Guild Wars 2

On a related note, the Heart of Thrones expansion includes hang gliders (this has been confirmed by ANet and their use appears in the HoT promotional video). There isn’t much information on them yet, but they appear to be like those in ArcheAge (perhaps its greatest feature).

In AA, you were always on a descent, making your time in the air relative to the height at which you launched, bounded by a 4 (or 5, I forget) minute timer. They’re great fun for jumping off high points and getting really good mileage, not to mention scenery, and may prove to be even more fun in the new vertically expanded world of the Maguuma Jungle.

The point is that every time you open the map and look at it you are reminded that all of these biomes are unnaturally rectangular. It’s like looking at a big table instead of the feeling you get when you open up the world map in most other big MMOs. Doesn’t kill the game, doesn’t have a huge impact, but it’s true and it’s worth noting even if it doesn’t bother some people.

What a silly argument. The OP is right to point out that each of the individual zones is rectangular and this is unnatural and does not at all look like a real map. A real map shows political divisions that are based on both historical and natural data, usually terrain features like rivers and mountains. Look at a map of the U.S. state of Virginia, solid on one side and very jagged on the other. That’s what a real map look like. Every time I open up the GW2 map I notice this world made up of rectangular subdivisions.

Ordinarily, rectangular subdivisions wouldn’t be that big a deal, but when they represent completely different biomes it’s just weird. The change from desert to jungle to forests and rivers is abrupt enough as it is, but to have it be based on almost perfectly rectangular subdivisions is just … weird. I would have much preferred a more realistic map with more recognizable borders. That would have felt more like a world and less like a game.

It’s not a deal breaker, it doesn’t ruin the game. It’s just an observation about an imperfection that is noticeable and worth pointing out in what is, after all, a discussion forum.

And then I read a post like Jerus’ which, while very excellently written, demonstrates how little I know and how much I have to learn! ;-)

So very well said, Neko. The fact that players as intelligent and articulate as you are in this game deep tells me I’ve come to the right place for some sophisticated and satisfying fun.

@Neko: wonderful exposition, many thanks for the insights and historical context.

@fracture: my wife and I have always played tank and healer in traditional trinity-style MMOs (she tanks, I heal). She has MT’d raids and the highest tiered dungeons and I’ve always kept the party healed. GW2’s mantra that “the trinity is within you” is a new experience for us, so we started out with her playing a Guardian and I tried a Mesmer, thinking that was the closest thing to tank/support.

Since we primarily just duo, leveling up was a bit too slow and we decided to re-roll with more of a focus on DPS and just have some fun. So she went with Warrior and I chose Elementalist, thinking it was closest thing to the classic Direct Damage wizard archetype. I also tried out a Thief and that was fun, too, but I haven’t had as much experience with pure caster and thought this would be a good time to get familiar with one.

Yep, I can see that Ele is complex and I’ve had trouble keeping up with some of the fast attunement switching mechanics recommended by the guides I’ve read. But it is fun as hell and I like making things go boom. So we’ve stuck with these two characters are now in our mid 40’s, well on our way and enjoying the game a lot.

I’m trying out the staff build that Neko linked because it looks like fun and I do hope to do dungeons and want to start getting familiar now with the various support mechanics.

If anyone has any good suggestion for some good synergies between a Rifle/Sword Warrior and a Staff Ele, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks guys,

Ok, a lot of great replies. I get it, thee is no one “meta” build. The metagame is like a superset made up of the particular game worlds and the context in which they all operate. A “meta” build is just a phrase describing what the consensus is on the optimal build for that context. The most creative and successful players define the meta builds and they evolve with the game changes and as creative players discover new synergies. Makes sense.

So I’m playing this new (for me) profession, the Elementalist. I am having a hell of a hard time hitting all the various key combinations to effectively execute the kind of rotations that Zelyhn describes in his (great) guide. I can hit Burning Speed just fine, but having it land within Air attunement and then hit Arcane Wave while the field is still active, is a struggle. I know, a Razer mouse would help, all I have is my 3 button mouse and I like it just fine and have a hard time with side buttons (I’m all thumbs). So I’m probably not destined to write great guides on new combos I’ve discovered.

I’ll continue to experiment with different weapons and skills and just use what I like. I get the feeling that skill with what you have is at least as important as the particular set of tools you’re using.

Looks like we picked a good time to get into this game. By the time we are 80 and comfortably so, HoT will be coming up and we’ll be in a good position to evaluate all the new changes. Exciting times ahead.

Thanks, guys. Great community.

Ah, well right now my wife and I are just duo’ing and leveling up in PvE. I know nothing about the other game modes yet but we have just hit 40 and will want to start doing dungeons for sure. We’ve played a lot of PvP in other games like ESO and DAoC, we like the RvR style play, don’t really like CTF or MOBA style. But if there’s anything like that in this game, or just the ability to roam around as a deadly duo, we will definitely want to PvP.

Thanks for the reply, I’ve seen your guide and it’s very helpful and very well written. I’m currently using D/F but after reading all the comments in this thread about D/F Fresh Air never becoming this “meta”, I decided that, as good as it is, I would like to try out whatever the meta builds are and see how they feel for my play style. My wife is a Warrior playing Sword & Board/Rifle for ranged and melee situations. She is building up PVT and I’ve been working on Power Prec and Ferocity, but I can change to conform to this meta and try something different for a bit.

Does that help?

I keep hearing that X build “will never be meta” or “is not as good as meta”. What is this meta build? I like to experiment and create my own builds, but when I’m learning a class I like to learn with an effective build. Can someone link this build to try out?

Thanks,

Haven’t seen a patch note and was wondering.

Many thanks for all the great suggestions, advice, and links. Very helpful community here, it’s great to be back!

Test.8734:

Isn’t it odd, to say the least, that in a game – something meant to be fun – we restrict the biggest rewards for content that must be endured, not enjoyed?

Not that odd. The greatest satisfactions in life come from those things which we have earned, not those we are given. It may feel to you like something you must endure, while to me I it will bring the joy of accomplishment.

Thank you, Thanathos, that was a very helpful response. I see the community is strong, too. We are having a great time, far better than I remembered it. My wife is enjoying swapping sword & board with rifle. I guess I don’t get weapon swap, but I’m enjoying Air and Fire swapping (working toward Fresh Air to keep fluid).

Ok, definitely going to wait on fractals. For now we’ll just keep exploring the map and doing dailies to get boosts to get us there faster.

Thanks again,

My wife and I have returned after being away for two years, but really are total noobs at the game at this point. We rolled new characters, she is a Warrior and I’m an Elementalist and we’re still trying to figure out what builds we like. She seems fond of the great hammer and I’m inclined toward D/F with Air attunement, but we really don’t have much of a clue what we’re doing.

I’m confused about Fractals. Are they just progressive dungeons? We never did any dungeons in our previous run through but would like to do them now. When I ask in game which dungeon we should start with, I’m told AC story when we hit our 30’s. Right now we’re 27ish. Is there an equivalent 30’ish fractal or is that something we wait till 80 to do?

I’m reading all the forums to soak in some new knowledge but most of the talk is endgame focused and assumes knowledge I don’t have so it’s confusing. We will just keep leveling to 80 and I’m sure a lot more will be clearer by then. We are upgrading gear as we go, buying the best we can with our meager gold supply. She seems to be focusing on PVT while I look for Power, Precision, Ferocity. Meanwhile, any tips on dungeoneering or fractals, or other things we should be doing at our level? Should we do dailies?

Oh, and another thing. Our experience crafting in most MMOs has been that it winds up being more profitable to gather and sell mats than it is to spend the gold and time learning to craft. Is that true here as well, or should we take up crafting consumables or something else more likely to be profitable?

Thanks,

Defeating a boss is indeed an achievement to be proud of and should have its own rewards, but I’m glad it’s not going to be the basis for acquisition of a Legendary. If it were, then all it will mean is that you were in a group that defeated the boss, it will say little if anything about your contribution, your effort, your skill.

I don’t fully understand the details of this new system because they haven’t been finalized, but I applaud any effort to make the acquisition of a Legendary depend on the efforts, the dedication, even if it is just the sheer will power, of the individual player wielding it. I hate to bring up a WoW example, but after the long and ridiculously boring grind it took to get my wintersaber cat mount, I felt proud of that achievement even though it wasn’t “hard” or “challenging”. People recognized that I got something that they didn’t have because I put in the effort, I maintained the discipline of persistent dedication to the goal, and I received my reward for it.

That, in my opinion, generated far more pride than just being part of a group that killed some boss.

Wow, great tips here. I’m sure she will have fun experimenting with these options.

We did Ascalon story mode, our first GW2dungeon ever, with a pug and completed it first time through. What a blast! What’s the next dungeon we should consider doing, that one was a lot harder thn I expected for being the first dungeon.

Thanks all!

Thanks, ArcherT. I’ll pass this info along to my wife. She’s been stacking Vitality and Toughness gear, with Healing Power in her trinkets and was playing Mace/Shield, but found it too defensive (especially compared to my Warrior). So she’s been playing around with a Scepter, Smiting and having fun with ranged offense. She uses her virtues a lot so the 20 points in Virtues sounds like a good plan for both of us, I LOVE her buffs!

My wife has a L40 Guardian and I’m playing Warrior. I’ve focused on DPS and we have had a relatively easy time duo’ing most content. We are now starting to do dungeons and will probably stay PvE at endgame. My wife doesn’t read the forums or research builds, but she plays her classes well once learned. What’s a good build for her Guard that will synergize well with my DPS Warrior? She is currently using Mace/x and Greatsword. I think she likes scepter for x, but she also uses shield and has been experimenting with the torch and a focus.

Thanks.

Xom.9264:

Its a perfect storm, PAX low numbers …

Eh? I live in Seattle and couldn’t get in because it was completely sold out within 23 minutes. I’m sure I could have tried buying tickets from scalpers, but I didn’t see that as worth my time, but I don’t know what you mean by “PAX low numbers”.

Will multiple stacks of Might, for example, enhance Empower’s effect? Or does it have to be different boons?

The moderators did not see the humor in this and deleted the original post and infracted me.

Sorry if anyone was offended lol.

Yes, I realize now why I had it checked in the first place lol. I turned it back on and am using the mouse to aim. Working as intended, nvm folks!

Thanks.

Hah! That was it. I was about to come back and add that I “figured out” the problem, the attack was headed toward wherever I had mouse pointed, which is not necessarily where my target was.

Of course, that’s because I had that option checked. Turned it off and working like a champ, now. Thanks, man. /facepalm

New to Warrior, just rolled my first yesterday. Is Whirlwind Attack broken or is something wrong with mine. It claims to “whirl in a target’s direction …” but it only intermittently does that. Most of the time it will send me in some random direction, often near the target’s direction, but rarely “in” the target’s direction. This is with the desired mob actually targeted, mind you. GS is nice, but this one not so much.

Is this working as intended or is this a known problem?

Hey Black Cat, thanks!

Most of the threads I’ve read are so focused on PvP I come away with a lot of PvP build thoughts.

Are venoms too much of a 1-trick pony? Are there dungeon bosses that are immune to poisons? I’ll give your build a try out in the open world and see how it works out. Looks interesting. How do you open up, what kind of rotation? Do you set up 1 as AA?

I continue to welcome other thoughts, too.

Thanks!

An update. I’ve reset my build as follows. Seeking critiques and advice.

D/P SB
30/0/20/0/20

Potent Poison
Combined Training
Dagger Training

Infusion of Shadows
Patience

Flanking Strikes
Initial Strike

No author’s pride, looking for honest feedback. Thanks, guys.

Just returned to play after a very long absence and find my 80Thief outfitted in Carrion exotics with a lot of condition/survivability gear and enhancement support. Very little gold, so not anxious to replace gear just now.

I was using D/D previously but looking over the forums I see that D/P seems to be more favored, at least for PvP. Even if not the case for PvE, I’m looking to change up and get familiar with D/P as something new. I duo with my wife’s GS and Hammer Guardian set up, completing maps and looking to start dungeon diving.

Any recommendations on a good build to use for dungeons with this setup?

Thanks.

How are you able to do this in overflow? Every time we entered an invasion zone in overflow we get the message that we can’t do the invasion there.

Thanks for the replies, folks.

My wife and I duo’d all content to 80 and have very little grouping experience. Given the de-emphasis on trinity classing, I m assuming (hoping) people are more relaxed about group composition for dungeons. We usually play tank/healer in MMO’s but we went this time with Guardian/Thief for fun. Will this limit our grouping eligibility!

That’s great to hear about the comparability of crafted gear, surprising, but welcome news. Usually the raiders and dungeon divers complain that this kind of comparability provides little motivation for endgame content. Why didn’t that complaint get heeded here I wonder?

Thanks again, we quickly remembered why we enjoyed this game so much. We had to stop playing due to RL issues, we didn’t leave for my other reason. Game is far more crowded than I remember, and I see again why it remains so popular.

Greetings. My wife and I returned tonight after leaving the game last year. It’s been a long time and we have much to re-learn. A few questions:

1) We are both 80 and I notice that we are still gaining xp and our xp bar is even filling up. Is there some kind of alternate advancement system for enhancing level capped characters?

2) Is there a LFG tool for dungeons?

3) What dungeon should we start with (we’ve never done a GW2 dungeon)?

4) Has crafting changed significantly? What’s the consensus on craftable weapons. Comparable to tier gear?

5) How do we get involved in this Living Worlds event? In chat, someone said that we should be trying to get “LW skins”. What exactly did he mean by that?

Thanks all

Ahh, I expected story to be easier but I guess we did ok then. We logged in too late tonight to try a dungeon but will give it a go another time. Very encouraging, thanks.

We both focused on builds/gear with survivability and sustained damage (so, for me Power/Vitality/Condition, i.e., Carrion gear) and support. She’s using a variant on the AH hammer build so we still have some DPS to make up for my lack of burst (although I’m stacking a boatload of Might and Bleeds/Cripples). With just the two of us, we’re not getting optimal return on our support potential (or her AH for that matter), but it sure as hell is fun and, hopefully, is teaching us good habits for when we do start grouping.

Combat is sure fun in this game. They really nailed that.

Yeah, the lightning aoe Relena shoots is bad news, and the little purple jobbies Vassar shoots hurt really bad. All those boulders are obviously there for a reason, but we couldn’t figure out how to use them other than to toss them and knock the mobs down for a few seconds. My Thief’s Scorpion Wire wouldn’t pull them, either. Fun fight, but yeah, we’re going to need some help getting those two separated.

Might try the other one that SteepledHat recommended, CoF. Thanks all.

We can’t resist a challenge. We entered as a duo without reading a guide just to see how bad it would be trying to figure things out on our own. Was not as hard as we expected, but we could not complete it. We took out the Lieutenant, Kasha Blackblood, and Master Nente with relative ease but could not deal with Relena and Vassar. We tried lots of things to separate them but nothing worked well enough to stay alive. We even tried luring them into the back door that goes into Blackblood’s little chamber but they would not come up the steps.

It was fun. But I’ll go read a guide now and we’ll get a group to finish it. I’m assuming story mode is easier than explorable so I don’t have any illusions about being able to duo this. But it was a fun try.

Ok, points taken, we won’t bother trying to duo it. Had to ask.

Thanks, Wethospu, and a big congrats for your solo ACP1 run. You of all people should know how doable this would be.

Thanks to all.

Thanks for the replies, folks, sounds like the consensus is AC and that’s where we’ll start.

I just got through reading the thread regarding GW2’s “eye hand coordination” requirement and I’m dreading introducing my wife to a merciless PUG that has no patience for her learning (or mine, for that matter, but I have definitely have the edge on twitch over her). We are both age 60 and twitch isn’t our strong suit ;-) but we’re hard core gamers from way back. She has MT’d heroics and hard modes in lots of MMO’s and has adapted well to the trinity-free environment that GW2 provides and that we both love. We are very social (have run guilds) but we also enjoy just being on our own as a duo, so we haven’t yet looked for a guild.

Question: is duo’ing AC completely out of the question? We are very patient and have thoroughly enjoyed figuring out all the Vista and jumping puzzles, so time is not an issue. We started playing at launch and just hit 80 yesterday lol (well, we level capped Borderlands 2 in there somewhere, too).

Anyway, thanks for the honest advice.

“Men do not stop playing because they grow old. They grow old because they stop playing.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

Greetings. My wife and I recently hit L80 and are looking to do some dungeons. We duo’d our way to 80 and aren’t guilded but may start looking. Meanwhile, we’ll PUG it. She’s a Guardian and I’m a Thief and we’ve both specced for sustainability and support and are reasonably geared up for our level.

Where should we start? What is a good dungeon that will provide us with the kind of environment that we can expect in dungeon play, without murdering us?

Thanks

Ah, thanks. Then why is it that some pieces show the six available bonuses and some do not? How can I tell what the bonuses will be, or is that hard coded into the type of runes?

For example, some pieces say simply “Unused Upgrade Slot”, whereas others will be described as:

(1) +10 Power
(2) goodies
(3) more goodies
(4) more goodies
(5) more goodies
(6) even more goodies

etc.

My wife and I just hit 80 and are trying to get geared up. At the Trading Post, my wife tried to buy an exotic chest piece and she wants Power, Precision and Toughness, so she looked for Knight’s armor on the Trading Post. The only Knights armor available had only one upgrade slot bonus, instead of the six that her rare had. How do you get Knight’s Armor with 6 upgrade slot bonuses? I don’t understand why some items have 1, 2 or 6 upgrade slot bonuses.

Thanks.

Yep, I agree that it’s the player more than the build/gear, and that’s always been a hallmark of GW. I also agree with the point regarding adaptability in this game. It appears to be more necessary than usual to be able to modify skills situationally than in most MMO’s we’ve played.

My wife is now playing an AH/Hammer build and it’s pretty impressive. Scales very well with additional team members, too, so we’re looking forward to using it in a dungeon. Now I need to refine my own build. I wasn’t a big fan of condition builds leveling, but I think for dungeons I’m going to need to go in that direction.

Wow, tried out that AH hammer build and it is impressive. She can’t die! She hit 65 and picked up Empowered Might, and that added a lot to the build as we took out DE champions alone. The way that build scales with other team members around to amplify the AH, I bet it rocks even more. Thanks!

Interesting, I’ll go read the thread. Thanks!

My wife is a L60 Guardian playing PvE only. She eventually wants to do dungeons and realizes her leveling build probably needs to give way now to something more focused on higher survivability and better support abilities in a group (we have not grouped at all yet).

She would like to start using the build she is going to use in dungeons, to get familiar with its mechanics. Can anyone suggest a good build for her? I play a Thief and we have leveled up together as a duo and I know my build but I’m clueless about Guardians and my wife doesn’t read forums lol. Basically, she’ll play whatever build I suggest for her and although she has years of experience MT’ing in trinity group HM/Epic dungeons and will learn her mechanics well, she’s not the type to go research it. Mostly I do that.

Also, we have been just using the best gear we’ve obtained as we leveled, under the assumption that we shouldn’t invest too much in gear until we are level capped. Does that sound wise, or should she gear up now that we have our GM traits? We haven’t spent any of our Karma and have some gold saved up, too.

Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

My wife and I have been leveling and are now 60. She is a Guardian and I’m a Thief. PvE only. Love the game. We eventually want to do dungeons and realize our leveling builds will probably have to give way now to something more focused on sustained damage with higher survivability and better use of our mutual support abilities in a group (we have not grouped at all yet). As a Guardian she will probably be a welcome addition to dungeon groups, but my Thief will probably be tolerated mostly because we’re a package deal. ;-)

We would like to start using the builds we will eventually use in dungeons, to get familiar with their mechanics. Can anyone suggest a good couple of builds for us? I’ve studied the Thief forums and have some ideas for my build, but I’m clueless about Guardians and my wife doesn’t read forums lol. Basically, she’ll play whatever build I suggest for her and although she has years of experience MT’ing in trinity group HM/Epic dungeons and will learn her mechanics well, she’s not the type to go research it. Mostly I do that.

Also, we have been just using the best gear we’ve obtained as we leveled, under the assumption that we shouldn’t invest too much in gear until we are level capped. Does that sound wise, or should we gear up now that we have our GM traits? We haven’t spent any of our Karma and have some gold saved up, too.

Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

My wife and I have concluded playing Borderlands 2 to death. Fantastic fun, but we’re ready to come back to GW2, which we enjoyed (but obviously not enough to prevent the BL2 sidetrip).

Not a very encouraging update from this thread. Can anyone list some good reasons why we will enjoy coming back? I think we were only level 35 when we left (I’m patching now). I was a Thief and my wife was a Guardian, that’s about all I recall now.

I recall GW2 being a very refreshing change and we are jonesing for the MMO experience again. SWTOR was a bore. I don’t know of any other MMO of interest right now. Action RPGs are always fun, but D3 was a disappointment. Path of Exile is meh, we finished and got bored with TL2. BL2 was a huge, huge, fit, unbelievably fun and challenging, but we’re BL2’d out farming legendaries now. We will probably go back to BL2 for the Jan 15 DLC#3, unless something else holds our attention until then.

Is there any reason to believe GW2 is going to be it?

Thanks

Great thread, I laughed way out loud at many of the names here, but Theiven Stealberg
takes the prize!

Best guild name I ever saw: Bloodbath & Beyond.

Final thought. Notice how the replies that list their own names are never any good?

Jack of Tears.9458

I’m not sure how or why you brought religion into this, but whatever the reason, if a moderator asks you to behave it’s generally bad form to talk back; and it is absolutely bad form to blame their religion for your disagreement.

Maybe think before you respond next time.

The last time I checked, forums were for the express purpose of expressing personal opinions. There’s nothing about his message that is “talking back”, he expressed a view every bit as appropriate as that of the moderator’s. Stop trying to be a mini moderator.

I think the complainers need to get a grip. That said, a rollback is pretty rare for a production MMO this long after release. Must have been something pretty bad.

Thematically, Whispers seems the obvious choice. But armor lacking a Power stat? I’m wondering if Vigil might be a useful choice. Can’t hurt for a Thief to have some Toughness and Vitality, no?

Or is the Condition damage that much better to have than the Power? Ok, it depends on the build, but I guess part of the question is which type of build provides more DPS: a build based around Power or one based around Condition Damage? I know that mobility is our strength, but the sooner enemies die …

Also, I don’t know the personal story implications of this choice. My wife plays a Guardian and is choosing Vigil. Would it make sense to join her in the Order so that we have similar personal story objectives, or are there other considerations I should be aware of?

Thanks,

My system has a lot of old baggage and just needs to be nuked and rebuilt. I have GW2 installed on a separate SSD. After I reinstall Windows 7 (Ultimate) to the default C:/, will I be able to continue using that GW2 install on my SSD or will I have to reinstall and patch back up?

Thanks