Guild Wars 2

I was also a “Don’t Care” – we’ve had the Trinkets for months, may as well complete the process. I would say that the farm-req is a bit iffy, though … should’ve been more like the preexisting gear. Also, since we’re at a point where Asc. Weapons (and one would assume Armor) pack both Infusion and Standard Upgrade slotting, perhaps we may wish to take a look at Trinkets in the same way … might allow a degree of customisation to said Ascended Trinkets. /shrug

Yes I would. The pow/pre can be buffed via food, and the +crit can be altered through EQ. Whereas +duration’s an all-over buff. Movement Speed … you’re a Mesmer, you know the answer to that part.

You may be “Big Bro,” but you’re insane to think any of the T8 guys are “dead.” Now quit tryin’ to poach our bodies.

It’s a self-selecting solution. “Bad” commanders either become “Good,” or find themselves without a sizable Squad. Now, as for your ideas:

1. This is something a good number of threads have touched upon. Color-coding + a chat-supression workaround would go a long way towards coordinating the VoIP and non-VoIP members of a server’s WvW population. Also makes it easier to run multiple tags/map
   2. & 3. – Considering the amount of combat/skill lag that exists in game, adding an in-built VoIP is something I have to disagree with. Mainly because I rather believe that it’d be done in less-than-optimized format, and would add to client-side bandwidth issues. Or worse yet, it would add to server-side issues. Which sucks, because if done right, it could bridge a lot of the “TS? But we use <insert VoIP name here>.” gap.

You’re like most of the servers down this way, WrayWray: kicked into the dirt and struggling to pull out of it. Hell, any of our current matchup’s gone through it, or currently is. You just have to find a balance, tbh. If you need to, hit up PvP/PvE for a bit to change up somewhat.
The problem is, that once one or two “big” WvW Guilds leave a server, kitten starts to snowball from there. Especially when you start losing matchups, that just compounds the issue.
I’ll say one thing though, a lot of your guys are persistent as all hell, and that keeps things plenty interesting. Do continue.

Karma Temple Trinkets are just accountbound (soulbound on use). I haven’t done Guild Backpacks, so no clue there.

Unless you run a Condition spec. Then Dwayna’d be the best option, on Temples.

The problem here, is that -considering how often ANet does not split skills in this GW- any “fix” applied for Conditions in WvW (or PvP) is going to transfer to PvE. Guess what? With the overwriting of Condi-stacks as an ingame mechanism, all allowing a “Resist” stat will do is make Condi-spec less workable in PvE. We’re already at a PvE meta where Direct DPS > Support > Control … do you really wish to make this bit worse?

As for the idea of Condi-spam, most Necro players never wanted Burning as a Condition, and did, in fact, take a damage drop on Terror for it. Perplexity’s being used -and abused- specifically because of ANet’s glad-handed treatment of WvW Confusion, particularily on Mesmers, the supposed “Confusion Masters.” Engi also took a hit there, but has more overall options for Conditions in general.

Now, what could work, at least in my mind:

• Alter the damage/stack on damaging Conditions to allow for a certain % more damage at the expense of stack # and/or Duration.
• Remove the phenomenon of “stack overwriting”
• Cap stacks at a more “manageable” number, say 10. This is balanced by the first idea.
• In PvE, lower the frequency and stacks of things such as Unshakeable/Defiant. There is a difference between making CC on a boss “difficult” and “nigh-impossible.”

If these things were done, and done well, it’d finally allow for a reasonable balance between DPS and Condition attacks. It would also finally implement ANet’s idea of the “Trinity” for the game.

A third option, folks, is to lower the stacks said Runes apply. /shrug

You realise this is what he wants, folks? Daecollo’s kinda legendary, for this sort of thing.

I wasn’t counting Siege as a class, Gyuforce. Else I would have listed:

1. Arrowcart

Dwayna temple has exotic Rabid trinkets. WvW has the missing Rabid Armour.

They fixed the 6/6 on Speed already?

Trap a fool with RoW, wail on ’em hardcore. Guard Hammer packs KD too, you know.
And Guardian has a good deal more sustain, compared to a Warrior.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Interesting…this might work well with my P/P build.

Get out of my head, Sir Vincent. Was thinking a set on my Thief and Mesmer. Mesmer first, since Thieves at least pack a speed Signet.

Fair enough, just figured both deserved a mention. Along those lines, it’s also too bad Seven Mirror stopped playin GW2 some time ago. Another sick skilled Mes player.

Once their 6/6 gets patched up, Speed runes’d be a good option too. Especially with the spare Vitality on a set of ‘em. They’re loads cheaper, too. Don’t get me wrong, I can definitely see current Traveller working for most any class, tbh.

There’re a couple of folks I’m surprised haven’t been nominated. (Assuming they’re in-Guild). Namely Kylia or Flimp. Both are knowledgable in theorycraft and actual in-game practice.

Leo G.4501:

Yes! We’ve got an Asura who finds the boastful pride and aggressive nature of the Charr useful to the extent of cuteness and a Charr who acknowledges the amazing intellect of an Asura.

The next step is an easy one! Soon we’ll have some Charr declaring their admiration for their Asura lover on the battle field or inviting their Charr assistant to their lab for late night cuddles after a long day’s work with their krewe.

I’ll be emailing you the .pdfs with the diagrams on specific pegs and slots configurations so you’re fully prepared…it’s not as complicated as you think.

And no need to thank me. I’m just Leo, making Tyria ickier one post at a time

Hmmm. I have only one word to utter at this point in time:
Rox.

Too bad about the Speed runes. That’s a nice chunk of extra Vitality.

1. Hammer Guardian
2. Phantasm or Interrupt Mesmer.
3. Thief
4. BM Ranger

Well, the problem is that the most “active” classes tend to be -for the most part- the ones who use multiple skills in rapid succession. Which is a win for Thief, especially Evasion-specced Thief. But, yea … Thief’s a squishy guy. So you’re left with Guard, out of those three.
Now, if you wanted to try something other than those three classes, I’d actually suggest Mesmer or Elementalist. Both are very active in combat, especially with certain setups. (Not Staff or Focus for Ele, those are best for pure support/bunker, try
S/D or D/D for Ele or Shatter Mesmer).
Both pack multiple options for enhanced movement (teleports, gap closers), and defensive options (invulnerability, Defensive Boons). However, both classes really only tend to shine around level 40 or so, once you start to get Master-level Traits.

Oh, I noticed. Thanks, ANet.

Been using Air on my “fight/tank” set … these boys’re looking workable now.

My Ranger, yes.
Elementalist, kinda.
Mesmer, depends of which of his three sets of armor we’re talking about.

The issue I see, mainly … is that most of the Cultural sets look like total kitten on males. Which is why my Mes is the only male Sylvari in my roster.

Honestly, Ascended EQ isn’t even completed yet. Nor are all the available prefixes represented at this time. (Hello, Carrion and Valkyrie!) At this rate, it’d be kind of stupid for them to even think about another Tier of EQ. Although, I rather like the color wheel argument.

Nobody escapes the Purple Side forever. It’s just too much fun.

I have the same opinion on Ascended EQ that I have on Legendary. Namely that -besides the Trinkets I’ve managed to snag- I can bloody well take my time. I game to escape stress, not make more for myself. Plus, I know I can handle myself with just Exotics.

We can only hope. However, it’s not at all impossible. And that’s the problem. Even one week of the “worst-case” scenario tanks the ever-loving kitten out of a server’s WvW population. Trust a Ferg, we’ve been there and have the scars.

Please, Antara. With this “2 leagues of 12” business, you and I are going to be:

• Zerged for aeons
• Dying regularly
• Outnumbered
• Annoyed as all get-out.

And here’s why:

• Using just the current MOS rankings as an example, this new bit’ll toss servers like you/DR/ET/us versus anyone up to … lemme see here … Kaineng is #13, atm. Hell, IoJ and their mad numbers of Oceanics are at #17, for kitten’s sake.
  Worst part is, this probably pales in comparison with crap like -iunno- Yak’s Bend or EBay getting tossed at JQ or SoR.

Ascended may have a higher stat cap … however, I’m surprised that the following hasn’t been pointed out:

• Ascended EQ that we currently have access to lacks any upgrade besides Infusions. Assuming that the eventual Ascended Armor possesses the same drawback, I could foresee many players choosing to avoid it in favor of using their more customizable Exotic Armor.
  After all, you’re not —with this in mind-- going to be able to pull out Ascended (prefix here) Armor of —say-- Perplexity or Melandru. Nor, logically, will you have an Ascended (prefix here) Greatsword of Earth, Fire or Air.

Past that, however, I can see —and somewhat empathize with-- the concept of Ascended EQ + time gating becoming the Great Gear Treadmill™. As for that concern, we have no real choice but to wait and see if ANet:

• Adds sufficient difficulty-gated content to “require” EQ of that power level.
• Creates another “Tier” of EQ, post-Ascended. As it is, the types of Infusions, and their stat range, are mostly small-scale, compared to equivalent Rune/Sigil/etc. options for Exotic gear. The notable exceptions would be some of the Utility options (+20% Gold, IIRC? Pretty decent, but not a DPS/Condition-booster)

Heh. I’m a fan of restructuring Mesmer C/Ds to function better at “base” level.
Either:

• Drop IC completely, adjust clone-gen upwards. Fact is, this could even be done at a lower % than IC currently provides.
• Drop IC’s additional % to 10%, remove 5-10% from base clone-gen C/Ds.

DE should be left alone. A lot of builds don’t even bother with it. (Glamour/Triforce or Phantasm, for instance. Most Mantra specs probably leave it alone, as well.)

I’d personally rather see options for the missing stat prefixes on back items. For instance, we have the potential of Exotic/Ascended Celestial on every slot but back. Don’t get me wrong, I like the concept of more “types” of back item, but it’s the kind of thing that I’d like to see go hand-in-hand with fixing the overall progression of back slots as Trinkets.

I like the Unload suggestion, and agree it’d open up some more skill-based options.
I also think we should probably shy away from Burn, in favour of more evasion/movement on Pistols. After all, while P/D has Stealth and D/P packs Leap and Stealth potential … P/P is still lacking in either regard. And, indeed, Evasion/Leap Finisher would lend more towards the “Gunslinger” mindset.
As for Jumper’s idea for Perplexity Runes: Surprisingly workable … I was thinking the only way to constructively “nerf” ‘em would be through an ICD on #6, but dropping the # of stacks would also work out, if done right. It’d also preserve the AoE aspect of that Rune set.

I tend to run a spec more similar to Vecuu’s (swap Ricochet for Bountiful against boon-heavy targets, I also keep Quick Recovery in my Acro tree). At the same time, I’m not at all adverse to TeamBattleAxe’s version. I definitely agree with his mention that one does not require Stealth with this kind of build. Hell, it’s more fun, stealth-less.

One more thing I’ll add. Namely that I wish that all of the “Mesmers are OP!” crowd would check out this thread. It might just manage to shut them up.

You know what, colesy – I’ll give fair cred for you sticking up for your servermate. Indeed, I respect loyalty. However, as you two believe that ArmageddonAsh and I overstate a Mesmer’s usefulness … you do the precise opposite. As my Grandfather would say, were he still alive:
“There are three sides to every story. Yours, your opponent’s, and the truth.”

Let us then agree to disagree. Perhaps we’re less useful than “my” side believes. But bloody well, we’re more worthy than “your” side chooses to think.

Tell me about it … how many Krait must I sacrifice for this power? :P Although, I’m still holding out for Mental Torment to be changed from +dmg to applies Torment.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

I can understand Thief as they are very strong mostly down to the broken mechanic that is stealth. However i disagree with ele. They might have good damage, they have very low health and very low defensive options.

I’m not even accounting for Stealth. A well-tricked Evasion Thief is plenty dangerous.
I don’t consider myself an expert … but I’ve run that weaponset, and it gets biz handled. Mesmer’s more fun, mind … but don’t count out the S/D’s. Hell, don’t count out a well-played Thief, period.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

They dont kill you with the burst then they simply die or run. with Alot of builds taking points in Chaos we have some very decent toughness, solid stealth and great skills. They are limited to Melee which is another count against them as they can be easily kited until they use RTL but that is dodgable and even then you have skills such as Phase Retreat on Staff or the knockback on Greatsword or the BF on sword to counter that.

True. But any Ele who’s had to deal with Mesmers should be smart enough to bait out those moves. Not to mention, many of our guys run with crap condi removal. Even a “combat” Ele still accesses Bleed/Burn/etc. Let alone L-Flash and/or FGS rushdowns.

Actually, I’d add 4-5 Mesmers on a team like that, Azo. Why, you ask? Let me toss out a few reasons:

• Sheer panic and absolute chaos. 4 or 5 “become” 16 or 20.
• Between Perplexity Interrupt/Condi-spec, and Triforce builds … you gain an arseton of reflects/AoE Confusion/AoE interrupts
• Mindgames with Veils and Portals.
• Targeted Time Warps, so that we kill you faster.

Now, as for Stability or Boons:

• Bountiful Interruption/SoI combo on at least one group Mesmer. Interrupt, gain nice chunk of Boons, share ’em, profit
• Not to mention, Null Field or Arc-Thievery … remove that annoying Stability from members of the enemy team
• Linked Chaos Storms for fun and profit. Target ’em near each other, but not on top … that way, you maximize your amount of targets.

I can think of a couple who are “roughly” equal.
*S/D Thief.
*Burst-spec’ed D/D Ele

Both have good mobility, and can do reasonable DPS, with the right kit.

Screw it. Everyone fun who doesn’t breed Drama Llamas … come to Ferg. There, now we have at least one server out of the “low end” that has numbers.

I don’t get that “camp with LB” mindset, tbh. Ranger S/D is one of the sexiest weapon combos in game … why not use it? Hell, the only real problem with it, is the AA self-root. As for pets, I typically run Jaguar for stealth-kill/Bleeds, and swap the secondary to fit what I’m stuck fighting. Drakes aren’t bad for “tank” needs, and at least do more direct damage than Bears.

My only complaint with the tone of this discussion is as follows:
I hope you AR folk don’t think that FC and DR are always zergs … hell, I’m known to roam on upleveled alts, let alone 80s. I’ve also run into a good number of solo-to-small group runners from DR.
Past that, I’ll give your guys cred, you do make a body fight for Dat Stomp.

You also forgot Ranger, ArmageddonAsh: Water field on Healing Spring, indeed the longest duration Water field in game, iirc.

As for class strength, let’s be honest here. The great strength and weakness of Mesmers is how Trait-dependant we are. Take this current biz with Perplexity Runes, for example. With our access to Traited Interrupts/AoE Interrupts, it is rather easy to stack a reasonable amount of AoE Confusion. Ironic as hell, since the last time we could do that, what happened again? (-cough!-nerfed like punks-cough!-)

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Yeah they really need a nerf to the health, seeing as they have DS as well, the health they have should be reduced by 25-30% and given to the class that really needs it – Ele.

No way in Hell, bro. Ele’s got better heal abilities, and defensive Boons. Necro gets bounced around like a bloody ragdoll in a prolonged fight. Also, that “DS overflow fix”
seriously reduces their resistance to heavy burst.

Watch out, all the Fergs are rioting. FooooOOOOOoooo!

jportell.2197:

However I do have a request for Anet. That the phantasmal healing minor trait not grant regeneration the boon, but just grant passive healing that way mesmers like eles soothing mist, engi’s backpack regenerator, warriors healing signet, guardians virtue of resolve etc. Right now the only direct Heal over time that mesmers get is regen and the burst heal from the mantra charge up. But seriously that is something that is holding mesmer bunker builds back is the ability to regenerate health over time. We only have one direct way to do it.

Unfortunately, we’re dealing with the same guys who added ICDs to Illusionary Membrane and Blinding Befuddlement. And one can argue that both of these Traits
helped Mesmers bunker better, one directly, the other indirectly. This kind of track record makes me not cross my fingers hoping for your idea -good as it may be- to be implemented.

Another idea for you, and this from one of my secondary sets of armour:
You want to go for Condition/Support(i.e. Regen/Prot), replace the Rabid Armour with Apothecary. You’ll lose Precision, but gain Healing Power to fuel the Regen. You could also mix Apothecary with either Settler’s (bit more Toughness than Apothecary, similar stat break overall) or Shaman’s (Vit/Healing/Condition). In my case, I went Apothecary/Shaman, but feel free to tweak things around.

As for your server, I think we’ve only fought NSP once … I may have fought ya, or not.

Traveler’s Runes are getting -IIRC- all stats + condition dmg. That could be interesting…