Showing Posts For Seventh Angel.4879:
Many thanks to everybody for your participation and help! 
I have found all contributions helpful, and felt especially in tune to Asrat’s clear observations and sense of guidance, and with pepsis’ awareness about the question that I too am having on GW2 PvP: is it worth it to learn it to a good level, for me as a new player? And, btw, I am currently undecided about it, and this is actually why I started this thread.
About the dps Ranger, yes, my experience so far has been telling me that all other classes have a wider and better set of solutions to play the PvP game. I think it is very unfortunate to see any class being so heavily left behind as the classic Ranger is atm, and equally unfortunate to see any one class heavily outperforming any of the others. I think diversity is important, and some level of imbalance can be a very good thing (as per rock/paper/scissors); however, linear structural superiority is a whole different story, and I see nothing good coming from it. Btw, considering some of the comments I have been reading, has there been any declaration from Anet on the effects that HoT has had into sPvP in this specific level?
(I recently had a 1 v 1 close encounter with a druid in a match, and he just stood in from of me, still, for 15/20 seconds, sustaining all the damage and interrupts I delivered, with mostly a full hp bar. Honestly, it felt extremely wrong.)
Anyway, my experience with a Ranger [LB/GS + Wild/Beast/Marks] has been as follows:
» I feel underpowered fighting for points. I need to move to (barely) stay alive, where other classes can stand and cap. A Ranger generally needs to position himself in relation to the opponent (iow, has to move/keep away from the opponent to earn any sort of advantage), and since score comes essencially from holding points, needing to kite represents a disadvantage.
» I find it very hard to kite, and often get the impression that it is generally much easier to close a distance than to keep it (Thieves would be the extreme example of this). I find myself running away a lot, because when I am targetted it is the only thing that may eventually keep me alive.
» I find it very hard to target opponents in the midst of chaos. Minions (namely when there is more than one Necro), and especially mesmer clones combined with stealth are, imo, too powerful a way to counter the little I can do.
» I had to pick specializations that reduce the CD for “heal as one” and “signet of the stone”, because those are the only very rudimentary ways to sustain hp’s that I know of (btw, when in comparison I observe the level of hp sustainability that most other classes have, I stand speachless). I also reduced the CD for LB and GS, as the only way to somehow produce enough damage to pull something through. But, by doing this, the pace is even higher, which does not leave much space for enjoyment and wit.
» Quickening Zephyr + Rapid Fire is probably the only good card I have, but, again, completely speed based. Furthermore, where I am struggling to decypher casting animations for every other class, Rapid Fire is there with a clear pewpewpew for a good long while, allowing an easy dodge.
» When I attack from a distance, terrain effects are too often unclear, and wasting my one damage burst in some invisible obstacle can be quite a pain.
Beyond all this heavy adversity, the specific fun I am having coming from this class comes from sometimes being able to: 1) trick other players into wrong decisions (ex: having 2 players chasing me into nowhere, or into a group of my teammates), 2) earning superiority with movement, patiently picking the right moment to strike. Not much, but it is what is keeping me playing, along with the sense of progressive learning.
Two questions now…
Considering what I have described, any specific suggestions on how to play a dps Ranger, or improve what I am doing?
Any advice on which class to try next? My goal would be to keep learning, and to have some fun while learning. And I do prefer simple over complicated, if that allows me space to enjoy the game instead of worrying about how precisely I must hit this or that key.
Again, thanks in advance for your participation and helpful insights.
Greetings to the Community!
Would like to share my experience with GW2 PvP so far, ask for guidance in some aspects, hopefully starting a good thread of helpful dialogue. One of the main reasons I joined GW2 was because sPvP is leveled in terms of gear, a simple concept in terms of basic fairplay that is strangely absent in so many games of the genre. I came in before HoTh, did not play for a year or so, and started sPvP a month ago after leveling up a Ranger.
From what I have experienced in this first month, GW2 PvP is extremely hard to grasp for a new player. I have previous experience with MMORPG’s and their PvP, got the basic awareness on what is needed to play it on a good level, and still I am finding myself climbing a very steep mountain.
As a player, I have been running a DPS Ranger build that provides me with some space and mobility to be learning the basic specific stuff. My muscle memory for keys is fairly established, and I’d say I can hold my own with players of similar experience level. However, I am having considerable problems, mainly with the following aspects:
» Too much stuff is happening. The number of meaningful ability effects filling the gameplay at some given moments is overwhelming for a new player, and if you do not know what they mean you can hardly survive for even two seconds.
» Knowing how other classes work is decisive. Since there are many variations to how a class can by configured, the long term accumulation of experience is completely decisive as a factor. Iow, inexperience in how the other classes work and what they do makes it virtually impossible to make any kind of basic stand in the presence of those who do know it.
Those who gained their experience gradually, earning it as the game aged, might not recognize this level of difficulty. However, this represents an almost unsurpassable barrier to new players, one that I suspect very few will have the patience to cross, because being a punching bag in a chaotic and hostile environment is simply neither a pleasant nor a viable way to learn. The matchmaking design could improve this situation, by only putting together players of similar levels of experience, but I suspect the queue times could dangerously suffer with it. The other way to improve it is by decreasing the global level of complexity: skill can still be plenty of a factor without being so heavy of a factor. Some core elite players may dislike it, because their advantage comes from grasping that complexity, but I believe everybody knows what happens to a game and to a Community when there is no basic space for new players to grow and learn.
Coming from all this, a question to the other players… From what I have observed, to reach a good level of skill in GW2 PvP I need to play all the classes, so that I can somehow be able to spot their casting animations and be prepared to deal with their specific abilities (such as reflecting damage for example, something I know it exists, but, after a month of dedication and general research on the subject of PvP, is still completely beyond my awareness during a match). So, considering the amount of classes and abilities involved, I should be looking at something like at least a year of dedication to understand the basics. The question is: am I missing something?
Constructive answers and participation appreciated in advance.