Yea the only people who run shield are the people who really just want to have a shield. I really want to use it but since I mainly just run dungeons and fractals there’s no reason
If guard is getting Longbow, i wonder what is the justification? How is using a Longbow guarding someone? But they think hammer is a ranged weapon, so i’m not holding my breath for some reasonable justification. What happened at anet? did they get some new people or something, because they are really screwing this game up.
Instead of making hammer ranged, they should’ve done something cool, like make staff melee.
By this logic, how is using a scepter guarding someone? Also you do know the mesmer greatsword is ranged right? So a ranged hammer isn’t unique….
There have been a ton of threads on this subject and the main consensus is no, there is not much of a reason to ever take if over focus. There is some niche use for shield in PvP for the knockback, but personally its not enough to replace the blind, condi clear, and block that focus provides. Shield is in desperate need of rework, imo.
How about just making current offhand shields usable….
The problem with adding new dungeons is that they are so quick to be compared to the original dungeons. The original dungeons are so laughably easy and fast to run that when they did add a new one there was a ton of crying about how hard/long it was.
Do not get me wrong, I really want new dungeons too but anet really shot themselves in the foot by never addressing any major dungeon issues (skipping exploits, major bugs, defiance, etc.).
They have set a really bad precedence with dungeons and now they are just gold farms instead of being an actual challenge.
You can bet money that additional skins will be available. The only real question should that should be asked is whether new skins will be gem store exclusive.
Aren’t useless at all, just apparently too difficult for most people to use effectively. They handicap the user just about as much as any other transform skill does.
I did forget to mention that using Tome of Wrath is a huge dps loss as well. Its not about using them effectively, they are simply terrible. And to even make the mediocre you have to waste traits for them, unlike other transforms.
You are just now figuring that out…. This is one of the many reasons Tomes are and will continue to be useless skills. Any time you equip a Tome it handicaps you.
^ So they should focus on developing every single aspect of the game that was here at release despite how small part of the community actually uses it?
That is not really a good use of resources.
A good use of resources is to put resources into the things that the majority of the players do.
What are you talking about. There are a ton of people who take part in dungeons and its really disheartening that anet has seem to abandon this part of PVE (no news of dungeons or fractals for HoT and fractals seems totally abandoned since the fractured patch). Just because GW2 is not the “typical” MMO doesnt mean it should have dungeons or cater to the community that expects an MMO to have dungeons.
If i was a hardcore PvPer or WvWer I would be even more upset since they are only getting 1 map per mode. So after 2.5 years the first xpac includes 1 new map for each competitive mode? LOL Its ridiculous.
I have no doubt that HoT will be cool and there will be some cool features but as a hardcore dungeoneer, i find it very disappointing. Hoping on some great news on their “challenging group content”.
I think its safe to say there will be no dungeons added since they have avoided the question like the plague. They are only adding 1 pvp match and 1 wvw borderland and masteries are account bound unlocks. So far there sure doesnt sound like a lot of repeatability considering the game is 2.5 years old. I sure dont want to keep grinding the same old dungeons for another year and fractals better get a huge buff to its reward system if they want to use that to replace standard dungeons.
Its just one of the many terrible grandmaster traits we have!
Maybe I’m out of the loop here but what would be the difference between GvG and say WvW or sPvP? Obviously WvW and sPvP are not the same but would would GvG be that isnt already available in those other options?
GvG means different things for different people:
1. Large guild groups (as in 15+ people) fighting each other. This is done in WvW.
2. Guild Wars 1’s guild vs guild mode (stronghold + guild leaderboards comes close to this, but for some not close enough).
Thanks for the clarification!
Maybe I’m out of the loop here but what would be the difference between GvG and say WvW or sPvP? Obviously WvW and sPvP are not the same but would would GvG be that isnt already available in those other options?
The only weapon I dont care about is shield because its useless and I could live without sword (its a great weapon I just prefer mace). I really like all the others though. If i only had 2 sets though it would be greatsword and mace/focus, but I would really miss scepter/torch.
CM path 2 last boss is nice for extra condi removal as well. Now that torch 4 doesn’t have a penalty CD its a nice low CD burst ability.
It may just be the build editor. Most likely the WvW bonuses and the bloodlust stacks. And if he was in a party with group buffs maybe?
When did they say Rytlock became ascended? Is this just speculation, I havent seen any info about it.
I still don’t see why Rytlock wouldn’t be able to teach new player characters how to become revenants. You don’t start the game as a total noob (you may be level 1 but that doesn’t mean you dont know how to fight). The level system is just a learning gate for the player, not the profession. Maybe its just me but people have really seemed to overthink this new profession (level 80 initially, its own starter zone, unique personal story, etc.).
Why wouldn’t Rytlock not teach noobs how to be revenants? What’s the lore explaining that?
I doubt they ever add something like this that would allow players to skip the content they created.
How would Rytlock being the first revenant mean everyone coming after him is 80?
Obviously we know that’s not how it works (for all sorts of reasons) but maybe I can understand the OP’s thinking.
Rytlock was something else – a very experienced something else – before becoming a revenant. It’s possible he would only seek out other very experienced people (i.e. level 80 in some other profession) to teach.
So sticking with your educational analogy, like other professions being undergraduate degrees and revenant a postgraduate one.
Why would the revenant be a postgraduate one? Its one the same level as all the other classes. Its not a specialization or some unique thing anet is adding. Its simply just another profession. People act like this is like the Death Knight from WoW and its not.
Revenant is a profession not a race. Your comparison to SWTOR is invalid.
Don’t be silly.
Not sure what’s silly about the difference between a race and a profession.
The meta build will make you a better guardian because the most important thing to know are the encounters. You may fail at the beginning but thats ok! If you know the fights you don’t need tanky gear because you can dodge/block everything and the boss dies very rapidly. And in reality tanky gear will still not save you from big hits and you not out heal damage (sustained healing, not your heal skill) in this game, its not designed that way.
That way you can use your active defenses to anticipate things such as when you use group blocks, stability, condi clear, reflects, etc. You can do all this while still doing very respectable damage. A guardians support comes in powerful utilities and some traits. A full beserker geared guardian has the same support as a full cleric guardian. The big difference is that you actually contribute to damage geared as berseker.
You are not going to pay attention during matches then you will probably have a hard time enjoying/playing any classes.
So after being one of the first common players in the world to experience HoT… Your main reveal is that the toggleable headpiece is toggleable.
My mind has been blown.
Ok, it’s not earth shattering news. I’m sure most of assumed that to be the case. But even all those press vids didn’t really reveal anything new about revenants. Everything they saw we’d already seen in the articles and POI vid.
Isn’t there a race (Miraluka?) in SWTOR which has blindfolds which can’t be removed? Some – especially those less familiar with GW2 – might have been concerned it’d be a similar deal for revenants.
Revenant is a profession not a race. Your comparison to SWTOR is invalid.
Why on earth would you think the blindfold wouldn’t be a normal headgear skin???
It’s almost certainly only something for the bow. It’d make little sense to have an ability on a bow which stance switched the bow as well as everything else you have.
The info is probably true (see his post on the engi’s hammer in the same thread), but it’s unlikely that skill set has stayed exactly the same over two years.
Personally I’m hoping they turn the virtues into stances while keeping the virtue activation ability when you toggle them.
Virtue of Justice would be the offensive stance
Virtue of Resolve would be the support stance
Virtue of Courage would be the defensive stanceEach could add bonus effects to weapon abilities (& possibly utility skills) while your in them but only one could be active at a time.
I kinda like this idea!
Legendary demon stance spreads ebola. Nerf plox
Also does double damage if you haven’t vaccinated for measles.
Guards already have enough of that & while not all of it works perfectly guards don’t need more of it.
Speak for yourself.
You don’t get it … I’m not using my imagination because it’s not relevant. Bow is simply not based on the class concept that Anet has defined. It’s not relevant if people want it either. People wanted it 2 years ago and Anet came out with a definitive statement on why Guardians aren’t getting it.
Those example you provide fit those classes because Anet says they do, not because of preconceived notions of what players think. You’re examples actually reinforce my point; ANET decides, even if those decisions make you go “WUT?!”
Maybe Anet has changed their mind. I hope they don’t because giving Guardians bow would be as bad for the identity of the class now as it would have been last year when Anet explained why we shouldn’t get it.
No offense, but I don’t think you understand that this specialization =/= normal guardian. Your argument is applying the random thematic restrictions that ANet placed on normal guardians on the specialization.
I don’t think you understand that people want bows for everything where the Guardian specialization won’t be applicable. If my understanding is correct, specialization is for the new zone and content only, and it’s not clear if that includes current PVP or WvW content. The new specializations for the professions are being introduced for the new content and will be focused on tools to address new challenges there. It’s not being introduced to address gaps in the current game, which have already been explained by Anet why they exist for the professions.
Uhhh where have you seen that the specialization will be zone locked or game mode locked???? That would be beyond pointless. Specializations are being added to expand current professions. ANET has stated that the expansion is more like a character progression expansion instead of a more traditional expansion. And if specializations were locked to the new maps that would invalidate their idea of the expansion.
now i have only played my necro up to 50 and i could feel useless later but i don’t feel that way currently imo of course
on the topic though anet doesn’t seem to be the kind of company that would do something like each class feels like it has its on part to play and having not played for year i recently read through all the update notes and they seem to be pretty quick to fix things that are broken so even if this does happen i feel like it would be changed fairly quickly
Well that was kind of hard to read since it was a huge run-on sentence.
Necro is strong solo, but thats about it in terms of PVE. There’s no real reason to bring a necro into a dungeon over any other class because necros don’t have team buffs.
And this wasn’t necessarily talking about broken or bugged skills, mainly an in-depth look at current skills and traits and hopefully changing some to make more useful. There have been skills and traits that have gone largely unused since launch and hopefully with everything anet has learned over the last 2 plus years, some good will happen.
I really hope so, there some traits and weapon skills that could really use some love.
I’m hoping that collecting legends will be like collecting pets on ranger.
That would be pretty cool.
Why wouldn’t the revenant be able to slot racial elites? That seems very unlikely.
I think it’s like in other games where some specs are better for pvp.
Of course some specs are better depending on what game mode you are playing. That shouldn’t mean that conditions are limited to PVP use. This just limits how people play and is a poor design choice. It will be absolutely absurd if nothing is done to fix conditions in PVE.
Tbh more fights with multiple enemies will make conditions stronger, it’s harder to spread power damage around (if the enemies can’t be stacked, easily done with enemies like the lovers in AC)
I don’t think the mechanics have any issue, it’s again coming down to the fight designs.
The mechanics do have issues. A low condi user overwrites a high condi users conditions, completely negating their damage output.
I think it’s like in other games where some specs are better for pvp.
Of course some specs are better depending on what game mode you are playing. That shouldn’t mean that conditions are limited to PVP use. This just limits how people play and is a poor design choice. It will be absolutely absurd if nothing is done to fix conditions in PVE.
Gotta catch ’em all!!!
Any point in thinking there may be an overhaul to the existing professions? With the added specializations I’m really hoping for a “clean-up” on existing traits and skills that have just gathered dust unused. With the news of new boons and conditions with the revenant, is it possible other professions will be getting changes? And I’m not talking about specializations, I’m specifically asking about core profession changes. Thoughts…
From what I’ve seen so far, the revenant seems like everything that I wish guardian would be, but isn’t. My consideration of changing my main is only being reinforced with every new detail revealed.
You know, I wasn’t on the revenant hype train until yesterday when I saw the blog post. But the more they show the more awesome it looks. I’m am seriously considering changing now too. My only hope is that anet does a class cleanup with all the other classes to improve some long-standing problems, but that’s probably asking too much. Guard is a really cool class and is very powerful but it has soo many useless traits and skills.
I really hope its not warhorn. I’m more excited about the possibility of the longbow mainly because we would get 5 new skills instead of 2. Besides, focus is going to provide stiff competition for any new offhand we get.
Why would someone use this garbage skill in the first place? :p
Its comments like this that should make you question your profession choice.
I very much agree with your frustration. The last balance patch felt like a slap in the face with the shield CD reduction, which did nothing to help shield become viable and completely ignored the glaring 2sec bug and it still being rooted. I’ve derailed this thread long enough. Have fun on your engi OP!
Your points are fair, I should have mentioned that my experience is mostly semi-hardcore dungeon speedrunning (not trying to break records, just make gold fast) where, in my opinion, a guardian can really shine and can help carry a party.
I’m by no means a PVP pro, and your comments seem to mostly apply to, which I agree are mostly valid. I do see where you were coming from now, say as a medi guard where it really is a selfish playstyle, but again only used in PVP. Thanks for the clarification, cheers.
I dont see how he was pushing a zerk build, just encouraging the OP to use active defenses. The OP should be learning to use his virtues, not create some ineffective build. If you don’t want to use/learn the Guardian profession mechanics then why play a guardian?
Good luck and have fun with your hobosack!!!
I’ve been using torch more and more since they removed the penalty cooldown on torch 4, and I’ve really enjoyed it. While it still is only a niche weapon in dungeons its a great openworld/explore weapon where you don’t need the defense of focus. Torch 4 hits pretty hard and now its on a considerably lower cooldown. It would be nice to have a self condi clear but we already have soo much condi clear.
Realistically though, in any dungeon f2 and purging flames and an occasional light field are enough for almost every boss fight. The only boss I use torch on is CM path 2 against turmaine, since he does so much conditions. But thats really only because i think the torch skins are cool, and I find excuses to use it.
If it is true that our new mechanic is stances then that’s awesome to me. Virtues by nature(signets) are very boring so having something similar to Elementalists(attunements) begs for a more active(and fun) role.
I’m not sure why the virtues get so much hate. When properly traited the virtues are pretty awesome. Anyways, I am excited at the possibility of a new mechanic and using the longbow. Hoping we get some actual information about class specialization soon.
It’s a good thing the game isn’t balanced around each class just bringing one thing where they excel. Seems to me what we have is exactly the meaning of balance; bringing many tools to the table that are useful.
Moot point, because classes like warrior, engineer, and elementalist do exactly that, bring many tools to the table that are useful. And they do it better than guardian, while also being able to deal decent damage at the same time.
You are implying that these tools a guardian have are not useful and, and I’m inclined to disagree. Guardian does bring unique tools to the table and does have good damage. No other class can bring the amount of party-wide projectile defense, blocks, condi clear, and stability while doing very respectable damage, like a guardian can.
The #1 thing for me though is, I don’t wanna even acknowledge the F-key Virtues are there; let the passive stay passive. (and I acknowledge this makes Renewed Focus useless) Maybe that’s dumb, but that’s how I wanna play it. What research I’ve done (mostly build videos and gw2skills.net), the videos’ builds all make use of activating Virtues at various times.
So you are looking for a build to make you a bad guardian? Why would you not want to use the virtues? There’s a reason all build use virtues at various times, its called being a guardian. There are certain traits that really make the active abilities on the virtues really nice. If thats how you want to play, more power to you. Just don’t start complaining on the forum when you get kicked from dungeons.
Obal said it best. Support is inherit to the class and mainly comes in the form of strong utilities (which mostly are not tied to stats). So basically a full zerk dps guardian supports the party just as well (if not better) than a full cleric healing guardian. You want to use the best DPS gear because of this fact that its your utilites that are the support (wall, virtues w/renewed focus, shield of avenger, retreat, etc.). And these utilities don’t care what your stats are (only reflects which zerk/assassins is best). So therefore the best thing you can do is the most damage you can while using the right utilities to support your party.
You haven’t experienced the guardian really since you aren’t level 80. When you have access to all your traits you can experiment with different builds. The guardian is a great solo player but really shines in group play.
The tomes are just way too slow and limited, when that burst comes down you need a heal now, and right now, at 1200 radius with VoR, also clears 3 condis and if u need it again fire off RF and pop it again for the group.
I had ToC for a while trying to get it to work and in large melee’s with lots of AoE pressure it was alright. Locking out all my shouts tho is just too much of a loss on top of how slow they are against any sort of decent spike focus DPS.
As for ToW i thought the net DPS was actually a loss compared to your normal rotation? But it did provide some buffs for the group.
Maybe in PvE these might be useful?
In PVE the tomes are probably the most useless. You lose your utilies and virtues when you use the tome, and its those utilites and virtues that make the guardian “guard” people. The tomes just dont make up for the loss. In dungeons people will be expecting aegis, stability, reflects, condi clear, etc. And you loose all that with the tome.