Guild Wars 2

I don’t know why ANet didn’t simply have all incoming conditions as part of the same condition stack. That’d solve the “conditions suck in large groups” issue, right off the bat.
Another fix would be to have the dmg/stack a certain % higher, but lower the overall stack cap. Degradation of stacks would occur at the same rate, but it’d at least be easier for a condi-spec to hit cap, and thus, do acceptable dps compared to a power build.

Tough reset crew, ET. Do amuse me.

Another week, another war … another wacky title

Mystical pistols?
Emiya Kiritsugu, from Fate/Zero
Gene Starwind, from Outlaw Star

Sure, only the first character mentioned is an actual “Mage,” but obviously the precedent exists in some format. Not to mention, we left the “High Fantasy” bus FAR behind, with Charr Steampunkery and Asuran Magitech.

Thing is, Ashabhi: The OP’s complaint is in response to ANet themselves stating that – while other MF-laden EQ would be swappable – Celestial would not. Ergo, the current situation is indeed not an error.

I may as well say it, before TeamBattleAxe (at least the first two points…):

I’m sorry I killed you – while visible – with Unload.
I’m sorry you couldn’t dodge your own reflected shots, while I did my Sexy Thief Dance™.
I’m sorry I kept dodging and such. I have minimal Stability
I’m also sorry about all the Shadowsteps, I’m a very busy Asura.

squashed by Gallagher

Well. As someone what went full Celestial trinkets, as a certain bit of “nerf-proofing” any build I might swap my main to, I can see both sides of the argument. Something that I’ve wondered, RE: Celestial EQ (and, tbh, MF gear in general.):

• MF is a “non-combat” stat.
• Karma gain is a “non-combat” stat.
• Karma gain, across the board, got a massive beatdown
• I wonder why there wasn’t an option (even at a 2-to-1 ratio, from MF > Karma gain) to swap those two specific boosts around.

Seems to me, at that point, both sides of the fence could potentially have a “nice” time of things?

I run with 0/25/0/15/30. A little glassier than my old 0/20/0/20/30, but I get a bit more damage outta it from Vuln procs. Still redoing Weapons/Armor, but settled on 1/2 Knight, 1/2 Valkyrie on Trinkets.

I haven’t seriously done PvP in months. I wonder if I could pull something similar to my current Rabid/Celestial bit.

We don’t talk about that. We also don’t talk about how easily ANet could fix Thief P/P.
Luckily, it’d be hard to kitten up Mesmer Pistol. Considering OH Pistol’s already solid.
Oh, wait … Thief OH Pistol’s solid, too

Well, there goes the Healsuit/Mantra bit. Apothecary/Shaman won’t mean jack for that scrap. May as well pull out the Fightsuit (Soldier/Knight)

Illusion of Life is so rarely used, I’d doubt a lot of folk would know what to do while it’s up. Not to mention, it looks like Teq’s pet Risen got a buff as well. I wonder how a set of Zerkers’d do. They also spawn on a Dragon Champ’s head.

RE: Dual-Swords
Well, that’s the misconception we see from a lot of fantasy literature and (tabletop) RPGs. AFAIK – dual-wielding swords (particularly two of the exact same size and weight) is not a terribly easy thing to do. Take Japanese swordplay for instance. The Katana is a good bit longer/heavier than the Wakizashi. As for Western swords, your typical dual-wield was a Rapier, Shortsword or Smallsword in MH, Dagger OH.
Don’t get me wrong, I never minded the idea of dual-Sword combat. But, as a person
who’s actually tried it RL, with appropriate-sized weaponry … it’s not something most
would be able to pull off. For instance, Mesmers being more of a “Theatric” character-
type, shouldn’t get away with it. Or a Thief, considering their focus on speed over brute force.
But, that’s the fun thing about a “fantasy” setting, we worry less about RL logic, and go with what looks hella BA. With that, the current weapon assortment, even the “oddball” choices, is fine. Although, I’d add a few things, for sure.

All Classes
Unarmed Combat. Differentiated style-wise between each class.

Elementalist:
OH Scepter
MH Focus
MH Torch

Necromancer:
Scythe
OH Torch
Whip

Mesmer:
MH Focus (Or War Fans for MH/OH)
MH Pistol
Whip

Ranger:
MH Dagger (thrown: rework OH Dagger #5 as an evade move, else dual-Dagger’d be a bit redundant)
MH Torch
Staff

Thief:
Katar/Claw
(Melee) Staff
Shuriken/Kunai

Engineer:
MH Mace
Tesla Coil/Lightning Gun
Sonic Gun (Seriously, why do we not have those for PC characters?)

Guardian:
Polearm (I could see Glaives looking really stylish on ’em)
Flail
Weighted Chain

Warrior:
Polearm (Yay, Halberds.)
Flail
OH Dagger

I personally went Human. Of course, the “Human” in question’s the same name/person behind an Undead I’ve run in a few other games, so the RP on him’s more that he got
shunted a bit sideways, dimension-wise.
I will say, that T1 Head/T2 Armour looks hella BA.

I originally went Charr, wasn’t feeling it … ended up Sylvari, and plant-tastic.

Stability/Invuln/Evade all work on the wave attack. I was thinking 10/30/0/30/0, S/P, S/F might work out. Run RM, keep MoP/MoR ready to go. Plop an kitten ton of heals out that way, especially in the Healsuit.

Nah. They didn’t forget that one. It’s more that folk are in arms about a fully mobile anti-stealth maneuver. But, yes – the sheer amount of things that you can do to yourself and get de-cloaked by “accident” is kinda silly.

Why could I see Faolain’s nutty self stamping the OK on some crap like this? And yes, the mental image is freaking BA.

For once, I find myself agreeing with you, Burnfall. Master’s Bond being a base component of the class shouldn’t be terribly overpowered. Natural Healing should -IMHO- be available at a lower Trait investiture, since that Regen’s honestly not even remotely OP.
As for the parts of the Pet mechanic that just don’t work correctly, also true. And hella annoying. Although, Lick Wounds is set as a #3 because if timed right, it can be a total game-changer. Dunno how many times I’ve had a Drake res me right before a stomp.

Man, that PPT reminds me of our last run-ins with Kaineng. I haven’t hit WvW since the patch went live (been workin on World Boss murders), but considering the current number of GoMnomberries, I’d have to honestly say that could be both factors combining into one big nastiness.

I dunno why we don’t have Bat or Dolphin, honestly … or Griffons.

Venom Gunslinger? That could be interesting. That’s also the funny thing about P/P builds, we have a reasonable chunk of variety. TeamBattleAxe tends toward -IIRC- 10/30/0/30/0, I myself favor 0/30/0/20/20, just as two examples.

@stof
I still would rather see some mobility added. As is, you have to consider not only MH Pistol, but P/P combos. And that’s the only Thief weapon spread what lacks mobility or stealth access. Meanwhile, P/D has stealth, via OH Dagger. D/P has HS for movement, and the Leap Finisher of HS triggers Stealth via OH Pistol interaction.
P/P, as it is, has neither of the main aspects of Thief defense. This is wrong.

The only time I’ve had that happen is when Deceptive Evasion farts out a clone what attacks something other than what I have targeted. Although, with the known pathing issues in this game, I won’t write off what Hule’s described as impossible. I’d honestly prefer Shatter-fodder to stop their attacks, and warp at the enemy, but folk call Mesmer imba and OP as is. Although that suggestion would at least eliminate many of the pathing issues, in theory.

Fair counter. And indeed the hardest part of the setup. As it is, folk notice who commands well, and who should’ve honestly stayed tagless. It does, however, take time to suss out.
And yes, I could see a points-rank based on objective success. It’d add some number-crunching to the overhead we’re running, so it might be best done after the skill lag
in WvW gets touched up more. You’d also want it to account for both successful attack and defense. Then you could sub-divide by “type” of Commander. Some are great at offense, others shine at protecting what is their World’s turf.

stof.9341:

Are you under the impression that they are adding a 1s self root to pistol #2? oO

It’s a rumor that’s going around on the boards. I figured I’d add my own disagreement to such an idea, assuming that the rumor might perhaps come true.

Last Refuge is the Thief’s Reanimator. Namely a Trait you’re stuck with, that -while situationaly useful – is far more trouble than it’s worth. Both honestly need to be either:

• Expunged -or-
• Made into Adept Major Traits. That way, you’re not forced to run them. (Deceptive Decoy’s a good example of how to make such a Trait workable. Pick it, don’t pick it … whatever floats your boat.)

@ Shemsu
True counter, that one. But, let’s also add in the ability to tactically back-and-forth an enemy with Infiltrator’s Strike. Or HS used to gap-close. Don’t get me wrong here, I run Thief because of that insane maneuverability. And it rocks.
Speaking of which, I honestly hope the Dev Team are not planning to add a 1 second root to Body Shot. Hell, MH Pistol needs more maneuverability, not less.
And as others have argued, a logical restructuring of P/P’s skill dps/aftercast speed so as to
not rely on Unload as a main DPS source.

Nah. Use a Jaguar-heavy build. Send the Jag out, pop his Stealth, then “Sic ’Em.”
You get the Revealed, and apply a nasty bit of DPS/Bleed. I could also see it working pretty well with Birds, due to their attack speed.

Support granted. I want me some Griffons, too!

Good idea, Alissah – I may have to break out my “Healer” suit. That darn Tequatl … grumblegrumblegrumble …

At least Thief Stability can last 9 seconds. A Mesmer’s lucky to get 5-6, and this presumes either:

1. Heavy +Boon Duration
2. 3 Mantra casts.

And if the Blurred Frenzy bit’s any indication, it won’t be long at all before Distortion becomes a random Evade. Not to mention, Blink/Portal trickery has less uptime than
SB Shadowsteps, due to Initiative refilling faster than a utility C/D

Although it can be worse … we can all roll Necro. Stability’s nowhere to be seen, except Elites, or going 30 deep in Soul Reaping for a few seconds upon DS entry.
Which isn’t much, what with the DS overflow “fix.” And no Stealth, or major disengage options.

As I’ve told you once, IIRC … Nuka, do NOT give them ideas!

Rank is no guarantor of “actual” skill. You could easily have a CMDR who’s packing 400+ WvW Rank, but got said Rank from zerging all over the place when they were noobish. Now, with that said – I’m willing to say that the Tag could do with some restructuring. Things like:

• Custom Colors, for ease of zerg-splitting
• Improved chat-suppression limit. Not all Commanders are in TS/Vent/etc.
• Improved Squad functionality. Preferably allowing a UI popup for /squad commands, at the very least.

Now, as far as making the Tag account-bound, I have no issue there. Although, I can smell the (imho, justifiable) counter-speak from those who’ve paid out multiple hundreds of Gold to Tag up alts.

I definitely agree that MoC needs some kind of duration buff. I think the main issue on ANet’s side, is that they’re looking at the situation as: “Worst Case.” Namely, a Mesmer with MoC/BF/Distortion/Blink/Decoy … and said Mesmer is nigh-invincible in a fight.

What they’re not getting, is that a certain % of Mesmers’d be in-zerg, and running – for instance – mainly Mantra/Glamour specced. Which removes a lot of our class’ in-built defenses, in service to the greater whole.

@SirusDibly
They upped the loot, plus folk had spent literal months QQing that extra HP on bosses wasn’t enough challenge. What’s the old saw, again? “Be careful what you wish for.”

Just flubbed Teq/Wurm/Taidha on my server. We got Fire Ele, though. I’ll be honest, I’m actually HYPED to fight these guys now … whereas it used to be: Loot/Plunder/Rinse/Repeat. We’ll get these S.O.B.s

Fun record, there. My own personal best was trolling a SF zerg months ago (back during the SF/ET/FC months-long wackiness) … I was running a heavy PU spec, had them chasing my stealthed self around for a good 5 minutes. Although, I got smashed hard after my skills all went on C/D

Fair enough on that one … I’ve been on the losing side of a Guild-move vote myself.
And, we run into IoJ often enough, it seems.

@ Chris
Note that I also mentioned 4 of 6, as well. Either way, expecting the current lowest 4 servers (DR/AR/GoM, and either us/ET) to take on the high end of that 12 chain, let alone the equivalent for 8-12 vs 1-3 … is rather frigging preposterous.

(Also, are you the Chris what used to be on Ferg? If so, you’re a cool dude, and I hope you’re kicking plenty of tail)

Don’t consider this a hijack or an unkindness, merely an honest question.
Loken, you’ve been to Ferg before, yes? I’m surprised we’re not in the running … I would have thought you enjoyed your stay here.

I wonder … do the Thieves summoned by Thieves’ Guild interact negatively with Stealth?
Although, WyldKat’s logic of Dancing Dagger or random Trick Shot bounce could explain it. I know random Winds of Chaos bounces can De-stealth me when I’m running Mesmer.

@evilapprentice
Fair counter, that. But the Great Confusion Debacle proved one thing:
If the Zerglings or PvPers whinge enough, it’ll eat a heavy-handed beating. And, most likely … a quarter- or half-year hence, something Rune-wise’ll appear what makes the old Stealth ability look like child’s play.

Meh. I’ve been saying that 3 leagues of 8 or 4 of 6 would be infinitely preferable to this 2 of 12 madness. You put us and ET together, you might, just might pack about half of what a Kaineng can field. And this concept’s being shoved down our collective gizzards like a feeding tube? Sod that.
Screw it. It’s time to create the following collective units – for “reals”:

1. Dark Isle of Janthaven
2. Sorrow’s Terrace of Denravi’s Crossing
3. Northern GoMnomberry Pie

Any questions, lads and lasses?

evilapprentice.6379:

JonathanSharp.7094:

Ranger
Sick ‘Em will now apply ‘Revealed” to enemies they target. We want to introduce some counter play to Stealth (players have asked for that for a while), so we thought a pet “catching your scent” might be a cool way to insinuate some anti-stealth into the game.

Instead of skills that apply revealed, how about skills that nullify the invisibility aspect of stealth for the same duration?

This way, thieves heavy into SA still have access to all their stealth based traits and abilities(Might on stealth, health regen, condition dropping, stealth attacks, etc), but players can still see them, and thieves still follow all the rules of stealth (can’t cap a point, landing an attack triggers revealed, etc).

This allows for an effective counter for stealth without completely nullifying 30 points in SA. Countering a class mechanic is (arguably) fine, countering 30 trait points is not.

Considering the base idea of the Pet “sniffing you out,” if that’s a doable sub-concept for the “Sic ’Em” overhaul, I could see that being sensible. It’s Mittens what sussed you out, not as much me.

Nah, Jornophelanthas – Guardian GS > all. 1 Field, 3 Finishers … all on the same weapon? As for Mesmer GS, it’s mostly a situational weapon. Mesmers tend to mainly use it for IZerker and a 1200 range single-target option. As for Warrior, I’m FAR more afraid of Hammer/Shield/Mace than GS.

Now, as regards the amount of Legendary GS versus other weapon options … that is an
extremely fair question. Although, are we not supposed to see some other options
for Legendaries in the not-terribly-far-flung future?

If they weren’t farming ‘Dale and ’Gorge, it’d be something else. Let the farmers farm, and the explorers explore. Especially when one considers the advent of Ascended Weapons. Sans a lucky MF roll, anyone what wants one of those puppies’ll be farming up a storm.

I’d honestly like to see two things:

1. Conjures redone to be linked to the caster’s Attuned Element. Thus we’d then have Elemental Greatsword/Axe/Hammer/Bow. Yea, this’d probably be a PITA to code, but would rock.
2. “Fist” weapons. Imagine the kinda stuff an Ele could pull with Cestus/Hand-wraps.

I’ve wanted Staff on Rangers for a while, tbh … and this thread’s got some darned interesting ideas.

Seems to me that leap attacks that involve a character directly leaping are just pathed weird. The leap on Ranger Sword attacks tosses me past or over an enemy just as often as the #3 on Guardian GS. Now, one thing that could help on Ranger Sword AA chains – assuming that the chain itself isn’t modified – would be to add short-duration Evade frames mid-chain. Works with the weapon’s overall style, as well.