Guild Wars 2

@Alisteir
I agree with you about the over reaction in the forums and it is a well constructed and elegantly written argument – but unfortunately your moan about massive screw up is flawed.

The word ‘massive’ in massive ‘massive screw up’ simply means to have great size and what constitutes great size is entirely contextual. An elephant is massive compared to a mouse and not compared to a whale. The comparison to death and fraud is irrelevant as they exist outside the context of this forum and the issue of WvW. In the context of WvW I would argue that this is a massive screw up compared to most of the other issues being complained about on these very forums.

I am quite an experienced casual player who enjoys all parts of the game. I have a close wvw guild I have been in for a long time and I have some guys I pvp with but whenever I go into dungeons it is as a pug.

I use a warrior (full zerker) and have done all dungeon paths except TA Aetherpath and Arah (1-4) but only done fractals once.

I was hoping I could find a guild that tends to do dungeon/fractal runs in evenings or weekends (EU time) and might teach me the ropes.

Cheers

Yes, you can send gold to any other players across servers using the mail system.

While I know it definitely works between EU servers I cannot guarantee you can send it from an EU server to a US one.

100% agree.

The last 24 hours have been some of the best GW2 fun I have had.

7200 files not sure of size yet

Ransom.1362:

Being a thief requires much more skill, and is much more rewarding if you play it well. And when people encounter someone who can play it well, they come to forums and complain

I completely agree. The issue is that you can play some classes without investing much time in being skilled at the game and still do okay. To even survive as a thief requires you to engage in the game mechanics much more. So when you meet that thief 1 on 1 on the battlefield you can be sure they know what they are doing, and you probably do not.

But warriors can be that good in the correct hands. Yesterday I twice ran into a sword/shield warrior in EOTM that completely owned me both time (I am not used to losing to warriors 1 on 1). I was very impressed and went back for another fight to figure out what he was doing but he was gone.

That is the mentality of those that play more difficult classes – constantly learning and evolving the playstyle depending on the opponent. My experience of warrior players in the forums is if they keep losing to a specific class the game is at fault rather than recognizing their own weakness or use of an incorrect build.

DeWolfe.2174:

I’ve been complaining about thieves since launch and it falls on deaf ears. Unless we get new dev’s, Thieves will continue to be the kitten /troll dishonorable profession of the game. Even if people wish to proclaim it’s all skill, then the class simply has a greater ceiling than the other professions which makes them imbalanced. Either way, it’s not stealth as much as it’s damage output. Thieves scale way too high in WvW compared to their sPvP variant.

Thieves a dishonorable profession – what a ridiculous concept. Seriously, I cannot imagine a more stupid comment.

I have played significant amounts of wvw with my thief, warrior and necro and I can say while thief is the most fun to play it also feels the most precarious.

I am on FoW and recently did all the temples skill points as a thief using stealth (dont need to complete them)

If you want me to help you get the skill points just msg me in game (Daughter of Sheol)

I have a Thief (DPS build), Ranger (Bearbow build), Warrior (Tanky Shout build) and Necro (conditionmancer build) all at level 80 and several hundred hours playtime under each one.
For me the list goes (most fun first):
PvE (thief, ranger, necro, warrior)
WvW (thief, warrior, necro, ranger)
PvP (necro, thief, ranger, warrior)

In the end, one of the reasons I love GW2 is the variety of game experiences there is. Different classes suit different game dynamics so either choose the one for your favourite part of the game or make several and switch between them like I do.
Map completion/champs – Thief
Dungeons (with PUGs) – Warrior
Dungeons (with guild) – Thief
sPvP – Necro
WvW (roaming) – Necro or Thief
WvW (zerg) – Warrior or Thief

You will notice I don’t really play the ranger – I have yet to find a fun build but I am still looking.

When we best it yesterday, we had guilds focus on 2 of the lanes to ensure we progressed forward (you can cope with a couple of fails). In the end it wasn’t necessary as every lane won I dont think it was a coincidence that on FoW the main map (where people choose to arrive in plenty of time and make sure they know what to do) do better than overflows (random last minute players)

I am on the Fissure of Woe server and I would like to make a few comments:

1. We have beat it at least twice (I have done it twice, both times 8pm main map – not overflow)
2. I have found it great for the community. I have tried it about 15 times, for 2 victories, and many of the same players were there each time – discussing tactics and commanders ensuring lanes are balanced out. Myself and my guild mates have all felt it gave us a good sense of being part of the FoW community.
3. On Fow the main map fills up quickly. On 4 separate occasions this weekend I logged on 15ins before the start and went into an overflow (on at least 2 occasions there were multiple overflows)

mahariel.4981:

The point of greatsword is to use the 2/3/5 burst and then swap back axe mainhand to keep up steady DPS, don’t just camp greatsword.

Dual-wielding axes is fine when soloing easy champions because it allows you to stack fury, but for harder ones you want off-hand sword, and for group content you want the vuln stacking on off-hand mace.

Axe/mace + axe/warhorn or axe/mace + axe/sword might be a good choice for you, just roll the 30/25/0/10/5 build, swap out slashing power for axe mastery and forceful greatsword for deep strikes. Take empowered in tactics for X%+ damage boost.

Thanks for that, I might try both ways and see how I get on. I haven’t been using GS like that so maybe I will have a play around with that first and see if I can get into it.

Are there any good dungeon warrior builds without GS – I dont know why but I hate playing with it.

Skill 3 is unpredictable (maybe it is me)
Burst skill is poor (IMO)
Seems like spamming until 100 blades is ready again

I really like dual wielding and love axes. Anyone know any alternatives or videos where GS is played well.

Hey all,

I have been playing my warrior for a few weeks now and I hope I might get some advice:

As I play a fair bit of WvW I went initially for a shout healing PVT build (0/0/30/30/10) with PVT accessories and hammer/sword-horn weapons but I found it dull to play and way too lacking in damage. I then moved to a 10/0/30/30/0 build with sword/mace/axe combos (I mix it up) which is much more fun to play.

I have now got into dungeons and really want to run all of them. I have done all the CM, CoF, AC and SE runs (as a pug with an experienced party) and my build has been fine but I am aware I am not doing as much damage as others in the party (but not downing either).

It looks like the warrior meta for dungeons seems to be full zerk (axe/mace greatsword – shield at times) but before I re-trait I wanted to know a few things from experienced players:
1. Is a full DPS warrior squishy (I also have a glass cannon thief and it would not survive in dungeons)
2. Would the zerker build be any good in WvW?
3. Would an experienced party prefer a full DPS warrior pug they have to rez or a tanky warrior pug that doesn’t do as much damage?
4. Is it possible to run a hybrid build – full PVT armor and soldier runes with zerk accessories and weapons?

Any thoughts appreciated.

I was doing some dungeon runs last night with a very experienced group from a different server that accepted me on the LFG system. We did about 8 very efficient runs with few downs and only one wipe (stupid spider queen).

At the end we said our goodbyes and I logged out and it occurred to me that unless they remembered my name, which is unlikely, there was no way for us to run again other than random chance and it got me thinking.

What if a party member had the option of right clicking on another party members name and selecting a ‘associate’ type option (better names can be found I am sure). This would put a small white outline around their class symbol in the party menu and on the LFG system.

It would mean solo players could glance through the LFG system looking for groups they have had successful runs with before and parties could identify pugs they know will play well with them again.

Any thoughts?

Okay,, thanks for all the advice. If I could follow up with a further question.

I have a L80 thief (high range DPS, little condition removal, a bit squishy) that is main for PvE, PvP and WvW roaming. I also have a L80 warrior (tanky, lots of condition removal, lower DPS) that I used for the TA story and found much more forgiving than the thief.

So my question is which of these are better for dungeons? Does it depend on the PUG? Should I play safe with the tanky warrior? Would some dungeons suit one and other dungeons the other.

I dont want to be a burden to my party but I also want to be able to hit the boss hard.

Again, thanks for the advice.

Hey all, I am fairly new to GW2 dungeons but really enjoy them and want to do them all.
So far I have done all CoF paths 1-3 and TA story, both of which I thought were fairly simple (except the fire corridor thing on CoF Path 3).

Does anyone have any advice on the best order to complete them? Should I do all the storys first and then explore or do them one by one. I know that AC is pretty hard so should I start with higher levelled ones first?

Any advice welcomed. Thanks.

I have just got into running dungeons having played GW2 for some time. My main guild is wvw and I usually have to do the dungeons with pugs so I wanted to get familiar with the routes and mechanics beforehand.

I found these videos today and they are extremely detailed with the mechanics of bosses and strategies for fighting them so if anyone else needs some help they might be a good place to start.

Example CoE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPXBCPyfqgY

Anyone know other guides with the sae sort of detail?

Make your way to the nearest city and find a trading post.

Search for Level 20 masterwork armor and weapons for your class. You can buy it for much less than 2 gold.

PSX.9250:

Ethics.4519:

Personally, knowing what I know now. I would go outside and do something else, waiting for certain other titles to be released.

^This.

Seems kind of ironic advice from people who have chosen to spend their time making unhelpful comments in the forums of a game they appear not to enjoy anymore.

Okay,

How do you get to the Twilight Arbor path (is it a dungeon?).

Thanks

I have collected a number of aether key pieces over the last few weeks and have several complete keys but I have no idea what to do with them.

The wiki says they were for a 2012 event but why would they still be dropped if you couldn’t use them. Does anyone know or should I discard them?

Many thanks in advance.

Jaxs.5830:

I disagree with your order and I think basing a list on the boring, stale meta that is pervasive in this game is meaningless. The fact is most players are underutilizing their class, playing with the wrong gear, and generally doing little more than playing a game of follow the leader.

What you need in your group is highly dependent on what you are doing, who you are fighting and how many you are fighting. The fact that most of our ‘current meta’ takes none of those into account is not a class balance issue.

100% agree.

Atherakhia.4086:

Jaxs.5830:

I think generally ANET has done well with class balance. They make small, frequent balance changes instead of big balance reviews like other games have done. While balance is not perfect and there things they do that make me /facepalm, overall I think classes are pretty balanced and far more balanced than in past games.

1v1 is always going to be cheesed by specific builds, that is the nature of 1v1, but most of this washes out in group+ play. Not all classes bring all the tools for different scales of play, nor should they.

You want to know an easy way to see if a game is balanced? Ask people to rank the classes from most to least valuable at a specific thing (in this case, the current WvW meta). If everyone comes up with the same list, that isn’t the sign of a balanced game.

So lets run that test….

Does anyone disagree with the classes in this order?

Guardian
Warrior
Necromancer
Elementalist
Mesmer
Engineer
Thief
Ranger

Balance is bad enough when the top half of everyone’s list is made up of the same 4 classes. But to have those same 4 classes in the exact same order? Well that’s a sign that ANet’s not even trying…

So lets see what we come up with.

I might give this list for zerg fights but other parts of the wvw game (roaming, camp capping, small group fights) would get a very different list (e.,g, thief and mesmer would be much higher up).

Nothing good comes from reading that drivel day in and day out.

I find the GW2 forums quite depressing generally and if it wasn’t that I loved the game so much it might make me avoid them altogether but there are some gems of stuff in here.

Colly.4073:

Gw2 will be dead by the time devon gets back off his holiday, The state he has left WvW in he deserves be joning the dole queue.

I for one, and the large number of people I play with, love the format and will happily play it for a long time just as it is.

Solo / small group roaming = great fun
Taking towers / keeps = fun but can be too easy
Defending towers / keeps = fun but can be too hard
Zerg fights = great fun

If you don’t like any of those components then why are you playing it? I am pretty sure that when February comes that WvW will be just fine.

Jaxs.5830:

I think generally ANET has done well with class balance. They make small, frequent balance changes instead of big balance reviews like other games have done. While balance is not perfect and there things they do that make me /facepalm, overall I think classes are pretty balanced and far more balanced than in past games.

1v1 is always going to be cheesed by specific builds, that is the nature of 1v1, but most of this washes out in group+ play.

I agree entirely.

In the end the game is supposed to be fun and while some might be more ‘effective’ than others I think that as long as you can have fun playing your own way then ANET are doing a good job.

roamzero.9486:

Ive never seen anyone cry how Rangers are OP in WvW. Nor have I seen people cry about Eles since they were nerfed to oblivion.

I agree that rangers almost certainly have no OP build in WvW but for certain roles, like tower/keep defense or running at the back of zergs they can be fun to play if you like that sort of thing. As for Eles, I run with several in my guild and they are perfectly viable but admittedly not as powerful as in the past.

I like to read the class specific forums and I notice that every class has regular posts about another class being overpowered or how their class in underpowered. This makes me think that ANET has pretty much got the balance right.

For every class there are builds that are highly effective (OP to whiners) in some situations and less effective (UP to whiners) in other situations. The game would be broken if any single build was always good or always bad but that is not the case. I have a thief, ranger and warrior and I have owned and been owned with each of them in different components of the game and this is what I want.

Does anyone else think that despite the regular whining in the forums WvW is actually fun for most classes if you choose the right build for your preferred play style.

Barfoi.9537:

The best they can do there is help stack Might , Daggerstorm and then harass the back-line.

Maybe if you’re a melee thief. A mostly ‘zerker P/P thief is devastating in massive (T1) fights, and can easily down targets (6-10k unload spam), while being extremely difficult to touch. It’s one of the reasons I’ve stuck with it for so long — it’s very versatile in any situation.

Completely agree – I run a very powerful p/p build and I can stay alive in the zerg as long as the warriors and guards, take down enemies at in a couple of unloads and use stealth to rez downed team mates. Thieves just have to be much more mobile than the rest of the zerg.

It is true however that we don’t contribute much to removing conditions or giving boons.

I roam in WvW with my p/p thief and have reasonable success in 1v1 fights. I run a full berseker build with 25/30/0/15/0 traits, exotic weapon and armors and ascended trinkets. I find that as long as I can start the fight, and I have the patience to maintain control of it, I have a good chance of winning.

My routine is to kite them at range with 3/4 attacks of unload, close in with steal, roll for initiative and then 2/3 more unload. This routine can hit for 30-50k total damage and I have signet of shadows on to keep my movement speed up. In addition, I have shadow refuge to provide extra healing, stealth or escape and dagger storm to finish them off or reduce incoming range damage.

I find this build very effective against other thieves, rangers and necros. It is less effective against eles and warriors but I still have a decent success rate with gfood evade and combat management.

I find that guards still have a lot of health left at the end of my routine and I either have to escape or use SoR (make them think Ive run) and then attack again. Mesmers on the other hand seem to overpower this build and rarely do I win (although I can usually survive) – I hate fighting mesmers.

I will post my full build later for any who are interested although I a sure there are any flaws to it. I am often surprised that more thieves don’t run the p/p build. In fact this build benefits from the Dec update due to the faster ini regen giving an extra burst of unload in the cycle.

I came back to gw2 a few weeks ago and run a p/p thief (25/30/0/15/0) build with full berserker gear and scholar runes which I love. – high DPS and very mobile. I find that it performs very well in PvE and WvW (solo or group) but dungeons and fractals are more of an issue depending on the group.

More experienced parties understand you need to stay mobile and make use of your significant damage but tanky parties, that just want to stack and stay still, will quickly get you killed.

My advice to the OP would be to start again with a new character.

I played the game for a couple of months when it first came out and then drifted away having completed most of the map and got a little bored (spvp and wvw seemed to hard to get into).

I returned 4 weeks ago and started a new character (thief this time) and I have really enjoyed it. The new living story content is fun and easy to drop in and out of. I tried fractals for the first time and they are good (and challenging) and as an acheivement hunter I tried wvw out and discovered it is GW2 at its finest. I love it and have become and wvw convert, dropping into pve now and then for a quick fix.

Now you even have wintersday which I think adds even more to a great game. My feeling is that GW offers so many different quality experiences within the same game that I cannot recommend returning enough.

I had a blue key part drop from a regular centaur yesterday and a green one drop from a skale the day before so potentially they are random drops from all mobs.

As a new player on FoW I have really enjoyed the last week of WvW. I hadn’t played it before and it has been a great learning curve. Being pitched against two bigger, more organised servers has allowed be to improve much quicker. I love the sense of danger every time you stray into the map and the thrill of overcoming a superior force.

Thanks to the FoW commanders for doing the best in a difficult situation and thanks to the opponent servers for allowing me to rack up 300 kills as a scaled up newbie. :-)

I’m looking forward to the next match up.

Hey all,

I am on the fissures of woe server and am looking for a guild to join. I currently only do PvE but I am interested in getting involved in the WvW side of the game. I have a L80 ranger from a previous play through and I am currently at L50 with my thief.

I only manage to play a couple of hours a day (work, wife and kids) but I would like to find a relaxed guild to fight alongside. I found that once I reached L80 last time that roaming PvE alone got a little dull.

Any suggestions would be great.

Paul