Guild Wars 2

Isarii.2804:

Guardian Longbow #2 fires at the location where your aim was at the start of the ability’s cast, whereas if you were using tab-targeting, it would continue to track them. This ability should be updated to fire at the location you’re aimed at the end of the cast instead (checking to allow skill retargeting does nothing to affect this).

I’m certain that there are other abilities that function in the same way so you’re right, that ought to be changed quickly. Things like this and the full cooldown trigger on teleport attempts to out-of-range targets can’t be intended.

It’s on us to make sure these things are on the developers’ radars.

Narrrz.7532:

StickAndMove.6419:

2. With action camera active, when you’re autoattacking a target that you’ve locked onto but your crosshair isn’t aiming at that target, autoattack stops. All abilities prioritize targets beneath your crosshair even if you’ve locked onto something else.

I use action camera a lot for revenant hammer (it’s too cumbersome for melee weapons though) and it’s very useful to be able to aim the hammer through a clump of enemies manually.

I only mean that the crosshair target shouldn’t be prioritized when a locked target is present on the screen. If you aren’t locked onto anything then of course the crosshair should dictate where the skill lands.

If a lock target IS present, then you would need only the addition of a single right click to focus the new target you choose.

I thought of another.

Some abilities like a thief’s withdraw and a mesmer’s phase retreat require the player to use an “about face” keybind before triggering the skill so that they move forward rather than backward.

This is extremely unstable with action camera active and badly needs to be stabilized for the health of PvP.

SamRai.7682:

The option to have Action Camera disable automatically when targeting an aoe and have it enable once the aoe has been casted is my greatest desire.

I think that’s a fantastic idea. This way, action camera wouldn’t need to be manually disabled mid-combat for a player to place a ground-targeted skill behind or beside their character.

Wish I had thought of it.

As a preemptive measure (because I know someone will say this), please do not tell us that action camera is intended for casual use only.

It is an excellent and otherwise polished system that could easily see use in competitive settings with the right adjustments. It’s a lot of fun and I’m not quite ready to give up on it.

-but it can be.

1. As it stands, when you attempt to use a shadowstep-like ability against a target out of range, the skill will be placed on a ~5 second cooldown. When action camera is active, the skill will be placed on full cooldown.

It’s safe to assume that this is not intended, however it is an important punishment to address in a timely way.

2. With action camera active, when you’re autoattacking a target that you’ve locked onto but your crosshair isn’t aiming at that target, autoattack stops. All abilities prioritize targets beneath your crosshair even if you’ve locked onto something else.

If action camera were the only targeting system in place, this wouldn’t be much of an issue. However, bear in mind that this system is in direct competition with the tab/click system implemented at the game’s release. Anet, attacks should always trigger at a player’s locked target on screen if one exists regardless of the corsshair’s position. If we want to select a new target for an ability, we should have to lock onto that target just as we would with the standard targeting system. Having to aim at our desired targets for the entire duration of combat is cumbersome.

3. When running backward from a target you are looking at, you run at full-speed, which is great. However when you use a single ability, the character faces the target to cast, then continues to backpedal at reduced speed for a few moments before resuming full-speed.

This makes it more optimal to immediately run forward and rotate the camera after a cast which is hardly convenient. Anet, when kiting, characters should resume full run speed immediately after each cast.

Players: What other shortcomings have you found associated with using the new action camera mode and what suggestions would you offer ArenaNet to fix them?

Also:

Using about-face and skills like phase retreat to move forward behaves really erratically with action camera. Without it, we can move a straight line forward as we should.

Some teleport-type effects require us to have a target to use them. The target doesn’t have to be in range to use them for standard camera mode but it does for action.

On-the-fly combat swapping between camera modes may work but it’s becoming difficult to see the benefit in using action camera at all.

While it’s active:

We can’t use ground-targeted abilities behind us or to the side without doing some camera acrobatics.

We can’t attack one enemy while our crosshair is closer to another.

Strafe-kiting is more difficult. Even once we’ve locked onto a target, autoattack stops if our crosshair remains off the enemy for more than a moment.

When kiting, we continue to backpedal for a short time after a skill completes. We’re better off manually turning and running forward as we would in the standard camera mode.

It’s really a shame. This is how I would like to play but if I’m at a competitive disadvantage to other players for it then I can’t justify making the switch.

AlumAtWar.8206:

I have only continued to play GW2 as I personally do not like FPS – gives me vertigo. I have yet to purchase HoT and after the recent changes to make it more like a FPS should I just retire from this franchise. I know allot of you like these changes and just ask for input before making a purchase. Constructive advice would be appreciated.

This is not a mandatory change and there will be a toggle button used to swap between the two modes. It is unbound by default so, come launch, you won’t have to do anything.

If that’s the only thing preventing you from playing then you have no reason to go.

… to use facet of / one with nature?

I never had an opportunity to play around on revenant during the beta weekend events, but I can foresee me going several rounds in SPvP without ever using these abilities.

When’s the right time? Only when you verbally coordinate with others? Whenever you’re closely located alongside elementalists and guardians?

Glint offers permanent boons? Doesn’t energy stop regenerating when an upkeep skill is active?

Also, for clarification, I meant the Glint legend rather than Herald. I’m less opposed to traiting it for the shield/traits.

The utilities don’t really appeal to me- they feel a little clunky to use.

Am I at a huge disadvantage passing it up in SPvP?

We’re going from having only a WoW-style targeting system to an FPS, Elder Scrolls Online-type option as well.

We’ve gone from no dedicated support roles to two (?) great ones (does revenant count?)

The core game has gone free-to-play.

Raid content is at long last being introduced.

ArenaNet has demonstrated that they are open to drastic changes for the betterment of the company and the playerbase. Mounts, in my opinion, stand to benefit both.

Let’s keep playing and see what happens!

Also, while we’re here, what do you all think might be some disadvantages to using this new mode compared to the current?

I know it would be more difficult to use ground-targeted abilities behind or to the side of our characters but if that’s all, then we could just use the toggle for this one circumstance.

This is far and away my favorite feature of the expansion- it’s what I wanted GW2 to be from the beginning. A quick question:

If I’m auto-attacking the target (with 1 rather than LMB), I assume that the S key will backpedal rather than turn and run at full speed as it would if no skill is being cast.

To disengage, do I have to hit esc to stop auto-attacking or can I turn the camera away and run forward key as per the traditional camera system?

This is my only major concern at the moment. If I can just turn and run, even if a cast is in progress, then I will likely use this new system full-time.

If you want to help but don’t fully understand my question, let me know and I’ll try to rephrase.

There’s a trait that this necro many or may not have where he automatically casts plague signet if he has enough conditions to meet the threshold. The threshold is 3 and he can transfer up to 5.

Also, if he has plague signet slotted, he can just use it at will.

Also, staff skill 4 transfers conditions.

Also, offhand dagger transfers conditions.

Counterplay in your case will involve trying another build.

Is it comparable to sword now that the channel time on scepter three and the cast time on the third auto-attack have been reduced?

Does it depend on the build? If so, which ones favor the scepter?

Thanks!

You’re correct, we are supposed to be adults.

Don’t name your character Peta File- it radiates immaturity. There is no purpose in attempting to use that name in the first place and there is even less reason to appear on the forums and fight for an appeal in its defense.

Very interesting, I appreciate the responses

I should’ve clarified, I meant to ask specifically in a PvP context.

I can see how slightly more consistent condition removal would be an asset but does that really dictate the weapon choice alone?

I feel like support-based builds like shoutbow would benefit so much more with, say, a hammer. The peels and area CC would better facilitate group fights, which the build is, well… built for, would it not?

What makes the bow so critical to so many builds? It doesn’t look all that great to me.

What am I missing that makes it so irreplaceable?

Titles says it. Are they at a disadvantage in competitive PvP settings? Can you speak from experience?

They don’t seem very situational. It would appear that they are intended to simply be used on cooldown provided there are enough allies near you.

This doesn’t make for very engaging gameplay- personally, I wish they’d overhaul it.

I’m mostly referring to the staggering aliasing problem. The only suitable anti-aliasing for the poorly modeled foliage is forced through the graphics card, which takes a heavy performance toll.

Any advice?

(Please don’t recommend SweetFX or SMAA injector, they hardly make a difference)

Grass and trees still look abysmal and everything else still looks amazing.

Please tell me there’s a way to disable foliage now, either through the config, driver control panel, or otherwise.

I’m already downsampling, supersampling, using the in-game FXAA, forcing AA through CCC (which has a substantial impact on performance and minimal impact on appearance), and using the shaders’ low setting. I’m also using an SMAA injector.

The game still looks abysmal : /

Is there anything at all I can do to eliminate or at least greatly reduce the texture aliasing in vegetation and plant life?

The ceaseless flickering in the grass as I move is so unimmersive. I’d rather just pull them from the game then have it in its current state.

No one seems to be getting it right, so I’ll take a whack at it. The word “illusion” describes both clones and phantasms. Phantasms and clones alike are considered illusions.

Clones, according to arenanet, supposedly only replace other clones. Phantasms will replace either.

Mesmer is easily the most enjoyable profession for a variety of reasons.

Race? I prefer female norn but there’s a few I’d enjoy just as much, I think.

It seems like an easy enough thing to remedy, Sol. At least by principle.

It is a feature used very frequently and the reasons to implement a change heavily outweigh the reasons not to in my humble opinion.

It badly needs to be looked at. When I place the entrance just as I’m capturing a point, it won’t allow me to use it. I’ll hover over it and it simply won’t prompt me to activate.

I’ve lost two matches now for this reason.

Best for what?

I play a mesmer because of the great 1v1 potential and unrivaled escapability. Some professions have debuffs that affect the players’ characters, my profession applies the “confusion” debuff to the players themselves.

Xahz.8406:

If they’re not going to implement a queue, then just take the lowest score player (or person who has been in the game for the least amount of time) and swap them.

I like this a lot.

Very informative and visually appealing guide- we sincerely appreciate the effort, Blowi.

I enjoy using the sword/pistol weapon combination. I’m currently using the staff as a secondary weapon and I’m giving thought into trying out the greatsword instead.

How hard would I be kittening myself in forgoing the staff if my primary focuses are solitary point assault and short-term point maintenance (roaming, in a sense)?

For clarification: “Auto-balancing” occurs when one team in structured PvP has least two more players than the opposing team. A pane will appear on the user interfaces of each player representing the team containing the most participants, asking if they would like to volunteer to change sides. Ten seconds later, players are shifted in an attempt to lessen the disparity between teams.

When your team has the player advantage, would you volunteer to switch teams? Not many would.

The issue this creates (an issue I’m sure many of us have experienced at one point or another) is as follows: A player can spend the majority of a match representing a team— Capturing nodes, killing opponents, tending to secondary objectives, etc., only to be relocated prior to reaching that coveted 500th point. All effort exerted leading up to this point has, in reality, gone towards securing the player’s loss rather than victory.

So what can be done?

The simple answer is to implement some brand of penalty applying to those who choose to leave a match before it ends. The penalty itself can be a variety of things ranging from disallowing the player to re-queue for a set duration, to limiting the valor acquired in the player’s next match. This way, players will less often opt out of an SPvP match midway and reduce the need for the auto-balancing feature.

What would you change to accomplish this?

I don’t think restricting the auto-balance to within a certain range would really correct the issue. There should be a system in place preventing the player from hot-joining if he or she leaves a match before it finishes for however much time. 10 minutes seems reasonable.

..fighting for one side in SPvP then being switched to the other before a victory. : /

There aught to be a penalty for leaving; this is a pretty large oversight.

They’re all similar from what I can tell. Ranger just may be a slight cut above the rest though. They’re solid in PvP too

This should be in the bug forum, not profession

The ability itself can be blocked/dodged and the victim can move at standard speed and even attack for light damage where appropriate.

My advice to you is to recognize its animation and respond accordingly; it has a reasonable cast-time.

I use sword/pistol & staff as well. Excellent combination

The chaotic dampening mesmer trait does not appear to affect the phase retreat or phantasmal warlock abilities.

During the initial human cut-scene, the hands grasping on another do not appear (though their sleeves do).

I noticed a small number of grammatical errors in reading the letter at the end of the asura character creation.

When the mesmer blink utility is used, the running animation ceases and the character floats about until another movement key is pressed.