Guild Wars 2

I heard there were weapon changes. I just see some bow fixes and the Maul boost.

Disappointing, considering how cool the Elementalist tweaks were. Rather than return for my Ranger or Thief, I’ll try an Ele.

LOTRO had the best musical instruments. I wish we had something like that.

Jarul.8635:

Wasn’t this “bug” around before … ?

Is it a bug? The F2 summons a world bundle object. Seems like it’d be free for anyone.

It was slow because of how spaced they were, but I was killing mobs (and not really farming, just playing with a new build) near Lyssa’s Temple and I was averaging a drop ofT6 dust per three or four kills.

Foehn.2489:

I couldn’t find the posts regarding this. But I just tested it myself, unable to drag soulbound items from bank to another character’s bag.

Anyone know any info on the topic of whether living story skins will make a return at some point?

You don’t drag the soulbound item from the bank to your other character.

You transmute the Item onto a White Account Bound Item, where it becomes account bound. You place that in the bank, and have your second character take the account bound item and use another stone to transmute it onto the piece you want.

I did this just last night.

The issue with Rox’s quiver, to my knowledge, is that there is no white back piece to serve as your transmute bridge.

I just want a Salsa Shark.

We’re gonna need a bigger boat.

ColdHeart.6374:

It’s certainly enlightening to hear that. I’m noticing a lot of people are using axes and greatswords.. Is that the way to go? Is shortbow not really an option? I don’t mind if Axes or greatswords are my secondary weapon. But I truly want to build something around the SB

Shortbow is cool. I would just offer this advice: Don’t look at your weapons as defining you. Don’t be primarily Shortbow, Seconarily Greatsword. Treat them both equally. Pack another weapon and offhand just in case. Don’t consider yourself melee, don’t consider yourself ranged: do what you need to do as the situation calls for it.

I find once newer players grasp the fluidity of weapon swaps and even traits within their traitlines, it can free your playstyle and thinking.

I think SB and Greatsword compliment each other well. Not a min/maxing choice, but they do pair well. If PvE is your thing, I’d recommend Guanglai’s build here as an exploration point:

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/82923-the-sword-and-board-dps-ranger-build/

@RavenRecoil:

Longbow is alright. I like it in some builds. It’s not the best weapon for these reasons:

It’s Auto Attack scales on distance. Mobs close distance, lowering damage. It fires slow. Ranged also does less than Melee just by GW2 design.

Rapid Fire does less damage than Auto Attack (optimized) in the time it takes to fire off. It still has it’s uses, such as used when a target is closing distance, or if you are hasted, or to track stealthed targets if you get it off in time.

LB3 is a utility shot. You give your pet a chance to inflict Vuln and boost your pet getting to the target. As an opener in PvE, I like it.

Knockback is good. A few classes have KB cleaves, ours is single target. It CAN be traited to pierce, but that’s not as nice.

Barrage is pretty predictable and telegraphed in PvP. Even in WvW chaos you’ve got a nice warning red circle. In PvE, namely dungeons, if you want to AoE, you have a sword, greatsword, and axe that will do it much better.

I think it combos well with my own Sword or Greatsword builds without too much effort. However, it’s my understanding that Shortbow is simply better damage and utility in both PvP and PvE.

Longbows bad rap comes from players who don’t use it as a quick swap (if I have to dodge out, I burn 3,2 (hasted), 1 until I can dart back in with my Sword/WH), but rather sit in the back and nock away. Those players probably also use a bear. And that’s not how it should be used.

Warrior/Guardian/Mesmer in Citadel of Flame is your best money maker.

The Rules Lawyer in me says that it’s useless because all animal families already share the same stats, and the only difference is the F2 skill.

I don’t even run with Guard and my pet will chain pull. It seems to be random. I use Swaps to keep it leashed to my side.

I think they should give us back the stealth we had in Beta. It lacks synergy.

That said, it does drop in PvE. I don’t think it can be extended.

Good call on waiting for the patch reworks. However, even with trait changes, it’s not truly going to change the viability of Conditions (yay Cap!) or how our coefficients and stats still take pet into account, yeah?

They’re redoing Traitlines in June. Cross your fingers.

It’s fun and I like the aesthetics and mobility. In my decade of MMOing, I’ve never been a Rogue class. I was always a Warlock or heavy plate wearer.

I was a Mesmer at launch, but my friend was late getting on on Early Release Day 2, so I rolled a Thief and dorked around. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the Shortbow, Pistols, and Swordplay. D/D is cool, but I love swashbuckling. I dropped the Mesmer for the Thief.

I have set the Thief aside for a Ranger earlier this year, the class I really wanted to love in Beta, but I dislike knowing how much is tied to bad AI. Both classes have great mobility, looks to their special moves, and are fun to play, but at the end of the day I love my Thief.

I only came back in April, so I finally went through my laurels and looked into gear. I’m told the amulet is the first piece to shoot for, and at the moment I’m grappling between my Thief or Ranger.

Which Amulet am I looking for with the Ranger? It’s my understanding from this forum that Berserker is a waste because of the pet split. I pondered Celestial and read the thread here about it, and I’m almost convinced – I don’t actively play conditions, they’re just there on my beloved Swords and Axes and Shortbow.

Would Knights be a solid investment if I have a tendency for Power?

I sort of hate the Ascended and Infusion system, as it’s the sort of Mathcraft and Spec Specialization I thought I left behind in other MMOs, so I’m admittedly cranky about this choice, as most gear in the game is easy to grab and go with. Instead I’m spending a half hour researching because of how laurels are gated and the fact I don’t see guild comms much.

I PvE and WuvWuv.

jcbroe.4329:

Right now, looking at all of the professions and traits, the game is just a poor mix of a bunch of different ideas with very singular core concepts that have been stretched too thinly-

Sounds like the game as a whole. There are games I don’t really enjoy at a competitive level (DOTA 2, for example), but they are unapologetically are what they are, and they do what they set out to do very well. GW2 as a whole feels like it’s trying to be too many things to too many people.

There’s a large disconnect between PvE, WvW, and SPVP, and it’s right there in the very way they’re executed. They all remove you from the game via the menus, how they look and function (The Mists lobby), and it’s not an RP thing, it’s just a conceit that this is a video game with different modes. At the same time, it isn’t doing any of those three exceptionally well.

I don’t believe they’ve delivered on any of the design blogs that hyped the game up before launch.

Zenith.7301:

PsionicDingo.2065:

Puandro.3245:

Engels.8537:

Xsorus.2507:

If you’re thinking a Ranger is bunker because of Signet of the Wild usage then you’re doing it wrong.. Cause i use Signet of the Wild in most of my builds, simply because we don’t have a whole lot of options… Bout only build I don’t see it ran in is Trap Builds.

Even Mango Pie isn’t completely horrible for a Zerker Ranger

Anyway, I’ve ran into maybe 2 or 3 Bunker Rangers the entire time i’ve played….

No, I was being sarcastic, sorry.
I don’t really understand the point in saying that pretty much nobody runs BM builds now, specially coming from the people who have spread the builds on the forums the most. Maybe trying to prove that it’s an incredibly unused build so Anet shouldn’t nerf it? I don’t know.

You still call it a nerf when they fixed pet’s F2 reseting on swap, so probably “nerf” has different definitions for us.

We arent lying when we say BM Bunker Rangers are none existant. The build is good for 1v1 or small scale fights (5v5 tops). More than that and the pet isnt that great and your ability to soak damage so your pet can kill is irrelevant. People who do small scale fighting as their main source of WvW is extremely low. Then the people who pick rangers tk do it is lower. Then you have those people deciding if they want to run the build.

State of the Game is focused on SPVP. Not WvW. As you note with the 1v1 and small scale fights, that’s why pet damage and leashing is a major concern of the show and it’s hosts.

In spvp a BM bunker cannot move a bunker ele out of point. He can debunker a bad guardian, but a good one will hold out fairly long enough for assistance to arrive.

There are simply very few top teams where a BM bunker is included.

In all my tpvp queues I’ve seen more eles and mesmers and guardians than anything else.

I only Hot Join and don’t take it too seriously outside of that, so I’ll trust your input, Z. I just wanted to point how where SOTG comes from.

I fully agree with your assessment on Conquest a page back, too.

I hated when PvP changes would affect PvE and vice versa in WoW, and I came to GW2 with the knowledge that GW1 was famous for nailing skill splits and such.

Any MMO I ever played – City of Heroes, WoW, Champions, Old Republic – cited GW1 as the gold standard for skill splitting and thoughtful balance.

Granted, when I talk to my friends who were hardcore into GW, I hear that they were just as sloppy and ill-attentive as some of the posts I see here and on Guru claim. Maybe it’s all perspective?

Puandro.3245:

Engels.8537:

Xsorus.2507:

If you’re thinking a Ranger is bunker because of Signet of the Wild usage then you’re doing it wrong.. Cause i use Signet of the Wild in most of my builds, simply because we don’t have a whole lot of options… Bout only build I don’t see it ran in is Trap Builds.

Even Mango Pie isn’t completely horrible for a Zerker Ranger

Anyway, I’ve ran into maybe 2 or 3 Bunker Rangers the entire time i’ve played….

No, I was being sarcastic, sorry.
I don’t really understand the point in saying that pretty much nobody runs BM builds now, specially coming from the people who have spread the builds on the forums the most. Maybe trying to prove that it’s an incredibly unused build so Anet shouldn’t nerf it? I don’t know.

You still call it a nerf when they fixed pet’s F2 reseting on swap, so probably “nerf” has different definitions for us.

We arent lying when we say BM Bunker Rangers are none existant. The build is good for 1v1 or small scale fights (5v5 tops). More than that and the pet isnt that great and your ability to soak damage so your pet can kill is irrelevant. People who do small scale fighting as their main source of WvW is extremely low. Then the people who pick rangers tk do it is lower. Then you have those people deciding if they want to run the build.

State of the Game is focused on SPVP. Not WvW. As you note with the 1v1 and small scale fights, that’s why pet damage and leashing is a major concern of the show and it’s hosts.

garethh.3518:

That’s because they are bad at casting.

“So I’ve been talking to So and So and Whatshisface, and they feel that…oh, you’re making a face.”
“What?”
“You have a face.”
“Yeah, well…we agree with that and we just can’t tell you about it now.”
“Oh, I see…So when I talked about this with them…”
“Right, it’s being worked on. Without telling you, because we can’t, we’re doing this.”
“And back to the other thing?”
“That’s getting buffed, too, but we can’t tell you how or when or why. Just know for that class it is. And that prior class we mentioned.”
“Sorry guys, I’m having a private Skype convo.”
“Anyone have any questions?”
“If it’s not about my comp, and my build, nope.”

FrouFrou.4958:

That video is just… Woah. “Trolololol we are going to make necros so op you all will cry and run” and at the same time “Ranger can go away from the keyboard while the pet eats warriors face! We need to nerf them!” What on earth? Really now? Just when we are in semi o-kay state, we are getting nerfed because there are some brain dead people out there who have no idea what they are doing and at the same time they admit they are going to boost some other class to near god like state and then laugh about it? BALANCE! It works btches!

Sad thing is the only classes in this game that even interest me are Thief, Ranger, and a distant third Warrior. At least the Warrior is openly getting love, even if it’s for Hashtag E-Sports.

jcbroe.4329:

Battosai, Symbolic, Ovi, Gasmask, and Follidus have been seen in recent tournaments playing ranger, and Battosai has been ranger focused since launch I believe (not sure about the others) as well as contributes to the Arrow to the Knee podcasts.

Follidus (zZz) won one of the last NA tournys, how come he isn’t being invited to the SoTG? What makes Team Paradigm so special that they are part of the core top team that is consistently invited for the SoTGs? Just because they have been around and have hovered around the top, it doesn’t make them the only people that play the game.

Just so we are clear, I am entirely with you. I agree with the points made in the other thread about both sides being amateur hour when it comes to the show. Arena Net always seems like it’s caught with it’s pants down, disinterested (watch the April ep), or simply “can’t tell you yet”, all of which makes the whole show seem like pulling teeth.

On the host end, the players absolutely have agendas about their own classes and comps. I will give the benefit of a doubt that they understand other classes, but they tend to focus on the “Rock Is Fine, Nerf Scissors” side of things. Last month they griped about leashing issues on the pet, now it’s damage. And as you said, it falls back to ANet there – why mention the negatives without the positives? All of the follow-up from Grouch revolved around the Necro, and it’s quite clear all of the representatives were being messaged to ask about specific things pertaining to their friends and not necessarily the whole scene, let alone the game.

What makes Team Paradigm so special? Hell if I know, I don’t really follow them at all. I know in BWE there was a lot of input on Warriors and Thieves (the two classes I really followed back then), and when the game went live, a lot of the theorycraft taken as gospel was proven to be mediocre. Lowell’s infamous Unicorn Bacon Thief builds are a joke to most Thief players once the state of the game was in everyone’s hands.

I would love to see any of the Rangers you mentioned take a seat on the show. Have they been asked? Have they approached Grouch (which seems to be the ticket)? I don’t know.

I’d love for PvE and WvW to be discussed, too. I learn more from SOAC than I do from Guru these days, mainly because SOAC seems more approachable and actually hold interesting discussions.

I agree it’s frustrating. Even on my Thief things feel inconsistent and half finished.

ANet’s answers are all over the place and far removed from the original design blogs that used to be on this very site. Then again, when ascended gear was added and the vertical progression flap was blowing around, I suppose all that talk turned into smoke.

Furajir.3815:

I dont understand why the kitten sotg or game balance is based off these esport kids who only favor spvp, and the entire game is based off whats good in team vs team comp, not how it even affects players in wvwv.

State of the Game via Guild Wars 2 Guru is based off of these people because they are the ones who set it up and want to put the time in. Is the representation broad and without bias? No. And you can go back and watch April’s episode to see how Caed and Grouch get antsy about some things and steer the conversation and talking points based on things they want to bring attention to. Then and now in this episode it’s less a comprehensive objective discussion and more skewed opinions.

Is that bad? Guru has an active shared Ranger community. I know several people are active back and forth between these two forums. It’s just a matter of nobody in SPVP (and SOTG is strictly about SPVP and not any other game aspects) with a Ranger has made themselves known. I’m sure Guru would love to have you.

Just today on Guru, someone asked why SOTG didn’t cover PVE. The answer was: PVE is requested, but no one actually cares to host or organize one. So SPVP SOTG is what we get.

SOTG aside, I don’t understand why ANetcan’t just blog and interact on their own site. I haven’t touched WoW in years, but I still check MMO-Champion just because I’m amazed at the interaction and transparency and frank discussion Ghostcrawler has going.

Did this all come to light because of bunkers?

I listened to the cast the other night and just specced this today. In PvE and WvW it’s pretty fun. I’ve never got full Marksman until now.

Also, it’s not as squishy as I imagined, even in Full Berserker. I’ve only got Cleric’s to alternate it with, but I was going to play with Valk or Knights when I had the gold.

Hopefully he means they’ll swing the balance of power more into the ranger, and that we’ll have more control over our pet attributes.

…sigh.

Hunter’s Call is more for closing or gaining distance, I think.

I’ve always found Longbow as a weapon to swap to, burn 3-2-4 if needed, then go back to melee.

I can’t seem to preview items off of the post since the patch.

A dingo.

Also, things already in the game: dolphin, gryphon, raptor, basilisk.

I think it would free up Ranger traits. As of now, to improve your pet, you need to invest in BM. I’m not talking traits and perks, but actual attributes. It’s the only way to improve the pet, and the pet is a large chunk of our damage since it’s split.

Giving pets their own trait line, even if it’s one separate one that boosts stats and let’s you customize what you’re running would be nice. Essentially, I’d say move BM out into it’s own thing.

I have no idea what we’d replace it with in our own trait lines, though.

Puandro.3245:

Faux Sheaux.6179:

Puandro.3245:

Faux Sheaux.6179:

Pets take aggro from guards now. I might as well quit my ranger and roll an easy mode thief or mesmer.

Way to go guild wars, you’ve killed the only thing dear to me.

Killing people who run into camps thinking they are safe you will be missed.

I always laugh when something is fixed in patch notes and people rage for ANet making things work as intended. I like seeing pets taking aggro again tbh. I kind of missed using mine as a meat shield when things get tough.

Im okay with it being fixed but it was fun. Go check out the rage on the thief forum for the sword #2 fix on shadow return.

The range correction is fine, but now it’s porting me into the ground or into objects.

What changed with the pathing?

bravoart.5308:

PsionicDingo.2065:

GonzoNeo.4965:

Its just a boss encounter, not a entire dungeon.

And yes, noll is nasty and boring, if he pushed you to a trap you are bouncing until death.

After the great Boss of F&F fundation this was meh.

Molten Facility was handled by a different team than the usual dungeon team, wasn’t it?

I wonder if there will be a shift in their design philosophy for dungeons. MF was the most fun I’ve had in a dungeon since I left other MMOs.

It feels like the game is being pulled in two directions by two separate in-company entities.

We have the developers, who want to actually put out great content and rewards (SAB, F&F Dungeon, Molten Mining Pick) then we have the cash grab monetization division who doesn’t give a kitten and just wants to separate a fool from his money. (Southsun Boxes, Consortium Harvesting Water Pick, etc.)

I think it’s time we discern which content is made by which group from the get-go and vote with our wallets. If it’s not rewarding (either by entertainment/intrinsic value or by gold/loot/etc!) then just don’t bother with it.

I agree with what you’re saying, although I’m not sure on the specific politics of it. I do know that Robert Hrouda has made his design approach and beliefs known over the months, and that the players don’t seem to be on the same page. CoF1 actually compounds that problem.

It says a lot to me that SAB and MF were talked about, interesting to play, and had motive to run it beyond cash or tokens. That Jetpack skin was a great incentive, and I don’t even care about it. I was happy people wanted to run it and I could just play with builds. I recall Ghastly Weapons in AC had the same incentive.

While I don’t welcome a loot grind, perhaps EQ and WoW dungeon design was onto something by having specific rewards drop from specific places. A myriad of skins would be just the thing.

Of course, as you note, that conflicts with tickets or crates and BL keys.

I went Human Female because I felt the armor looked best on humans. Female because my Thief is a comic reference – I named her Stacey Pilgrim because in the Scott Pilgrim comic and film Stacey shows up out of nowhere to harass her brother, then ninjas out.

I’m not a fan of female T3, though. T2 is great, with some Vigil or Whispers pieces.

I do wish I went sylvari in hindsight, but I don’t want to reroll just for that.

Ha, underwater fixes/buffs. Now dailies will be easier.

I want to say the Whirling Defense thing is a buff, because it seems like I sit on targets to register the hits. I can’t test it right now, though.

Derek.6017:

Such a step down from the Weapons Facility.

I don’t think anybody will be disappointed when this “dungeon” disappears.

Bummer.

Elementalist for it’s physical skill barriers. That’s some crazy hotkeying and fast fingers, and a well played Ele is always impressive to me.

Ranger would be second, just because the pet is more micromanagement than it seems. I lament the simplified pet handing system and used to prefer how a game like WoW handled it, but after putting time into my ranger, I understand why ANet wants it as is. Between your own movement and evades and all the action happening around you, it could be frustrating to have to micromanage your pet beyond, Go, Come, and F2.

Now, if F2 and those commands responded a little better…

GonzoNeo.4965:

Its just a boss encounter, not a entire dungeon.

And yes, noll is nasty and boring, if he pushed you to a trap you are bouncing until death.

After the great Boss of F&F fundation this was meh.

Molten Facility was handled by a different team than the usual dungeon team, wasn’t it?

I wonder if there will be a shift in their design philosophy for dungeons. MF was the mokittenn I’ve had in a dungeon since I left other MMOs.

kitsuneKyo.6824:

there are so many traits in this game that really dont impact your playstyle at all. i want more stuff that really changes certain abilities or that really have effect.

Exactly. One of my favorite changes when WoW went into Pandaria was the talent tree going from boring number tuning to genuinely interesting playstyle choices.

We have a mix of both here, but man, the boring ones are bland AND ineffective.

I’ll give this a whirl, Bryzy.

edit – nevermind, didn’t see the BM Bunker focus.

penatbater.4710:

You can demand all you want for your cheeseburger to look like this: http://ts4.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.5024215061170247&pid=15.1

but it will 99% of the time look like this:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-D-u0DU0ZtO0/TWwStSvGBVI/AAAAAAAADjs/7M2k-OXpxt4/s1600/mcdonalds_cheeseburger_01.jpg

Or just go a place that you know will net you a good burger. I have no illusions the rare times I stop into McDs.

In game you can see the dungeon armor in Lion’s Arch. If you want a complete offline catalog, try http://gw2armorgallery.com/index.html

As for stats, you’ll need to figure out your playstyle. If you like Greatsword and Sword, you’re looking at Power. Torch might be better swapped to a Warhorn, and that synergizes with both bows. Power sets would be Knight, Berserker, and others. Those set bonuses come from runes, which you add separately at your own choice.

Yes, the prices on the legendaries is mainly for the skin. The stats are on par with the bland exotics you can get. Again, you’re looking for stats and can skin the item later. The upgrades are sigils, and you can replace those at any time.

Crafting is good if you want to make a legendary or level. As you’re almost 80, I’d save all your mats for your next character to level them up. You can always trade items through your bank.

That’s not too bad at all. I’ll have to revisit my 30/30/X builds.

No pics, but my Ranger kills to Judas Priest’s One Shot at Glory, my Thief stabs and shoots to Motley Crue’s Kickstart My Heart, and my Warrior slashes things to Riot’s Thundersteel.

I’ve heard Moment of Clarity doesn’t affect Hilt Bash.

Boomstin.3460:

Just another thing that shows that ranger was put together with the two professions pre beta they thought weren’t working.
Hence the illogical mess of traits/skills/bugs.
Someone remember the names of those professions?

First I’ve ever heard of this. I’d love to hear more.

As for the Trait, it’s not wholly useless. The other pets take control away through fears, slows, or immobilization. The other pets offer different perks, such as regen, poison, a second pet, and the trait lets those perks also cripple. If you run with the right pet, it’s alright utility.

Fern Hound: Regenerate
F2 grants regeneration. Cripple is useful.

Hyena: Howl of the Pack
F2 summons an additional hyena. Cripple is useful.

Cave Spider: Weakening Venom
F2 inflicts weakness and vulnerability. Cripple is useful.

Forest Spider: Deadly Venom
F2 inflicts poison. Cripple is useful.

Sometimes I miss my Lich King Hunter, running with my tiger and Exploding Shot.

Initiative only affects weapon skills. Chill will affect speed and utilities.

Initiative has it’s own drawbacks, namely that you can’t swap to another weapon set for fresh CDs, as you’re still at the mercy of your ini regen. Assuming you’re chilling at the right time, you’ve robbed them of Shadow Step or Refuge, and getting that Infiltrator’s Strike or CnD to clear Chill could be that much harder.