the Line",
                       "Sanctuary",
                       "Stand Your Ground",
                       "Renewed Focus"
                    ],
                    "trait": {
                        "distribution": [0,1,6,6,1],
                        "points": [
                            [],
                            [],
                            [4,5,11],
                            [2,5,11],
                            []
                        ]
                    }
                },
                ... // repeat these 4 more times
            ],
            "blue": [
                {
                    "account_id": "somebodyelse.2492",
                    "class", "Guardian",
                    "weapons": [
                        {
                            "main_hand": "mace",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "off_hand": "focus",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Intelligence"
                        },
                        {
                            "main_hand": "staff",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Battle"
                        }
                    ],
                    "rune": "Rune of the Soldier",
                    "amulet": "Cleric",
                    "utilities": [
                       "Shelter",
                       "Hold the Line",
                       "Sanctuary",
                       "Stand Your Ground",
                       "Renewed Focus"
                    ],
                    "trait": {
                        "distribution": [0,1,6,6,1],
                        "points": [
                            [],
                            [],
                            [4,5,11],
                            [2,5,11],
                            []
                        ]
                    }
                },
                ... // repeat these 4 more times
            ]
        }
    }
 }            

(This Section is split between 2 posts)

GET /v2/spvp/room/{$room_id}

Attributes:

• password: If the room is password protected, require that the password be provided.
  • Ignore the password if owner is logged in via oauth.

No Request Body

Response Example:

{
    "room": {
        "name": "The Plunderdome",
        "motd": "Plundering all day, yarr.",
        "team_size": 5,
        "score_limit": 500,
        "time_limit": 15,
        "respawn_time": 20,
        "respawn_type": "wave",
        "starting_players": 1,
        "reserved_slots": 0,
        "spectators": true,
        "ready_up": false,
        "autobalance": true,
        "lock_gear": false,
        "lock_skills": false,
        "progression": true,
        "force_respawn": false,
        "tournament_commands": false,
        "map_rotation": [
            "kyhlo",
            "forest",
            "legacy",
            "temple",
            "spirit_watch",
            "skyhammer",
            "courtyard
        ],
        "match_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/match/47947"
    }
}

Optionally, show member players/guilds and banned players… but I don’t see it as a big deal.

Notes:

• progression displays reverse of checkbox in the custom arena page (“No Progression” makes little sense)
• match_uri is created as soon as the map loads and is active until a match begins and ends.

Having spent a bit of time watching how most streams for pvp events in GW2 look, I think there is room for ArenaNet to provide some data that would simplify greatly the streams, as well as provide them with real data to generate stats on and work with.

API layout.

It makes sense to layout the API under /v2/ with the rest of the new APIs (and get use of their oauth/new codebase.)

This Document attempts to describe both how it might work specifically and why to do it.

/v2/spvp # open rooms/matches
/v2/spvp/room/{$room_id} # Room information and link to the match in progress
/v2/spvp/match/{$match_id} # Match information
/v2/spvp/stats/{$character/account?} # Stats for an account/character

GET /v2/spvp

Attributes:

• search – Search for a room name
• limit – limit count to a number of results
• offset – start showing with the Nth result (use with limit to paginate)

No Request Body.

Response Example:

{
    "rooms": [
        { 
     	    "name": "Server 023",
            "room_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/room/42",
            "match_uri": http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/match/47947"
        },
        { 
	    "name": "The Plunderdome",
            "room_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/room/1004882",
            "match_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/match/47948"
        }
    ]
}

(Continues Next Post… 5000 characters… lol)

This is a Cross-Post of https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/pvp/Proposal-Structured-PvP-API to hopefully hit the right set of eyes (after talking to Colin last night )

Strike Force on Jade Quarry is hosting a dev.

No, I’m not revealing who it is unless they wish to have it revealed.

in Spvp casting Mass Invisiblity crashes everyone who sees it except the caster.

tried this in a few custom arenas.

Laodike.8640:

CntrlAltDefeat.1465:

In all reality, this is most likely the most friendly language for engaging -some- of the development team. Props for trying.

You mean we should engage them in this way, so that they only need to copy&pace?

I’m engaging them in the manner in which I came up with the idea (what would I be looking for if I was going to use it) because it is easiest for me, and I hope it works for them.

Shockwave.1230:

Perhaps the API should allow for passing an account name and password that would automatically return the match ID and/or the room ID?

OAuth will be the GW2 API standard for auth, but adding a search for account id’s is a possibility.

(Also reserved) /15

(Reserved for additional Refinement)

Response Example (in-match):

{
    "match": {
        "id": 24727692,
        "room_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/room/1004882",
        "score": {
            "red": 0,
            "blue": 0,
        },
        "map": "temple",
        "time_left": false,
        "players": {
            "red": [
                { 
                    "account_id": "somebody.2392",
                    "name": "Some Name",
                    "class", "Guardian",
                    "weapons": [
                        {
                            "main_hand": "mace",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "off_hand": "focus",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Intelligence"
                        },
                        {
                            "main_hand": "staff",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Battle"
                        }
                    ],
                    "rune": "Rune of the Soldier",
                    "amulet": "Cleric",
                    "utilities": [
                       "Shelter",
                       "Hold the Line",
                       "Sanctuary",
                       "Stand Your Ground",
                       "Renewed Focus"
                    ],
                    "trait": {
                        "distribution": [0,1,6,6,1],
                        "points": [
                            [],
                            [],
                            [4,5,11],
                            [2,5,11],
                            []
                        ]
                    }
                    "events": [
                        {
                            "at": "00:30",
                            "type": "capture",
                            "point": "gate"
                        },
                        {
                            "at": "01:02",
                            "type" "kill",
                            "killed": "somebodyelse.2492"
                        },
                        {
                            "at": "06:51",
                            "type": "temple_buff",
                            "buff": "stillness"
                        },
                },
                ... // repeat these 4 more times
            ],
            "blue": [
                {
                    "account_id": "somebodyelse.2492",
                    "name": "Some Other Name",
                    "class", "Guardian",
                    "weapons": [
                        {
                            "main_hand": "mace",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "off_hand": "focus",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Intelligence"
                        },
                        {
                            "main_hand": "staff",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Battle"
                        }
                    ],
                    "rune": "Rune of the Soldier",
                    "amulet": "Cleric",
                    "utilities": [
                       "Shelter",
                       "Hold the Line",
                       "Sanctuary",
                       "Stand Your Ground",
                       "Renewed Focus"
                    ],
                    "trait": {
                        "distribution": [0,1,6,6,1],
                        "points": [
                            [],
                            [],
                            [4,5,11],
                            [2,5,11],
                            []
                        ]
                    }
                },
                ... // repeat these 4 more times
            ]
        }
    }
 }

Notes/Explaination:

• Pre-Match the data provided is just the build itself, once the match starts it includes some event data to allow statistics to be generated, and to let someone post-match generate interesting tidbits to discuss like how quickly a team decapped behind their opponents.

Events:

• Point Capture Neutralize Defend
• Kills
• Resses
• Skirmisher
• Map Special Events:
  • Temple Buffs
  • Kyhlo/Skyhammer Weapon Use/Hit
  • Forest Boss kills
  • Legacy Doors/Lord
  • Spirit Watch Orb pickup/drop/score (half/full)
• Others?

GET /v2/spvp/match/{$match_id}

Attributes:

• password: If the room for this match is password protected, require that the password be provided.
  • Ignore the password if owner is logged in via oauth.

No Request Body

Response Example (pre-match):

{
    "match": {
        "id": 24727692,
        "room_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/room/1004882",
        "score": {
            "red": 0,
            "blue": 0,
        },
        "map": "temple",
        "time_left": false,
        "players": {
            "red": [
                { 
                    "account_id": "somebody.2392",
                    "class", "Guardian",
                    "weapons": [
                        {
                            "main_hand": "mace",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "off_hand": "focus",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Intelligence"
                        },
                        {
                            "main_hand": "staff",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Battle"
                        }
                    ],
                    "rune": "Rune of the Soldier",
                    "amulet": "Cleric",
                    "utilities": [
                       "Shelter",
                       "Hold the Line",
                       "Sanctuary",
                       "Stand Your Ground",
                       "Renewed Focus"
                    ],
                    "trait": {
                        "distribution": [0,1,6,6,1],
                        "points": [
                            [],
                            [],
                            [4,5,11],
                            [2,5,11],
                            []
                        ]
                    }
                },
                ... // repeat these 4 more times
            ],
            "blue": [
                {
                    "account_id": "somebodyelse.2492",
                    "class", "Guardian",
                    "weapons": [
                        {
                            "main_hand": "mace",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "off_hand": "focus",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Intelligence"
                        },
                        {
                            "main_hand": "staff",
                            "sigil1": "Sigil of Energy",
                            "sigil2": "Sigil of Battle"
                        }
                    ],
                    "rune": "Rune of the Soldier",
                    "amulet": "Cleric",
                    "utilities": [
                       "Shelter",
                       "Hold the Line",
                       "Sanctuary",
                       "Stand Your Ground",
                       "Renewed Focus"
                    ],
                    "trait": {
                        "distribution": [0,1,6,6,1],
                        "points": [
                            [],
                            [],
                            [4,5,11],
                            [2,5,11],
                            []
                        ]
                    }
                },
                ... // repeat these 4 more times
            ]
        }
    }
 }            

(This Section is split between 2 posts)

GET /v2/spvp/room/{$room_id}

Attributes:

• password: If the room is password protected, require that the password be provided.
  • Ignore the password if owner is logged in via oauth.

No Request Body

Response Example:

{
    "room": {
        "name": "The Plunderdome",
        "motd": "Plundering all day, yarr.",
        "team_size": 5,
        "score_limit": 500,
        "time_limit": 15,
        "respawn_time": 20,
        "respawn_type": "wave",
        "starting_players": 1,
        "reserved_slots": 0,
        "spectators": true,
        "ready_up": false,
        "autobalance": true,
        "lock_gear": false,
        "lock_skills": false,
        "progression": true,
        "force_respawn": false,
        "tournament_commands": false,
        "map_rotation": [
            "kyhlo",
            "forest",
            "legacy",
            "temple",
            "spirit_watch",
            "skyhammer",
            "courtyard
        ],
        "match_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/match/47947"
    }
}

Optionally, show member players/guilds and banned players… but I don’t see it as a big deal.

Notes:

• progression displays reverse of checkbox in the custom arena page (“No Progression” makes little sense)
• match_uri is created as soon as the map loads and is active until a match begins and ends.

(I am aware that there is an area to post about APIs, but I think this is a better starting point for this conversation)

Having spent a bit of time watching how most streams for pvp events in GW2 look, I think there is room for ArenaNet to provide some data that would simplify greatly the streams, as well as provide them with real data to generate stats on and work with.

API layout.

It makes sense to layout the API under /v2/ with the rest of the new APIs (and get use of their oauth/new codebase.)

This Document attempts to describe both how it might work specifically and why to do it.

/v2/spvp # open rooms/matches
/v2/spvp/room/{$room_id} # Room information and link to the match in progress
/v2/spvp/match/{$match_id} # Match information

GET /v2/spvp

Attributes:

• search – Search for a room name
• limit – limit count to a number of results
• offset – start showing with the Nth result (use with limit to paginate)

No Request Body.

Response Example:

{
    "rooms": [
        { 
     	    "name": "Server 023",
            "room_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/room/42",
            "match_uri": http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/match/47947"
        },
        { 
	    "name": "The Plunderdome",
            "room_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/room/1004882",
            "match_uri": "http://api.guildwars2.com/v2/spvp/match/47947"
        }
    ]
}

(Continues Next Post… 5000 characters… lol)

Rewarding points per kill is actually bad for the system, it causes the game to move from being about taking and holding points. OP’s solution #1 is likely the best option, in that the EBG map layout causes a the central keep and its towers to create a defense network.

In all reality, the only real change that the North half of the borderlands need to be like that is to pull the 2 north towers closer into garrison by 1000 range or so. Doing so would allow trebs on the outer walls to engage the lords room of NW tower, and to engage the front door of NE (although NE is pretty well defensible on its own).

The problem in the BLs is that:

• Garrison has no real scoutable defense from the south except right at gates (which causes golem rushes to be successful too often in getting through outer)
• Bay has no defenses against close in attacks to its north side, except for door trebs, causing it to be a bit too easy to get in to.
• Hills is actually the best designed of the 3 (plenty of good chokes etc), the problem for hills, is the 4 outer walls sitting next to each other, meaning a 5 man can do a ton of damage really quickly without scouting seeing them.

Solution 1 above while removing point-per-stomp encourages tactical play (allowing deaths without penalty) and makes a much more interesting byplay between the 3 teams, by allowing a bunker defense to truly work.

I think the biggest problem Devon and the WvW team have, is simply that we as players want both completely opposite sides of a debate in a single game mode.

Reading this thread there are a ton of people who want ppt and basically the entire capture game mode to go away and for it to just be a massive roaming killfest similar to the GvG conversation and there are a less vocal group that wants the tactics of the maps to actually be increased.

Personally, I want to see the borderlands maps redesigned to be a little less open, it shouldn’t be quite so easy for a small force to walk unobserved from N camp to their opponents spawn camp and take it. You should have to funnel through a few openings which can be monitored.

The Keeps also need to be dragged behind fortifications as well. For example, Garrison, while it doesn’t seem to be protected, really only has 1 clean gate to attack (SE). If you attack a NE/NW gate, you walk by a guard tower, which can easily have a scout in it, if you hit SW or S (Watergate) it’s such a choke that you ask for easy death by AC. If we compare that to Hills or Bay, they’re wide open to attack from all sides (Bay worst, obviously.)

I was doing some havoc against a reinforced bay last week, and literally our group of ~5-7 took down every outer wall of bay in under 10 minutes or so, simultaneously. While hilarious, it suggests that the damage of siege is greatly increased, while the defenses of those walls has been stagnant.

While I don’t know that every map needs to be EB, EB’s design is much better for defense. The keep is in position to defend its towers, and its towers are in position for the most part to defend its keep (yea, sorry red) This leads to fights on outer towers, and only pushes to keeps if you either massively outnumber the opponents or you overextend and your keep becomes a target of opportunity. I think a BL map with some of the features of EB would increase the tactical options for groups who actually enjoy the tactics and map politics aspects of the game, while the center areas could still easily be open enough for ‘gvg’ teams to go fight.

KehxD.6847:

Angela Ranna.5638:

Karl McLain.5604:

mtpelion.4562:

Wilderness experts should be masters of poisons. Therefore, Rangers should have the most potent poisons available.

Great point here and I agree. I would be awesome to see a way to increase poison potency for the Ranger and it’s something we’ve been talking about internally as well. We’ll keep looking into it and see if there’s something that can happen here.

Mechanically I love this idea. Thematically I would have pegged thieves as the poisoners. Of the 15 poison skills rangers have access to, only 4 of them aren’t on our pets.

To make it really stick it would need a lot of traits and class balancing to support it.

Yeah it is true. Although I like the idea of more poison, I feel like poison is more Thief and Necro territory, whereas bleeding seems to be for the ranger… which is pretty sad if you think about it. I don’t think ranger should become the “main poison master”, but adding poison here and there and maybe changing a bit bleeding to poison would really be appreciated.

I think of thief as venoms and necro as plague, the venoms are their own thing, plague is all the things. I think the original quote is more thinking of taking the condition ‘poison’ and looking at stuff like a GM trait: Powerful Poisons – Poison duration +25%, Poison Damage +50%, Healing Reduction +33%. That trait would make getting poisoned by a ranger dangerous and something that has to be cleansed instead of healed through, as most heals would move from being 2-4k to 1-2k.

xXxOrcaxXx.9328:

Blind Jimmy.1634:

What if the Aspect replaced the existing (and generally agreed problematic) F2 skill? What if it functioned more like an Engineer’s toolkit and replaced the player’s 1-5 skills until they either hit the weapon-swap key or actively used the pet again?

While thepet is stowed (or turned into an auro), your F skliis could look like this:
F1 – Ingite Hit (like the Ignite the Flame Legion Stalker is using)
F2 – Poisoned Hit
F3 – Sharpening Stone Hit
F4 – Bilinding Hit
Each effect holds for 5 shots or 5 seconds.

Might even call them preparations! I think the 5s (20-30s cooldown) would make sense… I would think about swapping F4 for Choking Gas (minimum length daze per hit, chance to stun) It would give huge bump to survivability for a period if a ranger could force a stability pop to stop the interrupt spam on classes and then move away for the period of that stability.

Allie Murdock.8152:

Shadowsong.4820:

Permastowing a pet really shouldn’t be the “solution” to clunky pet mechanics. The people who would prefer this over having the pet mechanics improved/reworked just shouldn’t play rangers, I guess.

That idea would actually be in lieu of a permastow. It would give Rangers a little more utility while not losing site of the concept of a Ranger.

Either way though, I don’t want this whole CDI to be able stowing the pets. There have been a lot of great ideas outside of this one that will help pets to be a more viable option. Perhaps just fixing some of the issues with the AI could be enough for people to feel better about the lack of permastow.

I played a ton of GW1 ranger, and I never had a pet out. It wasn’t what the class was to me. The class to me was preparations and forcing pressure or spike damage from range. (I used a R/El or R/Rt conjure/splinter weapon build that did great aoe cleave from range) I want to be able to play my Ranger in a way like that, without breaking the game for someone else.

To me the way to stow a pet could be as simple as a signet. Signet passive is a boost to stats based on equipped pet or just in general, pet is stowed. Signet Active: pet appears for 20-30 seconds or until stowed. For a ranger using it, the pet is more like a spirit or the sylvari hound elite…

This conversation needs to be split slightly.

Both sides of the conversation so far are correct… in that AoE Boon Spam right now is choking WvW and making things blobbier, and reducing it would make things better. At the same time AoE Damage skills are the only real way to force that blob to split at all and people feel strongly that they should be increased.

What we need to do, is reduce the AoE Boon cleave OR increase heavily the methods of counterplay to boon generation that are available ( Something I posted in Balance already: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/balance/PvP-WvW-Boon-Strip .) This provides less capability of a ball of heavies to just bowl over things and makes CCs much more interesting, as stability can be stripped.

The other way to go, is to shave off Retaliation Damage substantially (make it 5% max hp/sec… so you have to be attacking fully for 20s to die from just Retaliation) and leave AoE Damage exactly the same as it is (or very slightly changed) so that a coordinated havoc could drop 4-5 ice bow 4’s on a frontline, do the massive damage that the cooldown on that skill provides, not die, and possibly change the course of a battle.

emikochan.8504:

There is already an anti boon sigil, if you don’t like boons, equip it.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Sigil_of_Nullification

Removes 1 boon every 10 seconds. If you’re lucky enough to crit right on time, and you don’t try to remove a boon from a person who may not have any.

The point of this suggestion isn’t that there is not boon strip available, it is that it is wholly inadequate as a response to the amount of boons that can be generated even in fairly small numbers.

My list is not exhaustive by any means, it’s a list of thoughts of what might be options.

oZii: These are suggested to give classes that don’t see tons of wvw general use options. Stability is a kicker for sure and I’d love to see direct non-immobilize counterplay to it, but at the same time, Protection and Regeneration are the lifeblood of the zerg. Without them, boonballing is less useful to warriors and other frontline specced classes. I think it would make for more interesting fights and while I don’t care at all about GvG, I think it would show the individual skill of the teams better then who can sit inside of their lead’s kitten stronger.

While I agree that stability specifically is helpful to strip, I would also like to see more ability to remove protection, retaliation, and regeneration too as they’re a core of what makes the boon meta work as well. I don’t even think the few skills I put in above are going to be enough, but they’d at least provide some capability for classes to control boons.

Because removing access to boons destroys playstyles and classes, adding active counters adds additional play and counterplay.

The general problem is not boons in small scale, it’s boons at 20v20 scale and even moreso at 60v60 scale. at 60v60 it is impossible to remove all the boons from one person before they’re back up. So in small scale, boon removal would be a specific counter to a specific build/class (you lose utility to it)… at larger scale it is a role choice someone could make, and then build around.

After months of watching a meta that is bound by tons and tons of boons and no real reverse to it, I’d like to suggest boon removal be added to some additional skills to try and provide the start of some options to try and provide some counterplay.

Feel free to add some Ideas!

Boon Removal Changes:

• Mesmer – Null Field: remove 1 boon on enter/exit field (1s cooldown) and raise the on-pulse to 3 boons.
• Elementalist – Unsteady Ground: If not knocked down -> Remove 3 boons on passing across (This makes Unsteady Ground useful in an opening, where you might remove stability on your enemy if they run in without thinking)
• Ranger – Trap Potency (GM Skirmishing Trait): Remove a specific boon per trap:
  • Spike Trap – Removes Swiftness and vigor
  • Vipers Nest – Removes Regeneration and Protection
  • Frost Trap – Removes Retaliation and Aegis (Becomes Unblockable)
  • Flame Trap – Removes 5 stacks of might and Fury
  • If a Elite trap were ever created this should remove Stability and 3 other boons.
• Thief – Master Trapper could have similar effects given to it. I don’t know the skills well enough to suggest specific boons

What this does, is create more roles and a counter meta to the boonball that really enforces a larger number in zergs/groups across the game.

I’ll also flesh this out into its own suggestion shortly.

Bear on the job.6273:

Please check Elementalists in WvW with the Meteor Shower + Tornado combo. I’ve personally seen 9k meteor hits against 3700 armor. It’s probably the most overpowered thing in large group fights in WvW right now. Tornado’s power boosting mechanic should not be effecting abilities cast before the transformation.

And to a lesser extent, check Necros with Lich Form + Wells. Same mechanic, just not as potent.

As a note, Meteor Shower is on a 20 (best case) second cooldown. Tornado is 150s. If you’re dying to a 5 second cast 6 second long skill (MS is 3.5s Tornado is ~1, MS lasts 7) or even taking any real damage, you should really rethink how you’re using dodge rolls. While the Elementalist takes 10-12k in Retaliation damage no less…

The fact that Elementalists have any other options over the honestly terribly boring healboonball (GWEN) meta should be applauded.

Moving to an actual suggestion, I’d like to see boon removal bumped across the board. Right now, there’s no way to manage your opponents boons, and given how easy it is to get them, and the exponential nature of their stacking in larger and larger groups.

Boon Removal Changes:

• Mesmer – Null Field: remove 1 boon on enter/exit field (1s cooldown) and raise the on-pulse to 3 boons.
• Elementalist – Unsteady Ground: If not knocked down -> Remove 3 boons on passing across (This makes Unsteady Ground useful in an opening, where you might remove stability on your enemy if they run in without thinking)
• Ranger – Trap Potency (GM Skirmishing Trait): Remove a specific boon per trap:
  • Spike Trap – Removes Swiftness and vigor
  • Vipers Nest – Removes Regeneration and Protection
  • Frost Trap – Removes Retaliation and Aegis (Becomes Unblockable)
  • Flame Trap – Removes 5 stacks of might and Fury
  • If a Elite trap were ever created this should remove Stability and 3 other boons.
• Thief – Master Trapper could have similar effects given to it. I don’t know the skills well enough to suggest specific boons

What this does, is create more roles and a counter meta to the boonball that really enforces a larger number in zergs/groups across the game.

I’ll also flesh this out into its own suggestion shortly.

You should look into a different gearset.

You’re wasting tons of power on knights (I used to too!)

Soldiers (Pvt) armor / Zerker+Valkyrie Ascended amulet+rings+1 earring, cavalier back/1 earring

2466 power | 3632 attack
33% crit rate
1287 tough | 2207 armor
15765 hp (use power/vit instead of power/prec food if you want a little more hp)
82% crit damage

As a note for any really technical, You shouldn’t need to disable the protection against unsigned installations totally to fix the issue with ‘“GWII-Update-009524.app” can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer’ message

All you would need to do is open up Terminal, cd to the location of the GWII-Update-009524.app (usually cd ~/Downloads) and run xattr -r -c GWII-Update-009524.app

What this does is remove the com.apple.quarantine attribute from the app and all of its contents (which is what triggers both the ‘you downloaded this, are you sure you want to run it?’ and the ‘this isn’t signed, go away’ message types)

— Lumiere

Strike Force (JQ) has been running a 3v3 tournament on the central point of FoeFire.

10 minute match, only central point available, highest points at 10 minutes or 500 points win.

We are allowing caps, and that created a really interesting dynamic for teams to decide what to do if they lose someone. If you fall back and regroup, you risk losing the point. If you wait, you risk losing another player and getting into a 1 by 1 clear out.

I would love to have a capability to change a capture from points/sec to giving a set point count and putting it on a cooldown. That would force the 3v3 to occur in a set area and give an advantage to a team wipe, but also prevent a snowball.

SBI will always be Steel Balls Isle (from when SBI was T1 with half the players)
JQ is Jed Quarry. PRAISE JEDSUS!

Bunda.2691:

JonPeters.5630:

Overall I think this a good small step for a profession that has a lot of roles it can fill fairly uniquely. I think this might give us 3 strong mesmer build archetypes.

1) Shatter
2) Phantasm
3) Mantra

Jon — thanks so much for engaging the mesmer community. Really speaks volumes about your team’s commitment to game and players alike.

My one bit of feedback (in addition to my agreement with you about the scepter) is that I’m not really sure there can be a “mantra build.” Mantras are much better used to fill out holes or add utility to other builds, as a build solely with mantas is missing out on so much of what make the mesmer a mesmer.

Instead, I see three main builds—or at least what should be aspired to—as:

1) Phantasm
– Direct Damage
– Condition
2) Shatter
– Direct Damage
– Condition
3) Clone Spamming
– Direct Damage
– Condition

This paradigm gives mesmers six distinct builds (plus numerous hybrids) that can still be tailored in various ways (damage, support, aoe, single target, healing, etc.). But these three seem to be the main categories.

As of right now, here is (I think) how things stand:

Direct Damage Phantasm Build: Viable
Condition Phantasm Build: Not at all

Direct Damage Shatter Build: Viable
Condition Shatter Build: Not viable

Direct Damage Clone Spammer: Viable
Condition Clone Spammer: Viable

Right now, four of the six are playable. If all six options could be viable, it would add significant diversity. Mantras can help by providing some of these builds parts of what they are missing, but I don’t think too many changes would be needed to make all six possible.

And really, only two things would need to be changed to make this happen.

1) Condition Damage Phantasms. This is a must, and would add a ton of diversity to phantasm builds. Torch/Staff are the most likely candidates.

2) Condition-based Shatters. Since confusion is no longer really viable, F2 needs to be buffed, and perhaps a trait added that gives F1 some condition oomph (bleed, torment, etc.).

Honestly, mesmer is in a good place. A few changes (like the ones you are already working on) will go so far in giving mesmers a ton of viable builds.

Thanks again.

tl/dr: mantra build shouldn’t really be a category of its own. Instead, focus on improving condition phantasms and condition shatters. otherwise, great work.

I think this is a good start for small scale viability. For larger scale, I’d like to see 2 more things.

• Make the ICD on Confusing Enchantments 1-2 second instead of 5. This punishes people for not paying attention to AoEs (which are bright pink and obvious) This change would decently unnerf the WvW Confusion builds that were destroyed by a fairly brutal damage nerf+large reduction in application ability that high Mesmers substantially harder then any other class.

• In general reduce Mesmer reliance on RNG to apply conditions. Compared to most classes Mesmers are substantially relying on RNG effects to apply boons / conditions which make it hard to have a build that you control rather then being controlled by a RNG.

• For example, make scepter 1 dmg – 1 bleed – 1 torment (no clone) with the same cast speed and suddenly a Mesmer has a weapon with steady single target condition pressure that can work with iMage or Scepter 3 to make people need to think about how they want to manage conditions.

It should not be a 503 it should be a 429 – Too Many Requests

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTTP_status_codes and for the nerdy: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6585

python-guildwars2 – An OO guildwars2 library

• Language: python
• Admin: Lumiere.4069
• URL: https://github.com/jstraw/python-guildwars2

I know Rox has a library out there, but it didn’t feel right to me. This felt closer to what I wanted when I wrote python code.

Kaleden.9386:

P.S. to the ding-dong ditching Mesmer(s) on SoR Garrison – “Git off mah lawn!” Seriously, I don’t appreciate the burning bags of kitten poo you leave on our doorsteps.

Hi! I believe I’m the one that your Veteran Guards were so angry at.

I’m sorry you didn’t like my bags of flaming kitten poo, but I’m sorry to say that I was out of Toilet Paper to tent your Burning Oil with. I’ll have to work harder at finding more fun ways to say hi more frequently!

Dhar.6392:

Another no brainer; but if you are going to take the yaks or the supply… don’t take the Sentry first. Skip it.

Sentry is worth ZERO points… sure you get a little xp and karma from it; but it’s also a red flag for anyone looking at the map that you are there.

Sentry is 1 immediate point to your score.

The reset is at 0000 Saturday morning UTC.

Has been since day 1

Just as a note psuedo. NOMNOMNOM Supply Camps.

In the end, the big thing you learn from the upper tier is that supply is king. If you can’t get supply into a keep it is going to fall.

I also think that there needs to be a lockout in the last _ days of a battle for the next battle, to prevent people from jumping up to one of the leading worlds of their next fight…

I’m not sure how many days that _ should be, but I do know that making it less useful to transfer servers in wvw matches would be useful…

I personally /salute every time I get near one of our Korean guilds… Their Zerg is downright EPIC when it gets going.

2 things to note from the ET battlegrounds this weekend.

1) ET took our Orb with about a dozen mesmer teleported golems, so SBI isn’t the only ones using it.
2) I watched HoD defend a wall from SBI after following us into a keep where we were trying to recap from ET (good move btw, even though it didn’t in the end work).

And from a 2v1 standpoint. I spent most of the last 4 hours as one of the people commanding in map chat… I will try and take advantage of any move anyone makes. If that means pushing HoD or ET’s keep while they attack each other, I’ll do it.

Acharyn, Clearly you have never been a software developer. I have written enough code and debugged enough customer code to know that when you have 100k+ lines of code (and I would be willing to bet that the TP and Gem Store are 5-10k lines of code alone… without libraries.)

Good luck finding well hidden bugs in that many lines of code. If you want, we can go looking at wordpress or drupal about it. Honestly, the people being somewhat supportive are actually thinking about it, because they look at more then just the ‘it broke scream’ level of it.

Also, The GW2 launch is so much smoother at most levels then a lot of blizzard releases… has everyone forgotten Diablo III? How about the initial release of WoW where Blizzard couldn’t even keep the game ONLINE much less bug free.

Actually, I’d like to see them replace the money and exp for defending dolyaks with badges of honor. That way you can’t USE them outside WvW, so if you do ‘farm’ them you’re just helping yourself there.

It also provides a good incentive to people who are on sentry or doing other things that help to track dolyaks too.

But in the end if you can’t maintain it from money or supplies, you’re going to have to stop.

Arenanet tracks all transactions, Trading Post, drops, merchants. They can (and have already in GW1 and GW2) fixed issues like this by going through their transactions and seeing what was missed and resolving it.

You just have to note that they took the Trading Post down again to resolve that issue to know it.