Guild Wars 2

AirWick.1769:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xg5D2gJAsU

When the best EU player considers the new ranking system trash tier, you better believe there is something very wrong with it. Just saying…

Hope that highlight gets the exposure it deserves, so this gamemode can finally move foward, instead of backwards. Pay attention ANet! You’r doing it wrong!

Been playing with the build these last few days, and have tweaked the guide according to the changes I made to the build. Hope you’ll give it a shot :P

Like my grandpa used to say, “When they give u lemons, u make lemonade!”. So in that state of mind, I’ve started recently experimenting with the new Berserker trait line, and this is what I’ve come up with:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQJASRnUJC1kilhAmkC0hglqATpHE7eAILuGQA4902antA-TxCEwAQOEAPVa0S9noKx+oLYrSQmKDM8AAAcBAecEAit/QAAEAu5NP6NP6NLDQxWA-e

Few pointers for the people who don’t have much experience with the profession:
1 – The most important mechanic, u must master, in this build, is managing your stances. Keep in mind Defy Pain will proc when your hp crosses the 25% threshold, if off cd, so u want to make sure u DON’T use your Defiant Stance, when it does. Save your Balanced Stance for panic moments, when all your other stunbreakers are on cd or when u need to pop your Battle Standart, increasing the odds it won’t get interrupted.
2 – When engaging/pushing I like to do as follows: Once I checked i got stab from my guards and i have my gs equipped, I use Sundering Leap into the enemy zerg + Whirlwind Attack. At this point I switch to my hammer and use Hammer Shock. If in this process i get stunned/dazed, use Outrage, as it will generate a lot of adrenaline. Now u should have enough adrenaline to immediately go into Berserker Mode and start ccing/damaging everyone like a lunatic. Ofc u may like to engage in a diferent way, but i found this to be the quickest way to fill up your adrenaline bar and enter Berserker Mode.
3 – When beeing pushed, stay compact to your commander and start by ccing the enemy zerg, with your hammer, as they push. Hammer Shock and Staggering Blow are good skills to achive this. When they r on cd, just keep cleaving with autoattacks. Idealy always dodge to the side, so u don’t face the enemy’s meele train. If going low on health, dodge backwards while switching to your gs (for that Hydromancy Sigil proc) and Whirlwind Attack away from the enemies. U should have enough adrenaline, at this point, to either counter-push or just to have acess to some extra stab, always needed in rough moments.
4 – Always keep in mind, your gs can either output a ton of burst damage or keep u save, allowing u to evade enemy hits and disengage to safety, while your hammer can heavily cc lock enemies, into place, specially in Berserker Mode.

Build Variants:
1 – Switch Sundering Leap for Endure Pain (utility), so u can have 2 cds of it. This will give u a bit more survivability but be aware u’ll loose the only leap finisher u have and therefor the ability to stay on the tag when he/she pushes. U’ll also have an extra stance cd to manage. But if u find yourself dieing a lot, just go for it.
2 – Switch Cleansing Ire for Last Stand (trait), Cleasing Ire is one of most important adrenaline generating mechanics in this build. So i only recommend this if u don’t have any guards in your party and u need the extra stability.
3 – Switch Hoelbrak for Melandru (runes), if u can’t afford Hoelbrak. Whatever runes u choose to use, just keep in mind that a lot of conditions can really hurt this build. So I definitely recommend having condition duration reduction in your rune set, as well as always running condition duration reduction food like Loaffes of Saffron Bread or Lemongrass Poultry Soup.

In comparison, to the standart WvW Frontline Warrior Shout build, u’ll lose a lot of condition cleansing due to the fact that u’r no longer running Superior Runes of the Trooper, shouts and because you no longer run warhorn. If you have at least 2 shout frontline guardians in the party, run proper food and runes tho, this shouldn’t be a problem.

On the plus side, u’ll have a huge ton of stability uptime, a lot of stunbreakers to spam on cd and stil output a brutal amount of damage and cc, while still beeing the supportive banner bot everyone wants by their side. I’ve been having a lot of fun, these past couple of days, runing this build inside meele trains, in wvw. I recognise it has some flaws but it feels very visceral and promotes a very active playstyle, something which i think ppl who like playing warrior will apreciate.

Obviously all constructive feedback is welcomed and let me know if the build feels fun.

Ravenmage.4036:

I was doing the story mode on my rev right at launch, with the game fully downloaded. I completed it and joined a friend for torn sky, but after completing it, it set me back to Rally to Maguuma with everything checked off. I can’t reenter the instance and I can’t progress on my story, nor can I get the rewards that are required to make the other specialization stuff.

This is day 3, and clearly I’m not alone since there are bunch of posts here. I don’t want to have to remake my rev since I use up a total makeover kit and dropped a bunch of gold on armor and weapons, and transmutations stones to get a look i wanted.

It wouldn’t even be so bad if there was basically any response acknowledging the issue or that it’s being worked on….

Welcome to the sad kids club… The ones that r still waiting on ANet to fix HoT’s 1st story instance, so that we can finally start progressing our main characters thru the expansion, like everyone else who’s payed for it… 3 full days in and the amount of frustration, from my side at least, is so big I don’t even feel like logging in. Every hotfix that comes out, with no impact in this issue, makes me feel worse, for dropping my hardly earned money on this expansion… Tottaly unaceptable! Shame on u ANet!

Pandarian.4196:

It is now the day after launch, I still can not get past gather at the rally point leading into the maguuma jungle on the prologue mission. Your “hotfix” yesterday allowed us a place to get back into the instance in silverwastes, BUT the game still crashes everytime I try to run past Taimi up to the the final step of this storyline. This is absolute BS that people like me paid $100 to be unable to even get in the zone and I’ve waited patiently a WHOLE DAY. COME ON ANET, you should be able to fix a problem preventing players from stepping into your new content.

I still have no way to get back in the instance… There is no green star anywhere on my map. Zoning out of SW, changing to my personal story, reloging do nothing… Yesterday’s hotfix did absolutely nothing for my account. So frustating beeing locked out of the new content and stuck in SW…

Jesuro.6407:

my main cant get into the new content because of this bug that you did not fix yet and now i have to give up on it what good is there to pay so much for this game to not enjoy what you like please fix it…..

I have the exact same problem with my main character… Still stuck in SW with no way to finish the story – Prologue: Rally to Maguuma, even tho ANet tells us they already fixed it… 24hours+ have passed since the release. Would b great to gain access to the content we paid for… Sigh…

Lauren Kamieniecki.6245:

The Mad King pops in with this pun for the thread:

A Monumental announcement is approaching “soon”

Let us hope this is, finally, some good news… Ty Miss Lauren.

Svarty.8019:

I would suggest people watch the whole video, you can see Colin diplomatically correct Mike’s unfortunate gaffes.

Sry! Isn’t Mike O’Brien CEO of ANet!?

Why would an employee, “diplomatically” correcting his boss, change the impact of the head of the company’s statement? Should I deposit my faith in ANet because i know the lead developer knows what he’s doing, while the CEO is utterly clueless? Doesn’t seem logic to me…

illenos.5134:

Zolazie Grengche.3051:

Mike O’Brien already has the answer, NO ONE!

In the following link I took part of Reyana’s interview with Colin and Mike at PAX South, where Mike O’Brien schooled Reyana on the “fact” that “People don’t play one thing”. (his condescending attitude is pure gold)

This whole Golem Rush week is the result of a company that doesn’t listen to their player base, but rather tells their player base what they want/need to enjoy the game.

BTW, I only play WvW…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajDiZkUNpe0

I think you are really into PvE! https://youtu.be/4LhvuomaJaY

Wow… That actually explains a lot…

FleurBlanc.1790:

Maybe anet will show the same kind of love to PVE and PVP. We can have a 5-way racial war in PVE with pvp turned on in all maps and towns. Killing uplevels grants double the points! Before long, all will bow down to our human female overladies. And for PVP maybe, for a week, it can be turn-based costume brawl in all new underwater maps only. It’ll be fun, I’m sure PVErs and PVPers will love it. What can possibly go wrong?

I got to be honest… I Loled
By the way, just wanted to chip in… I only play WvW!

My mom always told me I am exceptional… Guess Mike O’Brien proved her right!

Big props to the OP. I like and support every single 1 of your suggestions.

It’s so refreshing to read a well put together, coherent and constructive post, in the middle of so many meaningless, trollish and missinformed ones that plague these forums. Not to mention ANet’s feedback to the them… (Golem Rush Event!?! Really?)

My most def +1.

Lauren Kamieniecki.6245:

Hey guys!

No release date yet, but it looks REALLY promising right now. Not for next release though, I don’t want to get your hopes up and dash them on tuesday.

FWIW the programmer doing the fix is extremely meticulous and wants this to be 10000% right when it goes out. It is not an easy fix and it has been being worked on since it broke.

If we can all be patient just a little bit longer then we will have more Gods Walking Amongs Mere Morals in the future… but sadly one of them won’t be me.

So a couple of conclusions we can take from this update:
1 - For those wondering, the fix probably won’t come out for about another month. Since we’ve been told they will only release the fix in a scheduled patch, and since Miss Lauren has told us it won’t go live next Tuesday, maybe by the end of July (best scenario). Just speculating on what’s been told…
2 - Like someone else suspected, in a different thread about this issue, we now have confirmation that only 1 programmer has been assigned to deal with this fix and that, probably, he’s been bashing his head against this issue, for 3 months now, with little to no help.

My question is as follows: Why has ANet assigned so few resources towards fixing this situation? Since HoM is a big part of GW2 (because it rewards players with exclusive skins, pets and minis) and since it’s a critical link between the only 2 MMO’s ANet has ever made, why is 1 guy enough? Everyone tells us that it isn’t an easy fix, that it’s really risky and that it’s a programming nightmare, still they assign this to 1 programmer (No offense intented, towards him. I’m sure, whoever was put in charge of this fix is a very talented programmer. Keep up the good work lad! ).

Go figure out corporate priorities… Sigh… Anyhow, thanks for the update.

Lusteregris.2697:

Anet, please. Give it a priority for a week or two, get this bug fixed. I dont want yet another set of black lion weapon skins, i want MY skins.

^ This! +1

Another big patch goes live and still no changes on this situation… Hard to justify pre-ordering HoT when I still have no acess to the rewards I’m entitled to, from perchausing your first game.

Is there anyway we can get an update on this issue? And please don’t say “soon” if the fix is still a month+ away. That is just frustrating…

Robotmoxie.4025:

The problem with encouraging everyone to make a responsible consumer decision, in this context, is that you’re providing them with a speech about your own position in the process of doing so.

And I understand that impulse. I’ve done it before, because I had a feeling that I was making the right decision, and I didn’t want anyone to fall into a trap, or make a mistake.

But please understand, when you appeal to everyone and tell them to make their own decisions, but then follow up with, “and this is my decision,” plus an allegory for the sake of describing caveat emptor, it… kind of paints your entire appeal with your position.

Which is unfortunate, if that isn’t what you wanted, but even in text, it provides tone.

Be careful, Truska. I can tell you’re well-intentioned, but how you word these things will shape the kind of responses you get. That’s why I keep getting stuck making essays, because after a decade of messing around on MMO forums, I… am really careful about how I say anything.

I totally get what your telling me. And now that u brought it up, I see that, maybe, I shouldn’t have mixed facts with my own biased opinion. I just trully believe that the only way u can make the right decision is to base it on a lot of facts and a bit of common sense. Everyone is responsible for what they bring to the table.

Having said that I also believe these forums are the easiest way, for players to reach out and share what’s in their minds. As long as it’s done constructively and rationally.

Smokeypancake.9267:

Am I the only who refuses to pre-order (and especially pre-purchase) because I consider it to be awful for the gaming industry in general? This announcement doesn’t really change anything for me, so I still won’t be getting it until I know it is worth it. That means I’ll be missing out on the character slot for not pre-purchasing, so I won’t be bothering at all. This ‘deal’ still screws people who wait to find out what they are buying before dumping money on things. As well as all the people who get told the expansion is good and that they should buy it. But I guess you don’t have any faith in your product itself so are trying to get as many pre-purchases as possible before the reviews hit. Call me cynical, but I’m sick of awful games being ‘released’ in half completed states. Even if I have faith in the company I still won’t do it (see: recent controversy over Batman: Arkham Knight). Ya’ll need to listen to TotalBiscuit more.

Oh well. Been a good 10 years Anet.

Nope, you’r not alone my friend.

Robotmoxie.4025:

I guess what I can’t see is that specific problem, bad as it is, indicating a broken core game. Like, entirely. To the point that you’d recommend that someone not purchase GW2, or that you wouldn’t pay for it yourself.

I am not recommending anything to anyone! Ppl are free to do whatever they please with their hardly earned money. What I’m doing, is appealing to everyone’s common sense, hoping that ppl will be capable of making a well informed and responsible consumer decision. Just because i decided to share mine, doesn’t mean I’m imposing it to anyone…

Robotmoxie.4025:

But I sympathize with you. And I really do hope those bugs get fixed. I just think your image of Arenanet, and GW2 as a whole, has been… extremely skewed by how these specific bugs have shaped your experience.

Which I guess is reasonable. I just wish it wasn’t that way, because when HoT drops, I wanna play it with lots and lots of people. Including you and people like you.

Thank you Robotmoxie. I really mean it. It’s so refreshing to read a well constructed and honest reply, when all i’ve been reading, in these forums, the last week, are rage fuelled irracional reactions. A little bit of common sense goes a very long way.

Robotmoxie.4025:

[Continued from Previous Post]

What I’d suggest to you is that you focus on the actual problems you’re experiencing, and talk specifically about them, to the devs, in their appropriate forums. Go to the PvP and WvW forums and bring these issues to the devs’ attention, because these are extremely specific, engine-based problems that they can address.

Ty Robotmoxie for your honest and constructive input. I do agree with a lot of points you just made. But I’d also like to remind everyone, what my point was, when I created this thread. I know that, a game with this dimension, all these gamemodes and experiences, to be 100% bug and issuefree, it’s close to impossible. But the truth is that ANet is “trying to put the carriage in front of the horses”.
My point is, that i can’t justify paying 45€ for an expansion, when the core game still has serious issues (I know the HoM issue comes down to a few skins and minis that are not accessable and I know how small this issue is).

Btw, the MidAir Immob bug has been exposed and documented, in the bug forums, for almost a year now. Ppl are still wating for an official dev reply, on a bug that is randomly but constantly damaging GW2’s sPvP community. Either they don’t have the resources to fix it, or they simply don’t care… That’s how it comes across…

Animism.9803:

I honestly don’t understand how the companies resources are being allocated.

Unfortunately, the feeling I get, is that, nowadays, big MMO companies always pour all their resources into aspects of the game that can generate the most revenue. Developers are not trying to make their game the best game they can make; instead, we the players get out pockets milked dry, while the in-game experience still lacks quality…

I’ve always defended ANet with passion! I’ve always been a huge ANet fanboy! And I felt embarrased when I saw the pre-order option going live. My true honest opinion.
Ty for your opinion and constructive reply.

serenke.4806:

And then the remarkable “core game is still broken” which makes even less sense.

What I find remarkable is that, after all this time, ppl are still oblivious to the issues that damage the game ppl love so much. (As I do… I love this game)

Non-sense is supporting a company, with a 45€ perchause, when an official dev reply to the issues and bugs I mentioned is still to b found.

If u don’t think the core game has serious issues, pls get a bit more informed, before replying again…

Gaile Gray.6029:

As we mentioned in several posts on the forums and in various other media, we have been reading and gathering your feedback about the Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns pre-purchase.

Please see this blog post for new information on the Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns pre-purchase.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts!

Big props to ANet for trying to make things right and showing some sort of appreciation to their veteran playerbase. Ty for trying to restore our faith in you. Unfortunately I still won’t be pre-ordering HoT or buying it until I see some game-breaking bugs and issues adressed and fixed in the live version.

A well informed and responsible decision is always the best decision! Want to know what bugs and issues I’m talking about? Here is a thread I made a couple of days ago, that explains thing in detail.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Shinny-Bodykits-On-Rusty-Rovers/first#post5168890
If that’s not enough, u can always visit the Bugs Forum or use the old reliable Google.

Don’t let ANet throw sand in your eyes guys! Pls stop straying away from what really matters. Don’t get caught in mindless discussions about price tags, or character slots or even dodgy marketing moves. They want us to invest in a expansion pack, when the core game is still broken. Sry ANet, my common sense doesn’t allow me to justify that…

xlion.3065:

Truska.2064:

circuitnerd.5863:

Truska.2064:

Raven.3957:

Soon is very hopeful, and the update is rather appreciated; thank you.

Now to hope and pray that soon means days and not weeks lol

Joke’s on you, soon actually means “about another month”.
Thank you ANet…

At least. Dev posted on May 29th “We’re close, seriously.”

Hey at least u can now pre-order the HoT’s expansion pack… Good to know ANet has it’s priorities straight.

Why on earth would we pre-order something we know so little about while we very much know what temporary unaivalable and we are close actually means.

I get the feeling you’r not very used to sarcasm Xlion. I was actually saying not to pre-order… kitten , jokes are way better when u don’t have to explain them.

circuitnerd.5863:

Truska.2064:

Raven.3957:

Soon is very hopeful, and the update is rather appreciated; thank you.

Now to hope and pray that soon means days and not weeks lol

Joke’s on you, soon actually means “about another month”.
Thank you ANet…

At least. Dev posted on May 29th “We’re close, seriously.”

Hey at least u can now pre-order the HoT’s expansion pack… Good to know ANet has it’s priorities straight.

Now, due to all the points I’ve made, my position towards the HoT expansion pack is a very clear and straigth-foward one. I will not be pre-ordering the expansion pack, I probably won’t be buying the expansion anytime soon and I will stop all gem perchauses until I see these game-breaking bugs and issues fixed in the live version.
To all the ppl, that have been having issues making the decision of whether to buy or not the HoT expansion pack, let me suggest a simple analogy:

“You buy your first car. You don’t have a lot of money so all you can afford is an old rusty 1985’s Rover. It’s far from perfect, has a lot of issues but you learn to live with them. You get to know the car, your start figuring out all the tricks to start it up and keep it going. You fall in love with your 1985’s Rover a bit more, everyday. Then one day, suddenly, the engine goes so you take it to your mechanic. That guy that has always helped you, when you’r in a rough spot. You consider your mechanic an honest friend, someone who has always put your consumer interest before his profit. But when you tell him about what happened to the engine, he answers back: “Don’t worry about the engine mate! What your Rover needs is a couple of supercharged turbos, a spoiler and shinny bodykit! Those will keep your mind off the engine issues… Just give me your money and I’ll take care of everything for you!”

I know it’s a bit crude, but this feels exactly what ANet is doing to their playerbase… Trying to milk their pockets for an expansion pack, when the core base game they are trying to expand on is still broken. (Something for the both the new and the vet players to reflect on)

I’m very sorry for the text wall, but as a final appeal I’d like to say this: There has been very little common sense in these forums these last couple of days. Worse then that, it seems there is even less common sense in the corporate world that runs big MMO’s, like our beloved GW2, these days. Don’t forget that, as a video-game consumer, the only real choice u can make is when you’r about to perchause the produt. So all I can hope, is that everyone will be able to make a well-informed and responsible decision, as well as vote with their wallets. Your money migth not mean much on it’s own, but a collective conscience has no price tag.

Edited: My most sincere feelings to the person responsible for today’s PoI stream and the people moderating twitch’s chat. You’r gonna be chewed up.

Please feel free to correct any missinformation I might have posted, in a polite and constructive manner. Also share your thougths…

So here we go… As a dedicated ANet and GW2 fan I was shocked when I saw the HoT’s pre-order option was already available. I was equally shocked to see the community’s reaction to the latest ANet/NCSoft decisions, when reading all the rage that has been flowing on the forums these couple of days. And before people start lashing at me, whiteknigthing ANet (which is something I really don’t get) let me just clarify that I’m a big ANet fanboy myself. I’ve been playing GW2 since release, been supporting the game through sporadic gem perchauses and by trying to lure everyone I know into the game, as well as defending it whenever the “which is the best mmorpg right now” argument pops. I also own a GW Platinum Edition account.

From what I’ve been reading in the forums, it’s very obvious that the community is not happy, but because some points have been extensively debated, I feel that we are loosing sight of what really are the core issues here. And because of that I won’t be discussing:
– The fact that ANet has lately engaged in some dodgy, poorly thought and very questionable marketing decisions, that have dented the playerbase’s trust in it.
– Or the fact that there is a big difference between the abstract pure consumer value perchaused by a new and a vet player, when pre-ordering the HoT expansion pack (Standar Edition).
– Or the fact that ANet should include a character slot in the standart edition, since a big part of the new content is playing the new profession (This is just silly).
– Or the fact the ANet have made the pre-order available for an expansion pack that doesn’t even have a release date (Something I’ve never seen before).
– Or even the fact that 45€s is a steep price tag for a feature-heavy expansion pack, when the core game was only 10€s more expensive, at release. And when so little has been shown about the content in it.

What I would like to focus everyone’s attention on are the following 3 points:
1 – FPS/Sound Bug -> Imagine this scenario: It’s Friday night, reset night for WvW. You’r from a top tier server and because you’ve arrived a bit late you have to wait in a 1+ hour long queue to enter the EBG map. When you finally get in you get the bug and the game goes from awesome to unbarable in a matter of 5-10 minutes. Your client finally crashes and you’r forced to reenter the 1+ hour long queue again. Not to metion the random disconnections and latency issues, when it comes to 3-way figths, that everyone has been complaining about, since the release of the game. Is this what ANet classifies as a fun WvW experience?

2 – Mid-Air Immobilize Bug -> Anyone who enjoys sPvP knows immediately what I’m talking about. Another well documented and exposed bug that randomly benefits one side in a small scale engagement and that in a competitive gamemode, heavily influences the outcome. Is this what ANet classifies as a skillbased fair PvP experience?

3 – HoM Rewards Beeing Unacessable -> A major GW2 game feature that not only made the transition from GW to GW2 easier and rewarding, but also is an incentive for any GW2 players to buy ANet’s first game. Has been disabled, for months now, due to a bug in the bridge between both games. As a result, noone has acess to the rewards they are entitled to.

Raven.3957:

Soon is very hopeful, and the update is rather appreciated; thank you.

Now to hope and pray that soon means days and not weeks lol

Joke’s on you, soon actually means “about another month”.
Thank you ANet…