Guild Wars 2

The gliders are out of hand. I was following a hp train in TD last on night and I had to be ported up because I could not see the branch I had to land on.

The comm had warned tricky gliding ahead, and I was following his flight path, but dropped a hair too early and slid off the edge because I COULD NOT SEE the branch because of all the gliders. Several of us needed the port on that one.

Not a game breaker, but it was very annoying.

I main ranger. What new animations?

Before everybody gets mad at Anet, perhaps they are looking at solutions and just don’t have something ready at this point. Anet will not make any statement unless they have an answer, one way or the other.

Personally, I LOVE the mounts as they are, and I was very against them before the demo. The camera seems to be a large part of the issue—perhaps a toggle to “Use standard camera when mounted” would work.

Ranger: Since they did not give us access to the new pets in WvW, it’s hard to give a complete review.

My 2 cents: Dagger is awkward and meh. It is a condi weapon, but Soulbeast appears to do better with power builds.

Merged pets are interesting; to me it feels clunky and weak. New pets may work better, but see above. And the animations are sad compared to the beautiful ones I see other classes have. Would like to have an aura that identifies the pet we are merged with, instead of the druid tree we now have.

Edited to add: RL is very busy this weekend, so I couldn’t do a lot of testing.

The new PoF pets are grayed out and cannot be tested in WvW. Would be nice to try them out.

Only other class I play regularly is mesmer, and I’m not getting the hang of Mirage. Axe requires in your face melee, and the mirrors disappear too fast to get to them. Or are you supposed to drop them where your allies are to buff them? The new dodge is interesting, but it won’t get you out of an aoe bomb (yes, I took some hits, forgetting my dodge no longer moves me).

I need more time with it, but it doesn’t feel as smooth as chrono did.

Dark.1823:

Here’s the thing with Soulbeast. Anet made rangers do 30% less damage because we have pets. They forgot to give us those 30% back when in Beastmode. The damage sucks. Black Bear is best for its invulnerabilities and you can do a nice short burst with “Sic ’Em!” and Smokescale. The dagger has no appeal and will likely be another trash weapon nobody will use on a Ranger. Soulbeast seems like it was intended for 1v1 PvP and nothing else. Outside of that it’s very underwhelming. I’m also expecting “Sic ’Em!” to be nerfed as I’m sure Anet did not intend it to affect the player.

This. The ranger mechanic IS the pet, and we need their damage and utility because it is split from ours. So yeah, the damage in SB is too low.

And really, if we ARE merged with a pet, “Sic ’Em!” and any other skills/traits SHOULD apply.

Side note, can other rangers access the PoF pets in WvW? I went into WvW, and all the new pets are grayed out.

Yes, weapon swap still works. As for the expansion, you should get HoT included with it, but the actual announcement with details is scheduled for later today, so I would wait for that.

Forgot to add thank you to Anet for adding save spots to the instance. I went right back in at the setup for the last xfight, and did not have to replay the first part of the instance. Thank you!

Okay, so I finally made it through this fight. Higher healing build was no better, so I tweaked my condi druid to try and max DPS. I also made sure pet’s F2 was traitef to taunt.

This worked, with 2 notes. On this run, on the first aspect, I finally got some breaks between waves to rez her easily. The pet’s F2 taunt didn’t work at all. On the second aspect, the F2 taunt worked as designed, which let my pet hold most of the sparks on him, and I could AOE them. Since the pet is our core mechanic, it would be helpful if it actually worked as designed in all fights.

Traveller.7496:

I hate to be this guy, but I did on my condi ranger and did not have trouble keeping Livia alive – at this part. (on the final phase she just died and I said forget her.) I actually thought the arrow she was channeling had some kind of barrier so I basically stood on top of her and just attacked the sparks when they spawned.

Ummmm, yeah, that’s pretty much what I was doing. Except she died, constantly. I had no real problems with the previous fights in this episode, once I figured out the mechanics. Between her constantly dying and my pets insisting on going kamikaze against the aspect, this was far more frustrating than the Caudecus fight. So there may very well be a bug that some players manage to trigger.

I wonder if there is a bug. I spent 40 minutes on my condi druid last night, and could not keep her alive. My kid wandered in to watch and told me I was doing it wrong because I was supposed to keep her alive. No kidding. He apparently sailed through it on his necro. I will go back in with healing gear tonight. But the sparks never decreased or stopped, just wave after wave kept coming.

A DDOS attack has been ongoing, apparently for a couple of days. I don’t know the status as if this morning, but I was booted last night repeatedly.

Condi ranger has the highest ranger DPS, and involves neither LB or GS. As another option.

The one you enjoy, because that is different for everyone.

I use a very simple method. I collect all loot drops and harvest everything I find. I deposit the mats and , unless my toon needs, sell everything I can. An unusual mat eill be checked on the TP— some of them bring in the gold. If it only nets 8 bronze on the TP, I am still 8 bronze richer. If you can’t make anything on the TP, sell to a vendor.

I run about 150 g nowadays, and have used cash for one gem purchase (to buy LS2 when it was on sale). It’s doable, and I do recommend fractals. Loot drops are amazing.

HoT is very different than core. No idea on guard, but HoT taught me to love condi ranger/druid. I usually run short bow/AT. Drop the fire field from torch, add a stun, pet’s F2, short bow to finish off a mob. AOEs are your friend. Bosses are tougher, so build in CC for break bars and learn the mechanics.

Use condi armor with a bit of defense. Condi ranger is very high DPS, but unlocking druid will help you survive. I usually run solo for open world, but always look for other players to tag along with. Ressing and popping druid CA for heals in a boss fight will gain you friends quickly.

I died so much when I first entered the jungle, but if I pay attention, I can cruise through it. Good luck.

New wvw player here—yes, since patch. I decided to try it now, because of patch and I need Gift of Battle. I play sPVP sometimes, but never ranked, because I’ve never enjoyed PvP as much as other game modes.

But I LOVE WvW! Wish I had started sooner. And I intend to keep playing it, even after getting GofB. (Many thanks to the thief who grouped with me and showed me the basics of roaming.) And I don’t mind veteran players earning pips faster, or how long it takes to get the backpack, whatever. I don’t have to have ALL the shinies, but I will work for ones I like. And I like the backpack, and I am okay if it takes me 1, 2, or even 3 years to get it.

My ONLY issue with the current reward system is the weekly reset. I consider myself a dedicated casual. Casual, in that I can’t always play every day or even every week; dedicated in that when I do play, I do try to improve and contribute to whatever game mode I play. I have played as much as I can this week, pretty much all in WvW, and I may not even complete wood, and will not even have one skirmish ticket. And that would be fine, except come the reset, I have to start all over.

Every other game mode (except ranked PVP, and this is one reason I don’t play it) allows me to keep my progress, even if I can’t play. I don’t lose map exploration, raiders don’t lose their earned LI, I don’t lose AP, don’t lose character levels, etc. GW2 is considered casual friendly because even casual players will eventually earn rewards; it just takes us a lot longer. And that is FINE.

But I may never earn one skirmish ticket with the current WvW system, and although will still play it because it is fun, it is also frustrating that I may never get ahead on the chest system. So maybe I just won’t play WvW as often once I get GofB. Because although enjoyable, it is disheartening to feel like I am losing progress for the time and effort I HAVE put into WvW.

So ANet, please make the pips work like a reward track, and lose the weekly reset. It can still take a LOT longer to complete than the standard reward tracks, and that would be fine. So just like every other area of the game—if you put in the time, you will get the rewards. Whether you put in all the time in two weeks or 12 months, you will eventually get rewards.

If you like mounts ingame and dont care about fast travel, we have a broom , an ascender and a magic carpet They should cater perfectly to your needs…

Guild Wars Lore with regard to mounts:
Only the enemies you faced had mounts, necrid horsemen, wolfrider stone summit and some more…. Just sayin’… The usage of mounts was associated with evil… and frowned upon by the civilized races….

Due to mounts being a lore breaker I doubt mounts would help my immersion.
I am not interested in what all other people want to be honest, I have enough problems stating my opinion… and my motivation.

• Humans didn’t use mounts… (well all 3 sets and the expansion…)
• Norn didn’t use mounts (EotN expansion),
• Asura were developing a portal network (EotN)
• Charr didn’t use mounts (Prophecies) Except maybe the enourmous trained siege devourers (EotN), but they were enemies at the time as well. SO here could be a notable point… Then again Charr were the brutal -enemy- force destroying Ascalon and taking over the acalonian lands….

• Sylvari didn’t exist (GW2 only)

I do notice we have found a lot of improvements to the basic method of travel, being walking and running

• Usage of airships, boats, submarines, helicopters, land vehicles, making the old mount pretty obsolete.
• Speed boostes ranging from +5% to +33% and in some cases short burst of truly fast movement through superspeed.
• Speed boost mushrooms catering to above mentioned swiftness, removing the need for a mount to provide it.
• Jumping mushrooms allow travelling up vertically and interesting angles,
• Jump Pads also for travelling up vertically and interesting angles,
• Explosive Launch: see Jump Pads
• Thermal Propulsion: The Lava Chutes for travelling large distances
• Oakheart’s Reach: The jungle seeds allowing a lot of freedom in movement
• Gliding, Updrafts and Ley Line Gliding
• Waypoints & Portals… Hope the Asura can keep the network alive…

This X 1,000!!!! (Thank you for typing all of these points.)

One of the reasons I fell in love with GW2 is there are NO MOUNTS!! No massive herd beast blocking the gorgeous Tyrian landscape when I waypoint into a map. No harnessed monster sitting on a rich gathering node, blocking anyone else from accessing it (because the PC owner has gone AFK, of course). No additional lag in busy maps. The game hides minus when the population gets too high. What will happen if mounts are added? You will no longer able to see ANYTHING in LA or other popular areas. I’ve played that game and didn’t really enjoy it.

Then I found GW2! Waypoints and gliding—what else do you need? Gliding is the most noncompetitive fun I have ever had in a game!!!!! Thank you Anet for that!! A huge no to mounts here!

I will be a minority here and admit I like them. The light armor is my least favorite. I main a ranger, and was surprised to find I like the medium. Yes, it is a trench coat, but it is very well done. After watching a video, the drape and movement of the trench is very fluid, and much better than the standard trench model. The transformation is slick, and I am impressed at how well they managed the charr’s tail on all the sets. I think Anet put a ton of work into these, and the attention to detail shows. Good job Anet! And repeat, just my opinion, not trying to change anyone else’s.

Note: I won’t be getting these as I don’t raid and have no plans to do so. I am okay with these being raid rewards, and should I decide I want that med set, I will find a way to work raiding into my schedule.

I hear you on jps. :/ I would definitely work on the masteries, as they are very useful and some of them are required for later HoT and LW episodes.

As for an alt, I am partial to ranger. You have to like pets, as that is the core mechanic. I personally enjoy it, and having the pet taunt the boss has saved my clumsy self a few times. Druid elite for rangers is very strong right now, and can benefit dps builds as well as support builds.

Every class has its quirks, so find one you enjoy playing.

Feral.3609:

Short answer, no you don’t need all berserkers.

I will tell you what worked for me though. I started back when the game was first released – people said to go all soldiers back then. There was an advantage to learning in that way. Sure dungeons took longer (pre-hot the game was very different back then), but it allowed me to experiment with stats and find the perfect fit for my playstyle. Slowly I removed one piece of soldiers at a time and replaced it with berserker – until I was full zerk. Getting that slow feel and experimenting allowed me to create some pretty awesome builds in WvW catered specifically to my playstyle.

That is some great advice! Wish I had thought of doing it.

As a casual who does try to learn mechanics, berserker is not needed for open world. I had lag issues when leveling, and also have joint issues which can slow my reflexes. The argument for berserkers is it forces you to learn your abilities; my counter argument is for a new player, if they are killed within moments of entering a fight, they will NEVER learn their abilities.

That last fight in LD was tough. Doable, but tough. Unless I was a top tier player, and I am not, I would not/did not run a full glass build for it. So, yeah, two sets would be the way to go.

Really, that last post, great advice.

Yes, thank you Anet!

Crinn.7864:

My mother killed it post-nerf on her condi ranger without dying once, and that was with her missing half the special action keys.

I killed it on a viper’s necro pre-nerf with only one death. (would have been 0 if shroud hadn’t bugged)

Mother aside the general consensus in my guild is that the post-nerf fight is a total joke now on any class.

Thank you, I think. :/ Yes, as the aforementioned mother, I survived the fight as a condi druid wearing carrion armor. I don’t run full glass as I have a less than optimal internet connection and a joint condition that slows my reflexes a bit. Dedicated casual would best describe me—I love the game but don’t have the time to play and research builds, tips, mechanics, etc. that more serious players do. Therefore, I don’t raid and I don’t do ranked PVP.

This fight was the toughest I’ve done, but oddly the most fun. I quickly realized I needed to keep moving no matter what and keep tossing those bloodstone shards.
And yes, I missed the special skill several times and was downed more than once, but never killed. So he is beatable even if you have a less than perfect fight.

I think having a repair anvil in the main hall with the fireplace would be a great addition, as a lot of people seem to be having trouble and it is a tough fight. And if you have lag issues, running a full glass build is probably not a good idea.

For your ranger girlfriend, it is a fun class. I am also not the best or most experienced player and I love it. The pets are fun (mostly) and it is fun exploring with your buddy.

However, it is not the highest DPS class, nor the tankiest, so it is not always popular in higher level competitive areas. Once you enter HoT, rangers must learn the Druid class and how it does healing and support if you want to do raids or high level groups. For PVP, the Metabattle builds work very well and are excellent to start learning the class. Condi ranger is very strong now in PVE.

I balked at learning Druid for awhile, as I love that this is not a trinity game and did not appreciate being shoved into a role. But the Druid traits bring a lot for DPS builds too, and I finally started learning the skills. And although I don’t raid, I enjoy random healing during map events and world bosses, especially when there are barely enough players to take it down.

Anyways, she really needs to study the traits and the pets as she levels, and try out all the weapons. Sometimes it is frustrating sorting out traits and pets, but if you enjoy the class it is worth it.

Personally, I love my norn ranger. The norn culture seems an amalgamation of Norse and Native American cultures and traditions, which fit the ranger class well (in my opinion). Sylvari was my second choice.

Ditto raptors plus mushrooms

Hi! Casual here and A/T makes great combos. Drop the fire field, swap to bow, and unload! Drops tons of burn. If your targets won’t hold still, drop the fire field on yourself and fire from it. You will still apply the extra burns. A/T is very fun for open world.

Ditto raptors plus mushrooms

Hi! Casual here and A/T makes great combos. Drop the fire field, swap to bow, and unload! Drops tons of burn. If your targets won’t hold still, drop the fire field on yourself and fire from it. You will still apply the extra burns. A/T is very fun for open world.

Thanks for posting this. I’ve been lvl 80 for awhile now, but when I started this game these tips would have been invaluable. As a dedicated casual player (meaning I don’t have a lot of time to play, but do try to learn and read up on stuff when I can), I was completely lost when I started leveling. So many weapon choices and skills and then what are all these traits? So some basic pointers like this would have been helpful.

Please, no. Ditto for being able to buy all your hero points. What would happen is that experienced players would buy their wp, and then disappear into PvP, raids, etc. New players would login to sparsely populated maps with no one around to give them a hand if they get stuck. And GW2 players are very helpful, but if you didn’t have to, would you really wander around lowbie areas just to see if someone needs help? I’ve seen it happen in another game, and it makes the game no fun if you’re a new. And there goes new players and new income.

Same for hp—an easy access via the gem store leaves those without in the dust and makes it hard to do group events in lowbie areas. So you level up on solo stuff and tomes, and don’t learn event/group mechanics and how your profession works in groups And then are yelled out for messing up a big, top level event of raid. Again, no fun at all if you are a latecomer to the game.

FYI, I am fairly new and have a level 80 ranger who just unlocked gliding. The explorability and visual design of GW2 hooked me, and the helpfulness and ease of entering events and getting help confirmed it. Easy unlocks will destroy the latter.

Please don’t Anet.

If you are still doing this giveaway, I would love to have some of the dyes. The ones you recommend are fine. Character name is Ikree.
•Banana
•Rose Breeze
•Fog
•Midnight Olive

THANK YOU!