Guild Wars 2

6) Pet class that harms pets, contradicting by design – This one should be a bit more straightforward too. As the “pet class,” why do rangers have to go abusing their pets in order to gain survival? Signet of Renewal, “Protect Me,” and Empathic Bond all kill/harm the pet. The same pet which devs have stressed to the players the need to work with in order to maximize combat potential. It just seems very counter intuitive the rangers have more functional “pet killers” than utilities that actually allow players to effectively work with their pet. What happened to skills from Guild Wars 1 like Predatory Bond, Strike as One, Symbiotic Bond, and Companionship?

7) More functionality/gameplay options for pets – Why is the pet just a DPS option? There are quite a few problems that could be fixed with more options to build around with for pets. Why do they always just have to be a damage option? The game needs more traits like Mighty Swap and Vigorous Swap, where you can choose to use your pet for utility options like giving boons and supporting rather than damage. It sure would open up playstyle diversity to have more options to gear pets towards other than “damage or more damage.”

8) Trait reorganization stressing hybridization over heavy investment – This one seems pretty straightforward too. Basically, Signets, Spirits (more so previously than now), and Traps all require 30 trait points to make otherwise pretty mediocre utilities useful (only 20 with Spirits now). Heck, signets don’t even work on the player without a grandmaster trait. For rangers, this is probably the biggest hindrance to build diversity that needs to be addressed. The utilities already require heavy investment in the utility slots to be worthwhile (Traps and Spirits both typically work better with at least 2, to even 3 slots). Adding another 30 point trait requirement on top of that makes ranger builds have to build with heavy investment in order to be successful, for the most part. Just as Spirits Unbound was moved down to the master tier, Trap Potency and Signet of the Beastmaster really should be looked at for similar reworks/repositions to open up more build opportunities.

9) Lack of immediately recognizable role for team compositions – This is more of a concept than it is a true issue. Basically, the ranger doesn’t have a whole lot that offers competitive options for a team composition to the degree where players think that rangers are worth slotting over other classes. More prevalent in PvE/Dungeons and WvW than PvP, but really, rangers only offer Spotter and Frost Spirit in certain circumstances like dungeons (this is mostly where you see this build selection). Outside of Spotter and Spirits, everything the ranger does is accomplished by other classes. But, as mentioned earlier, Spirits suffer from the same issues that pets do; not scaling well the larger an engagement gets, due to their killable nature. On top of that, most ranger builds require a trait investment that forces them to specialize more than other classes and in the process give up other offensive or defensive options that those other classes still have access to. Overall, every class should be able to compete for slots on a team composition equally, by either bringing something unique and helpful to that team composition, or by bringing something similarly competitive in function to other classes, while being able to provide more of a unique role/addition elsewhere.

Overall, this sums up where many people in the ranger community feel that ranger is at balance and as far as quality of life changes are concerned. Any feedback, especially developer feedback, is welcome.

The original discussion started within the ranger community can be found here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/The-State-of-Balance-discussion/page/1

Discuss

The reasoning:

1) Pet Responsiveness – Last year, nearing the last balance patch, a developer response was kind enough to enlighten the ranger community with the information that the pet skill lag, particularly, the response time of the pet F2 key, is dealt with through the server because pet AI is coded off of the games creature AI. Essentially, this means that using this F2 skill basically just adds the unique skill to the AI action queue for the pet to use at its earliest convenience. This is a problem. Lack of true control over the single player dictated skill on a class whose pet AI has to be continuously be band aid fixed in order to improve basic functionality is a serious problem. This needs to be more reliable, especially since it is one of the only ways a player can actively utilize their pets skills to use the F2 skill on demand when needed during a fight. Without this skill taking full precedence and being reliable, its success rate has so much disparity that it ends up being more rage inducing than helpful.

2) Reliance on a small handful of traits for every working build – This area could be said to be aimed directly at Empathic Bond, since it is the only form of reliable cleansing that is strong enough, particularly for a competitive environment. That specific example aside, there is an issue that is not ranger specific with certain traits in this game becoming a “staple” for almost every build deemed viable by the community, which limits build diversity.

3) Pet survival not balanced adequately for large scale engagements – This area seems self-explanatory, but basically, the ranger, whose class mechanic is an “always-on” pet in which the players damage is balanced around, does not have functionality that scales well with how large engagements, specifically in modes like WvW. This often results in ranger players sacrificing what most would consider a fairly significant portion of their damage during these large scale engagements, either by way of having a passive or a dead pet. Being that this is the class mechanic and was designed with an always-on design, there shouldn’t be any instance in which the class mechanic is rendered as ineffective as it can be currently.

4) Utilities completely outclassing other utilities – There are a lot of utilities the ranger has access to that can just be considered to have a “null” function. The shouts really don’t do much and really don’t compete with the functions of the rest of the other utilities. Keen Edge (trait) is the only time Sharpening Stone ever sees any use. Frost Trap is very underwhelming for its cooldown. But just generally, there are utility slot options that just don’t functionally compete with other options that can be taken, which is very limiting to build diversity.

5) Weapons not having unique and competitive functions/roles versus content – In a nutshell, weapons seem like they should ideally all be unique and have a specialty role as far as functionality goes, in order to get players to actively make the best weapon selections for the content and their build/etc. However, functionally, the ranger bows are very bland and unexciting weapons, and the ranger longbow especially, which provides very underwhelming functions and damage. Sword and Greatsword compete directly with each other, as both are power based melee weapons with evasive/defensive capabilities, and Axe (and Dagger) competes directly with the shortbow so closely that the only difference aside from an interrupt is deciding what conditional bleed application you want. This leaves only offhand weapons to compare. Really, the weapons just need to be more different from each other, and less subjectively boring in some cases.

Mabye you can contact the perosn who made the “fake” notes and get him into the balance team. He seem like he got some interesting ideas

/Osicat

Rata Sum ,anyone heard of it?

In case people hadn’t seen it yet.

Thanks again Anet

mPascoal.4258:

I would say a class is OP when it can get 3 of the main stats over 2k points … in sPvP, without signets (yes the bunker build I tryed had 2k+ Power, 2k+ Toughness and 2k+ Vitality, I ran with Mace + Shield and Hammer and guess who ppl coulnd’t kill? Me)

These stats with you actual regen and condi cleanse, not to mention the amount of knockback and stuns you can have while doing fine damage … Idk but I would say you are kinda OP, but thats just me.
Also going to WvW underlvl (at 40+) and getting over 10k Hundred Blades on Champs when I’m not stacked. Not OP at all.

So you ONLY look at a class his stats to decide he is OP or not. Not at his individual skills? How they work? Cast times? Cooldowns? Dmg modifiers? Which skill you can take in combination with others? Not the skill animations? How easy they are dodged? Not at how damage is mitigated (blocks/stealth/protection)? Skill synergy? How a class performs against other, counters and weaknesses? What fields he has and how many blasts?

You see, this game has a lot more depth than ‘just stats’. If you would only look at stats than warrior would be worst of the worst. Warrior does not own fancy dmg negation skills. We don’t have fields we can swap out and blast depending if we need CC, might or healing. We don’t have great skill synergy. The only synergy you can come up with is the stunlock combo and that only works against new players and people who don’t want to get good in this game. Warrior do not have skill combos that wtf roflstomp players in 1-2 seconds. We have easy to see, well telegraphed skills that are enormously easy to dodge or step out from. We have to balance CC and damage to kill our targets and it always takes some time. (don’t include eviscerating upscaled, talking against decent players here).

Believe me, ICD of 7s on cleansing ire and HS nerf of 8% and nobody can complain warrior is OP without making a fool out of himself.

the only thing keeping me from buying this armor set is the fact that i don’t want my character to look like a smurf

Could I play with my friends please?

We enter LA and we’re all scattered accross overflows. The time for us to confirm that we’re all on overflows. We select one of us and everybody tries to join that overflow. Full. We try with another one of us. Full too. All the overflows were full. So we did the event everybody separated.

This is not friendly. At all.

I implore you, find a way to make your overflow mechanism friends-friendly.

They have to have at least one ship on Claw Island. Now would be a pretty good time to use it.

So this crazy idea just popped to mind.

We have for a long time asked for capes and the general consensus seems to be we’re not getting them because it would be hard to implement them for all races ( see charr)

So my idea is this – give us culturally themed back pieces for each race.

Humans could have capes ( finally).

Asura could have some flashy tech device ( sort of like the fractal capacitor but more tech looking).

Charr could get something like the flame and frost backpack or something similar to the new spinal blades thing.

Norn could have something like a totem maybe?

Sylvari could get something plant-like. Not sure what.

So what do you guys think? Could it work? Why/why not?

If we have cultural armor, why not have backpieces too? After all they’re something that you wear – just like armor.

Here is an update on my Mesmer, i was looking for a more combat look instead of mage, and found a nice Steampunk looking combo, i really am in love with this look at the moment.

We could hunt the Marionette at the last minute. After this patch, those chests are removed from Scarlet’s Secret Lab. So there is a lot of unused fragments in game.

In my sense, there is no reason to remove these objects.

In addition, I have no idea why you keep removing some event vendors from this game( Sab, Wintersday, etc ), even though some vendors remain ( Zhaitaffy, Candy, etc ) and there is no problem.

I’ve envisioned it as~

One minute in lane 1 then whole party on the matching platform to fight warden 1, then…
One minute in lane 2 then whole party on the matching platform to fight warden 2, then…
One minute in lane 3 then whole party on the matching platform to fight warden 3, then…
One minute in lane 4 then whole party on the matching platform to fight warden 4, then…
One minute in lane 5 then whole party on the matching platform to fight warden 5.

Possibly with fake adventurer NPC on the other platforms who automatically win or fail along with you just to maintain that sense of scale.

Party wipe resets everything. Basically 10-12 minutes of kicking butt .

I love how you brought back parts of the Molten Facility and the Aetherblade Retreat fights to the game through FOTM.

So here’s my plea – and I hope others will agree – that the Marionette fight which was so great should not go away entirely. Please consider it for a future FOTM implementation!!

You could do it a variety of ways. Perhaps a defend the lane phase after which, the whole party gets on ONE platform and has to defeat the Warden. Alternatively, each member of the party could have to end up on their own platform, with the caveat that ‘portal sickness’ wouldn’t apply so that anyone done their Warden could go to another. There are many ways you could do it to balance the challenge of the encounter, but either way, I hope that we won’t see the end of this great chapter of the Living Story.

Hey everyone, inspired by the various discussions about the patch, I have decided to make a list of things to do in Lion’s Arch before all the monsters rushes in and turn it into a Lion’s Den. Keep in mind that we do not know what will remain tomorrow or removed but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

You can view this guide on the site as well if you prefer: http://dulfy.net/2014/02/17/gw2-things-to-do-in-lions-arch-before-the-patch/

1. Map Completion
If you havn’t completed Lion’s Arch map exploration yet, this is the time to do so. You can probably still do it after the patch but probably not without harassment from Scarlet’s minions. This is especially important if you going after a legendary soon as you will need world completion for it.

2. Jumping Puzzles
There are 3 jumping puzzles in Lion’s Arch. They will likely be accessible after the patch but it is better to be safe than sorry. You also need jumping puzzles for the monthly and Urmaug’s secret/Weyandt are really easy to do for the monthly.

• Troll’s End
• Urmaug’s Secret
• Weyandt’s Revenge

3. Diving Goggle location

For that Dive Master achievement (under General -> Explorer) , there is one location in Lion’s Arch

http://imgur.com/a/FEa17

4. Moa Race and Mini Yellow Moa

Are you swimming in gold or perhaps a die hard mini collector? If so, then you need to do the Moa Race. The fate of these moas are not exactly known but who knows if Scarlet’s minions won’t grab some moas and roast them for dinner. Think of Meep!

The Mini Yellow Moa can be obtained for 125 Race Track Vouchers or it can be brought on the TP (50 gold and increasing at time of writing).

http://imgur.com/a/iwhmV

5. History Buff achievement

Under General –> Exploration section of the achievements is one for History Buff. This achievement is only worth 2 achievement points but you get a skill book that give you 5 skill points. You need to visit various locations in Lion’s Arch and it is a safe bet that it is easier to do now than after the patch

• Guide to History buff achievement

6. Weapon skins
There are two set of weapon skins unique to Lion’s Arch. These are the Lionguard weapon skin and Pirate weapon skins. You can find the Lionguard weapon skins in Fort Marriner if you go near the jail (gotta go up the stairs to the wall and take a right). It is likely the vendor will still be there after the patch but nothing is certain.

http://imgur.com/a/sSWjb

The pirate weapon skins are located at end of Weyandt’s Revenge jumping puzzle and they cost the same – 9800 karma per weapon skin.

7. Royal Terrace Pass

If you got a 2 week or the permanent version of Royal Terrace Pass, it is time to whip them out for tomorrow. While everyone else will be crammed in Gendarran Fields, you can enjoy the fine luxury of everything the Royal Terrace has to offer. Being wealthy has never being better in Tyria. Unfortunately they are no longer sold in the gemstore but it would be a golden opportunity for Arenanet to bring them back again.

8. Sonder the Seller

Sonder the Seller is a merchant in Lion’s Arch that exchange past event currencies (i.e. Zhaitaffy, Candy Corn) for various items. He will probably remain after the patch but if you got any spare currency, it doesn’t hurt to use them now while the merchant is around.

http://imgur.com/a/KIw7f

You got a bit just under 24 hrs before the patch!

Lion’s Arch, thy time has come, we say good bye with setting sun.

Jumping puzzles, and the bank, trading post, Asura gate. These things we will miss the most, and for them all we raise a toast.

The mystic forge in the heart of town, gobbled all our money down, but loosing it would be a shame so we will miss it all the same.

We came to you to AFK, to sell our loot, and have our say. We crafted armor and weapons made, but now it’s time we went away.

Scarlet comes to burn you down, and take from us this lovely town. But go not quietly into the night, we your citizens will stand and fight!

With tooth and claw and shining blade, flashing spell and hand grenade. Scarlet will regret this day, we will strike back and make her pay!

Once the smoke and dust is gone, life for us will carry on. Perhaps one day we can come home and rebuild you up with wood and stone.

But if that day should never come, we all remember where we are from.

So Lion’s Arch we say good bye, with STERN SALUTE… and teary eye.

Holy mother of misinformation…

• The Battle Standard (Warrior banner elite) does NOT revive when you use the #5 skill. That’s just a blast finisher…

• The Battle Standard will, however, instantly revive up to 3 DOWNED (not defeated) allies in its AoE when its first dropped by the warrior.

• However, the Standard CAN fully revive NPCs from death, such as keep lords (NPCs don’t have a downed state).

• The Battle Standard ALSO provides bonus while it’s out, like any other banner skill. In this case, Fury, Might and Swiftness.

• Battle Standard will ALSO trigger any other traits that any other banner does. For example, if you have Inspiring Battle Standards trait it’ll grant regen to players.

So the reason you see people use it without people getting downed is for the buffs. However in PvP/WvW this is often unwise as you lose the triple revival.

Hey everybody,

I’ve been playing this game in a competitive team for over a year and after my initial guide videos at launch I kinda stopped making guides. During the time I gathered alot of knowledge about the game and some of it is not widely known.
So I decided to actually share some of my experience with my new video series called Teldo Daily.
I thought it’d also be a good idea to post in the official forums to get some additional feedback about my videos.

At some point I will probably also upload informative or entertaining videos about other games, but until now I’ve only uploaded Guild Wars 2 videos (mentioning this just so you don’t get disappointed if every now and then a daily ends up not being for Guild Wars 2)

Here’s the link to the full playlist. I’ll try to upload multiple videos a week.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvY4mp-cgWVrul-1ytOSlqQjA4yU5Mo25

Or Evon wants LA to be destroyed so he can make a fortune selling weapons to heroes..

Sneaksy charr!!!

Remember Gwen!! Remember the broken flute!!! Don’t trust the charr!!!!!!!

+1. They really ought to go through and remake all the GW1 armours. Make some new dungeons, and make them the rewards.

At the same time, they should reduce the stats on Ascended to that of exotic + the infusion slot (have to add that to every armour related thread.)

More variety – non long-coat variety, is needed.

Also, I want pants for my ele. Not a skirt, not pants and skirt – just pants.

Hey everyone, it appears there are a couple of hidden achievements in the Edge of the Mists map. These achievements are not visible at first glance over the Edge of the Mists achievement section under WvW but they show up once you completed them.

I spotted 5 so far, let me know if you find more of them. They are not really hidden if you watched the ready up livestream from Friday but for those who havn’t.

Ledge of the Mists – 1 pt

• Jump off and die in any part of the map, you will get the achievement.

Bucket List – 5 pts

• Obtained by doing all 3 bucket jumps below: Daring Dunk, Hold Your Breath, Tidal Splash
• Your side must control the towers for you for you to access the buckets
• Video showing all 3 bucket jumps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXXBbi8wQT0

Daring Dunk – 5 pts – Stonegaze Spire

• Jump into the bucket, pull the plug (you will get a prompt) and this will teleport you to the top of tower (Stonegaze Spire).
• From the top of the tower, grab the diving goggles and jump down aiming for the bucket below. If you land inside the bucket, you will survive and get the hidden achievement.
• Pics: http://imgur.com/a/dTeiJ

Hold Your Breath – 5 pts – Tytone Perch

• Exact same thing as Daring Dunk, except it is a different tower this time (Tytone Perch)
• Pics: http://imgur.com/a/omC1U

Tidal Splash – 5 pts – Inferno’s Needle

• Exact same thing as Daring Dunk, except it is a different tower this time (Infernos’ Needle)
• Pics: http://imgur.com/a/OiKQU

For fighting kaiju, obviously.

My warrior ^^

The gas mask skin was just what I needed to complete the effect! Now I’m just looking out to see if a better (more appropriate) shoulder skin comes along