Guild Wars 2

As I attempt to evaluate if I will again “main” my Guardian for PoF, I cannot help but question the professions role in support as we prepare to receive a dedicated support, Elite Specialization.

To truly evaluate any spec, we need to look at the competitive game environments: end-game instanced PvE ( Fractals > 50 and Raids), SPvP, and WvW. I will omit any evaluation of open map metas, world completion or living world as these game modes rely more heavily on completing the zone mechanics and bring with them a more come-one, come-all design. Open world and story is simply more forgiving. Your particular spec does influence how you experience the entire game, but it will be felt most severely in Fractals, Raids, SPvP, and WvW; content that accounts for a large portion of daily game play (all game play for some players).

“Guardians are devoted fighters who protect their allies and smite their enemies by drawing from the power of their virtues. True guardians are brilliant tacticians and selfless defenders who know when to sacrifice their own defenses to empower their allies to achieve victory.” — GuildWars2.com

However, when I look at developer comments and commentary about the guardian in both past and present media, I cannot help but feel that the development team looks at the guardian as a hulking turtle, slowly wading through combat and attempting to pick up allies along the way. But this visualization is not perceived during actual game play. The design philosophy is disjointed from the packaged product and the realities of the game environment.

First, we are finally getting a dedicated condition based main hand weapon, with more damaging condition options! Thank you, its 5 years too late; but I’ll gladly take it. Full condi guard was something that should have been included on core guardian in 2012. But the Fire Brand’s offensive options do look encouraging. Honestly, thank you for finally giving us an optimal option instead of a barley viable choice. We may actually be considered for raids now… maybe. But I have never had a complaint about the damage on a guardian, and few people are drawn to the guardian’s class fantasy saying “I really want to do top damage”. Nope, most play it because they want to be supportive or durable where the desire for damage develops as they play the class more often.

Damage aside, the guardian suffers from three design flaws centered on being the “most durable” profession in the game: An over emphasis on defense that negates mobility, an over emphasis on broad defensive support leading to a jack-of-all-trades, and an under emphasis on direct healing based in the 2012 design philosophy.

The most durable profession: “we want players to feel the weight of being a heavy armor class” is a phrase you can hear in multiple places throughout the last 5 years from various ANet staff, to include the most recent Dev stream on 17 Aug. However, this “weight” isn’t usually associated with the highly mobile Warrior or the Revenants Herald. So what Devs really mean is that they want us to feel the weight of being a Guardian? This unfair burden has been one of the class’s most detrimental short comings.

Core Guards have two mobility skills that are locked behind our targets location and we have several poor options for providing group swiftness. Dragon Hunter improved this by giving us Wings of Resolve, undoubtedly the most useful skill in the entire skill line to date. Why? Because Guild Wars 2 employs (or attempts) an action based system where combat revolves around movement. A boss AOE is best mitigated by moving out of it. Guardians’ movement limitation is also why my WvW guard has had Travelers Runes for the last 5 years, any other option was largely foolish. When you cannot keep up with your team mates you’re either left behind or you become a burden. This weekend I was pleasantly surprised by how much swiftness is available in the F2 and F3 tome skill sets for FB, we have perma swiftness on a Guardian FINALY. It is a lot of skill rotation and I’m not sure if the tradeoff is worth it on a support character; on a DPS build however, it’s a very welcome addition. And as a 5 target buff, this will likely be the new movement meta in WvW. Bye bye Travelers! You will still need to run DH if you want your leap out of danger, as FB does not address this large issue. A leap would have been a welcome addition as a Mantra instead of the two utility/support Mantras.

Arcaedus.7290:

Okay, rant aside, here are some fixes for ToR that I think would be appreciated:

• Increase base healing values. This tome is no celestial avatar (and never will be due to its cooldown time) but its base-healing needs to at least do better than Dragonhunter’s Wings of Resolve. The scaling with healing power is great but overall healing on ToR is garbage even with 1400-1600 healing power due to bad base healing.
• Add some more utility to these tome skills. Consider adding blind, daze, cripple, resistance, super speed, immobilize and weaken to some of the ToR skills.
  -I think excellent spots to do this would be adding blind to #3, 2s super-speed to #5 (so you can rush to allies and heal them) and 2s resistance per condi cleared on #2.

No, increasing base anything is the absolute worst way to balance/rework values. It’s all about scaling. High base values is the reason why cele ele was stupidly overpowered some time ago, and high scaling is the reason why Viper’s is good for optimal dps for some specs. High scaling is also the reason why people get an actual return on investment into stats — which is what we should all want.

Increase the scaling on Tome of Resolve skills to give an incredible return for investing into Healing Power. Increasing the base values will only give dps guardians fantastic support for no investment into support stats.

The only instance where I’ll agree that base values merit increases is if condition/boon durations are too low. FB axe barely gives any condition damage because the base values for bleeding/burning duration are too low. The scaling for each condition’s damage shouldn’t be increased because condi damage should be about consistent damage over time. Increasing condition duration scaling is a different story.

The main problem with Hammer is that almost all of it’s moves are too slow and clunky compared to similar options on other classes.

I agree that Hammer #5 doesn’t really need Reflection, it just needs to be castable while moving like they changed Staff #5 to be (and possibly buff it’s cooldown to 30s for PvP like they did with staff as well.)

Hammer #4 needs to have it’s cast speed changed to 1/2s to be in line with similar knockback options from other classes (Staggering Blow on Warrior, Point Blank Shot on Ranger, etc) since it’s currently hugely telegraphed and too slow to be a useful interrupt.

Hammer #3 isn’t completely useless after they buffed it’s projectile speed a while back, but it’s cast speed is still a tad too slow and should be changed to be the same as the very similar, but generally more useful Vine Surge on Druid (3/4s).

Hammer #2 is fine speedwise, but it’s leap is a bit too short (300) compared to most other similar skills (600 Vault, 600 Savage Leap, 1000 Rocket Charge, etc) and should probably be 600, but at the very least 450.

The hammer auto-attack would also be fine if it actually worked like the tooltip said (1/2s first hit, 1/2s 2nd hit, 1 1/4s 3rd hit) but it’s actually closer to 3/4s first hit, 3/4s 2nd hit, 2s 3rd hit… which is a bit too slow and clunky compared to similar chains on other classes. If even just the last hit were fixed to match the tooltip speed it would definitely be a much more viable alternative, especially given the faster paced combat since HoT.

build in description :P

So, my post above is hardly news to anyone. The current Meta is an absolute kittenshow. This is a cautionary warning and tale to the Devs about where this is going.

Back in 2004, Magic: The Gathering released the Mirrodin card set. When this happened, a deck known as Ravager Affinity utilized a unique set of synergies, rose to the top of the scene and absolutely devoured the Meta. It was unstoppable, and smashed even decks designed specifically to counter it at about a 60:40 win rate. Player participation in tournaments cratered and an outflux of players began.

To quote:
“And so began an exodus of players and casual support for Magic because no casual, innovative or “fun” deck could survive in the world of Ravager Affinity. It was faster than the fastest aggro deck, had a continuous stream of gas and answers in response to any form of control or hate cards and had a relatively low learning curve for most beginners while guaranteeing success. Worse still, unlike today with formats like Commander to satisfy people who decide to wait out the storm, 2004 Magic did not have such a luxury.”

Guild Wars 2 does not have anything for PvP players to wait out the storm until February with. The only other PvP type (Stronghold, which I love), is limited to a single map, and even that is currently gone. This is an emergency situation. The Pro scene is dull to watch and even the competitors find it detestable. Viewership is cratering. Casual PvP is a nightmare thanks to the combination of MMR and Leagues. The worst thing that can be said about a game is now the buzzphrase that everyone is using. It’s not fun.

Take a look at this article, written by Wizards itself: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/eight-plus-one-2005-03-04
You can replace nearly every word in it with the appropriate Guild Wars analog and it will still ring true. Here is an altered version of the most telling paragraph:

One of the most kitten ing statements that can be made about a game is that it is not fun, and that’s exactly what we’ve been hearing lately about the meta. Sure, ever since elite builds first showed up after the release of HoT,… people complained about it. I have plenty of anecdotal evidence in my inbox of people quitting GW2, threatening to quit, or stepping away from PvP for some amount of time because of the dark cloud of the current meta—and believe me, each of those emails made me unhappy—but recently the evidence of the general public’s disdain for what the format looks like has gone from anecdotal to measurable. With some of the biggest PvP events of the year—Regionals, Nationals, and Worlds—on the horizon, how many more players could we continue to frustrate and alienate?

This is what’s happening to you. Fix the meta, and swifty, or you’ll suffer the same if not worse. I understand it takes time to balance things. PvE and knockoff effects must be considered. If you want to save the ESL scene, take a drastic step. Something like limiting teams to one of each class or banning certain amulets/runes may seem drastic, but at this point you desperately need a fix and don’t have the luxury of time.

I write this because I love this game, and I really enjoy the PvP. I had an absolute blast at PAX East last year watching the ESL World Championships. The Shatterer statue and Rytlock plushy I won reside on my desk and couch respectively. I want the scene to thrive and for my friend and I to share drinks and laughs/shouts as we wreck face/enjoy the tournaments. Please listen to your fans and communicate with them. We don’t make this noise because we hate you. We genuinely want this game to thrive, and your silence makes us feel more and more alienated now than ever before.

I am in the process of working with my small guild to upgrade my guild hall. Since I’m in the leadership of the guild, I can see clearly what it’s like to get the required materials to purchase each upgrade. I am completely in favor of the current system in place for Guild Halls.

The correct mentality is needed to enjoy the experience. Any player who has the mentality that they “must get all of the possible upgrades right away” is going to be disappointed. This is not a fast-paced MOBA; this is not an RTS where you can build an entire base in a matter of minutes; and I could list countless other examples. This is an MMORPG, where things take time but are rewarding.

If you try to get all of the upgrades alone, you will be overwhelmed. That’s why you are in a Guild. The task is meant to be done as a team. If you take a team and gather elder wood and mithril in Orr, or go to Dry Top and Silverwastes for Coarse Sand, it goes infinitely faster than if you go farm alone. Plus, it’s more fun to be in the company of your friends.

Even working together, a Guild Hall takes time to build. It is meant to be that way. It makes sense. And it is satisfying to see it coming together as time goes on. It should be expected by everyone that it will take time and effort.

The way Guild Halls are set up encourages the mentality of team work. It is up to players to accept that mentality. Doing it alone, and doing it all at once, is NOT what the game is about, and having that mentality is going to make you mad. Embrace the mentality of teamwork and gradual progression, and you will be much more satisfied with the results.

The game was NOT meant to be played like this: farm farm farm all day every day until you get all the rewards you can possibly get. It is much healthier to do this: spend a little time every day helping gather materials for the guild hall, and then spend the rest of the time doing what you enjoy, be it dungeons, exploring, gliding, jumping puzzles, PvP, or WvW, or any other thing. You will be surprised to find that you will not only be happier, but you will still get the upgraded guild hall that you want.

Yes, I have every alt that I am not currently actively playing at the Daily Flax Farm. I do that because that means I spend just a few minutes on my characters gathering, and then I switch to my main for the activities that I actively want to do. It also means that I am contributing to my guild hall every day, which is something that I want. I do more farming than that for the guild hall, but that is the example that I am sharing.

Guild Halls do NOT demand that you build ALL of the upgrades in ALL of the branches. There are guilds with a PvP focus, so they are meant to spend most of their focus on the PvP branch of the guild hall. There are also plenty of guilds that do not do much PvP, so that part of their guild hall is left unbuilt for a long time. It is meant to be that way. There is no shame in not having EVERY upgrade. You are meant to get the ones that you will use.

The materials required is realistic and possible.

I have an example from real life that I want to share: I was baffled to read in the newspaper that one bridge across a river cost more than 11 million dollars to complete. Yes, the project took several years, but it’s still staggering to me. The point of me sharing this example is that now I understand better the actual costs of construction. Bearing that in mind, the amount of materials required for certain things makes much more sense.

It’s possible that some things need to be tweaked, but if Anet decides to make those changes, I will accept that too. Heart of Thorns has not even been out for one month yet, and I know expecting everything to be perfect right away is unrealistic and ridiculous. If people could get a glimpse of Anet’s side of this game and issue, they might complain less and praise them more. This is a huge update all at once, and they have to monitor and work on current content AT THE SAME TIME as working on making new content.

My bottom line is this: learn to be patient, and you will be much happier.

~~~~ !!! Congratulations !!! ~~~~

As the owner of the 100.000 DH-flame-thread you get a special present.
A-net will gift you a truckload of [Packet of salt] and you are allowed to do the balancing for one DH skill/trait for the next balance patch.

Because we are currently in “DH-hate-week” you will get a addition gift.
We are proud to hand you a coupon for a one week cruise on the M.S. Cry me a river.

Alent.4780:

Obtena.7952:

Maybe if players toned down sensationalism, devs would be more likely to engage us. The playerbase has been cast aside and forgotten because … Revs? Are people to take this seriously? Devs HAVE replied and implemented LOTS of suggestions that they have asked us for. Just because they aren’t the specific things on certain players priority lists doesn’t mean people should be dishonest.

Specifically for this, I do fault Karl on his ambitious goal to consider core changes … this I think is simply not realistic and in all honesty, what core changes have they NOT heard us already talk about dozens of times?

Its sensational to point out the fact that the rev forum is active while other forums, Guardian included, have been left to languish? When was the last time devs actually implemented a change we asked for? And don’t say shields because literally know one asked for cool down reduction. All I’m asking for is a little communication, if features have to wait I understand! There is no reason to break out the soap boxes, I think we can all agree an active conversation would be nice, but thus far we’ve gotten a post or two at the start of a thread and then zero comments on our feedback.

You’re other post, including this one is very sensational, as well as demonstrating you’re lack of understanding for the mechanics of changes in MMO’s in general. I’m going to leave you and your friends to scream at walls on the forums while the rest of us use the keys we have been given by Anet to open the doors. GL.

It’s fine as is. I don’t want any excuses to nerf our damage.

Let me just say one name.. Joel Helmich
Anet, promote this guys, seriously.

So maybe you can guess now what this thread will be about.. action camera mode!

The most fun I ever had actually PLAYING an mmo was when I played Tera online, the game wasnt the best, but its combat system was AMAZING, it felt live and reactive and was so action based that you basically could not get bored of combat.

I started GW2 in beta and stayed because it was by far the best MMO because it had the best mechanics, story and gameplayfeatures, but I did get bored sometimes, so much so that when I was fighting tequatl for example Id just go afk for a moment to make myself a tea or something and just sit there auto attacking or when fighting a boss just pressing 23452345 and auto attack because it felt repetitive sometimes.
And I occasionally go back to tera when I just want to have fun and wanted to feel like actually fighting myself.

I had dreams about having my favorite playstyle in my favorite game..
and Joel Helmich made it happen, if he really came up with this and did most of this by himself he is my new favorite person in the world.

As I was watching Guildchat and he toggled on the action cam I litterally cried a little inside, not only that but as I was watching I came up with question I wanted to ask and concerenes I had, like
-can I hold left mouse button to attack
-can I still lock on a target
-will ground targeting work smoothly
but this guy… he answered ALL of this question in the stream with YES, showed how it works and explained it.
He did everything I ever wanted and more, he even managed to implement this feature BETTER then tera did think (I will need to test everything out myself).

This feature alone maybe making you more money then HoT alone will, I immediately told my friends about this, and when it goes live there will be 5 more people playing this game just from me and I am sure me and my friends are not the only ones loving this type of combat, because this combat system IS the future of every good MMO and GW2 combat will feel so good and action based now.
GuildWars 2 is basically the perfect MMORPG now combining everything from the king mmo WoW, from niche but fun to actually play mmos like tera and gw2’s own concepts and story which is actually the best part about this game.

THANK YOU Anet, THANK YOU Joel Helmich

just one question left, when can we play with this?

[Mod Edit: Removed inappropriate content]

Eponet.4829:

Pure of Voice + Runes of the Pack + Retreat + Save Yourselves = 100% swiftness

Or just have one trait, minor or otherwise, like other classes.

It’s like your goal is to kill Gary Busey, so you device a long string of traps and devices to take him down: A trip wire so he falls in kitten, a collection of mice to greet him in this hole, and a week beforehand of training said mice to like the taste of human.

Meanwhile, someone else could’ve just hit him on the back of the head with a baseball bat. There’s the difference.

edit: My analogy ruined by the word “a” before the word “hole”. There is no kitten.

Even dolyaks start to hack now sigh.

So this update has ruined ACs as defensive options, yet still allows them to be used offensively. Absolutely ridiculous and needs to be changed.

I could understand this one not being able to hit rams but it should be able to hit further out.
http://i.imgur.com/QKMpWoF.jpg

This should be allowed to hit rams but it can’t/barely could.
http://i.imgur.com/mrDjMdM.jpg

Can be AOEd easily. It can still barely reach rams.
http://i.imgur.com/I4pjBch.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/PrLOZtC.jpg

Can be AOEd by just about anything…
http://i.imgur.com/SZcmdwb.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/OjKGgmi.jpg

Offensive AC – I can hit the back where ACs are usually placed.
http://i.imgur.com/AHcVr6o.jpg

EDIT: bay

You can barely hit rams here.
http://i.imgur.com/t1PJUod.jpg

To make it even worse, offensive ACs can be used to counter these defensive ones. The defensive ACs can’t even hit the offensive ones.

http://i.imgur.com/3yGCWn5.jpg

azizul.8469:

since when wvw players care about reward? that is so pve……

Lol was about to say…

… Hear that thunder of 1,000 hooves?! It’s pvers flocking to WVW to complain, ktrain and get the new shinies … Then trample off never to return once attained.

Another suggestion: No stealth at all event. Poor national server roamers have to ditch the game for a week then though.

I am probably one of EU top roamers. I roam in EotM between towers and pour hot oil over upscaled noobs. I have 9 wins and 0 loses in 1 vs 1 fights. Usually i don’t fight back if some lamer try to kill me so i don’t really lose.

The Rise of the Dragonhunters

It’s a long cold stormy night as a group of Guardians have retreated to a tavern in Hoelbrak, having lost Fort Salma and Fort Concordia, they’ve lost their posts as Guards and drink their Ale in defeat, having lost all hope, boons, and waypoints, they wonder what to do next

Guardian 1: kitten! BY THE GODS, kitten IT ALL! I’ve lost my friends, we’ve lost BOTH Forts, I lost my post! HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FEED MY FAMILY?! I probably won’t have a family to feed after Mordremoth takes everything else away from us!!

Guardian 2: Calm down man, we’ve all lost something, don’t rowdy up the rest of the crew. We’re tired okay, let us drink in silence.

Guardian 3: You know what…NO! Let’s NOT calm down, he’s right, the Dragon is taking EVERYTHING away from us. And we’re GUARDIANS kittenMIT! How are we supposed to be GUARDIANS if there ain’t nothin’ to “GUARD” Hmmmmm?!?!

Guardian 1: And they ain’t the worst of it, we lost Lion’s Arch to a freakin’ vegetable-

Sylvari Guardian: -hey!

Guardian 1: Sorry, Lion’s Arch got obliterated… and we lost it to a freakin’ fruit.

Guardian Sylvari: ._.

Guardian 1: Out of AALLLL of the most important the places to “Guard”, we failed to “GUARD” it!

A small but dark Asuran Guardian turns around and exclaims in a deep voice

Asuran Guardian: Hmph, truue dat.

Guardian 4: YEA! And the Dragon took mai Keys! mai House! mai Gold! and all mai stchuuufff!

The Asuran guard turns around in a subtle yet heavy motion

Asuran Guardian: and ya’ll know that Symon cat aid workin’ in LA…

Guardian 4: Oh yea! He’s a cool dude, I used to bar brawl with him back in the LA Tavern! (Takes a giant gulp of beer) HAHA what a great guy!

Asuran Guardian: He lost his pee pee,
and now…
(put’s on his sunglasses)
he’s a she she.

Guardian 4: (Spits out his entire drink) AWW HELL NAWW!

Another Guardian at a table throws up in the background

Asuran Guardian: Yep, it ain’t gettin’ easier for us Guards if we can’t Guard LA and our friends’ pee pee.

Guardian 2: ALL RIGHT STOP THIS! This is getting outta control, We’re GUARDIANS kittenMIT!

Everyone turns to Guardian 2 as he stands on the bar, ready to give, what we anticipate… an epic speech

Guardian 2: Limme ask you fellas, who has the best support and ability to buff allies in all of Tyria?!

Guardian 1: (In a monotone voice) we do..

Guardian 2: Who has the best combination of blocks, invuls, and blinds in ANY combat sitchuwayyyshun?!

the crowd picks up

Guardian 1, 3, 4: We do.

Guardian 2: AND WHO CAN COME MEDITATE INTO A ZERG, GREATSWORD SKILL 2, and POP OUT WITHOUT A SCRATCH!?!

All the Guardians in the Bar: WE DO!!! (Cheering commences)

Guardian 2: AND WHO HAS A SHIELD AS THE PROFESSION’S ICONIC WEAPON WHICH HAS CRAPPY FUNCTIONALITY BUT WE CAN STILL GUARD ANYWAAY AAAHHHH!!!

All of the Guardians: (Slam their drinks together and cheer) WEEE DOOO!!!

Guardian 2: THAT’S RIGHT, WE’RE GUARDIANS, WE’LL GUARD OURSELVES, OUR FRIENDS AND ALL OF TYRIA TILL ALL THE DRAGONS OUR DONE WITH….

Because that’s what we DO.

Sylvari Guardian: YEAH, Nothing can stop us now!

One of the Guardian’s start to sing in a soft voice “We’re the best, araaahnd, nothin’s gonna ever take me down…WE’RE the BEST, nothin’s gonna eva take me daaaannn” and the rest of the Guardians begin to sing along, toasting their Ale’s and singing to the top of their lungs!! The Asuran Guardian /dances showing off his robotic moves…then all of a sudden

(caaa – thunk)

Please don’t take this away from the people who are actually thankful for it. Just learn to quick-cast like the rest of us and you will be fine.

Yea buff golems as theyre really underpowered and useless without boons..

Malediktus.3740:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52RKRR5p9Fg

Seems you enjoy griefing.

I’ve played since gw2 opened and I’ve worked very hard like everyone else for their gear. ;-; Logged in and found all my gear and weapons gone. I mean Never seen anything like this before but apparently its in the gem store now and at the weapon ticket vendor, rumors have been floating around that my beautiful back piece is soon to be also placed in the gem store.
I don’t know what to do. Few of my guildies suggested i come here for help.
Thanks for your time and any advice..
Daydreamer

So with the release of all the specialization details for these two professions, I created a video looking at each of the professions tools and possible combo tactics you can have with them. I don’t go into too much detail but I do talk briefly about what I think you’d be able to do with the new specs in different categories. The categories are as follows; Weapons, Utilities, New Core Mechanic.

Now I want to pose the question to you guys. Who do you think can get the most out of their new specialization abilities based on the above categories?

I personally think the Chronomancer wins out in the possibilities that have been unlocked by the new trait line, the weapon and the wells but I’d like to get all your cynical and objective opinions. I’ll do a mirror topic on the Mesmer side as well just to see what they say if you’re interested in that.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts!

Its “official” the new necro spec is: Greatsword Waver!

Rejected names include: Dark magic man, Blade carrying guy, and Bob.

Discuss!

lighter.2708:

messiah.1908:

MiniEquine.6014:

messiah.1908:

so the guardian LB will be more selfish with cc
the traps seems useless in pvp (maybe stronghold)

4k burning dmg is nice but still no condi cover and with other class getting more ways to cleanse the condi guard still be left out (maybe wvw)

If by useless you mean able to apply 25 stacks of vulnerability, 10 stacks of bleed, and heavy burning damage for the opponent even just walking on point, then yea, I agree.

you looking at it at perfect world.
useless compare to meditations. you forget you got no sustain with traps.
as for now i can build up 15 stacks of vulnerability and proc burning and 6 stacks of bleeding with poison on my guard. the point is it get cleanse with the current meta.
so you cant put your traps right away and have to bait the cleanses. thus making it useless
for power uses it may work on point.

Were you the one who said that medi guard will never be viable in serioure tPvP
or like hammer will be useless in tPvP
or even before that Zerker guardian will never be viable in tPvP.

I’m sure you are the ones who do this kind of stuff.

i am the one who test builds and went with carrion hybrid in tpvp before you even thought of it in your dreams…

Whilst on it, make it so you cant whisper people that you have on blocked. Raging kids in wvw and u cant fuel the fire…

Edit: I am stalking you too but then on followers tab ;p