Guild Wars 2

My biggest problem with all this is that so many things are not working properly in this game, and yet we get these kitten injections of new content just to keep the mindless gear grinders from getting bored. I started playing this game because I thought I could have a couple of well geared characters for a while without chasing endless tiers of gear, and now I see this is not the case. I just got my main geared out with full exotics, and now here comes new crap to chase after.

This really describes the entire mindset behind MMO development in general. For my part, I would be much more satisfied with a game that had graphics from a few years ago, but put me into a well rendered, smoothly playing battlfield of several hundred players, where commanders actually had ways to command, to use strategy and tactics. Instead the focus seems to always be on better graphics and new content for people to grind, the perverbial shiny carrot on the ever lengthening stick.

Kind of sad, really.

Xilo.9567:

Its rings and a back slot. ITS NOT GAME BREAKING. Hell its easy enough to kill people in masterwork gear at 80. Your level build and skill mean more than your gear. Especially the small boost from 3 pieces. They have stated they will open up other ways to get it when they introduce more gear. I wouldn’t worry. Yet.

If this is only for WvW I mean… WvW is not balanced anyway. Its not meant to be. You want a level playing field play SPvP

I think you missed the part where they said there will be full sets of Ascended gear, including armor, added to the game in the coming months.

Quindim.3980:

The cast time is too long and it simple does not work sometimes with some skills in spvp. Not working with dancing daggers for example. It needs to be improved so it can be a real alternative for thieves guild and dagger storm elites.

I use Basilisk Venom exclusively for my elite skill. It plays in perfectly with my controller build, but I’ll agree it needs a couple of improvements. I think the reason it does not work with Dancing Daggers is because that skill already has cripple; I would imagine that this is intentional, but I have no way to be sure.

The main improvement I would make would be to make the venom work only on a connected strike, not just the first swing after application. It is way way too easy to miss a strike in melee combat, and to have an elite skill be completely lost for the duration of its cooldown just because you missed that single strike is a little too punishing to me.

That said, when it does connect, it is pretty much game over for your opponent, even more so when chained with Devourer Venom. Not to mention it must be incredibly frustrating to be frozen in place for so long. If you trait for venom sharing, you’ll see multiple opponents frozen in stone because of your allies’ strikes, and it can be a great deal of fun. I have seen many seemingly pitched battles turned around due to a couple of thieves with venom sharing and Basilisk.

As far as the cast time, I’ll agree that it can be a little frustrating in the heat of battle waiting for it to cast, especially when I swing and miss, thus wasting the entire skill. So yeah, it can certainly do with some improvement, but even as it is, I find its a great deal of fun to use.

ASP.8093:

OrchusGhole.9846:

That said, if you go with the glass cannon type build, you will be very very easy to take down unless you are very proficient in staying in stealth as much as possible and revealing yourself only to do burst attack. With that type of build you are generally confined to attacking people solo and you can forget taking part in large battles because you are just too fragile.

I WvW in full Zerk and maxed-out Critical Strikes, with some points in Shadow Arts and Acrobatics for various useful traits — basically “glass cannon” for people who actually like to dodge. Haven’t had any trouble making myself useful in large battles with shortbow. The key thing is managing range and LOS, and being able to hit hard to punish your opponents for overextending.

To me that’s a little more of a balanced build than pure glass cannon. Glass cannon in my mind is full deadly arts and full critical strikes with all zerk gear. I’ll agree though that if you primarily use shortbow and keep your distance, a focus on damage could be quite effective. I like shortbow but I prefer melee combat as a thief, and my build is focused on controlling enemies and surviving melee combat in large battles. When I tried this with full glass cannon, I had serious problems with AoE damage due to low vitality and toughness. It always seemed like I was dead as soon as I jumped into the fray. More power to you though if you make it work for you.

The best advice I can give you is to spend your time leveling to 80 and working on acquiring some exotic gear for WvW. WvW is much more fun at higher level with gear to match your build.

That said, if you go with the glass cannon type build, you will be very very easy to take down unless you are very proficient in staying in stealth as much as possible and revealing yourself only to do burst attack. With that type of build you are generally confined to attacking people solo and you can forget taking part in large battles because you are just too fragile. Sure, you can burst down the first enemy, but what about the second, or the third? All that has to happen to take you down is 2 or more people with AoE, which will hit you whether you are stealthed or not. What is the point in having insane burst damage when you die after every kill. Sure, you can roam around killing single enemies, but does that really have any effect on the overall battle?

Switching away from D/D glass cannon type build to a more balanced build with S/D and a focus on power and toughness was the best move I’ve made in this game. Yes, my damage is much lower, but I also don’t get AoE’d to the ground in 2 seconds flat. With my current build I am on the front lines, jumping in and out of battle at will, and just creating chaos and confusion in general. Without giving away my build, I can tell you that its focus is on immobilizing the enemy for as long as possible, and I have 3 venoms to help me in that, plus 2 skills that increase my mobility so I can get out of harm’s way if things get too hot. My stats, in order of priority, go like this: power, toughness, precision, vitality.

Your current build looks a little unfocused, but then again its hard to perform at top proficiency at level 59 with any build. Also, heartseeker is a finishing move, not something you should open up a fight with; it deals significantly more damage when your enemy has lower health.