Guild Wars 2

Hi Gaile,

PM sent – once again thank you!

Thanks guys for the feedback. To answer some of your questions, I played a guardian at launch but then took a break when HoT came out. I played a ranger heavily in GW 1 so I’m burned out on bows and traps. I’d really like to get into the scrapper profession as soon as possible, but wasn’t sure if I needed a solid foundation in targeting with grenades and bombs first.

Hi all,

I’ve been testing several classes out in the Silverwastes area but so far I’m loving the engineer the most. However, one of my guildies recommended not boosting my engie since it can be a difficult class to learn. What do you guys think? I have limited time and am afraid I’ll just fizzle out if I have to level another character.

Hi Pixie,

I’ve seen your recruitment ads and heard great things about the guild. I’m interested in doing later night (PST) missions if you have groups that play that late. I’m currently part of Old Timers Guild but their events normally happen too early for me to participate.

Hi all,

My current guild’s interest in GW 2 has waned since ESO came out, so I’ll probably be looking for a new home soon. I’ve seen some great stuff about NSP and was wondering how good the coverage is during late West Coast evenings (10 pm – midnight) . Sadly this is the only time I can usually play on the weekdays.

Conncept.7638:

Tamaki Revolution.3548:

Conncept.7638:

It’s a prison. It isn’t supposed to be enjoyable, and maybe (not really, actually a statistical fact from US social scientists observation of foreign prisons) if more real prisons were like it criminals might actually make the necessary changes to their lives to not ever go back.

While I couldn’t care less about a quest in a video game, I find it funny that you’re suggesting prisons should whip/physically abuse their inmates irl :P

You’re looking at this from an emotional standpoint, mine was from a logical one. Furthermore, what is morally correct, and more importantly who’s stance actually does and prevents more harm?

• Under your moral system
  Criminal commits assault > is caught and jailed > serves in a humane correctional facility where there is no negative reinforcement against his or her crimes > is released > 66% likely to repeat their offense > is caught and jailed > serves in the same correctional facility > is released > now even more than 66% likely to reoffend… and the percentage goes up with each return. This is the standard in the United States and most of Europe.

• Under my moral system
  Criminal commits assault > is caught and jailed > serves in a harsh prison where he or she is is treated with the same violence he or she doled out > criminal is as little as 20% likely to reoffend, maximum 30%. And the percentage goes down with each return. Those statistics are based on Japan, which has one of the most successful criminal justice systems of any industrialized country in the world.

Japan has been critiqued by Europe and the US for years for conditions in their prisons, which are principally based on very long and harsh regimens of punishment, as well as complete and utter control of the offenders life for the duration of their sentence. Yet in the US and Europe, people who suffer from crime and the ratio of criminals to non-criminals has risen continually for the last fifty years. While Japan’s crime rate has not risen for any significant amount in that same amount time.

Under your system, there is no limit to how many people can be harmed, and more is more likely than less. Under mine, on average two people are harmed, the original offender and the criminal, and no one else. What is right is what is best for the greatest amount of people, and what is wrong is not that which pricks at your sensitivities.

Two things:

1 Americans, especially African Americans, are going to be very sensitive to images of prisoners being whipped because of our history with slavery. I can totally understand why that particular mission could be seen as distasteful.

2 I’m all for harsh punishment for violent offenders, but my understanding is Japan’s prisons are equally bad for petty criminals and non-violent addicts. Also, Japan is notorious for having a justice system where you’re guilty until proven innocent, and confessions are often coerced by extreme police interrogation. Now, I don’t think America is a huge improvement since we have massive overcrowding and lots of innocent people being railroaded, but I do think that a number of European countries probably have the best balance of protecting the public while recognizing prisoners are still human and deserve at least a certain level of dignity.

Thanks for the replies all. I should have stated that my end goal with the thief is to finish the Orders storyline and use him mostly for WVW. My guardian main will be my primary for PVP and fractals.

By “twitch” I mean how much does thief resemble a first person shooter game.

I’ve just started a thief alt and its a great change of pace from my guardian. However, I’m hearing from some of my thief buddies that the class is pretty difficult to play at end level, if not the most difficult from a “twitch” perspective. How true is that and are there viable builds that are a little easier than others?

Losers whine about how their class got nerfed. Winners reroll warrior and go home to kitten the prom queen.

Sean kittening Connery, The Rock

Hi fellow guardians,

Here’s my problem – I find myself playing odd hours during the week when WVW is rather dead and it’s hard to get dungeon runs. I spend quite a bit of time leveling events and hearts in the world solo. Unfortunately, things are getting pretty stale. I’m in my 50s and can’t see spending another 20 or so hours spamming greatsword and judge’s intervention.

Does anyone have a good solo leveling build that will allow me to mix things up while still leveling as quickly as greatsword? I’ve thought about experimenting with sword/torch or spirit weapons, but I’ve heard both of those have been nerfed hard. Hammer and scepter/focus are somewhat fun, but just don’t seem to get the job done as quickly as GS. Also, any suggestions for good leveling traits?

Dreamy, I appreciate the posts and am not trying to flame, but I’m not a new player. It’s not that my guardian is unplayable solo, it’s that he’s boring. Many of my skills are meant for groups, my ranged options are pretty limited, and I seem to be coming back to the same greatsword build to effectively level.

I’m therefore looking for any advice on a good class that either has more interesting mechanics, more variety in solo skill selection, or slightly more challenge.

I find myself playing odd hours which means I’m spending a lot of time grinding hearts and solo events. While I enjoy my guardian in groups, I’m finding him pretty boring as a solo class

Would love to hear from the community what the most fun solo class is. I’ve considered thief, ranger or engineer, but would any feedback would be appreciated.

Hi all,

I’m getting a little tired of my guardian main and after trying a few different classes have discovered I really like my level 20 thief in PVE. With the new WVW features I’m thinking of taking him into the Mists this week.

Here’s my question: is a lower level thief extremely hard to play in WVW? I did ok on my guardian as soon as I hit 30 in WVW, but I was playing a toughness-oriented build and relied on buffing larger groups. Thieves seem to shine 1 vs 1 but of course I’m not going to win that many fights against level 80s.

Also, are there particular survival strategies I should be employing as I level?

Silentstorm, thanks for your continued videos. I was about to give up on guardian before trying your paladin build and now I’m having a blast. Quick question – what do you suggest for an elite if you’re not human? I’m thinking that Renewed focus seems good, but was wondering if you’d tried either of the tomes.

Kellnor.5428:

I absolutely LOVE my Ranger in WvW. I honestly feel like I do very well in WvW and have no problems in most situations I come across whether it’s Commanding, Ganking, or Soloing.

On a side note, I would DEFINITELY not recommend the class if you want a 1-button win class. If you wan’t that roll a thief Ranger takes a bit of strategy, but once you have a handle on it, your potential is amazing.

Best of luck!

I definitely want a decent challenge and have little interest in thief.

I currently have a guardian in his 60s but need a change of pace. I want to try a more range-focused class for WVW but have no interest in eles. Would love suggestions about whether ranger or engineer would make a good choice.

kuroi.5467:

jokes like that confuse your real points, and i don’t have a lit degree, i can just read.

secondly, the personal story of gw2 is a single player experience. there is ZERO incentive (lv 80 mission aside) to ever venture into someone else’s personal story. even if you’ve connived enough to be tasked with the same mission at the same time (not easy) you’d have to play them separately, or one at a time.

i can almost see how the game was supposed to work. the story line slowly homogenizes over time, so you go from dealing with fairly local problems to a whole scale war. but the problem is everything about the world is taken as a given, as something that is so obvious you should know it already (and usually, it’s so obvious you know it already). instead of characteristic idiosyncratic each character has his Super Obvious Personality Disorder that governs almost every action. not to mention that this is the second time i’ve slowly progressed from local drama to uniting an entire world against dragons, this year alone.

skyrim’s story was vague, banal, and as generically fantastic as you could get, but its utter devotion to the minute details of lore carried the day, as well as the fact that you completely controlled your story progression. but more importantly, there were consequences to your choices. in gw, regardless of the 1000 different starting paths i choose, the entire rest of my game is going to be identical.

I apologize for going on the defensive, but your first post came off IMHO somewhat argumentative and arrogant towards me. But in your second post I realize that your intent wasn’t to be offensive so /internet hugs.

BTW I wasn’t sure where you were going with the whole socialist argument. We’re in the middle of a presidential election here in the States – the last thing I want in most of my games are deep discussions about politics or which economic style is the best. I just want a good fun adventure I can share with my friends, even if it is a bit cliche and cheesy. The way I look at it, GW 2 is the equivalent of a Michael Bay or James Cameron film. It’s far more about the cinematics, special effects and action than it is about deep engaging story.

I’d also like to challenge all the story haters here to name another MMO with a terrific story. There’s only a handful – I’d argue LOTRO, SWTOR, maybe Secret World though I’ve never played that one. AOC had a great story just for the first 20 levels, Rift and Warhammer are both pretty bland generic fantasy, City of Heroes/DC Universe Online are bland superhero games with plots as deep as the superhero shows my kid likes, etc. Those thinking GW 1 had a much better story are looking at the past with rose colored glasses. I replayed Prophecies and Eye of the North in just the past few months, and both had absolutely horrible dialogue and pacing. Prophecies may have had more twists and turns than GW 2, but the surprises were just as obvious (oh wait, you mean our friend the vizier is secretly trying to get us killed?!? I’m shocked! Shocked!) Arenanet really stepped up their writing compared to their first games.

Look, I’m not defending the story as being the best in the gaming genre. I guess I just don’t find it so terrible as to detract from my fun. I also think it’s incredibly difficult to pull off a deep, intricate story in a multiplayer game. The recent games that IMHO have some of the best storylines in gaming – Bioshock, Half Life 2, Dragon Age, Skyrim, Mass Effect (ending aside) – are all single player games. For example, in Skyrim you can say “sod this saving the world stuff, I’m going to go be a crime lord with the Thieves Guild.” Do that in an MMO and your character has no real justification for progressing in the world with other players. And since we’re on the subject of other players, let’s take a quick look at SWTOR, Bioware’s effort to add highly detailed stories in an MMO. I’m playing a “James Bond” style imperial agent – he’s a ruthless killer but doesn’t hurt innocents or cause unecessary mayhem. I’m in an instance with a 13-year-old playing a psycopathic sith for the lulz. When Mr Sith wins the rolloff to decide what happens in the story, he gets to burn down the orphanage with all the kiddies inside. How is that an amazing story experience?

Maybe we need to agree to disagree, but I just don’t see a way yet for MMOs to encourage player interaction and create the same kind of stoires that single player games can. At least GW 2 gives you a lot of choice in the way your personal story unfolds. My gutter rat seeking to avenge her dead sister human story felt very different than my blood legion outcast guardian looking to restore his family honor. I appreciate that.

PS – the whole Tolstoy comment was meant to be a joke. I recognize that a degree in literature has little practicality in the real world beside letting you act superior, but seriously this is a gaming forum. Please lighten up.

Coolmoos.8546:

Just keep in mind… Fighting for second place you will also have to fight First.. You will never win if 3rd place just attacks 2nd place :P

I agree but let’s face it – and I’m saying this as a realist not a poor loser – first place is locked up. DH has a 40K lead on NSP as of this morning, and it’s nearly lunch time in America. The map is still entirely blue. If there was a daytime cavalry coming for the American servers to “daycap”, they’d be here by now.

I’m really starting to fear a bunch of our people jumped ship after the devestating last hour third place finish in last week’s round. We all poured our heart and souls into that one and still got kicked down a tier.

Question for the DH crew – I’m not that familiar with your server. Are you one of the newer ones making your way up? If so congrats – I think you’re well on your way to moving up a tier or two. GG

It’s pretty much a fight now for NSP to stay in second place and stop our downward slide again.

I consider myself well-read but auctually like the writing and storylines in GW2 . There’s a bit of cheesiness and predictability but I find the personal story to be far more intriguing than most of the MMOs I’ve played. And if you want to complain about really bad dialogue, go play Diablo 3 as a comparison. GW 2 seems like Tolstoy by comparison.

I will say that SWTOR had an excellent story with interesting twists and turns. Unfortunately, the gameplay was horrible and the PVP was passable but majorly imbalanced. All in all, I would rather have a great game with an ok story rather than the opposite, especially when it comes to MMOs.

Jesus wept – it’s 9:19 Pacific Time which means the American servers should at least have a decent number of Central and West Coast players in the swing of things. But the map’s practically blue. Hats off to DH – they aren’t just romping us at 4 in the morning. Im really hoping we can continue to mount a counteroffensive, but this might be a good week to sit it out, play some Xcom or Borderlands 2, and wait for the Halloween release.

Reinhartd.7369:

So I’m trying to decide between these two classes. Currently, I have a level 43 warrior. He’s fun to play and I’ve generally enjoyed leveling him so far. Normally, I play the paladin class characters so I was naturally drawn to guardians but despite the fact this game doesn’t have the whole holy trinity thing, coming from a WoW vanilla background I was worried about being pigeon holed into some sort of healer/support role.
To make a long story short, I just wanted to know what some of the pros and cons were of playing either classes at level 80. Because I literally only just made a guardian who’s barely level 5 but I’m having tons of fun already and the weapon skill choices seem like they definitely have greater potential. I’m assuming when it comes to support, the guardian wins out there, but would I be right in thinking that the warrior will be able to put out better dps then?

If someone has experience playing both classes (or even better both classes at level 80) would really appreciate the advice!

I played warrior to about 20 and have gotten my guardian into the 40s. One thing you mentioned in your OP is that you like playing paladins. While the guardian is very different from a WOW paladin in terms of skills, it really captures the champion of justice/holy warrior feel. It’s the main reason I chose guardian over war – because I felt the warrior was a little too generic in terms of flavor and weapon skills. I also like bathing myself in holy fire and setting the heretics ablaze.

There is one glaring weakness with the guardian if you plan to play lots of WVW. The guardian has a handful of ranged attacks that make defending a keep tough. The warrior can be brutal at range with the rifle for single targets and longbow for AOE.

@Arius and DH players – definitely not trying to hate. When there’s the switchover and a good number of players from both sides on it’s been a great match. It just sucks to wake up to a 20K deficit is all.

Well. NSP owns a good deal of the map but DH has about the same points as NS and EB combined. Unfortunately, with the late night mismatch I’m betting this is going to be a blowout for DH. NSP will probably not be able to keep up the North American daytime pressure during the working/school week, while the Aussies will still be able to own the night.