Guild Wars 2

Ohoni.6057:

You can technically run anythingyou want anywhere yes, but are you really going to tell me facerolling a dungeon, or fractal tier 4 (which people DO faceroll) is equivalent to playing a Platinum/Legendary PvP game, provided everyone there actually is of rank?

Look, you can argue that PvP involves a tighter tollerance than PvE, and I think that’s true, but ultimately it comes down to fun. If a given class is not competitively balanced in PvP then it is not as fun to play, and that is the important part there, whether it is fun. But likewise, if a class in PvE doesn’t have fun and rewarding mechanics, if it leads to an inordinate amount of failure and frustration, then that isn’t fun either. A PvE player not having fun with his character matters exactly as much as a PvP player not having fun with his, and by all accounts there are way more PvE players than there are PvP players, so in aggregate, their balance concerns should take priority. I hope that all your balance concerns do get met, just so long as they don’t come at the expense of making PvE builds even slightly less fun to play.

To address your point, it’s not “weak to other players” as you will have noticed the high ratings if you didn’t cherry pick the thread. It’s that Ahlen is tunnel visioning one specific aspect of the game. Yes SB doesn’t look too valuable in PvE at the moment, but in PvP and WvW is one of the best new elite specs.

If you’ll pay attention, both players were referring ONLY to PvE, and I would agree with them that Spellbreaker really doesn’t seem to offer much to PvE, and that’s a disappointment.

See this is what I don’t understand about some people’s criticisms of the new elite specs…

Why would you want 2 elites specs competing for PvE right now? When you could have 1 for PvE, 1 for PvP/WvW, 1 for etc scenario… I thought that was the point of elite specs?

No. Every expansion, every new spec should offer something new for every play mode. People who only PvP, and want to main certain classes, should be able to play a new and interesting spec for that class. Players who only PvE and want to main a certain class, should also have a new and interesting spec to play with. It should not be a case of “oh, sorry, your main is getting a raid support spec this expansion, maybe better luck in two years. . .”

There should not be “PvE specs” or “PvP specs,” the spec should work for both. The differentiation should come in traiting, and there might be a trait thread that offers benefits only useful for PvP, sure, but then if you just choose a different thread, it should offer equally useful benefits to PvEers. I’m not sure what the best course is for Spellbreaker, but it definitely does need to offer something more for PvE players.

Fun to play is preference I’m afraid, and you can’t balance on preference. The issue is, if you ignore balancing in PvP, you break PvP, if you ignore it in PvE, it’s an annoyance. There’s the difference. MOB AIs will almost always be more forgiving of your lack of cohesiveness in build/gear than anyone else.

I find Soulbeast highly fun to play, but a lot of Ranger mains have found it lackluster in performance.

Yes, they are referring to PvE, but by missing it’s amazing performance in PvP/WvW they are being facetious. Implying Spellbreaker is weak in PvE due to being undertuned when really it is due to it’s design philosophy being centered on PvP/Wvw.

The problem with balancing 2 elite specs around the same mode is, then you have Elite specs which compete for the same slot. In this situation, if they make Spellbreaker too strong in PvE, Berserker will be left behind, and vice versa. This is because’s Warrior’s main usefulness comes from Banners and PS, which is on core Warrior anyway.

This is why it makes a lot more sense to have SB be geared toward PvP/WvW so it sees play at certain points, and Berserker for PvE so it sees play at certain points. I would argue most players play a variety of game modes and not just one, so this works.

To return to the main point, Spellbreaker ISN’T weak. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but that isn’t down to strength, it’s down to play style/game mode. For me, SB was one of the best Elite specs, and made me heavily consider maining Warrior again after 4 years.

So 8/10 for me, scoring the highest, with Holosmith only close behind.

OriOri.8724:

PistolWhip.2697:

Ahlen.7591:

PistolWhip.2697:

Ahlen.7591:

Spellbreaker 2/10. The only bonus of spellbreaker is it’s great at stacking might and removing boons. Other warrior specs/traits can already stack might fine and boon removal is mostly pointless in PVE (Some niche in higher fractals).

The spec removes synergy with adrenal health, berserker power, and cleansing ire, the damage on counter is DISTURBINGLY low. 4k crit counters at 3000 power and 230% crit damage? My axe already does that kind of damage on just auto crits.

For SB to work adrenal/BP/Cleansing need a rework and daggers need a massive damage buff.

Oh god no. SPellbreaker was actually one of the strongest PvP elite specs and could go toe to toe with the monsters that were Scourge and Holosmith.

Damage isn’t as important as the aoe interrupt/damage mitigaton/resistance/condi transfer and boon rip all on a tiny CD of 6 seconds. It is quite an amazing skill, it’s not anyone’s fault you only play one game mode.

Spellbreaker was one of the strongest things in the beta weekend, primarily due to FC

PVE is the most popular game mode and is also balanced separately from WvW and PVP.

Spellbreaker is liquid hot crap garbage in PVE, and I could not care less about PVP or WvW.

2/10.

Popularity doesn’t mean balance priority. PvP is a lot more intensive and competitive than PvE, which means you need to centralise balance around it. PvE you can run whatever you want in almost every content, which by it’s casual nature allows for leniency.

Sure, you may not like it, that’s perfectly fine, but buffing it across the board is not the answer, and you hadn’t made it clear your desire to split balance.

I don’t really care what they do with SB in PvE, do as they wish, but PvP and WvW should be separate in this, kitten is already one of the strongest E-specs.

I would however also argue this is ANET’s intention, because Bersekrer was a largely PvE spec, they added a PvP spec next. Just look at Scrapper. It was a PvP spec for Engi, and now they have Holosmith which seems like it could be viable in PvE.

This is such a load of bullcrap. First, PvP is not more important than PvE is.Balancing priority should be given to the game mode drawing the most money in, and that’s almost guaranteed to not be PvP. Its probably WvW honestly. Secondly, balance should never be “centralized” around a certain game mode. This is the worst way to achieve balance. It should be split up between all 3 game modes to start with. And it should be balanced individually for each game mode. The balancing problems that ANet has suffered from stem in no small part from their reluctance to do full balance splits between the game modes. I mean hell, 80% of their PvP splits end up being merged in the end anyway.

Thirdly, you can run anything you want in PvP just the same as you can in PvE. Its utter bullcrap to tell people that they can run anything they want in PvE because it still kills things. Well going by that logic you can run anything you want in PvP because you will still kill players you are better than. Just because you can run it in PvE does not make it a good idea to run it in PvE. That is the same as PvP.

You can technically run anythingyou want anywhere yes, but are you really going to tell me facerolling a dungeon, or fractal tier 4 (which people DO faceroll) is equivalent to playing a Platinum/Legendary PvP game, provided everyone there actually is of rank?

It definitely is not. Neither is a Raid (which I have largely given a pass in this discussion) on the level of a monthly AT.

Point is, one requires a lot more attention due to it’s harsher requirements. You can of course outplay people, but this is to a certain point. In the top end where a lot of people’s skill caps out around the same level (besides maybe the top 10 people in game), it comes down to competitiveness in builds.

Where as even in Raids, you can run a lot of random crap as long as it’s in a certain DPS threshold.

Carighan.6758:

Ahlen.7591:

Spellbreaker is liquid hot crap garbage in PVE, and I could not care less about PVP or WvW.

2/10.

Funny how the spec which brings a “mesmery” feel immediately feels weak to other players. Surprise surprise…

Implying Mesmer is weak…? When it has been Meta in PvP and PvE and even WvW for ages?

And how much Chrono breaks the game let’s just ignore that.

The disillusionment with Mirage doesn’t mean Mesmer/Chrono itself is weak. It’s one of the only professions you can still run on Core and work.

To address your point, it’s not “weak to other players” as you will have noticed the high ratings if you didn’t cherry pick the thread. It’s that Ahlen is tunnel visioning one specific aspect of the game. Yes SB doesn’t look too valuable in PvE at the moment, but in PvP and WvW is one of the best new elite specs.

stone cold.8609:

Spell Breaker: 6/10. Another great concept, but really seems to be focused on PvP/WvW. I don’t see this spec being more effective in PvE than the current condi Beserker or power Core builds, which is really too bad because I’d love to switch to something other than those. Looking forward to trying it out in PvE to see what it is really capable of.

See this is what I don’t understand about some people’s criticisms of the new elite specs…

Why would you want 2 elites specs competing for PvE right now? When you could have 1 for PvE, 1 for PvP/WvW, 1 for etc scenario… I thought that was the point of elite specs?

Ahlen.7591:

PistolWhip.2697:

Ahlen.7591:

Spellbreaker 2/10. The only bonus of spellbreaker is it’s great at stacking might and removing boons. Other warrior specs/traits can already stack might fine and boon removal is mostly pointless in PVE (Some niche in higher fractals).

The spec removes synergy with adrenal health, berserker power, and cleansing ire, the damage on counter is DISTURBINGLY low. 4k crit counters at 3000 power and 230% crit damage? My axe already does that kind of damage on just auto crits.

For SB to work adrenal/BP/Cleansing need a rework and daggers need a massive damage buff.

Oh god no. SPellbreaker was actually one of the strongest PvP elite specs and could go toe to toe with the monsters that were Scourge and Holosmith.

Damage isn’t as important as the aoe interrupt/damage mitigaton/resistance/condi transfer and boon rip all on a tiny CD of 6 seconds. It is quite an amazing skill, it’s not anyone’s fault you only play one game mode.

Spellbreaker was one of the strongest things in the beta weekend, primarily due to FC

PVE is the most popular game mode and is also balanced separately from WvW and PVP.

Spellbreaker is liquid hot crap garbage in PVE, and I could not care less about PVP or WvW.

2/10.

Popularity doesn’t mean balance priority. PvP is a lot more intensive and competitive than PvE, which means you need to centralise balance around it. PvE you can run whatever you want in almost every content, which by it’s casual nature allows for leniency.

Sure, you may not like it, that’s perfectly fine, but buffing it across the board is not the answer, and you hadn’t made it clear your desire to split balance.

I don’t really care what they do with SB in PvE, do as they wish, but PvP and WvW should be separate in this, kitten is already one of the strongest E-specs.

I would however also argue this is ANET’s intention, because Bersekrer was a largely PvE spec, they added a PvP spec next. Just look at Scrapper. It was a PvP spec for Engi, and now they have Holosmith which seems like it could be viable in PvE.

Zalavaaris.5329:

You know what this all sounds like to me? It sounds like ranged classes need their damage buffed to make up for lost booms etc. And melee classes should receive more damage mitigation for taking the risk. Both can deal competitive damage, range won’t get the extra defense because of their natural safety and melee can get a boost in survivability. Seems like a good way to play how you want and still be a contributing group member.

Sadly, every class has ranged and melee options, which means how do you buff what?

Flatley.1620:

PistolWhip.2697:

Flatley.1620:

PistolWhip.2697:

Ranger is probably one of the worst culprits of lazy gameplay in Open world PvE, it is notorious for it, I have no idea why it is being recommended. Plus he asked for style, not some nature hobo.

If you want active game play that isn’t a few buttons (which sadly most things are in open world cause it’s non-intensive) run something like Engineer or Ele. They will at least be more than a few button presses in open world.

Thats a matter of opinion and anyone can be “lazy”. You should not tar everyone with same brush.

The ranger, like other classes, can vary up their play; from being pure damage to condi and add traps into the mix. Plus, pet management stuff.

As far ad the emgi is concerned, granted, it has a great range of varirty but, on a personal note, I gave mine up when targetable turrets hot the kibosh.

I was in the opposite boat. Was very pleased with the Turret erasing, I just hope they take them out the game entirely, but that’s highly unlikely.

Interesting! Why do you think that? Both for the turret deployment thing and their abolition?

I just hate AI. It’s also the reason I avoid playing ranger (but am loving Soulbeast so I can perma stow pets), and phantasm styles of mesmer.

Personally, I find it a cheesy way to play, and I hate feeling like i didn’t do the work in beating someone, it was the AI that did it for me.

As far as thematic, I also think turrets are lame. I’m more about the ‘Gadget fighter with guns’ sorta style. I love kits, and such.

Thus is my preference.

Einlanzer.1627:

PistolWhip.2697:

Einlanzer.1627:

I’m not sure why you think I’m frothing at the mouth about anything in this topic. It’s merely an interesting discussion. Also, it wasn’t “proven wrongful”, it’s just nuanced. A relatively small % of players are female in most MMOs, it just so happens that high fantasy MMOs that are not WoW are the exception.

Anecdotal just seems to be your go to buzz argument is all, even when unfounded.

It was proven wrong. You made a statement without fact, someone disputed it using fact, thus statement had nothing to stand on and was proven wrong. No amount of backtracking can hide that.

Anecdotal wasn’t even mentioned in the quote that you posted. There are two things going on in our specific sub-conversation on this thread:

1. I assumed the ratio of male to female players in GW2 was something like 4:1, when it’s probably more like 2:1. My bad, and I admitted it. But that conclusion was based on prior research, it wasn’t just a baseless assumption, and it holds true in other games, including WoW. So, in reality, this topic is nuanced, and we actually don’t know for sure what the ratio is in GW2.

2.) You argued that women are demonstrably, through scientific evidence, objectively the more attractive sex, which I call BS on. I’ve seen no convincing scientific research corroborating this, and that psychology today article certainly doesn’t cut it. The flaws in any research purporting to support this claim are obvious as beauty is relative, subjective, and the image of beauty changes over time.

If you’re going to continue pointlessly arguing with me to prop up your own ego, try harder.

Not in that specific quote yes, but you should check your post history in this thread alone.

1). Yes you admitted it, in a flip flop fashion, instead of just saying you were wrong due to ignorance, which is the case. Though, that’s about it for that matter.

2). Beauty is relative indeed, but there is a general consensus to follow. Just because morals can be relative, doesn’t mean there isn’t a general consensus on what is okay and what isn’t. In that article itself it has sources to follow, I’m not gonna do all your leg work. On the contrary, I have seen no evidence supporting the fact that there ISN’T a generally accepted gender/sex to be the more attractive.

It isn’t pointless, it’s about exposing your lack of credibility because I feel I have an obligation as someone with insight on this subject to dispel falsities, of which you just happen to provide in copious amounts.

If you want to actually sound intelligent in your arguments, try harder.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

The thief is another class with complicated play. It doesn’t have rotations so much as it has a series of skills you use to dodge hits and maintain aggression.

Not in PvE it doesn’t. I say this not begrudging Thief, as I am a Thief main and in PvP yes it is a highly skill oriented profession/team role, but in PvE it is very simplistic.

Einlanzer.1627:

I’m not sure why you think I’m frothing at the mouth about anything in this topic. It’s merely an interesting discussion. Also, it wasn’t “proven wrongful”, it’s just nuanced. A relatively small % of players are female in most MMOs, it just so happens that high fantasy MMOs that are not WoW are the exception.

Anecdotal just seems to be your go to buzz argument is all, even when unfounded.

It was proven wrong. You made a statement without fact, someone disputed it using fact, thus statement had nothing to stand on and was proven wrong. No amount of backtracking can hide that.

WARIORSCHARGEING.2637:

wow reading this kitten stuff just wow . smh glad it is noting at all like some people seam to think it is .

Ignorance is not a virtue. Whether you like it or not, science will stay consistent. You will just have to learn to accept it, or be crushed by the torrent of reality.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

PistolWhip.2697:

Plus, I must again stress, anyone busy staring at their character’s hind quarters is likely a detriment to their team because they won’t be watching the game.

You’d be amazed what someone can accomplish with peripheral vision alone.

Sadly, such people tend to pervade my solo queue in ranked, so I am quite well versed with those only using peripheral vision.

Killerbot.8645:

gender of your character does not matter and normal people don’t really think twice about it, its all about what looks coolest with your intended fashion wars getup

Thanks for telling us about “normal people”. I’m sure your wide understanding of normality is highly valuable.

In actuality, if you look at it from that standpoint, I would like you to go onto youtube or twitch for example, and look at how many people play characters of their same own gender in video games. You might find, shockingly to yourself, most pick their own gender as a default.

Though I agree, a lot of people are open to playing the opposite gender, they often don’t go for it as a default, why is that?

Because the most “NORMAL” thing, is when entering a new environment, or new world, you keep what is most familiar to you as comfort. This means, people will likely make their own gender, of their own race, and deviate from it only once they have familiarised themselves with the new environment. This isn’t just limited to games and gender either.

If you are at a social function, and you see people you don’t know, and a group of people you have some familiarity with, you will go toward the latter, even if just initially to anchor yourself. People tend to go as far as being more attracted or even likely to agree with or be closer to those who have similar features (such as found in in Sean Mackinnon, Christian Jordan and Anne Wilson’s work, ‘Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin’). Gender is a large part of this familiarity for a lot of people (enough to make it the “norm”).

In a sense you were correct, in that “normal people don’t think about it,”, they don’t, they just go for what ever is similar, and that usually includes gender

Bratec.7136:

Fatalyz.7168:

Bratec.7136:

PistolWhip.2697:

It is down to your choice in class too. Though you will still be “sub-optimal” not taking advantage of group buffs and such, Elementalist has a lot of ranged cleave. Ranger simply lacks this due to balancing.

A lot of posters here are giving ‘weapon-swap’ lectures and practical advice, which is all well and good, and makes a lot of sense.

As you can see however, the OP is after more of a roleplaying experience as a ranger, it has nothing to do with his practicality. Of course he could just weapon swap to Melee, but he wants to roleplay the ranger. I don’t know if I agree with the sentiment but you gotta take that into account if you are going to advise him.

I dont roleplay ranged, i just saw that this game has ranged and i like idea and i dont understand why ranged option exits but not viable in group activities due to “stacking”.

This is where you are mistaken. Ranged is definitely viable, it just isn’t optimal. There is no logical or balance reason that it should be optimal, when it is by far safer. The reason it isn’t optimal, as I explained earlier in this thread, is because it’s a skill based game. You increase the range of the boons/buffs/heals, you reduce the skill needed to play.

You are actually safer in melee blob, getting constant heals and protective buffs.

How being ranged, away from heals and buffs, be safer?

What you’re saying is you want to play ranged cause of the thematic, there is no other reason for this preference, that is a roleplaying argument, which is fine.

In general throughout the game, Range is safe, hence why Ranger is often regarded as a great beginner profession because your pet can tank hits as you range from safety. In the game’s other game modes, ranged is largely without risk due to a lot of PBAoE’s, and melee cleave being a huge danger in general, and being outside a team fight saves you from those.

It’s not just about safety though, by standing at ranged you are an active detriment to your team in terms of aggro and pulls as well. If a mob decides to veer off and attack you for whatever reason, you could end up ruining a rotation for your group purely cause you lead them out of the AoE’s/cleave. Since the enemy mob is running at you anyway you will be in melee soon.

In VG as an example you gave, if the red orbs decide to come near you you will not be able to outheal it on a damage build. If you AREN’T running a damage build, which a lot of druids don’t, you won’t be close enough to heal your allies which is why you are primarily there, and thus you endanger your allies, because you won’t do anything damage to matter or be valuable.

Basically, there is a lot of things that discourage ranged game play, but it isn’t as simple as buffs. It’s also about game balance/aggro/heal range and class role.

As I said, perhaps you should try playing another profession, as yes in Raids it’s a bit more defined, but professions like Elementalist can indeed pull of AoE cleave from ranged and still be a great asset without stacking in the more casual game modes. Plus if you ever do decide to stack you will be even more liked.

zealex.9410:

PistolWhip.2697:

zealex.9410:

PistolWhip.2697:

zealex.9410:

Character progression irrelevant with new content. Kinda late since we knew that from back in the demo.

Masteries are character progression. Time i spend unlocking things which now in pof are useless because you dont require hot. Thats sooooo crap. Instead of making progression meaningless just give us alternative way to get to places and explore with the help of hot masteries. This feels just like underwater and anet abandoning it the diff is hot masteries arent trash.

Since i cba t make a diff thread about this and im already talking about masteries i might as well include it here.

Why are there not lore masteries? Masteries about getting familiar with the ppl of elona. The awoken, the djin, the elonians, the margonites( if theres any), the forgotten (if theres any). I understand that gliding was the best and mount improve on that but come on there are so many interesting groups in this expac why not take the opportunity to improve the lore based ones as well

Sadly, PoF is standalone, so you won’t require HoT to play it anyway, and some people won’t have HoT. They can’t make it too exclusive. HoT masteries will make small appearances however, as they have already confirmed gliding is a fairly important mastery to have even in the desert.

That doesnt mean it cant have updraft of mushrooms or w/e. U missunderstood me im not saying lock ways of exploring behind hot im saying for hot players give us hot way to get to places you can also get with mounts or by being a parkour pro.

Well as I said, they have confirmed and it was in the beta weekend, you can use gliding a lot with updrafts there to reach locations you wouldn’t be able to as early.

U have a mention of updrafts be there etc?

If you look around you can see them in the trailers in the background.

Flatley.1620:

PistolWhip.2697:

Ranger is probably one of the worst culprits of lazy gameplay in Open world PvE, it is notorious for it, I have no idea why it is being recommended. Plus he asked for style, not some nature hobo.

If you want active game play that isn’t a few buttons (which sadly most things are in open world cause it’s non-intensive) run something like Engineer or Ele. They will at least be more than a few button presses in open world.

Thats a matter of opinion and anyone can be “lazy”. You should not tar everyone with same brush.

The ranger, like other classes, can vary up their play; from being pure damage to condi and add traps into the mix. Plus, pet management stuff.

As far ad the emgi is concerned, granted, it has a great range of varirty but, on a personal note, I gave mine up when targetable turrets hot the kibosh.

I was in the opposite boat. Was very pleased with the Turret erasing, I just hope they take them out the game entirely, but that’s highly unlikely.

Einlanzer.1627:

PistolWhip.2697:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Dawdler.8521:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Edit: and I’m not talking about staring at backsides. I’m taking about being uncomfortable playing as the opposite sex.

But the only thing that says you are playing “as” a female by definition is… what? Right. Visuals. So yes. It’s all about staring at backsides.

Plus, the “opposite sex” is so diffuse. Have we ever seen what’s in their pants? We havent really seen anyone pregnant either. Who knows, maybe that’s why Logan is so moody.

The “backside” argument I see as an aesthetic argument. The uncomfortable argument is one where they are projecting themselves into the char and “seeing” themselves as a different sex. I don’t see it as a purely visual thing as a female can be covered up so that all you see is armor. It’s the projection of the self into that form that’s causing the discomfort for these people, not the form itself.

Plus, I must again stress, anyone busy staring at their character’s hind quarters is likely a detriment to their team because they won’t be watching the game.

I don’t ever stare at my character’s backside because I’m busy playing the game.

Ben K.6238:

Einlanzer.1627:

Ardid.7203:

Not fully true. There are scientific studies which DO confirm women are better received in the customer service industry because both men and women would rather be greeted by the female form. This is probably due to our inherent belief (whether that’s natural or society induced) that women are more attractive overall.

That is quite a leap in logic. Assuming this is true, it’s far more likely because of associations between the female form and maternity and nurturing.

It’s almost certainly an emotional response that has nothing to do with aesthetic or sexual preference.

Women aren’t better received in that industry when they give an answer someone doesn’t want to hear. Anecdotal evidence from personal experience again, but I doubt that this would surprise anyone.

Your right, your evidence is anecdotal but that doesn’t make it without value.

It is a weird conundrum on how many factors effect women’s better reception in such an industry, one thing is scientifically backed for sure though, as I posted earlier in the article link there are mentions of studies which find women are generally regarded as more attractive than men as a gender, and to add some anecdotal evidence to my scientific sources, most Bi people I know tend to agree.

I’ve never heard a single bisexual person say this. I find this argument to be without much scientific merit, frankly.

Yes, that is because as I stated, it’s anecdotal, as almost everything you have said has been, including your proven wrongful statement about the gender distribution of MMO players.

“Frankly”, for someone who froths at the mouth at his own anecdotal contributions, you seem to call the “BUT SCIENCE!” chant quite quickly.

zealex.9410:

PistolWhip.2697:

zealex.9410:

Character progression irrelevant with new content. Kinda late since we knew that from back in the demo.

Masteries are character progression. Time i spend unlocking things which now in pof are useless because you dont require hot. Thats sooooo crap. Instead of making progression meaningless just give us alternative way to get to places and explore with the help of hot masteries. This feels just like underwater and anet abandoning it the diff is hot masteries arent trash.

Since i cba t make a diff thread about this and im already talking about masteries i might as well include it here.

Why are there not lore masteries? Masteries about getting familiar with the ppl of elona. The awoken, the djin, the elonians, the margonites( if theres any), the forgotten (if theres any). I understand that gliding was the best and mount improve on that but come on there are so many interesting groups in this expac why not take the opportunity to improve the lore based ones as well

Sadly, PoF is standalone, so you won’t require HoT to play it anyway, and some people won’t have HoT. They can’t make it too exclusive. HoT masteries will make small appearances however, as they have already confirmed gliding is a fairly important mastery to have even in the desert.

That doesnt mean it cant have updraft of mushrooms or w/e. U missunderstood me im not saying lock ways of exploring behind hot im saying for hot players give us hot way to get to places you can also get with mounts or by being a parkour pro.

Well as I said, they have confirmed and it was in the beta weekend, you can use gliding a lot with updrafts there to reach locations you wouldn’t be able to as early.

It is down to your choice in class too. Though you will still be “sub-optimal” not taking advantage of group buffs and such, Elementalist has a lot of ranged cleave. Ranger simply lacks this due to balancing.

A lot of posters here are giving ‘weapon-swap’ lectures and practical advice, which is all well and good, and makes a lot of sense.

As you can see however, the OP is after more of a roleplaying experience as a ranger, it has nothing to do with his practicality. Of course he could just weapon swap to Melee, but he wants to roleplay the ranger. I don’t know if I agree with the sentiment but you gotta take that into account if you are going to advise him.

zealex.9410:

Character progression irrelevant with new content. Kinda late since we knew that from back in the demo.

Masteries are character progression. Time i spend unlocking things which now in pof are useless because you dont require hot. Thats sooooo crap. Instead of making progression meaningless just give us alternative way to get to places and explore with the help of hot masteries. This feels just like underwater and anet abandoning it the diff is hot masteries arent trash.

Since i cba t make a diff thread about this and im already talking about masteries i might as well include it here.

Why are there not lore masteries? Masteries about getting familiar with the ppl of elona. The awoken, the djin, the elonians, the margonites( if theres any), the forgotten (if theres any). I understand that gliding was the best and mount improve on that but come on there are so many interesting groups in this expac why not take the opportunity to improve the lore based ones as well

Sadly, PoF is standalone, so you won’t require HoT to play it anyway, and some people won’t have HoT. They can’t make it too exclusive. HoT masteries will make small appearances however, as they have already confirmed gliding is a fairly important mastery to have even in the desert.

Ranger is probably one of the worst culprits of lazy gameplay in Open world PvE, it is notorious for it, I have no idea why it is being recommended. Plus he asked for style, not some nature hobo.

If you want active game play that isn’t a few buttons (which sadly most things are in open world cause it’s non-intensive) run something like Engineer or Ele. They will at least be more than a few button presses in open world.

Ahlen.7591:

Spellbreaker 2/10. The only bonus of spellbreaker is it’s great at stacking might and removing boons. Other warrior specs/traits can already stack might fine and boon removal is mostly pointless in PVE (Some niche in higher fractals).

The spec removes synergy with adrenal health, berserker power, and cleansing ire, the damage on counter is DISTURBINGLY low. 4k crit counters at 3000 power and 230% crit damage? My axe already does that kind of damage on just auto crits.

For SB to work adrenal/BP/Cleansing need a rework and daggers need a massive damage buff.

Oh god no. SPellbreaker was actually one of the strongest PvP elite specs and could go toe to toe with the monsters that were Scourge and Holosmith.

Damage isn’t as important as the aoe interrupt/damage mitigaton/resistance/condi transfer and boon rip all on a tiny CD of 6 seconds. It is quite an amazing skill, it’s not anyone’s fault you only play one game mode.

Spellbreaker was one of the strongest things in the beta weekend, primarily due to FC

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Dawdler.8521:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Edit: and I’m not talking about staring at backsides. I’m taking about being uncomfortable playing as the opposite sex.

But the only thing that says you are playing “as” a female by definition is… what? Right. Visuals. So yes. It’s all about staring at backsides.

Plus, the “opposite sex” is so diffuse. Have we ever seen what’s in their pants? We havent really seen anyone pregnant either. Who knows, maybe that’s why Logan is so moody.

The “backside” argument I see as an aesthetic argument. The uncomfortable argument is one where they are projecting themselves into the char and “seeing” themselves as a different sex. I don’t see it as a purely visual thing as a female can be covered up so that all you see is armor. It’s the projection of the self into that form that’s causing the discomfort for these people, not the form itself.

Plus, I must again stress, anyone busy staring at their character’s hind quarters is likely a detriment to their team because they won’t be watching the game.

I don’t ever stare at my character’s backside because I’m busy playing the game.

Ben K.6238:

Einlanzer.1627:

Ardid.7203:

Not fully true. There are scientific studies which DO confirm women are better received in the customer service industry because both men and women would rather be greeted by the female form. This is probably due to our inherent belief (whether that’s natural or society induced) that women are more attractive overall.

That is quite a leap in logic. Assuming this is true, it’s far more likely because of associations between the female form and maternity and nurturing.

It’s almost certainly an emotional response that has nothing to do with aesthetic or sexual preference.

Women aren’t better received in that industry when they give an answer someone doesn’t want to hear. Anecdotal evidence from personal experience again, but I doubt that this would surprise anyone.

Your right, your evidence is anecdotal but that doesn’t make it without value.

It is a weird conundrum on how many factors effect women’s better reception in such an industry, one thing is scientifically backed for sure though, as I posted earlier in the article link there are mentions of studies which find women are generally regarded as more attractive than men as a gender, and to add some anecdotal evidence to my scientific sources, most Bi people I know tend to agree.

Anet could we have a decent hood headgear piece? Every single one but the Bandit Sniper Outfit’s hood looks so weirdly shaped. I have no clue why the Thief starter hood has a weird caved in back of the head shape, as if my human has been hit on the back of his head with a shovel.

Something like the images below, doesn’t even need a cool mask under it, just something other than the concave head damage design please!

Einlanzer.1627:

Einlanzer.1627:

Ardid.7203:

Girls are just prettier. Males and females prefer them in the end, without need for any sexual implication.
Its funny because its true.

I could argue that guys are prettier, and I could even argue this being a guy who is sexually attracted to women. In fact, it used to be pretty common in ancient societies.

See how that works? It’s called subjectivity and opinion. In reality, neither sex is objectively more attractive than the other, and arguing otherwise is pretty clearly absurd.

Ardid.7203:

Not fully true. There are scientific studies which DO confirm women are better received in the customer service industry because both men and women would rather be greeted by the female form. This is probably due to our inherent belief (whether that’s natural or society induced) that women are more attractive overall.

That is quite a leap in logic. Assuming this is true, it’s far more likely because of associations between the female form and maternity and nurturing.

It’s almost certainly an emotional response that has nothing to do with aesthetic or sexual preference.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201101/women-are-more-beautiful-men

Interesting read. Physically attractive couples are more likely to have daughters, who knew?

Women it appears, also tend to be more attractive in general. One of the first google results, there is probably plenty more.

A lot of Bi people I have met also confirm this.

It could just be cause Women use make up to hide flaws though.

Spellbreaker – 8/10
Fun mechanic, awesome addition to the Warrior for PvP and is a great example on what an elite spec SHOULD BE.

Deadeye – 3/10
Boring weapon, boring playstyle, and Sniper is an underwhelming archetype for me as a Thief Main. Will stick with the fluid fun that is Daredevil here. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Mirage – 6/10
Has some flaws, but I see potential and feel it could be high skill cap.

Scourge – No clue but going off strength 9/10

Holosmith – 7/10
Its quite fun, and thematically cool, but has shortsighted mistakes like heat mechanic lacking for other weapons+the utilities only encouraging ‘Exceeds’. I also downgraded it a bit cause I enjoyed being a special Engi snowflake and I will see this come into the mainstream due to how streamlined and simplistic Holosmith is.

Renegade – No clue, looks like 5/10 ish?

Soulbeast- 8/10
Solid elite spec for me! I enjoyed it a lot, and one of my favourite things was perma stowing the pet. Honestly? Ranger is the only class I don’t have and haven’t played for 5 years, BUT this made me want to play a ranger. NO more lousy AI to carry! Dagger was a bit meh, but great for GS/Longbow

Firebrand – 5/10
Felt boring but it has nice animations/aesthetics.

Weaver – 7/10
Cool concept and design, but seemed a bit boring for me compared to glass core fresh air ele.

I have been championing a slider/checkbox for those silly Auras for ages now, and still nothing.

Vagrant.7206:

Doggie.3184:

Male characters onry. Playing a female or a character I can’t relate to or represent as myself isn’t as fun or immersive. I also dislike hearing high pitched grunts and screams all the time. It’s excruciatingly bad in Asian games especially since they’re into intentionally making females as loud and absurd as possible.

Yeah, games with stereotypically Korean/Japanese voice actors encourage me to play more male characters — the absurdly high pitches for a warrior/fighter (come on, they’re strong, which means deeper voices) really kills any interest in the character.

I mean, that’s just stereotyping. A deep voice box doesn’t make you stronger/weaker.

Ok, here’s my (counter)-theory. If you are male and preferred playing with He-Man and Wrestling figures as kid, you clearly have a kitten -erotic tendency. Why would a male kid play with male muscle-men if it didn’t like the muscles and the looks? And Wrestling is the most kitten -erotic sport I can imagine. There is nothing wrong with that, and I like that they found their “playground”. Football teams and most other sports are clearly a hostile environment for homosexuality.

However, most men I know that play male characters in online-games show homosexual tendencies (which is fine I guess) once in a while (like watching male wrestling instead of female wrestling), although they would never admit it. Oh, and also I have a cousin and a brother-in-law who are homosexual, so that covers the “friend” argument. I’m free to write that here because it shows I’m not homophobic ^^

Conclusion: Men who play male characters in online games have homosexual tendencies

(Disclaimer just to make sure everybody gets it, since it’s difficult to use sarcasm and irony in forums: What I wrote is not my opinion, I just used the same structur of arguments Fallesafe used to claim that males who play female characters have feminine qualities in real life. I did that to show how ridiculous the argument is and that everybody can interprete it like he wishes. I also don’t think that having female traits as a man is a bad thing. Also, homosexuality is fine. Thank you for your attention)

I don’t fully agree with his assertion, but you aren’t using the same line of comparison. His was to do with aspiration to be something. With your example and his argument, guys would play with such toys because they want to become them and idolise them. If we applied your argument to his direct example, he would be saying guys play female characters because they are sexually attracted to them (which is not the point he is making). Point is, you guys have 2 different arguments.

Fallesafe.5932:

Maybe you can’t, but this doesn’t go for everyone. And while I know this is an old, old argument, I’ve never seen anyone actually answer this to my satisfaction: How the heck are you able to more easily identify with an Asura, a Charr or a Sylvari than the opposite gender?

Simple… the unconventional races correspond to particular aspects of temperament and personality. Asura appeals to people who idealize intelligence or humor. Sylvari appeals to people with a naturalistic and/or aesthetic ideal. And Charr appeal to people who idealize/admire strength and the projection of power.

Selecting a character is a very personal process. And men who play female characters are responding to feminine aspects in their nature. Don’t be afraid to admit it.

Charr are one of the most intelligent races in the game. Arguably on the level or higher than Asura in pure mechanical design, and definitely smarter than Humanity/Norns and Sylvari.

Einlanzer.1627:

Ardid.7203:

Girls are just prettier. Males and females prefer them in the end, without need for any sexual implication.
Its funny because its true.

I could argue that guys are prettier, and I could even argue this being a guy who is sexually attracted to women. In fact, it used to be pretty common in ancient societies.

See how that works? It’s called subjectivity and opinion. In reality, neither sex is objectively more attractive than the other, and arguing otherwise is pretty clearly absurd.

Not fully true. There are scientific studies which DO confirm women are better received in the customer service industry because both men and women would rather be greeted by the female form. This is probably due to our inherent belief (whether that’s natural or society induced) that women are more attractive overall.

To add something no one seems to of mentioned – It isn’t purely down to immersion or if you immerse yourself or not. It’s down to YOUR reality. Some people put more importance in their gender than others, and that can be down to the reality they live in. In some parts of the world/society/occupations, being male or female is very definitive as to how you live your life. People as such might not feel comfortable playing the opposite because its become so important to their identity, as with any facet of their existence in any other example.

wrathmagik.3518:

As for me. If i’m going to be looking at something for hours on end I’d rather it be a females rear then a mans lol

Original, I have never ever read/heard that before. The amazingly original and uniqueness of the reply aside, do all these men staring at waifu butts play terrible too? I don’t see how you stare at your character’s rear and play the game properly at the same time. Besides if you main Ranger I guess.

Easy, the datamined Holosmith sword “Cutting Edge” http://i.imgur.com/PG8j4En.png

and the Incinerator!

Rolling S/D weaver

Okay so Human Warriors have very different styles to Norn Warriors. Both work well, lore wise.

Humans however have faster paced animations, and more agile movements, just compared Eviscerate’s leap on humans to norn. If you’re looking for agile, technique based Warrior work, I’d go human.

Norns on the other hand, are more slow, but have bigger force behind their movements. They look slow and hulking and they are so just in terms of animation (everything is cosmetic). If you want the look of a pure power bruiser, I would go Norn.

Think of it like this, Humans are lightweight or featherweight boxers (where technique and skill is most important), and Norn are heavy weight (where power is the apex).

ALSO TO ADD an important note. Humans have most if not all armours made to their standards, and thus clip the least and are the easiest to make armours with.

And if Mounts were anything but cosmetic it could ruin some minor balance/profession philosophies.

It would also add unnecessary clutter.

Well, they are named Bandana, so I would put that down to poor graphics in an old engine than an attempt at tignons.

Teatime on MightyTeapot’s stream and youtube channel is by far the best one for me, it’s hilarious and they cover all kinds of topics from PvE, to PvP to WvW and Lore, all with dank memes involved.

They also have guests with no expertise in each area regularly!

The no hair thing can be an issue yes, but that’s more so a problem with headgear in general than the bandana.

You sure? Although not hugely popular IRL, I have seen people wear a bandana like that.

As the title reads, I would be a huge fan of having this make a return to the GW Universe.

Don’t mind it being a Gemstore skin or what have you, just really want it.

Anyone else?

Dawdler.8521:

- Remove all 33% swiftness boons and 25% traits from the game.

Oh my god… NO, PLEASE NO

Not only do I think mounts are lame, like extremely lame, but at least don’t take away my lack of need for them.

I prefer running on foot thanks, you can all ride your weird kitten bears, koalas and moas or what have you.

emkelly.2371:

Honestly, I’m with the OP. Anet has been frantically removing any semblance of skilled play from every character class for a long time, and yet they decide thieves need a nerf like this? The thief and warrior are pretty much left in the dust as classes that still require skill to play. There was no reason to put in an 1 sec internal cooldown on stealth attacks. sure the change does not really hurt that much once you get used to it, but it’s still just a slap in the face to the thief. it’s just another reason why Thief is not part of a meta comp. Mesmer does not just do the mobility roll better, but allows the entire party to do the mobility roll better, while also having massive AOE damage, and more sustain.

Erm, what? Warrior is one of the most powerful professions atm with it’s setup?

It’s used in almost every meta team in pro leagues if not every team. Thief still had presence there, albeit not as much as before.

But honestly, Mace shield condi warrior =/= skill. Sorry pal, not buying it. No ones being left behind in the dust, please keep the hyperbole to yourself.

Lily.1935:

PistolWhip.2697:

I don’t think Revenant would use scepter. My reasoning is, they as a theme take traditional weapons and use them in new ways. Hammer ranged, Staff melee, you get the idea.

So instead I would pose that the new rev elite spec gets ranged condi on dagger. Mainhand dagger seems to fit Rev thematic a lot, being ritualistic and shaman like in ways. The auto would be similar to ranger Axe, and the stance probably The Undead Lich, seeing as we have Shiro.

Lich’s thematic of decay and disease would certainly fit.

Again, Lich steps too much into the necromancer’s territory. Decay is part of necromancer’s theme and Disease actually was a condition almost exclusively belonging to the necromancer in GW1.

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Disease

I know it was, but Shiro steps into Thief territory a lot, that’s what Rev does. It takes other professions and packages it in it’s own way.

Lich is perfectly reasonable.

Cynz.9437:

PistolWhip.2697:

Cynz.9437:

Taking same skill level and meta builds into account

Thief: gets pooped on by everything but necro and ele.

Wrong, Thief poops on Rev too. Not because Rev is bad, but because Meta Rev lacks the tools you need to deal with high burst thief.

Thief still admittedly needs work.

You haven’t seen good revs then. Revs have all the tools to deal with thieves if used properly.

I play Thief and Rev. Thief mainly, but Rev I dabble in. I win on both. I wouldn’t use my own measurement of skill as a balance point, it isn’t subjective enough.

What I do know is, other sources, such as discussions on ESL broadcasts, have mentioned it in the past. Thief countering Rev I mean. That and people far more well versed than I have come to that conclusion.

But that all aside, we can just look at it from a logical stand point.

Meta rev has 1 “oh kitten” button, that negates damage right? It’s called Facet of Light. Once they have used it, the Rev has a block on Staff 3, Evade on Staff 5, and Shield 5.

Now the reason Sword 3 can be outclassed by a thief, is because quite simply, stealth. Just stealth, and it stops. Staff 5 is a threat yes, due to the lack of Stab on thief, staff 3 you can just wait out, it does basically nothing.

Shield 5 is great actually. It allows us to use Basi venom and get a free interrupt/pulmonary impact. Which also stuns them for a second allowing us to hit them once or twice.

If you play stupidly on Thief, you can still lose to Rev yes, but on equal skill level the Rev doesn’t have the tools to deal with reset capabilities or the burst damage of thief.

Now, I will agree, if the Rev puts on Retribution Taunt, it can complicate matters, but a Thief should still come out on top.

Please feel free to criticize where you think I am wrong?

Jaxom.7310:

i don’t buy the argument that ‘well they’d have to balance 1v1’ for anything. gw2 was made for 5 man parties, rite? well they’d never make

• raids, i mean then they’d have to balance for 10-man content… wait..
• a full commander system with dozens of peepio beucase they’d have to balance dozens… wait…
• open world boss battles with unknown # of players… wait…

so to say, they’d not do X becuase of XvX balance… gtfo

Yes and they all have one thing in common. They are teams.

Did I say 5 anywhere? I said teams. Teams as in, 3-50 or more. Hey even 2 people are a team. I honestly think 3v3 could work.

So yes, my point still stands, you just missed the point entirely. 1v1 is not Team. It’s individual play.

I would vastly prefer 1v1, I’m a mostly solo player. Thing is, 1v1 balance is different to team balance, because you can no longer say “This trait works this way because it is meant to be balanced around the fact there are more people other than you there.”

So kindly, gtfo.

Have about 9000 Hours,

Had 1 precursor drop, Leaf of Kudzu, for the Karka event, sold it for 50g that night.

Playing the RNG game at hard mode bois.

At first, I didnt think much of the 1 second cool down on stealth skills. I almost always land my backstabs stilll, and the thing is even if you don’t you can reset your stealth on D/P.

Then on further thought, Thief isn’t just D/P. This change is a huge detriment to D/D in particular which is already in need of some work. In fact, the only setup this was probably meant to punish, D/P, is probably the only one that isn’t impacted that much by this.

Perhaps giving D/D a longer stealth on C/D is in order or something.

Also, Endure pain is not invulnerability. They are still susceptible to Condi’s, life steal and CC. That is hugely different. Just because you run Power and you do no damage to them, doesn’t mean Endure Pain is the same as Invulnerable. In fact Thief has more invulnerability frames due to the dodge spam.

That said, Warrior doesn’t need true invul with monstrosities like Adrenal Health flying around.

The thief does have options. The option is to reroll, or use the one viable set up my man.

Dr Patrik.3642:

For the love of any bit of balance left in this game DO NOT make more unblockable skills! All it does is remove the thinking people have to do when fighting any class with blocks, because why care? they don’t to anything anyways and your skills will just go right through it. Also, when your blocking your usually not attacking, so what, you want them to basically be sitting ducks? If anything Tone down the myriad of unblockable skills in the game and leave the ones that require a lot of investment to get.

Example of what I think should stay:
-Revenant phase traversal since it takes almost all of your energy
-Guardian pulls since there is an icon on your bar so you know before you block that you can get pulled

Example of what should go:
-Thief Shadow Shot, nothing this spammable should be unblockable
-Corrupt Boon should be blockable by blocks that aren’t aegis since its on a low 15 sec cd so it deserves some counter play

Passive blocks require so much thought though, am I right?

1 Staff 5 ruins most breakbars instantly giving you a damage boost and the enemy an open still window. Use that, switch to shiro+sword set and quickness auto till the 50% dmg boost debuff on the boss wares off, then play defensively tillthe breakbar fills up again, rinse and repeat.

Solo any champ anywhere (well 99%) of the time in the game.

I don’t think Revenant would use scepter. My reasoning is, they as a theme take traditional weapons and use them in new ways. Hammer ranged, Staff melee, you get the idea.

So instead I would pose that the new rev elite spec gets ranged condi on dagger. Mainhand dagger seems to fit Rev thematic a lot, being ritualistic and shaman like in ways. The auto would be similar to ranger Axe, and the stance probably The Undead Lich, seeing as we have Shiro.

Lich’s thematic of decay and disease would certainly fit.

Cynz.9437:

Taking same skill level and meta builds into account

Thief: gets pooped on by everything but necro and ele.

Wrong, Thief poops on Rev too. Not because Rev is bad, but because Meta Rev lacks the tools you need to deal with high burst thief.

Thief still admittedly needs work.

Zelulose.8695:

Thief is just hard countered by warrior and guardian and revenant, That is why they complain. There are classes that at a certain level of skill are impossible for them to win vs. a Pro league thief could lose to a decent guardian.

Thief counters Revenant. In a 1v1 scenario unless outplayed the Thief should be winning. I say that as a Thief.

Guardian does indeed hard counter thief, and Warrior can counter thief is they run Rousing resilience and Demolisher amu or something similar.

I have no issue with the rest of your statement.

Twigifire.8379:

Thoughts:

Suggestion Number 1094 for arenas.

I still don’t get why they can’t just make dueling a proper thing. It’s way more fun to watch/play than conquest pvp..

Because then they would have to balance around 1v1, which they don’t do by any capacity, and with how difficult they find it to balance team vs team, I wonder how successful they would be balancing both that AND 1v1’s. Right now, letting dueling exist as a solely community driven activity means they aren’t liable to balance it. The second they endorse it as an official game mode, they can be criticized for imbalance.

I mean if you haven’t noticed, some professions/setups have stark advantages against others and overall in dueling settings. They would first have to address this, but they know it’s incredibly difficult, so they wont.

It says crystal desert in the OP’s first link…

Hey Anet, I wanted to request this back piece as I think it looks really cool in a weird way.

Ringmaster’kitten please! Bring it back Anet

I would like to see them add character template codes or at least numbers so I could replicate character faces on different professions which I tend to do.

While I applaud your effort at least, it must still be recognized that, even if you ran Warrior and were successful, it is still not as good as the other classes at the moment, and besides Thief DOES get outclassed in various aspects of the game.

I think many Warriors are rather peeved with the lack of competitiveness to the class as opposed to lack of success. I mean, all I run is GS/Axe nowadays, or GS/hammer and do just fine. Sadly, I know I could do better on other classes.

Heck, I jumped on Chronomancer 30 minutes ago and after an hour I could 2v1 like I never could of my Warrior. Why? Much harder to focus if you use the evasive peels correctly I found.

Anyway, I wouldn’t run this if someone paid me. Not because it is bad per say, I haven’t tried it, but because Condi literally makes me frown. If I don’t run power I feel cheap, and cancerous in my own right.

Now, if you can do something amazing with GS Power, my favourite weapon, I will be all ears.

I disagree also but for different reasons. The best time to start a class is when it is at it’s lowest. You learn so much more from being the underdog than being carried. All these Elite spec players will eventually be nerfed after Anet has sold enough HoT, then they will lose any edge and wonder why they can’t win fights.

However on Warrior, you will only get better.