Guild Wars 2

Well, yes…but it’s going to be on a character without the proper gear/skills/experience. Hidden among a big zerg I guess it’s fine but…I think I’d just die a lot.

My server is Crystal Desert. Our zerg size is just a lot smaller than other servers. (Don’t underestimate us. What we lack in zerg size we make up with skill :P ) I’d just feel like I’d be cheating my server if I didn’t take my best geared champs out into WvW, and instead brought along a little-less-than-helpless rookie.

Berelious.3290:

Arikyali, the absolute fastest way I know to level a character is through crafting. However, since you plan to delete the character in question, I don’t recommend this as it’s a waste of resources. The only other way to level relatively quickly is to do WvW.

WvW on a level 3 character? Why do I feel very skeptical about this?

Now that I got to Trahearne on my human thief, I can see where the dislike is coming from.

spoiler warning

Apparantly Trahearne and Tybalt go back, being friends with each other. After Tybalt dies (Tybaaalt! ) Trahearne is rushed in as the next ally, while you have little to no knowledge of who this Sylvari is, aside of a bookworm “creepy necromancer.” At least in the Sylvari storyline, Trahearne was already present from the very early stages of the story.

The vibe I got was “Tybalt made a great sacrifice. He was a good friend of mine, and he was a good friend of yours as well. It wouldn’t be right for me to leave you alone in the fight against Zhaitan, and I’ll help in all ways I can.”

Then the Pale Tree comes along: “Trahearne, it’s YOUR DUTY to unite the three orders. Your duty. Yours. That is your destiny. You’re the best for the job. Did I mention it’s your duty?”

Trahearne: “But…I’m a scholar, not a general. I study the Orrians but I rarely engage in combat against them. Isn’t there anyone else who can-”

Pale Tree: “Now now! Put your fears aside. This is your calling, your Wyld Hunt, your destiny.”

Slaunyeh.9852:

And, speaking as a Sylvari, let’s not forget that the kitten Pale Tree gave him my sword! What the heck does a scholar need an epic sword for? I’m the one who’re supposed to fight the dragon, not stand in the back shouting advice.

I thought that too! I’m the one who did all the work to get Calebolg back, and it goes to HIM?! Can necromancers even use a sword?!

The Pale Tree plays favorites. If you ain’t firstborn, you’re simply ‘Sylvari’. At least she likes you a bit more because you’re a ‘valiant.’ But you’re still not a firstborn.

The wiki’s not completely accurate. The design itself is called the Rubric coat, or I assume it is since that’s the PvP equivalent. Stalwart’s Coat, Slayer’s Coat, and Caretaker’s Coat all should look the same, and other sources say they are the rewards for the lvl 39 story quest, for all three light armor classes. But none of the coats are available in the market, or out in the open world. I’ve checked and checked again.

There is a way to transfer soulbound items with transmutation stones, which is what I plan to do.

JonPeters.5630:

Scepter
Scepter is still missing something but we don’t want to overload the autoattack as we think that promotes more mindless play and are trying to move away from builds that focus so much on the “1” skill. I feel like that scepter should be the tricksy defender that can stop enemies from attacking and defend allies, but maybe it’s single target nature is keeping that from working.

May I offer some of my basic input? I mainly play my mesmer with a scepter/pistol, with a build that focuses on domination and dueling. The scepter is a very strong single-targeted weapon, but if I get mobbed, I’m more intent on using the 5 to stun enemies to get out of the way. It’s faster and more reliable than using the scepter’s blocking skill.

The way I see the scepter, it’s (1) clone summoner (2) block skill that gives another clone summon (3) long stream of pink damaging energy. The scepter is more of a soloist weapon, than one for a team fight. It remains on one target, and the clones it summons stay close to the target enemy, instead of moving around and attracting more mobs. It’s very useful for picking out one monster at a time, and killing it.

I use the “1” skill as an easy way to summon clones for shatter skills. But since the clones spawn at the target enemy, they sometimes get destroyed quickly as well. But because of this rich access to ‘killed or shattered,’ the scepter just has so many strong offensive uses, especially if it’s utilized with their respective shattered/killed traits. If I want to be defensive against a mob, I’ll take my greatsword instead. It has an illusion that can instantly cripple, and a wave that can push away enemies.

To be honest, the scepter does feel like a ‘mindless spam’ skill at times. thock thock thock clone! thock thock thock clone! thock thock thock clone! press f1 Extra damage! My shatter added a condition damage too! thock thock thock clone! thock thock- Aw. clone died. Oh well, it added another condition.thock thock thock clone! thock thock thock* clone! thock thock- enemy is coming at me! oh no! lift scepter – block! clone! press f2 Condition damage!

Inspiration traits are pretty much the best traits that utilizes a ‘clone army’ scepter weapon that is aimed to help allies in a large team group fight.

:Inspiration:

Adept – Shattering illusions grants vigor to nearby allies. (helps the team)
Adept – Move faster for each active illusion. (increased survivability in mobbed team fights. Especially since mesmers have no speed skills!)
Master – Increased condition damage while wielding a scepter. Reduces recharge on scepter skills. (goes directly into the scepter)
Grandmaster – Using a shatter skill removes a condition from you and allies around you. (helps the team)
Grandmaster – Heal a small amount when you shatter illusions. (lets you live longer in a mobbed team fight)
==

But…the mandatory trait skills are all based off phantasms. Scepters don’t summon phantasms, they summon clones.
*Adept – Grants retaliation to Phantasms.
*Master – Phantasms grant regeneration to nearby allies.
*Grandmaster – Phantasms deal more damage.

If we’re gonna be using a scepter, the offhand would be the phantasm summoner. And I’d rather drop points into precision (dueling) for my pistol offhand. So this just steers scepter users away from inspiration traits, and focus more on the damage dealing properties of scepters.

I guess another way to look at it is that it’s a ranged weapon. I don’t see why a mesmer would build vitality over damage, if they’re in a team fight and intent on standing far away.

If there was anything I would change with the scepter, it would be to add some combo effects on it – perhaps a combo initiator? Another idea that I’ve always wanted to see worked in was to have my clone summoned from the block (skill 2) to take the aggro that I have. It would just feel like it’s more utilized.

Looks quite lethal; although the lack of eye color bugs me. The armor goes very well with his class, 8/10.

Edit:

But I do not want to pay for celestial…..Also, any suggestions on the dye would be appreciated.

Have you tried sea ice dye? It’s a very white dye, and it’s also cheap.

Anyway, this is my thief, Anakysha. I posted her before, but I got a new armor look! Let’s see if she still keeps her silent and calculating style. This is her with and without the mask.

“You said you needed somebody silenced?”

I’ve made up my mind to get the rubric coat. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Stalwart%27s_Coat Problem is, the design is only available as a reward from the lvl 39 personal story quest, and there’s no other way to obtain it – so I’ve been told.

This will be a character I will be deleting after I get the coat. I need advice on the fastest and most efficient way to get this item. What is the easiest to level; mesmer, necromancer, or elementalist? Which race has quick access to low level maps that can give easy leveling?

Let’s assume I don’t have the gold to cap 3-4 different crafting professions on a character I’ll just be deleting afterwards. While I do have exp boosters, I would rather save them for my other characters.

If this appears to end up needing more effort than viable, then I can just ask a friend to help me with the story lines. I do want to try doing it on my own first. But if I do have to drag a friend into this, which story path would be the fastest to complete, time-wise?

Any kind of information will be greatly appreciated. Links to leveling guides, your own input, build advice, everything.

I have 3/5 of it completed. I checked other sources and it seems the maps I have not destroyed offshoots in are Brisban Wildlands and Queensdale. But when I head to those maps, I don’t see the toxic offshoot icons anywhere. Are these the maps, or are they somewhere else? Or is the respawn rate a lot lower than the other three and I just lucked out?

I’m trying to wonder what the lore related profession would be for Iron legion, aside from engineer. The Charr are not keen on magic, and I assume all the magic classes would get taken in by the Ash Legion – especially mesmers for their sneaky illusions. Warrior and guardian would be more for Blood Legion. Thieves have Ash Legion all around. I assume rangers would get jobs either in the Blood or Ash legion.

But Iron legion seems adaptable to only one profession – the engineer. do you guys think any other profession would fit in nicely with Iron Legion? I just get the vibe that if an Iron Legion charr wasn’t tinkering on war machines, they’re not Iron Legion.

Psychocybe? Gold cap…Purple cap…psilocin…or just Cybe?

Aniltiger.9186:

I wish chaos storm would spawn a lot of butterflies which flies around the area and explodes

That would be so awesome…

And what if a mesmer used a portal in midair to drop a zerg from above?

Wait a minute….the damage counter is incoming damage divided by total defense? Not a formula that subtracts one from the other, or multiplied by a hidden constant?

Usually in solo situations against a powerful enemy, I stand back and let my clones do the tanking for me. If one is destroyed, I summon another to replace it. I guess what I really want is the ability to survive more than one enemy. Right now, all I have available are greatsword’s wave skill to push them away, or to blink away. (I know a lot of mesmers don’t like the blink skill for combat, but I find it’s very useful for escaping. It’s like a free dodge.) My skillset is also not built for AOE. It’s more of quickly fighting off one enemy at a time.

The staff is more of an AOE weapon for the mesmer, but I just never liked the staff. I only use it out of necessity in dungeon runs. When I try to solo AOE in PvE, it doesn’t go well. Either I don’t have enough practice with it, my build is too 1 on 1 focused, or I’m too used to having a tanky profession when it comes to AoE.

I remade my asura recently just because of the name. It used to be Avitoli. I changed it after finding out about the general naming style for Asura, and after someone mentioned it sounds a lot like Ravioli. >.<

Now, her name is Avkii.

Truth be told, I didn’t “buy” the Abyss dye on my Sylvari. I found it in my first week of playing, was a complete newbie and had no idea that it held any value/profit (didn’t even know what the black lion was at that time) and I simply used it. I want to use it because Abyss is such a rich black dye that keeps the detail of armor designs. And it’s kinda nice to show off a 40 gold dye… ^^;

Just an idea…but perhaps the limit is to induce more trading in the market?

If you have more than the 250 stack, I assume people will just sell the surplus. Supply>demand means low prices for those that don’t have surplus. If people could hoard all their loot drops, then the only feasible ways of obtaining them are buying (expensive since now demand>supply) or farming yourself (which GW2 tries to steer away from).

What? No one?

…

…Was the wall of text just too foreboding?

I’d vote not to give the option to hide armor pieces, or else there’s going to be a lot of people running around with stark-naked toons. My eyes….

BUT…yes to more male options that show as much skin as a few of the female outfits.

Personally, I will admit that it is a very welcoming break to play on an MMO that does not skimp on every decent-looking piece of armor.

Thief with a blindfold?

“I’m invisible! I can’t see you so that must mean you can’t see me!”

I want more of an adventuring scholarly/robe style outfit, instead of a dressy style. I’m keeping the current mask as well. I would prefer to have the armor covering from shoulders to foot, with no midriff or legs showing.

the Arah armor looks too much like a long skirt for my taste. The conjurer piece is really nice and I used that for awhile, but I couldn’t find a top that went well with it.

I really like the Exalted armor set, but everyone uses them. The Exalted leggings are very nice too – they’re intricately designed and highly detailed, but no matter how much I look at it, the upper skirt looks like a poofy petticoat. >.< (I’m sorry if I made you see that too!)

I’ve been playing around with armor combinations for awhile, and so far this is what I’ve settled with. I can’t dye it properly with the limited preview functions, but I don’t want to get any of the pieces until I’m certain on the overall look. I just wish I could find a more elaborate coat. I want to steer away from ‘death’ looks (no bones or skulls). I’d have taken the tactical leggings in a heartbeat if it didn’t have animal skulls dangling from the hip.

Thank you so much!

Aak! I completed my storyline long ago, and probably salvaged/got rid of it. It’s soulbound, so I can’t move it to another character if I got it again. Is there no other way to obtain it?

I originally did not pay very much attention to my build, and my gameplay was just exploring at heart. I couldn’t care as much for high quality gear, or max damage. I’d rather find out what’s in some unknown forgotten cave tucked out of sight and beat up whatever poor monster lived there. But since I’ve almost completed the world map, and visited most (I doubt I found all) of the hidden areas, I’m planning to gear my mesmer properly.

I still want to keep my mesmer as a soloist – good survivability, but still able to pack a punch. Mostly I want to be able to keep soloing champion mobs, but still offer enough damage/assistance for group events. I don’t want a tanky mesmer, but I don’t want to fall flat in a few hits. And until I can level my other characters, my mesmer will be my go-to dungeon runner for now.

Right now the trait build is 30 power, 30 precision, and 10 toughness (only for fall damage skill). I’m content to keeping it at that – but I need to adjust my gear. I’m planning to set it to be a flat Power/vitality/other stat, and I need advice for what that ‘other stat’ should be. Mesmers being light armor, I don’t think toughness would be much of help anyway. I’m leaning more to having it either be precision or crit rate.

Speed is another issue. I don’t want to sacrifice rune stats for movement speed, but if it will help in single combat PvE, I’ll consider it.

As well on another note – I can usually handle one champion alone, even if it spawns non-veteran minions. But if there is a veteran or two along with the champion, I can’t solo it. I wonder if any mesmers here can manage to solo a champion along with some veterans…

If I want to be a soloing mesmer, how much should I pay attention to healing traits? Currently I don’t bother with anything with regenerating health stability. Most enemies don’t get close enough to me, and if they do I just escape out of the way. If I take too much damage I just keep moving until I can heal. If it’s too much I sacrifice my illusions for distortion. (Or since I’m a sylvari, use seed turret ultimate skill, gain temporary invulnerability, and use the seed turrets as a distraction to move away until I can recover). But I’d like to know if there are any ways to have steady regenerating health for a mesmer?

And lastly, my weapon choices are scepter/pistol and the greatsword – plenty of range damage, and enough illusions to provide a distraction. I’m fine with my weapon choices now, but I bet it can be improved – I’m more than happy to try something else.

The last area for me to explore are the Orr regions, and my general tactics for soloing don’t seem to be viable there. My biggest weakness is being immobilized – which there seem to be a lot of in Orr. And consistent poison damage, bleh. I also can’t seem to rely on my seed turrets either, since they aggro more enemies than I can handle. Usually if this is the case, I’ll summon either the Druid spirit or Sylvan hound (other racial skills), but the cooldowns are too long for my preference.

All right, if you sat through that wall of text, I’ll thank you for having the patience for reading it. Now lend me some advice!

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/PvP_Rubric_armor

I can only find details about it in PvP, but I want to get the coat piece for it in PvE. I can’t find any information pertaining to karma, crafting, or merchants. Help me out!

When it comes to light armor, I wish there were more elaborate ‘robe’ styles for female. Too many of them look like something to wear to a high class noble party, not to go stomping around in Orr.

The general design for a mage (and light armor) have long flowing robes. There’s plenty of that for male, but most of the female equivalents are a fancy dress-skirt, usually with the bare legs showing. And so many outfits show off the female midriff, while guys have theirs covered. Mages generally don’t have a strong physique, and most fashion designs go off on ’hide the skinny male mage and show off the skinny female mage."

the Shadow and Tactical armor (karma bought) looked really nice, but they have bones and skulls. It would only really match a necromancer, and not a mesmer/elementalist. And the female devout is the only one that really look like robes. But it’s so…simple in design.

I’m not really a fan for the light tier cultural armor for Sylvari. I’m planning to get that for my other Sylvari instead.

Talenna.4052:

Have you seen this thread on colour schemes?

There is some great advice there on choosing dyes

Thanks for the link!

I want a new look for my Sylvari Mesmer. Right now, she has the Armageddon armor, with the colors Abyss, Sea Ice, Lemon Zest, and Fuschia.

I really do like how the color combos turned out, but I want more pink! (Or purple. Purple is also good) But any other new colors I try to add just comes out…bleh. I don’t want her to come out with an overall ‘dark’ look either, yet I still want to use the abyss dye. She’s a dusk bloom, so I’ve been trying to stick to colors that are close to evening colors. This means more of the red/violet hue patterns. But she doesn’t look very much like a ‘dusk’ bloom, does she?

I’m also thinking about changing some of the armor pieces (particularly the leggings – I want more of a flowing style, instead of a miniskirt).

I’ve done enough previewing and recoloring on my own. I need some input from others.

I think I can answer this: The Sylvari revere the teachings of Ventari, and the centaur go against the teachings.

IV. All things have a right to grow. The blossom is brother to the weed. – The centaur kill and enslave humans, and they consider themselves superior over ‘two legged’ beings.

V. Never leave a wrong to ripen into evil or sorrow. – Not fighting the centaur would mean letting their evil actions go unchecked.

Tybalt’s entire dialogue from this story arc: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Thrown_Off_Guard

Poor, poor Tybalt.

Well, if you really do want a challenge in the low level areas, you could get some basic white armor from the npc and use that instead.

There’s just the problem with storage space…

I think I remember another sylvari in the norn area that mentions how cold it is. she walks along the road in the low level map.

But I find it odd that the NPC sylvari that do walk around the Shiverpeaks don’t seem bothered at all. They don’t try to wear warmer clothing.

Here’s a thought: several plant species do react to colder temperature, but they don’t actually ‘feel’ cold like we do. Maybe the sylvari definition of cold is perceived differently. So if a human says “the shiverpeaks is cold, and maguuma jungle is hot,” the sylvari can best relate the difference by how his/her plant senses feel. That way they don’t actually feel cold, but still uncomfortable in it – until they adjust and adapt?

So…Trahearne is secretly a member of the nightmare court? O.o

I’ve heard the terms a couple times before, and I know they’re related to build types. Could someone be so kind as to list all of these build types, and what traits they are associated with? I’d appreciate it.

No, don’t change the mesmer portal…I like how it is.

Portaling people to the end of a JP in WvW is my way to help my server. And I love it when people tip me.

These group events are too easy with the mass of people attending them. I went for the jungle wurm in Caldeon forest, and I didn’t even get a hit in before it was dead. (Since I technically didn’t ‘participate’ I also didn’t get a chest.)

They used to be fun and challenging before they became popular. Now everyone floods in to attack, and it’s over in half a minute. The dragon events are fine as is, since those take effort. Perhaps another alternative is to have the health of the low leveled group event bosses be scaled to the number of people attending the event, instead of just adding extra health.

Spying isn’t an excuse to teabag someone…if someone is spying, then it’s part of the war game. If the community really hates spies in WvW, instead of teabagging them, ask Anet to enforce an automatic warp to a safe wp after a certain allotment of time…

Teabagging just inflates the other person’s ego at the expense of someone else. It serves no other purpose…

I’ll stay next to the dead player so they know I’m watching for revivers, that I can then attack. But I got more dignity and respect than to sink down to the level that uses a degrading sexual emote on a pixelated body.

An option to have the camera zoom out the same distance when it got glitched from SAB.

Tyria was so beautiful….

Just a thought…but is it possible that those who use proper grammar in chat just come from a background that demands a stronger understanding of the English language; this in turn means a more pronounced vocabulary, stronger word usage, and more accurate grammar – and thus come off as arrogant to people who don’t have such polished English skills?

Honestly, that whole sentence sounded a bit arrogant. Meh. As long as people don’t type in leet, or use old school texting shorthand when they have a full keyboard (I mean, WHY? It’s only 2 more letters to type ‘you’ instead of just ‘u’ !!)…..I couldn’t care less on their choice of punctuation ingame.

For the lol:

mesmer portals: no cooldown, longer durations, not restrained by distance, and placeable anywhere instead of just where you can stand. This includes walls.

However, longer duration for the portals would be nice.

Just to clarify, there’s a couple of completely logical reasons why female gamers are more prominent here than other games. I think the main reason is that It’s just nice to see a mmo community that can accept the presence of female gamers.

One of these days the stereotype can be dropped from female and male gamers, and we can all just be ‘gamers’. Maybe when we reach a 50/50 diversity, which is not grouped with subcategories using gender oriented games. (girls only play cutesy games, guys only play bloody games, etc)

What originally sparked this thread was someone made a comment about my supposed ‘girlfriend’. I politely replied that I did not have one, not everyone here is a guy, and not everyone thinks below their waistline. To which the response was, “Yes it is.”

…This thread says not so.

In my case, what made me pick GW2 was that I could finally, FINALLY play a female character that wasn’t so overly sexual. In past games I’d play male characters to avoid staring at a skimpy dressed female. Most of the good high leveled armor were like that.

The community in GW2 is also more mature and respectful. There are morons who’ll jump at the chance to verbally attack female gamers just to say something degrading. Nobody wants to put up with that. Send in a report and block it, sure, but it ruins your day.

I’ve only seen such an incident like that once here, and seeing how everyone, (men and women) jumped in to defend, actually made me have a bit of hope for all of humanity.

…Ok, sappy story finished. No one can guess the actual demographics, huh?

I’m curious as to what it is. The last time I heard, it was about 1/3rd of the player base was female. But that’d mean for every 2 male players there would be one female player. Playing among the community, I don’t get that strong of an impression. (although I have run into several other fellow lady gamers)

I can guess it’d be impossible for an accurate number, but I’m still curious for a guesstimate.

There are spoilers here. You have been warned.

From a Sylvari’s standpoint, do you hate him? Everyone else seems to abhor him with a fruity passion. (…bad pun. Sorry, couldn’t resist)

He shows up pretty early in the personal storyline, probably starting at Part 2 (whatever Ventari teaching you chose for your character). I don’t remember if it’s earlier than that, but probably not. After that, he keeps popping up until you pick which Order to follow – even helping with Mazdak’s defeat.

He keeps coming out of hiding as conditions get worse – starting with Claw Island, and eventually being persuaded to unite the three Orders. Heck, at first, he didn’t even want to do it, didn’t he?

A lot of people complain he came in and stole the spotlight, but it just doesn’t feel that way in the Sylvari story. It seems more like an NPC friend that ends up fighting alongside you to the very end. If his Wyld Hunt didn’t limit him to purifying Orr, he’d probably join you to fight Zhaitan as well.

There’s only two things I hate about him: how he keeps rushing into battle with a suicidal manner, and how he seems to skip important details in the Missions for the Pact…

Yes, let’s use an enchanted mirror to lure out the Eye of Zhaitan. You forgot to mention this mirror can also teleport us into the middle of Orr, amid the army of undead.

…

tl;dr version: Hate, or no hate?

Is it just non-sylvari who dislike Trahearne? In the Sylvari storyline, he shows up pretty early, offering advice and helping in later missions. I think the first time he’s introduced is in the second part of the personal storyline, but it might be earlier.

He just ends up flowing into the position of marshal, not stuffed into it.

And I like him better than Caithe. If you guys think Trahearne’s depressing, you should see Caithe…

It could be.

I believe it was said to be the difficult mode that didn’t get implemented into the game. It’s going to be added in future updates.

Jumping puzzles. So many jumping puzzles. Need I say more?

Also, the Asurans don’t really appreciate the outside world. Plants have been turned evil. Flowers will eat you, ivy clings to you, and leaves can disappear beneath you to drop you into a lake of poisonous water. How the trees even survive in that water, I have no clue. It must be quite reminiscent of the Asura who first went above ground.

And the enemies. Monkeys carry weapons and throw things at you. Even the little harmless bunnies can maul you to death. Snakes and crocodiles…okay, they can be dangerous. But turtles? I thought Asurans loved turtles. All their kids had a pet turtle until it died in an experiment. And what about the snakes? When was the last time we saw snakes in Tyria shooting green blobs of energy?

…Wait. When was the last time we saw snakes in Tyria?

The only place where it’s safe are in the shops and caves – places that are usually underground. And I’m just waiting for some kind of rat-like boss that runs around stealing baubles, all the while exclaiming “shinies!”

Oh, and the bed is a perfect size for an Asura.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

The rapids look very reminiscent of the game Snake Rattle N Roll for the NES. The fountains that you jump on as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay4CLMS1XMw

Not the game I was thinking of, but it’s a closer comparison than what I had in mind.

I know it’s a long shot for the actual reference, but the jump pads for the mushrooms/flowers reminded me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=65L6kDPGOh8#t=113s

Oh, those. I guess if you have the bag slots for them, you can carry as much as possible…they don’t show up as part of the SAB game currency, and they act more like the skin drops.

250 total with the first wallet, and no more.