Guild Wars 2

GW1 had a long tradition of people running either hard areas (so you could get max armor earlier) or hard missions (for HM bonus). I did it plenty there.

Wouldn’t expect it to change. If you don’t wanna pay um … start a group the old fashioned way? and lol @pay2win

tolunart.2095:

-snip-

The entire complaint boils down to “I want a precursor right now and Anet should give it to me at whatever price I want to pay.”

-snip-

Work smarter to get what you want, don’t just throw a tantrum and expect someone to hand it to you.

If that’s what you got out of my comments you might wanna try rereading.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

The only two fixes are: make high-demand precursors so much more common that just about anyone can afford them (thus devaluing their already-tarnished status as a “legendary”) or creating new sets of high-prestige items, to which people will turn their efforts (thus decreasing demand).

With more precursors available, wouldn’t T6 mat prices go up (more people feel a legendary is within reach) which could theoretically preserve the “prestige” factor.

… Though in a game where you can outright buy one with real money, I’m finding it difficult to see the bragging rights.

Bread.7516:

SickSoul.4789:

Okay, cool cool, thanks i’ll have to try Arah, believe it or not i played GW1 since it came out and never heard of Corner Blocking haha

Maybe because you didn’t do organized speed clear/solo for high tier dungeons.

I distinctly remember those choke points in UW where tanks are used for body blocking.

I remember being the tank in those chokepoints (Obsidian Flesh ele ftw)! And how stressful it was the first time because if you died the team wiped, and if the team wiped everyone got kicked out and had to start. all. over. (For those who didn’t play, a full run could take several hours before people figured out split speedrunning teams.)

Now those were dungeons

The Deep had literal corner blocking though, where all the squishies hid in the corner while a couple of heavies bodyblocked for ’em.

@Jumping out of window gif: Was browsing while eating my lunch at work and you made me laugh out loud so I got weird looks lol

Konig Des Todes.2086:

It’s above the new waypoint, on the cliffs directly above (literally, the Mordrem can just jump down the cliff’s edge and swarm the little refugee camp).

Thanks! Will have to check it out tonight

I get more of a steampunk vibe, though I don’t pretend to know all the nuances of that movement.

Where exactly is this cave? I’d like to take a closer look myself. Thanks for the heads up

Cormac.3871:

I think part of the point of the original post is that the problem is not with the price of precursors in general, but with a few specific precursors. People complaining should be saying not “precursors are too expensive!”, but “the precursor I want is too expensive.” Which they never do.

I think the point of the original post was to be pedantic.

Cormac.3871:

Just to the original point of the post, I have bought five precursors and the most I have paid was 180 gold for The Energizer about a year ago. I bought the two underwater weapons for guardian, the focus and torch all for 120 or less. The Bard has since jumped in price but you can put in a buy order for less than 200.

Thing is, I don’t want a legendary just to have a legendary … I want something I like the looks of. Now if you like those, awesome! I use weapons that are less desired because I like the way they look (again, pearl staff example, I think it’s lovely). But there is absolutely no way I’m putting in the money and effort for the Gift of Might/Magic etc. for something I don’t like — and those legendaries you named I don’t care for personally.

Esplen.3940:

Might and Magic actually cost about the same as a Precursor, but you at least have progress shown on your way there.

Right. Everything else you can work toward incrementally, but the precursor is this massive, moving! hurdle. And I’m just not sure I earn quickly enough, consistently enough, to clear it.

EDIT: And I think that’s where a lot of people’s despair/complaints stem from.

Esplen.3940:

Well, there are some holes in my post and I’m sure some actual economist will come by and tear me a new one… I’m waiting… I just hope I’m clenched enough.

I personally have the Quip just because I needed a goal. Once I got it, I went on hiatus because I didn’t know what to do anymore (it was supposed to be a long-term goal but I finished it relatively fast) since I had nothing to keep me to the game anymore. If I could do it again, I would have told myself to have gotten the precursor earlier. I wanted to wait until I had clovers, but I didn’t bother with the clover recipe until I had other gifts prepared, so it was just a cycle of me procrastinating… Especially the 400 crafts.

Crafts are done, Exploration is done (did it for fun ages ago), Battle can be done at any point but not worrying about anything else unless I manage a precursor.

But I certainly have plenty to keep me playing if that doesn’t happen.

Interesting breakdown. I admit I am not an economist

Esplen.3940:

There are plenty of people who go for skins simply because they enjoy them.

Heh, I still use the pearl staff skin on one of my ele’s staffs because I love the look and especially the colour. There really aren’t any items that are real bragging rights for me in GW2 because you can buy kitten near anything with gold. The PvP finishers (high rank) are about all I can think of, along with a few of the titles that are difficult. Legendaries = tedium, not difficulty really.

/offtopic

I guess I hadn’t considered “sharing” legendary looks across characters driving up demand.

Esplen.3940:

The thing is that with a single hour of play, if you’re dedicating yourself to a Precursor, you can earn a significant amount of gold doing Karka Shell farming. It’s extremely mindless to the point that it actually pains me to do the run, but it’s very worth it. That 23g/day with <4 hours would be more like 50g/day <4 hours doing Karka Shell, and that’s if you’re lazy and don’t tag every single Young Karka you see.

I’ve recently been turned onto the concept of Karka farming and will definitely be looking into it. Logging out at Cypress nodes has netted me a ton selling foxfires lately, but I know that won’t last Appreciate the tips instead of the “stop being lazy” response a lot of people seem to give.

Ayrilana.1396:

The large increase was due to the April patch. Prices due increase naturally but not at a rate that people cannot keep up with.

The point with my number of dusks sold question was that I believe you underestimate how many are sold. A previous post a few month ago by Anet showed 58 sold over the course of a day or two.

I wasn’t around for the April patch … wardrobes? … and don’t understand how that affected prices.

Anyways, that is more Dusks than I would have thought, but still a really tiny number when you consider how many players there are.

Ayrilana.1396:

Rainshine.5493:

Ayrilana.1396:

How does the rate of someone else earning gold affect you?

Because I’m competing against other people to purchase something with a very limited supply?

Really? I can farm gold right now and purchase a precursor. The amount that some random player earns has no impact on me.

Here’s a question for you:

How many dusks do you think are sold a day?

So you’re saying the rising precursor price has nothing to do with people having more to spend on them? Serious question.

I’d have no idea on the Dusk question, nor care to guess.

Ayrilana.1396:

How does the rate of someone else earning gold affect you?

Because I’m competing against other people to purchase something with a very limited supply?

Esplen.3940:

-snip-

I really don’t see the problem.

Cutting out excess for brevity, not dismissing it

I think what it really comes down to for me personally is that I dislike that the rate someone else earns gold heavily affects my ability to earn a component for a longterm goal.

While it may be fair, it’s really dissatisfying to know other people can literally block your progress if you end up in a situation where you can’t play much or because you decided to go play with your RL friend who just bought the game or whatever.

EDIT: There’s no buying half a precursor, or a tenth of a precursor or whatever (like you can do with rare mats used toward the gift). There’s no reasonable way of farming one (like you could do for, say, T6 materials or cores if you can’t buy them all). It’s all or nothing, and it’s a race.

sMihaly.1492:

RemiRome.8495:

I’ll use my lack of aether as an excuse but when did 4man puzzle transform into 2man puzzle?

We only need 2 dummies to stand on the already unlocked platforms for <2minutes.
~ “LF help@TarEle” but these guys don’t have to do anything.

Ooze part is easily duoable.

Well if you’re calling people helping you out dummies then perhaps the ones trolling you have a grudge >.>; I’m not saying they’re right to do it but … it’s not nice to belittle people who are helping you, either.

Depends entirely on what game mode you’re talking about. People need specifics on what you want to do before they can help you.

AzureShiron.7658:

The chaos axe was the only chaos weapon in the first game, literally it was a glowing blob in the shape of an axe that you could dye, the heck are they going to do to expand on that?

Well the chaos axe in GW1 looked like it was made of lightsaber with no handle. These chaos weapons imo look like a solid something that just glows really friggin brightly.

I liked the GW1 better because it looked like pure energy. The GW2 ones could be improved by adding texture like you can see with the Radiant stuff. Yeah, the radiant stuff glows super bright, but if you look closely there’s still detailing.

If you just need somebody to sit in your party to prevent kicking, be happy to do that while I’m off doing my own thing if you see me online. Course to guarantee no kicks you could really only sell to 1 person I suppose.

Really crappy thing to do to somebody, sorry it’s been happening to you.

Khisanth.2948:

pho.9412:

the requirement should’ve been xxxx lvl of wvw, some sort of animal shark and above in pvp to be able to make a legendary. Then, gw2 might be an e-sport.

That joke didn’t work at all.

Maybe not, but could have been cool if a high number of achievement points were required to actually craft ‘em. (And I say this as someone who just hit the 5k mark, so I’m not in the 10,000 club or whatever). That would feel a bit more legendary … and possibly drive precursor prices down? Dunno.

Feels like Anet just tried to capitalize on GW1 nostalgia. With the right base models (if you aren’t going to have a lot of detail on the texture then the shape underneath needs to be interesting) I’d have been excited about ‘em, but as it is, I’m passing. They lack the etherealness of the GW1 chaos axe, which was (imo) its charm.

The Zodiac weapons — while I actually liked the GW1 ones better — felt like some love and attention went into them. Chaos weapons don’t.

NoxInfernus.2361:

One may make the argument that “the Monkey King” may have a in-game folklore equivalent in Cantha … but that’s Cantha (which is not accessible in GW2), not some dusty wasteland on the continent of Tyria.

There are descendents of Canthan refugees in Divinity’s Reach though. Could easily be a tradition/folktale passed down. Doesn’t bother me personally that it’s in the game. Now those hideous quaggan hat things … -shudder-

DEKeyzToChaos.7381:

FGS is actually pretty mediocre if you aren’t rushing, especially if you don’t have might. If four of you are using FGSs (with two eles in party), I would recommend dropping it after your second or third rush to re-stack might and then pull out another conjure if no one else is re-stacking might by then. The rationale behind this is that the three other people FGSing with might will do more than enough damage to make up for you dropping your FGS. If only two of you are using FGS’s, I would hold onto it as long as your targets are nicely positioned – as soon as it moves off the wall, drop FGS to re-stack because you need pretty good rushes and whirls (like 70% of strikes connect) for an unmighted FGS rotation to be more DPS than your normal LH rotation.

This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Thank you so very much for taking the time to break it down (and for your excellent guides!)

Khisanth.2948:

Rainshine.5493:

Is it only something really viable to do in a group? I have very little experience in Southsun.

A group would certainly help. The faster the you kill the faster you get the loot.
You don’t need a huge group. Three should be fine and ideally one of those three is a mesmer with main hand sword or a sword/dagger thief.

Great, thank you

Is it only something really viable to do in a group? I have very little experience in Southsun.

Esplen.3940:

Karka Shell farming, you can get it in one day. Mindless, but efficient.

Hmm, I might look into that for my own ascended crafting if none of my guildies have a dungeon run going (I prefer social activities but sometimes ya just gotta farm). Thanks for the tip.

Imo dungeon running for the monies (+ sell good drops if you get any) is more likely to get you there in a reasonable timeframe.

Keep hoping to see this on the laurel merchant since I was away during the event. I’ve been stockpiling laurels in case.

Mad King’s Clocktower … although I don’t think it’s even tied to an achievement, it sure felt like one to me :P

oxtred.7658:

Rainshine.5493:

oxtred.7658:

For www, your main healing will be done by guardians and warriors blasting your fields.

Depends on what you’re doing. Small-scale the ele will be doing much of the blasting — or should be, anyway. Works really well with warrior buddies especially, because you give them that extra time to pewpew without withdrawing and they have enough natural defense to give regen/soothing mist plenty of time to keep ticking.

I wouldn’t take a full cleric ele, especially using staff, in small scale. Staff is just too slow imo to keep up with a D/D or S/x roaming spec, and the healing from dd or even d/F is already high enough with celestial or a bit of zealot. But maybe that’s just me.

I still prefer D/D for WvW, and I think staff has a higher skill requirement to use effectively (something I still need to work on) but it is a viable alternative if you’re looking to shake things up. You really can take on bigger groups that way imo.

oxtred.7658:

For www, your main healing will be done by guardians and warriors blasting your fields.

Depends on what you’re doing. Small-scale the ele will be doing much of the blasting — or should be, anyway. Works really well with warrior buddies especially, because you give them that extra time to pewpew without withdrawing and they have enough natural defense to give regen/soothing mist plenty of time to keep ticking.

Full heals can be useful in WvW, but is not welcome/efficient in PvE. As mentioned, cleric gives biggest heals if you’re trying to get the most out of Aquatic Benevolence.

Jerus.4350:

She has two attacks, both seem to have the same charge animation, the normal spider charge. With Ice bow freeze that implies you have a FGS as well, and well… the 5s deep Freeze should be more than enough time to kill her so as soon as you have a clear shot is fine.

Thanks.

In a full zerk group it’s definitely not a problem but a couple of guildies use other builds for guild-only runs so I wanted to learn the animation to make it a bit smoother because I enjoy running with ’em

@Tom: Thanks, will remember that if I ever get around to gearing something other than ele for dungeons.

You’re not going to have the staying power to frontline at that level, so you want a staff build. Best DPS with staff is going to come from staying mainly in fire.

You’re still gonna be squishy compared to a level 80. I’d take at least a couple of defensive utilities (Armor of Earth is especially useful) as well as Arcane Wave (blast finisher).

Use your Static Field and water fields as appropriate. Meteor Shower + Tornado for fun damages.

… I’m trying to remember exactly what level of traits you have access to at that level. “Do more damage in fire” is a good one for you. You may also want the heal + condi cleanse on water attune, because it helps both you and your group, and if you die you’re potentially a rally bot for the other guys.

I have a question from the perspective of the fury-bot. When running that I typically have been doing a Lightning Hammer build, with FGS as my elite.

My question is one of efficiency. I pre-stack might/fury for bosses … I assume I should hang onto FGS until it runs out, rather than wall-rushing and then dropping it for LH? I find if there’s another ele they also are usually running FGS and so there are no real fire fields to blast with the hammer chain. Relying on someone other than another ele in PUGS for fire fields seems a non-starter.

I am still very new to the dungeon scene so I’d appreciate insight.

NovaanVerdiano.6174:

Rainshine.5493:

TheMaskedParadigm.3629:

I tried Ice Bow 5 today and it didn’t work. Clearly that’s a bug, hence why the spider needs to be nerfed

In all seriousness, what exactly is the animation I should be watching for before I freeze her? I have forrest gumped into doing it correctly the last couple of times but not sure if there’s something specific I should know before my luck runs out :P

Freeze her the second she’s around the corner, burst her into oblivion. No rocket science, really.

OK that’s what I’d been doing, like I said wasn’t sure if I just lucked into it though, lol. Thanks for clarifying

TheMaskedParadigm.3629:

I tried Ice Bow 5 today and it didn’t work. Clearly that’s a bug, hence why the spider needs to be nerfed

In all seriousness, what exactly is the animation I should be watching for before I freeze her? I have forrest gumped into doing it correctly the last couple of times but not sure if there’s something specific I should know before my luck runs out :P

Darius.4710:

-wall o thoughtful text-

Stop wasting your time. You’re just feeding antisocial behavior.

I really wish I’d given Fresh Air a fair shake ages ago. It’s stupidly fun. Thanks for posting!

Obtena.7952:

spoj.9672:

Is it so unreasonable to expect people to have 2 working brain cells?

If this subforum is an indicator, I would say yes. Does two working braincells allow someone to learn what requirements are for speed runs from watching a dungeon run video? I’m thinking no.

=/ I thought this was an actual debate. Well now I feel a bit silly for wasting my time.

synk.8762:

Do people kick players that join and ask to be taught, or that are obviously learning?

In my personal experience, rarely if you state up front you’re new. I did put in the effort to get the gear and build together before dungeoning, though. I’m not sure if I’d have gotten the same response without that.

Obtena.7952:

Rainshine.5493:

Being new doesn’t magically mean you have no responsibility to show some initiative.

And in the same vein, being a veteran with requirements for a team gives you the most knowledge and incentive to help them out.

I mean, I think this twist on the conversation is pretty funny: You don’t want gimps joining your teams, but you don’t want to help them not do that either. GG guys.

Except I’m not “elite” by any definition. There are still dungeons I’ve never even entered exploration mode for, let alone completed. Never been in a fractal, period.

Thing is, I don’t join “experienced only” groups. If it’s not specified, I say as soon as I join that I know my build but not the dungeon. Funny thing is, I’ve only once had a group be like “Yeah, sorry, we’re looking for experience” and they were still polite about it. Otherwise it’s usually “OK, just stack might and stay with the group.” And I’ve never once caught kitten for dying because they already knew I was new.

… Are you honestly serious in what you’re saying? That so-called “casuals” have zero responsibility? I’m having a very hard time believing you’re not just trying (poorly) to play devil’s advocate or something.

EDIT to your edit: I also don’t believe people joining these groups don’t understand why they were kicked. Again, you’re being super patronizing to the casual player. They’re casual, not idiots. If they can manage LFG tool, they can read. What they’re likely hoping for is to fly under the radar and be carried.

Obtena.7952:

I’ve already addressed that. The fact that people don’t ask doesn’t relieve anyone of their own responsibility to ensure they team with people that share their values. I know it’s an extra step for people to be nice and tolerant to but … if you want to be helpful to them AND people that share your teaming values, you can take a minute to explain what you are after and why they don’t fit that expectation.

Being new doesn’t magically mean you have no responsibility to show some initiative. You’re acting like “casuals” require such careful handling and consideration as to be mentally challenged.

What you’re advocating isn’t helping them, it’s being patronizing as kitten. This is the problem with White Knighting. You may genuinely mean well, but in the end all you’re doing is saying “poor little thing, it needs extra special treatment and over-the-top considerations to succeed.” kitten a bunch of that.

DesertRose.2031:

Domino.1359:

New to Ele and jumping on this question: With Fire’s Pyromancer’s Puissance trait(Grandmanster – stacks might every fire weapon skill), why do I never see it used in most builds? It seems more efficient than swapping for combo fields.
I’m asking mainly for PvE solo.

Because of Persisting Flames (Fire Magic XI).
A Staff Ele’s main damage skills are Staff Fire #1 and Staff Fire #2. Persisting Flames increases the duration and thus damage of Staff Fire #2 by ~50%, meaning your total damage by ~25%. Pyromancer’s Puissance (Fire Magic XII) would need to give you ~14 stacks of Might to be an equal damage boost.

MH Dagger Eles usually only use 1-2 fire skills every ~25-30 seconds, and MH Scepter Eles usually use Lightning Hammer as their main weapon and use 2-3 fire skills every 25-30 seconds, so Pyromancer’s Puissance is pretty much useless for them. For non-Staff Eles Persisting Flames is an convenient source for Fury, though.

Hey, thanks for breaking down the math. I knew Persisting Flames came out ahead, but didn’t realize it was that significant.

I’m repping a guild that has some very patient folks in it, but I’d like to do more dungeoning when they aren’t available to teach.

In particular I’d like to start doing fractals, since I can’t usually make the guild noobie fractals due to work.

Level 80 ele with the zerk gear, just not the knowledge. :P Would love an invite! I’m on NA.

Obtena.7952:

Your not paying attention to the whole thread … if play how I tell you people didn’t start the practice of kicking people based on their build/gear, there wouldn’t be ANYONE kicking based on build/gear NOW.

Trying to place blame on a group for wanting to play with like-minded people is ridiculous, imo. Why would people WANT to join a group that didn’t fit their playstyle? Why would they expect positive results if they did?

EDIT: And disclaimer, I actually find the zerk/stack meta boring. But I don’t join one of those groups and then complain about it. Nor do I expect other groups to suddenly start stacking and running zerk gear.

It really comes down to expectations, and not trying to change other people’s.

Tom Yzf.5872:

The Pug environment is fine and healthy. The people who are complaining are well in the minority and are simply misdirecting their frustration or are just plain speaking out of their behind.

I was reading this thread feeling quite puzzled until this point. I haven’t pugged hundreds of runs or anything but my PUG experiences have been positive, or at least not toxic.

I find as long as everyone’s up front about what they want (and their knowledge/gear, lord knows I’m still a dungeon noob and I say that right off with a “If you don’t mind me not knowing the fights well”), it’s pretty smooth sailing.

Do some groups mind? Yes, but I’m not offended when I’m kicked because it’s a civil exchange. Again, managing expectations.

Andred.1087:

Rainshine.5493:

Precursors involve competing with how quickly other people make gold, so that puts it pretty much permanently out of reach for me.

Unless you get one on a drop! I never thought it would happen, but I lucked and got a pre off Teq the other day. Now I’m just waiting for the right time to sell.

I think a problem that a lot of players who want a legendary run into is they make the precursor their primary goal, which, given the current system, is likely to be disappointing. I’ve just been playing the game, getting better gear, which is to say, doing world bosses and fractals. And pumping up that magic find!

Anyway, maybe one day you’ll get a surprise pre in a boss chest. Best of luck!

Heh, thanks for the well wishes. However, the reason people who want legendaries make precursors their primary goal is because unless they can get that, all the rest of the work and grinding is pointless.

You’re guaranteed, with enough work/grinding, to get all the rest. But it doesn’t matter without the precursor.

Grats on your luck.

Ameno.6813:

Here’s my personal favorite.

Love this one!

Jenaali is napping in Goemm’s Lab JP.

Ensign.2189:

Goal/reward pacing is a Big Deal in MMOs. People will only work so long towards a goal before they get frustrated and give up, and if it’s far enough off they won’t even bother to try.

Legendaries, sans-precursors, are done pretty well; it’s a very involved, long term goal, but it is broken up into smaller goals that are achievable – gather this mat, do your map completion, grind some karma, etc. While the whole is pretty daunting from scratch there are a bunch of sub-goals with their mini-rewards of completing gifts and seeing it all come together.

The precursor though is well past the point of being a tractable stand-alone goal and now a lot of people just kind of look at it and go…‘yep, not going to get that’

This sums up eloquently how I’ve been feeling about it, although I hadn’t been able to articulate. I did map completion for fun and I keep looking at those Gifts of Exploration going, “I should do a legendary!” but …

I have terrible RNG luck ( so no Mystic Toilet for me, although I understand its necessary function is to drain resources from the economy). I’m also unconvinced that I can earn gold quickly enough to keep up with inflation on precursors … so that whole legendary urge is a non-starter for me.

The rest can be done at your own pace. Precursors involve competing with how quickly other people make gold, so that puts it pretty much permanently out of reach for me.