Guild Wars 2

I do not have an 80th level character yet.

Can I still do the unlocking of new journal content ?

How exactly is the Living Story going to play out in game terms going forward?

My 30th characters were able enter the Tower of Nightmares, and fight in the surrounding landscape. Out in the world I was able to respond to Scarlet Invasions. I was able to take part in Lions Arch siege events and the downfall of Scarlet.

With this new journal will there still be new content things to do for my < 80th level characters? I enjoyed doing all of the things that I listed above. If the future content that is similar to the above is restricted to 80th level then I will be very disappointed.

My mesmer is level 22. PvE discussion here. Practice switching between your weapons during combat. I think this is very important and it improved my defense AND offense greatly.

I like Phantasmal Defender utility. If the wiki can be believed, it soaks up damage that would otherwise hit me or my party members. Its low damage but it will tank damage for awhile.

Using multiple Phantasms seem to be an important component to damage dealing at this level (if not all levels?) . By swapping weapons in combat you can have 2 offensive phantasms up. In theory you could have up to 5 (or 6 an elite?) phantasm at once? I regularly have three up at once. To be clear: you can have all of your Clones AND several Phantasms up at once.

Stealth skills. I have at 3 of them available to me now, but I’ve only been using one of them so far (could use all 3 at once). Going into stealth will make the monster attack one of my illusions for a few seconds. This is useful if I need a few seconds more for Ether Feast (healing) to refresh.

I start with Scepter + Pistol for attacks while at range. The pistol phantasm seems very strong offensively. I get 2 Phantasms up right away. They tank for me while I let scepter attack 3 times to get my first Clone up, or do Scepter #3 for the good damage and Confusion (even more damage)

If pressed by 1 or 2 attackers not on my Phantams, then I can use Scepter #2 BLOCK to generate a Clone. If I am standing near 3 enemies at this point, I weapon swap to 1H sword and do #2. This will evade attacks and deal damage to 3 targets. Note that the #1 attack also “cleaves” into 3 nearby targets as well.

Because I am swapping weapons in combat I put a Minor Sigil of Doom on a weapon so my next attack causes Poison. Its free damage.

I like to Mind Wrack to cause AoE damage as my phantasms and clones shatter. If my survivability seems to be working I can afford to shatter my Phantasmal Defender & Pistol Defender and Clones and them put up the Phantasmal Swordsman from 1H sword. I can then generate 2 more Clones with Sword’s two abilities that generate clones (one also does a BLOCK) plus possibly a third (and 4th) clone depending on which Stun Break utility I have ready.

If I need more survivability then I will not shatter my illusions as often = I want all 3 phantasms up at once.

Does he say “critical hit damage” when it should have wrote critical hit chance? Because critical hit chance is very powerful. Critical damage additions are not.

According to the wikia: Critical hits have a base damage multiplier of 150%

Knowing that x1.5 and the critical hit “chance” on the character tab, it is fairly easy to figure out how many strikes need to land to get the extra critical damage. Then compare that damage from crit-alone from how much damage adding Power would give over those multiple strikes.

My low level thief has over 33% crit chance. That is like to adding +17% weapon damage per attack, although it comes in bursts of crits. I am assuming my character sheet crit chance is actually the real chance per swing, rather than some other math.