Guild Wars 2

As a high-end PvEr (40+ FotM on two characters, Dungeon Master with all explorables on farm) I, along with many others, have found a lack of engagement in the current dugeon endgame system. It is clear that, as the amount of available AR increases with more ascended gear coming out, Agony will need to find a place in the game at-large, not just in fractals – confining it to only that particular dungeon trivializes Agony Resistance and makes Fractals feel too alien compared to the rest of the game in terms of strategy, difficulty, and party composition.

How to deal with these issues? Kill two birds with one stone.

I suggest creating a third tier of dungeon difficulty (hard, heroic, whatever), available only to players who have completed all paths of that particular dungeon. In this mode, players can run the explorable paths as normal except the degree of difficulty is increased in terms of mob hp/damage, and boss attacks should apply agony.

Attacks such as Alpha’s dragon tooth/spike ring, GL’s projectiles, Kohler’s spin, etc applying agony would make the dungeons more punishing and exciting for experienced players.

This will make agony resistance desirable and grant a new challenge to top-end PvErs, and would not require a huge amount of new programming to implement.

Discuss!

Agony is actually MORE effective at stopping healing than poison is. Poison reduces healing by 33%, while agony reduces it by 50%.

As a high end PvEr (Fractal lvl 38) the best zerker build for ele I’ve seen has been 30/30/0/10/0 staff glass cannon.

Take full damage output traits from fire/air trees and the +dmg while at full health trait in water. Combined with scholar runes (a must for this build) and sigil of force you’re looking at +25% damage against all foes, and a whopping +45% once bolt to the heart comes online.

Staying alive can be difficult but utilizing your CC, finding a good group, and knowing when you need to switch out arcane skills for cantrips are all important. Enough practice and this build will be very rewarding.

I know the Great Precursor Problem has been the subject of immeasurable angst and frustration within these forums, and I hesitate to add my voice to the masses. However, a friend recently suggested something that struck me with its simplicity and effectiveness. Since he is not a forum-goer, I will pass it along here.

Make account-bound precursors available for 100 laurels each.

Currently, the precursor hunt is so despicable for so many because there is no measurable way to track your progress. Hundreds of gold can be flushed through the mystic forge, and no amount of failures boosts your odds for later success.

By making precursors available through laurels, you are keeping them at an extremely steep price (many months of work) and also encouraging people to go out into the world and play the game. Rather than endlessly farming highly lucrative dungeons, players can go complete their dailies/monthlies and track their progress along the way.

This change has the added bonus of not trivializing the existing precursor market. Normal precursors should still be able to be bought and sold as usual, so the hardcore players who want their legendary right now have the option to continue gambling in the forge or buying it off the tp. This system would really make the precursor a ‘legendary quest’ – you could even have them available only from a special laurel vendor that opens up after an epic event chain in the new content.

I hope this does not fall on deaf ears, and an ANet dev takes the time to think what this change could do for the game. While I was lucky enough to roll Dawn and complete my Sunrise, I know many who feel helpless and frustrated at the lack of progress towards their precursors. Making them an account bound laurel reward will keep legendaries extremely rare while greatly reducing the amount of despair and hopelessness many are feeling.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

-Ozymandias X

Hey fellow Rangers,

So I’m running a pretty standard 30/30/5/0/5 build for glass cannon dungeon running. I’m using a longbow as my primary weapon (obviously) and have chosen to go with shortbow for my offset for the mobility of the #3 and the control from #4 and #5.

Any experienced dps rangers willing to share what sigils they are using? I can’t decide what to do! I’ve got around 55% crit chance without fury. Things I’m considering are bloodlust, strength, fire, accuracy, blood, and force but there are probably more I haven’t thought of yet.

Which two should I use? and which one in each weapon?

Thanks!
-Ozy

The first encounter of SE path 1 seems impossible. Are the inquest supposed to infinitely spawn? Even after the golem is down?

ANet has stated they want to make Ascended gear accessible through multiple means, not just fractals. I think a great way to implement them into WvW would be as some type of reward based on server performance.

For example, at the end of each week, if you participated in WvW (say, completed the WvW portion of your monthly) and your server won the matchup, you get a bonus chest that has a chance to drop an ascended ring.

I think this will help to rekindle the fire to get people back into competitive WvW, and would serve as an incentive without making the gear too accessible. I do realize, however, that some problems such as server-swapping to get the chest may occur and ANet would have to take measures to prevent them.

Hi NumberOneGun,

In Vas Mani (IVM) sounds like a guild that would suit your needs. We’re on the small side, with many dedicated players who run explorables, spvp, and legendary farming events virtually every day. We pride ourselves on being successful, but having a good time too – we’ve got every dungeon in the game (except arah) easily farmed and are generally just having a great time chatting in mumble as we quickly clear content. This guild is honestly the main reason I still play, a lot of us are RL friends who take a laid-back yet focused approach to gaming.

Send me a pm if you’re still looking and we can chat more in-game. Good luck!
-Ozy

p.s. we shoot ALL the kittens