Guild Wars 2

A S/A, GS or A/Wh power regen ranger can do decently with it, your heal and 2 utility slots use hp as well as Wh5 in water fields. Don’t expect any quick fights but it can be decent. Mix in some zerk/pvt for extra damage and Condi protection (vitality).

kokiman.2364:

Whatever you do, don’t do champtrains especially when this is your first character.

Once a month for your monthly achieve is plenty. Beyond that I have gotten a lot more from map completion.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Aerathnor.8305:

Sylvari immob utility skill isn’t terrible. Not an elite skill but I still like having it on classes that could really do with a decent duration immob (s/d ele comes to mind)

I’m not saying ALL of them are terrible. Some are pretty decent but then you have others that are simply brokenly underpowered to the point they are wasted in the game because no one uses them.

Agreed, I personally love racial skills in games but even if there is one that is statistically better than what my preferred race has I’ll still pick the race I like over being slightly worse off.

I wouldn’t mind if they added a “racial” skill slot for PvE/WvW that doesn’t replace any existing skill slot just so I wouldn’t feel borked for using one.

Sylvari immob utility skill isn’t terrible. Not an elite skill but I still like having it on classes that could really do with a decent duration immob (s/d ele comes to mind)

Thank kitten he didn’t pop Lich… LB spam on power necro is only for when it’s on cd…

As cliche as it is to say it, here it is. Who plays a human in a high fantasy game? They are like the people that go to a Mexican restaurant and order the cheeseburger :p

Also depends on the weapon set you’re using and learning the burst combos. You’re best bet for doing damage often comes from different skills in different attunements. IE: D/D combo could be A4>A5>F3>F4>Cleansing conflag>F5>E4>E5 not much survives that. Ice bow, Lightning Hammer, and Fiery Greatsword also destroy things.

Sounds like Ele is my best bet so far. My only concern (coming from my Spvp experience) is that without a clerics amulet I lose most of my sustain, while with a clerics I have a very difficult time dropping some classes. Is this alleviated by having more freedom with stat choices in WvW/PvE? I’ve had 5-6 min fights with warriors and guards that only seem to end when someone else shows up and I’d like to avoid that if possible. D/D in PvP has been the standard 0/10/0/30/30 for cantrip cleanse or 0/10/10/30/20 for aura share (giving team fury, swiftness, and prot).

I know Spvp is a different beast as your effectiveness depends on how well you stand in circles, but having joked with a few hambows and condi warrs about how the fight was never ending, I worry about that in WvW.

Thank you all for the replies

DiamondMeteor.8345:

Doesn’t change the fact that they didn’t listen to the community and revert the Watchwork Mining Pick to the same level as the previous Infinite-Use Tools.

Not like I care to be honest, complaining about virtual assets like these is such a first world problem.

This made me smile, thank you for that

Alright, here’s my dilemma. I bought the game back in June 2013 for two reasons, PvP doesn’t require leveling, and no sub fee (a big deal as I have a 1 year old now and I can go weeks without finding time to touch a game).

In that time I have played every class to some degree in SPvP (almost to rank 30) and have found myself now bored in just that game mode so I want to give WvW and endgame PvE a try. The big problem being that I simply cannot decide between the 3 classes I gravitate towards, (18)Ele, (35)Mesmer, and (62)Ranger.

Now, what I am looking for is something to be useful in WvW zergs, WvW Solo, and PvE dungeons. My Ranger is my highest level simply because it’s easy, no other reason, and I do enjoy doing dungeons with him so far (S/Wh, spotter, frost spirit, Healing Spring) but I really don’t have the time to sit there looking for a group that will take me at 80 (only do story modes atm).

I have a blast on my Ele in Spvp as I find the class mechanic fun, but haven’t explored PvE much with him. I get the feeling that since I play Sylvari, if I get nostalgic for my ranger I can slap on an Ice bow and Fern Wolf elite and pretend I’m a ranger. I really cannot stress how much I enjoy the D/D play style, the whole living bomb thing is fun to me.

My Mesmer is there primarily because he is the only class I can run Zerker amy on and not melt in seconds (I really dislike playing thief) so I get my fix of big numbers and group fight changing moments on him. The problem with my Mesmer in PvE being that I simply hate running at normal speed. Focus and boon duration signet help a bit in PvE, but I frankly cannot stand his out of combat mobility. Everything else about the class I love, the theme, the mechanics, and the look.

I need to be able to log on and play quickly as my time is in fact limited and valuable to me, so if anyone with multiple 80’s can help me out here I would appreciate it. Which of these (admittedly considered UP in some situations) should I take the time to main? I keep trying to pick one, and each has it’s upsides and downsides, but I’m tired to switching back and forth all the time.

Thank you for the read and your opinions

20 in Marksmanship for spotter, WH offhand, Frost spirit and healing spring for dungeons. Outside of dungeons as long as you have a bear and a bow not much is going to hurt you (just never bring said bear and bow to a dungeon).

ThiBash.5634:

Spiuk.8421:

Clicking is the superior form of key input.

Never said that. Just saying you can get used to it. One of my guild plays with a touchpad…something I could never see myself doing.

Aerathnor.8305:

Got a Naga for WoW and use it in gw. Nothing is faster than having every ability at mercy of one thumb. XD

That must be one muscled thumb…

It used to hurt after raids. Every ability I had was 1-12 on the side of the mouse and alt/shift/ctrl variants of 1-12. It’s a little over kill for GW2 but it frees up my keyboard hand to focus on movement/dodging/class mechanic use (Shift,z,x,c instead of F1,F2,F3,F4)

Got a Naga for WoW and use it in gw. Nothing is faster than having every ability at mercy of one thumb. XD

apt.9184:

I don’t get why they think ele is so weak of a class. Right now thief and warrior are too strong. They need to stop buffing the balls of classes and start nerfing because every patch they seem to make it worse.

Low armor and HP and many situational abilities with long cd’s make it extremely punishing to mess up on. I would say this makes for a high skillcap but their burst in general is highly telegraphed and fairly easy to avoid once you’ve seen it a time or two.

As far as bunkering goes you just have to do so much to get a subpar result that it makes it extremely frustrating to play. I like ele for its many abilities and I have seen them succeed but the high skill floor and cap means that people tend to burn out on them quickly.

Archaon.6245:

Aerathnor.8305:

Prysin.8542:

Once Pet F2 are made reliable, rangers will be the new meta.

or not.

I’d say this if paired with making pets able to hit moving targets would make BM bunkers a new meta. Keep a LB for RaO and you can stack 20+ might on your pet. If they ever start hitting reliably I’ll agree with you. Bunker and high damage all in one.

Another ai based braindead ranger spec into meta? Oh god…no thanks…spirit rangerbots are enough already..

Not saying I want it, just saying I can see it happening, would already be here if the class mechanic worked properly. My ranger is relegated to hotjoins simply because I hate spirit spam. I can say with certainty that other than playing ot a few times to get the feel for its weaknesses I would not run a BM bunker if it went meta.

Prysin.8542:

Once Pet F2 are made reliable, rangers will be the new meta.

or not.

I’d say this if paired with making pets able to hit moving targets would make BM bunkers a new meta. Keep a LB for RaO and you can stack 20+ might on your pet. If they ever start hitting reliably I’ll agree with you. Bunker and high damage all in one.

Loot in this game is bizarre to begin with, ran a story mode Ascalon on my 51 ranger the other night and had an exotic lvl 80 GS come from one of the silver boss chests. Every other one dropped green or lower items but they were at least level appropriate.

Not complaining about getting it, but I was blown away that I got something like that pre lvl 80

nagymbear.5280:

That is what Prysin was trying to do, a guild where experienced rangers can teach the newcommers. Don’t know if its still there. I would love to join too, but server change is not an option for me. An all ranger zerg would be awesome though.

I’ve thought of it, having a backline of zerker GS all charging in and popping their maul swifties and promptly melting one second later. Would at least be a “wtk happened” moment if most of them connect.

Alas it would not be sustainable or overall effective so it it must remain in my imagination

Keep him, if nothing else it’s good for farming and soloing champs. Getting a brown bear and naming him “Bearbow” is a must though. If for no other reason than flaunting it as you blaze around killing large pulls.

I like sylvari for the nature theme and because he fits with a fern wolf (fav pet). Only issue is the sheathed running animation looks like you have a stick in an uncomfortable place.

Norn is a solid choice, but I too hate being that big.

rchu.8945:

Xyonon.3987:

Fan should more be mh AND oh. Short range cleave, maybe even a “+25% speed while wearing a fan” trait etc.

How do you wear a fan!?

Like this :p

messiah.6158:

the play card are amazing for my idea. i want it right now! Mesmer with card coud be spectacular i think.
I love the idea that mesmer could use a shield but the card are really fantastic idea.

Mostly powerful with a possible confusion/torment build. I would like it could be 2 hands weapons for powerful strenght.
I guess legendary card!! omg sbav

Once again, we run into the issue of only mesmer really being able to use cards as a weapon. The only other class that would make any sense would be Necro with a Tarot deck or something of the sort (Death card and such).

I don’t dislike the idea as an idea, but the practicality of adding a new weapon that only really fits one class just kills it in my mind.

As far as playing a different class to get MH Pistol, just look at Greatsword. On 3 other classes they have similar uses and skills as a melee weapon, however, in the hands of a mesmer it becomes a completely different beast doing ranged damage. I want a MH pistol because the animations are by and large already in the game, there are plenty of ways to make it’s skills different than a thief or engi (no unload skill please), and it fits the “duelist” style of mesmer while giving us a main hand ranged power weapon.

I agree we need better aoe, and if a whip is ever added it could easily fill that role for us (aoe/control). I don’t see this as a “this or that” type deal, both could be added, especially since whip animations are in game for elementalists and the sylvari.

DuranArgith.1354:

Aerathnor.8305:

I think that base warrior damage should be reduced but they should get better offensive traits so that there is actually a reason for them to invest in traits that give damage. If this happens we might even see more build diversity. However, I’m not sure that warriors will invest offensively in the current pvp condition meta.

I’m for this as a general design for all classes. Lower base, higher coefficients. Make a person choose precisely how they want to do damage.[/quote]

Im sorry but did you read the patches so far to see how much warriors damage has been already reduced?[/quote]

Not just warriors, more importantly I’m not wanting the class to be nerfed into uselessness. I was saying that I’d prefer base damage across all classes to be low with higher coefficients on skills.

The one thing I like about warrior is the build diversity that is offered, something I would like all classes to mimic. I otherwise don’t much care for the class personally, doesn’t mean I want to kitten all over everyone that does.

[/quote]

I think that base warrior damage should be reduced but they should get better offensive traits so that there is actually a reason for them to invest in traits that give damage. If this happens we might even see more build diversity. However, I’m not sure that warriors will invest offensively in the current pvp condition meta.[/quote]

I’m for this as a general design for all classes. Lower base, higher coefficients. Make a person choose precisely how they want to do damage.

zone.1073:

In my opinion as a competitive warrior player, Cleansing Ire needs to be removed.

Cleansing Ire needs to be removed and built into the Adrenaline mechanics of the class with a toned-down version (3 adrenaline for cleansing 2 conditions, etc). When a trait is so powerful that every build feels like it is mandatory, then the trait is problematic when it comes to build diversity.

Kinda the line I was thinking. The issue with making it a GM trait as the OP suggested is that it only hurts build diversity and you end up like rangers (every viable build needing 30 pts in one line). Not to mention it does nothing to hambow as they often take 30 in the line anyway to get the hammer trait (a 20 pt trait).

I definitely don’t think it should be removed as it is a solid trait, the bigger offender is HS not needing healing power. The only sustain similar to it is regen ranger and they drop considerably faster in PVT than Clerics.

The only reason for a ranger to take HaO over TU or HS is for higher vigor uptime from a trait as it has the lowest cd.

I personally have only used it maybe 3 or 4 times in all the time I’ve played the class. It just pales in almost every arena of play. TU is easier to get off in TPvP as it can be used earlier in a fight and most people won’t interrupt it. Healing spring is one of our only active Condi removal skills and provides a waterfield that is better in both dungeons and PvP. HaO is just a bland burst heal with no added utility.

Don’t forget that if he was using a long bow you likely had 20+ stacks of vuln on you before he popped Signet of wild, stun for moment of clarity, Then S of the Hunt→ Maul. It is the definition of one trick pony. Fun to hit, but overall unreliable.

Same with Sylvari male on the longbow. Every 3rd to 4th shot he’ll lean forward and crouch a little as opposed to just plinking away from full standing.

Not sure if it’s just sylvari that do this or not (I love my tree people), but it adds a little flavor to the normal ranged attacks.

I’ve been running PU S/S GS phantasms lately and it does fairly well.
Take your standard 20/20/30 and pick up the fury and damage traits with S/GS and their respective cooldown traits. Chaos traits are your choice, though I like the manipulation cd reduction. Utilities of Arcane thievery, Blink, Decoy and MI. Lyssa runes, fire SIG on GS, Energy and Bloodlust on swords.

A lot of dodge, 2 Interrupts in GS 5 Sw4, block,good burst in iSwordsman/blurred frenzy combo.Decent boon strip and not terrible Condi removal.

Its not perfect, but it is fun and mostly effective with practice.

Curunen.8729:

Aerathnor.8305:

<snip>
Pistol 3 (Displace)- Fire a shot that marks your target. Second activation you and the marked target swap positions, target gains immob and a clone is produced in your original position.

Ok that is fantastic – where should I send the gold?

I accept donations in the form of a non-bugged I-leap and more classes and builds viable in the meta. :-)

Michael.7382:

Mh Pistol !!
1 – some autoattack that apply vulnerability
2 – thieves unload/iDuelist unload, on simmilar cd as blurred frenzy
3 – some sort of blink ability, like phase retreat with clone generator OR some attack that cripple, blind and apply lets say 5stack of confusion

I was thinking more of an AA chain for 1.
Attack 1- Normal hit
Attack 2- Low duration cripple
Attack 3 (Double tap)- Spin (evade 1/2 sec) fire two shots with 1 boon strip on the second projectile.

Pistol 2 (Beacon, Faerie fire doesn’t fit theme) Cause X Vuln on target and X seconds of revealed. Aoe blind of 200-300 range.

Pistol 3 (Displace)- Fire a shot that marks your target. Second activation you and the marked target swap positions, target gains immob and a clone is produced in your original position.

Just a few musings I had at work the other day so we could have a mh ranged power weapon instead of Sc/P.

Just make it similar to sw#4. Activating it blocks/reflects (possibly add it to the focus or staff trait) and when hit activates chaos armor. Activating it again while blocking does the cone aoe or whatever other functionality would be balanced. Either way, retain current functionality while making it more interesting.

Got it thank you guys. Facepalm on the wiki, didn’t even think to check, just rolled the dice on forum search and couldn’t find anything on it.

So protection is as good for both, thought it would be weird for the boon to specifically benefit zerkers over high toughness toons.

Hey all, I was just curious (and unable to find) any info as to how protection is calculated. Is it pre or post Toughness? The other question would be how does toughness work? Is it a percentage or just a flat reduction on every hit?

IE. Player A hits Player B for 10k before any mitigation. Protection would lower this hit by 3333 on a 0 toughness target, for example’s sake say toughness would reduce it by 2500 without protection. So is it 10k-3333-2500, (10k-2500) – 33% (so 7500 – 33%), or is it (10k-3333) – Toughness percentage (if toughness is a percentage)?

Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this but I was unsure as to where else I would post it. It struck me that protection would be far more valuable to a zerker build than a bunker if toughness was calculated before protection, even though the bunker with both reductions would still mitigate far more just at a lower value for the protection.

Either way not really game breaking but I was curious if anyone knew.