I like it, too. Nice idea
For $5 a month:
1. Get 200 gems a month?
2.No waypoint costs1000 luck and 1000 karma
3. Freecharacter slot.upgrade extractor
4. Freelv80 boost.10 Black Lion Chest Keys
It is just percent to the next level. That is all.
Buy only through Arenanet. Any other path may get you banned.
I hope people stop using the terms “casual” and “hard core” because they are over-simplifications of real people.
Everyone comes into the game as a new player. New players cannot expect to instantly level to 80 and take on L80 area mobs in PvE. There are a lot of things to learn. That is why the beginner areas are there.
The first time I leveled a character, I was terrible. I chose a terribly handicapped profession and stuck through it. Lots of dying and humiliation was involved. The second time, it was much easier and every subsequent time got better because I was learning the game’s mechanics and how to handle different mob types.
For me, the HoT expansion took just a bit of time learning how the new mobs behaved. It was scary difficult, at first, but now it is easy and I feel comfortable roaming solo.
That is why I believe there are no casuals. We all play the game at our own pace but our experience accumulates to give us insight and help us play better. Hard core gamers just spend more time during the day playing so they learn at an accelerated pace. They are not “genius” players. They simply take more time researching how to solve problems by reading the internet and dedicate more time trying to overcome challenges.
Calling yourself a casual is just as elitist as calling yourself a hard core player. There is only rate of learning and effort that separates players.
If you use Shroud a lot and trait Soul Reaping, you should have plenty of sustain to be full Berserker for most PvE. Dropping Cavalier does three things: It reduces your aggro from high toughness so you get less attention, it increases your dps a ton, and all that precision means you can make great use of sigils that proc’ on critical hits.
With full offensive stats, build for LF generation and use Shroud as much as you can. The stat’s carry over into Shroud so you will see a boost in your damage there. Just remember you are in a glass build that is more susceptible to condition damage and bursts. Shroud is your best survival tool.
With the ease of getting bleeding over 100% duration, I have been wondering if I should build for Torment. I had an old Rabid Torment setup I recently salvaged and would like the community’s thoughts on a Viper’s version. Torment would be more than one stack, perpetually, and may climb to 2-3 stacks at all times, in addition to bleed and poison stacks on scepter.
If you want to ease into HoT, try using a Ranger, Necromancer with minions, Engineer with turrets, etc. Stick to one map until you feel comfortable enough to play without pets.
Exotic gear is more than sufficient and the benefit of ascended is too small for me to notice. Watch what the different mob types do and work on learning the convoluted map.
There is no need to push yourself. If you die a few times trying to get a hero point, leave come back later. Perhaps change your build and tactics. Maybe some one else will also need it and you can work together. This sort of thing takes patients. I have died many times trying to solo everything. Dying is frustrating but carries very little penalty in Gw2. Take your time doing the same events in an area over and over.
Remember, it is not a grind if you are learning which mobs have which skills, which are most damaging, how to counter them, and what equipment give you the best value.
Seera understood my previous post. PvE should be training players in skills that are needed in all game modes, including PvP and WvW, but it should do that gradually. Arenanet can do it better but HoT does introduce more aggressive mobs. Orr was reworked some time ago and world bosses have been getting makeovers.
My own preference is for mobs in sub-80 areas to receive AI updates that do not make them more difficult but more like beginning PvP players making mistakes you can learn to capitalize on.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
HoT is the start of moving PvE toward skill progression.
No, it is not a failure, though it can be improved.
Would shouts survive a nerf to Rise?
Thanks. I like the idea of some range. Would Viper or Sinister gear be best for open world HoT bosses? Should I prioritize condition damage or duration? I’m wondering whether many open world targets would die too quickly for condition duration to ramp up.
Honestly, I run pure power for almost all open world HoT. Some events work better with scepter and bleeds but if you are in a group or zerg power is often better. If you are running condition damage, duration always wins.
Might reaper is still the best option, IMO. I like Spite, SR, Reaper for solo and BM, SR, Reaper for group events. Power is great for everything but PvP.
Yep. NC is one of Necroreaper’s most powerful traits.
They nerfed it because it was a kittenty idea to begin with. It was completely unreliable because it was constantly being overridden when anyone else applied chill (which was all too common). I can only think you’re talking from a pvp perspective. From a pve perspective, it is the best thing ever.
Yeah this is from a pvp perspective, they clearly need to balance each gamemode individually.
They just gave condition damage the wrong way on HoT release. Tying it to a soft CC made it too strong for PvP and too weak for PvE. It is fixable after the nerf.
I have a few suggestions
Drop Spectral Wall. Add Well of Power. Lich, golem, and Plague Form all have different uses so be prepared to swap. Trait horn, or not, depending on extra swiftness needed. Trait wells, Vampiric Rituals and Ritual of Life, if you are planning to run with allies. Rest seems pretty good. Nice job on it.
I have said this before but believe higher level PvE areas should train players to become better at PvP. This is like training to play chess against a computer.
AI should become increasingly more complex, reactive, and proactive against players; i.e., corrupting boons, breaking stuns, interrupting big damage or heal skills, dodging, targeting real threats, protecting allies, etc.
Just need to buff bleed proc rules, stack count, or duration to increase condition damage dps.
Chill duration was too long for PvP and chill damage was kitten in group PvE. Switch to bleed is good, in theory but both power and condition damage builds got a haircut – CC for one and CC/dps for the other.
A pair of Giver’s weapons is 20% all by itself and are less expensive than Viper’s, though less powerful. They are only available in exotic and so will be Soul-bound. Add Malice on one, pizza, and toxic focusing crystals to get to 60% leaving you a lot of Rune options depending on how much Viper’s accessories you add. Nightmare-trapper alone has 25% and will bump you to 95% without any Viper’s.
Considering a full set of Viper’s nets under 40% duration, giver’s 20% a pair has decent value.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Ah, I can see how this poll’s results might be biased toward the profession a player is most skilled and comfortable with. Might want to rephrase the question to something like, “Of your main(s), which is best in HoT solo roam? Of all, including alt’s, which is best solo roaming?” then ask the same about group / zerg events.
MH dagger is one of the best Necromancer weapons right now so how about adding an Unblockable time of effect to OH dagger 5?
Dailies are worth more. You get spirit shards and gold.
Please let us know how Chilling Victory and Blighter’s Boon do for LF generation. Condition damage builds always feel short on that.
Please be careful of having too much precision.
Unlike power builds, critical hit chance is not very important. Bleed and poison duration is more important.
I agree 100%, Flumek. SE is beyond bad for almost all scenarios never actually good. The leach-heal on Grave Digger is tiny, even in PvE events when I might catch 2 mobs on average, but it helps my power builds a little. The 20% CD reduction, like similar traits for other weapons, is an unimaginative sink for trait points but is the real reason for taking SE; I.e., Grasping Darkness mostly.
The build I posted is not meant to be optimized. It is intentionally de-tuned for community support and is anathema to PvP strategy because it assumes the targets will die easily to 111 spam.
I use shouts for control effects, conditions like weakness, and incoming damage reduction, not dps. The dps seems too low to matter.
Soul Eater or Reaper’s Onslaught both seem designed for PvE situations where the other traits are unnecessary but that does not make them good. Also, I have not found any reason to use Relentless Pursuit in PvE. Chilling Nova works for break bars and, without shouts, there is less reason to use greatsword. I abandon Reaper entirely before chills or shouts are not preferred for the first major.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
I know SE seems like garbage, and it is for almost every use, but, in PvE event zergs, dps does not matter as much as CC, res’ing, and tanking champs so ranged fighters can do their thing unimpeded. The tiny siphon and heal is inconsequential, even if I average 2 mobs per use, but CD on greatsword 2-5 helps trim break bars. There is no shortage of vulnerability, stuff dies everywhere for LF, and might does not matter as the real goal is to make sure everyone tags the champs before they go down.
SE is terri-bad for everything else but I find it useful for this one thing. Actually, I typically run full cleric’s rather than berserker to help hold aggro and heal with Transfusion for 7k. There are plenty of players getting downed in an event zerg. I may be in shroud whirling from one champ to another but dodge-rolling to a clear area to use Transfusion and resurrection is at least as important as holding aggro, from my perspective.
Legendaries require gold; that’s it.
Like many others, I have never had a precursor drop since GW2 launched.
To be truly legendary, precursors should have been account bound. Legendaries are already gated by gifts but some gifts are also gold monetized.
However, fixing it is like closing the barn door after leaving it open for 3 years.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Soul Eater is for PvE events. It works well to provide extra sustain and CC when in a PvE zerg with lots of mobs. Try it out in Dragon’s Reach. I pretty much tank every champ using shouts, shroud, and lots of cool down, LF, and mobility traits.
Try something like this.
Edit: I would take Unholy Martyr if Transfusion were not so darned useful. If UH ate more conditions faster, it would be more attractive but the AoE heal and pull-res’ing get used a lot in these kind of events.
This sort of build does not work in WvW zerg battles because they are more about area denial.
(edited by Anchoku.8142)
Axe is still a helper weapon. If you are playing with minions or with a ally, the vulnerability stacking from axe auto attack increases their dps. Axe is only good on power builds while traiting it in Spite.
You can also, sometimes, equip axe as a substitute for staff using it to lead off before closing to melee range for dagger or greatsword. Axe generates LF quickly but does not do AoE well so staff is better for slippery targets or in target rich environments.
Figure out how you want to play and choose the profession based on that. You will not get the elite specialization until you gather the hero points so you my take that into consideration.
Ascended armor and weapons need 500 but, if you already have ascended pieces, you can use exotic (400) insignia or inscriptions to change the stat’s in the forge.
If you are on the map and mouse over the summary in the upper left corner, uncompleted / unfound points flash.
I have been wondering if the selective nerfs are part of a slight shift toward establishing / controlling profession roles. Perhaps a long term strategy is to force more mix in PvE by lowering some professions’ capacity in specific roles. Of course, this only works with newer or reworked content.
It just seems like the old mantra of all professions being able to play all roles has not been heard much recently. It never really worked completely, anyway, but profession updates seem targeted toward a development goal.
All i want are the Spine Blades made into gliders, whether they’re separate items or unlocked when you get the Spinal Blades, I really don’t care. They’re already basically jet packs, add a little fire to the vents and they’re already the best gliders available.
OR, if you dont want to do that, add a “null” glider that lets you just keep your current back piece and you float as per normal. Then I’ll have my Spinal Blade gliders.
Do this.
Yes, please give us something to use blade shards on!
Follow the bread crumbs.
You could submit a ticket asking nicely but the level 80 boost, like previous rewards, is meant to reward players who might have bought gems with gold or real money after paying real money to get the game.
Holy cats! I have lots of crowbars. I need an airship full of crates.
Learning to play shouldn’t be frustrating or a grind.
I know my problem is a personal L2P issue.
Everyone has their own speed. The great thing about GW2 is there are game modes and areas for everyone. It is exceedingly casual while also offering challenging content.
Some are great learners under pressure. Some enjoy overcoming their shortcomings. Some like to role play with no combat at all. Some like defeating real players. Some like following the game’s story. Some like coordinating a winning strategy.
As long as GW2 can offer new challenges and content for each of the many subsets, it will do well.
Seera, focus on completing just one task. One you have done that, then work on another. Learning is incremental. We all get distracted and daunted by too many tasks.
BRA has been at this a while and is farther ahead in learning skills. We, the players, are all spread out; not just in skill but in preferences… subsets of ‘skill’ where one player who is terrible at PvP and PvE may own a large chunk of the BLTC stock.
You do not have to compete with others. Just find challenges that interest you. Maybe you want to lean guild missions, or craft, or trade, or grind champs, or map areas, or grind events for loot and xp and karma, or build rank in PvP; decide on something and work at it.
From a game design PoV, satisfying the most customers fir the least cost is their game. The best we, as players, can do is explain how our ‘suggestions’ and opinions matter in terms of growing player base; more specifically, gem buyers and client purchases.
Marauder is just a stat set. Recipes for it must be purchased / earned in HoT. It also requires special materials from HoT.
Mat’s you can purchase on the BLTC. Recipes to use those mat’s are generally not available without earning them in PvE. Not discoverable.
The human factors of the skill point color and shape change has been brought up before. Still waiting on a fix.
Meanwhile, sharpen your eyes. It is the only thing you can do.
HoT is fine as it is. The next expansion areas should have (my opinion) a different loot system where the chance for rare and better drops increases with aggregate group luck and be challenging for 4 person teams to survive in. That way, those of us willing to grind against impossible odds can do so. Call it an unfair skill and new account barrier, if you like, but this game has little to teach team strategy in PvE. It needs something like that.
Staff is good as it is in PvE. It fills the role of AoE.
Necromancer needs another weapon to fill in some gaps. Axe range increased so it is now able to do better than staff vs single targets on a power build. Scepter covers ranged condition damage. Necromancer could use a long range power weapon for single targets.
There is no such thing as an all-rounder for Necromancer, though Berserker-Scholar excells more often in PvE. HoT is a little more aggressive so the vitality is fine.
Try this out. I did not mess with your build too much.
With greatsword, keep in melee as much as you can.
Both axe and staff are useful. Use staff for AoE. Lead off with either one as you close the gap.
If you have soul Reaping, staff is better because you can trait it. Axe without Spite is just an irritant to everyone.
Gear depends on what you want to do.
Dire is bunkerish, Carrion is more aggressive, Sinister is most aggressive.
Krait runes do well and are cheap.
I do not use OH dagger very often because it is designed for a condition / corruption build.
Scepter – dagger does need more LF generation. If I build for scepter, every other weapon set is a dps loss on swapping so I hate swapping, leaving me short on LF.
Feast of Corruption is usually my only source of LF on bleed builds. It is not enough. Spectral skills and shouts goof up the build as much as running Signet of Undeath.
Corruption utilities need to generate LF. If they did, bleed builds would be much less delicate. HoT has shown me that scepter builds work great until the heat is turned up, then the slower LF generation leaves me very exposed.
For example, if I take Curses for scepter, then SR for Shroud and staff, maybe Reaper and shouts for LF and bleeds, I end up just dropping Curses for the rest of a power build.
You can be burst out of Shroud so it may appear something other than running out of LF kicked you out.
Inadvertent double clicking can often be fixed by changing the hardware used for F1. Buttons do wear out and mechanical switches offer more travel to help control twitching.
I have Scholar on a zerker set but had not thought of putting it on a Valkryrie set; good point, HardRider.
Wurm runes are on order and I had also been considering Exuberance that I already have.
Are there other good options?
I just changed an armor set to Valkyrie and have been reviewing which runes work best for it.
Assume, please, that I will adjust trinkets to have some precision.
Please tell me your favorite runes to match Valkyrie armor on a power build. I have some in mind but would like to hear about a variety of opinions or, maybe, options I had not thought of.
There is a lot of easy content in Gw2. I am happy HoT encourages partnering and grouping, though I still solo much of it. I think it should go further in that direction and offer better rewards for doing so.
It is not about excluding casual solo players but providing engaging and challenging content for people who want to play in a team or solo in hard mode.
I have noticed that the new Shatterer event fails a lot and hope new and casual players can step up to defeat it more regularly before testing themselves in HoT.