There has never been a better time to put a sigil of energy on your weapons. Both sets, if you can swap. With the nerf to vigor, a DPS increase across the board, and Mesmers’ ability to load you up with every condi in the game and still lock down all of your skills (same goes for Thief/basilisk venom to a degree), ANet has made it clear that they’re encouraging shorter, burstier fights. Stability is near useless now since it can be waited out, or they can just strip it. Go for stun breaks, as many evades as possible, condi clears. Don’t blow cooldowns on clones. Take your time, wait until you can target the real Mesmer, then go to town.
It’s not going to work every time, but you’ll have a chance. Personally, I’m tired of 70-80% of all my roaming encounters being against Mesmers. If I wanted to fight AI, I’d play PvE. It’s easymode, but I can’t fault lazy players for choosing it. If there’s a build that requires minimal effort to consistently win, people will use it.
It was only when I hit something I couldn’t kill, a really good ele with diamond skin. My Dire pure burn guard might as well have been throwing pebbles at a Terminator.
What traits are you using there? Are you not running Valor/Zeal/Radiance?
Radiance/valor/virtues. Zeal has too little contributions compared to virtue.
You were using GS. Zealous Blade, Fiery Wrath, Symbolic Exposure, Symbolic Power? Perhaps you might be better off with sword/focus than GS, since it doesn’t do much for you here.
Pure Dire burn guards are not very effective condi classes, which is why I opt for a hybrid with just 700 condition damage and 2300 power. I still manage 3-3.5k burn ticks. With only one primary damaging condition, it’s really easy to cleanse, so I prefer Zeal for the GS CD reduction, symbol vuln, and extra damage against burning foes. Since Dire already has a lot of sustain, I would trait into damage further.
Glassier classes would benefit from Virtues a lot more, I think, although I suppose Supreme Justice makes more sense for a pure burn Guard.
It was only when I hit something I couldn’t kill, a really good ele with diamond skin. My Dire pure burn guard might as well have been throwing pebbles at a Terminator.
What traits are you using there? Are you not running Valor/Zeal/Radiance?
On topic of wings, I’d appreciate a checkbox in the options to hide all wing type back items… I’m sure plenty of you like them, but for me, they are an eyesore, floppy or stiff.
Are you kidding? It’s great! In PvP and WvW it’s like having a bunch of players with big white/black targets on their backs.
I posted about this over a year ago here. While I’d adjust some of my suggestions to be a little more clear (moon motes, not stars), I’m still waiting! Please fix this, my Howler hasn’t been taken out and used in quite some time.
loool u forgot that Burn guard is not Bunker condi
you are as glass as power guard. a few cleans are enough to win.
there is no need to clean every sec …
because u can burst down a Burn guard very quick as well
This is entirely false. Guards don’t need to crit to apply any of their burns. Not a single one. There are crit % increases on burning foes, crit % increases on single-handed weapons. You could have zero precision on gear and still run a 29% crit chance, and if you’re medi (which, let’s face it, most burn guards should be for JI) you’re going to have constant fury uptime from utilities and elite. 49% crit chance with no precision on gear. You could run a mix of dire, soldier’s, and valk for ferocity and have high power, high toughness, high vit, high condition damage, and high crit damage.
I run a cele power/burn guard in PvP and I make people explode, all while being able to keep up with or even out-sustain staff eles. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing this class.
And here folks is a prime example of inverse ignorance, a malady commonly found on the internet, wherein a person can know more about something because they know nothing about it, because, obviously, if you don’t even know the breadth or depth of the subject, let alone the actual content, it must be small, simple, and easy, right? Like arguing a subject they know so little about they don’t even know what the word mechanic means in context of the argument.
Did you not read the interview? The introduction of overcharging is an entirely new mechanic. It does not exist in the game as of right now. You are acting like a child.
That’s not a new mechanic though, a new direction, a new anything really. It’s just a more extreme version of our existing PBAoE damage and support mechanics found on DD. They basically took what we had, made the strengths stronger per attunement and the weaknesses weaker per attunement, then handed it back to us claiming its ‘new’ when it isn’t.
Flat out lies. It is the very definition of a new mechanic; a new weapon, and a way of utilizing that weapon that no other Elementalist weapon in the game does.
Yea… Ele doesn’t need another off-hand. The existing options are not only strong and diverse, but the MH options available now feel underwhelming IMHO.
Sword could have fulfilled a much-desired role. I was hoping ANet would focus on particular elements as well with the elementalist specs (rotating makes the class boring IMHO), and/or change their use by specializations, such as DPS’ing in water, etc.
“Rotating makes the class boring”?
This is the entire point of the class. Perhaps Elementalist is not for you.
It gets obstructed ALL. THE. TIME. For no reason, even if it’s point blank on even ground. Ranger’s Throw Torch doesn’t have this issue. Why does Guardian?
They behave differently mechanically. Ranger’s torch throw is a traditional, arcing projectile, whereas the guardian torch follows the ground until it reaches its target. Theoretically you’d think that this would lead to the guardian torch throw being less at risk of obstruction, but lol programming.
That’s just silly, and limits the utility of the throw by.. quite a bit. It can’t go over sheer edges or even steep hills, which is something I noticed at mid in Forest. There’s no reason why it should work this way.
It gets obstructed ALL. THE. TIME. For no reason, even if it’s point blank on even ground. Ranger’s Throw Torch doesn’t have this issue. Why does Guardian?
I think it’s worth reporting. It often feels to me like many skills just simply don’t activate. I’m constantly finding that I need to hit keys several times to activate one, and it totally destroys combos. Garbage.
Edit: and I don’t mean reporting it as a bug as in a ticket or the bugs forum. I meant that this thread is necessary. The devs need to read this stuff.
You’re right. I’ve had to resort to button mashing, and that makes my combos feel clunky instead of fluid. Retreat->2->3 for a double impact and 6 stacks of might is great, but I can’t queue it so it’s inconsistent.
1. No weapon-specific traits.
2. Cannot trait for cooldown reduction on anything.
3. All utility skills are “legend” skills — i.e., no shouts, no traps, nothing at all to categorize them in the current rune sets.
4. They’re all very boring and lack any sort of nuance. Things like “increase poison duration” and “increase torment damage” are not inspired. Yuck.
And those are just my problems with the skills and traits. I won’t go into the rest of the major, major issues with the class in this thread.
Saying that Rev won’t have any stun breaks without really knowing if Rev will have stun breaks is foolish. Most of the classes I play have only a single stun break, on a short (~16s) to long (~30s) cooldown. The rest is supported by stability, which we know Rev will have in abundance. I do just fine.
Wait it out. For every chicken little thread about how much this class will suck, there will be 10 more saying how overpowered it is.
Yep this will be a vacation for me.
One week without playing GW2.
Highly detailed, and well thought out, counterpoints! Now ANet knows exactly why you hate their event! Kudos sirs!
/s
Us: “We could really use some attention on things that we’ve been talking about for a long time…”
Anet: “Hey everyone, we’re going to beat you with two-by-fours with nails in them for a week.”
Us: “What! WHY? Why are you beating us?”
You: “Stop complaining you’re getting attention aren’t you?”
A helpful analogy for why we’re not excited about this, sir.
I love gambling ectos. I’m aware that, in the end, the house always wins. But I still have fun doing it in small bursts. As of today I’m up 90 ecto and 24 gold. I’m aware that if I keep going, I will likely lose it. That’s the nature of gambling.
Been trying to start the game for about an hour now, and this occurs on startup. It lasts for a few seconds, then drops to “Connection error(s) detected. Retrying…”
Sorry, but this is silly. I am 100% aware of how and when my axe attacks hit, and I use it to great advantage… in all encounters. Perhaps we should group? I’d love to see how our playstyles match up.
I have been a melee ranger for a long time, although I’ve come to terms with the fact that some condi is a necessity. If anyone ever wants to see how I play, add me. I’m mostly pvp these days but I run a wvw hybrid that works very well.
Why would anyone go with s/d over s/t right now? And why bother with shortbow when a/d is so much better? Pet choices were questionable also. With a hawk/eagle and GftE/WS/BW you can inflict blinds and weakness every 5s, and taunt for an interrupt every 15s.
If this was intended to show what needs to be nerfed, it wasn’t very effective.
Taunt didn’t sync well with this build there was a better option. Jag has higher crit and build lets pet do 1k+ bleed dmg when it crits. I use the dagger for survivability as opposed to dmg. The build has ample damage and I create builds that are good in every encounter. Same reason for shortbow over a/d. It’s far more reliable, poisons stack nicely and I can keep my character mid range with ease.
That’s fine, but how is shortbow more reliable? How is axe any different in “every encounter”?
Why would anyone go with s/d over s/t right now? And why bother with shortbow when a/d is so much better? Pet choices were questionable also. With a hawk/eagle and GftE/WS/BW you can inflict blinds and weakness every 5s, and taunt for an interrupt every 15s.
If this was intended to show what needs to be nerfed, it wasn’t very effective.
I’ll miss my PvP melee Ranger build. Keen Edge is gone. Hide in Plain Sight is gone. Throwable traps are gone. Range increase to offhand weapons is gone. Axe offhand cooldown reduction is gone. Can no longer run Wilderness Knowledge with Empathetic Bond at the same time. Can no longer put two points in Nature Magic to get my regen bonus.
It’s entirely safe to say that my build has been completely obliterated.
Im not an Anet fan/supporter. In fact, I don’t think too highly of them for how they settled past issues with me. Oh and my forum posts get deleted for being too honest.
Putting myself in their shoes, you whiners are impossible to satisfy and would rather shut down the company than serve you.
I’ve read people complain about supporting the game for 3 years and how it’s unfair for them to buy again. That logic is so flawed because it dismissed all the content they’ve enjoyed that new buyers will never experience.
Unless you are Blizzard, the MMO business isn’t as profitable as you believe. Scammy free download mobile gaming apps make more than large developers
“You whiners”
“I am so upset at all the people whining about whateverthehell that I decided to make a post whining about them. Whinewhinewhinewhinewhine. Whiiiiiiiiiiiiine”
….. Rangers don’t have to move!? You haven’t spent a lot of time roaming as a ranger have you? Give it a try sometime but be prepared to be insta focused in every fight.
You’d be surprised how often I come across Rangers that “forget” to move. It seems like they don’t realize they’re not an immobile turret – the second that Rapid Fire goes off, nearly all of them stop moving as if it will interrupt the channel. I see it all the time.
Ok, I take it back about there being zero axe-related Ranger traits. Instead we get a GM trait in.. Beadtmastery? With a chill component and direct damage component? What?! Axes are terrible direct damage weapons. What a worthless trait.
Please, please, PLEASE add Trapper’s Expertise back in. MY main toon is a trap ranger and the ability to throw traps is the very heart of my build and play style. Please don’t kill my main toon.
Oh wow, WOW. I didn’t even notice that they completely removed ground-targeted trapping. I thought they had just made that the default functionality! Welp, that’s it. Deleting my Ranger if I don’t see it on the 23rd. Way to go, devs.
How did anyone think making Ranger Ambidexterity only apply to torch and dagger was a good idea? There was already very little reason to use offhand axe before, now you’re killing the cooldown reduction? One of the few good non-bow weapon CCs can no longer be justified taking over torch, dagger, or warhorn, and that’s not even considering the absurd cooldown of Whirling Defense. Zero axe-related traits. Well done.
But yes let’s increase the velocity of Longbow arrows by default because that needed a buff. Sigh.
Nobody “needs” to do anything, OP. Lots of ad hominem attacks, assumptions, and blatant attention calling. You could have posted this in the 70+ page thead that already exists for the preorder, but you decided to make yourself the center of attention instead. Check your privilege, get off your horse, and try engaging people in good faith. Nobody “needs” to do anything you say, ever.
Incorrect. New players get the base game for $0. Whatever we paid in the past for the game, be it $15 or $60, it is still more than $0. We do not get an extra copy of the base game. New players are de facto getting a better deal than any veteran player ever could, because regardless of the cost of the game in the past, it is still greater than 0. There is no way around that.
Or you can look at it this way. For $50 both you and a new player can play in exactly the same world when HoT comes out. The money you paid for the core game (be it $15 or $60) bought you enjoyment and progression in the game world from the point of purchase up until today when you could in theory preorder HoT. The enjoyment you received in that time is worth more than $0, hence why you paid more than $0.
Or you could look at it in the terms of pure economics: the value of including a “free” copy of the base game is voided if you already own it. Therefore there is no value in it, you do not get anything except the expansion, and their news and order pages should reflect this.
Guys, there’s a term “Time value of money.” At its most basic level it means that money now is worth more than money later. Similarly, getting into an MMO at the ground level is worth more than getting into it later. You’ve had much more time to play the game and many more opportunities to progress than new players.
Let’s say that back when GW2 first came out, you went to buy it and were given an offer. You can buy the game now at full price and play it, OR wait for three years and you’ll get the game for free when you buy the expansion. I guarantee most if not all of you would have went with the buy now option. The core game was worth more when it came out than it is now. The new players are not getting a better deal than you.
Incorrect. New players get the base game for $0. Whatever we paid in the past for the game, be it $15 or $60, it is still more than $0. We do not get an extra copy of the base game. New players are de facto getting a better deal than any veteran player ever could, because regardless of the cost of the game in the past, it is still greater than 0. There is no way around that.
I redeemed the HoT code on my current account. There are no separate codes, it appears if you redeem the code on your existing account you do not get another “free” copy of the base game.
This is highly misleading, unless someone from ANet wishes to explain to me how to start another account from a code that has already been redeemed.
If not, and I suspect as such, then that’s BS. The news and order pages should be updated to state that you do not get a free copy of the base game if you activate HoT on a pre-existing account. It means that veteran players are indeed getting screwed; those of us that have an account already will pay whatever we paid for the game originally ($60 in my case) plus $50 for the expansion and no additional account. That brings my total up to $110.
New players get both the base game and the expansion for $50. Wow.
What ArenaNet says: The expansion costs $50 and we are adding in the core game for FREE.
What is actually happening: The expansion costs $25 but we have to pay an extra $25 on the core game which we already own.
When you look at and compare what both core game and HoT offer in terms of content, character options and gameplay mechanics, I estimate HoT would be somewhere about a third of the size.
HoT for $50: Not buying, which means Anet/NCSoft get nothing.
HoT for $25: Will buy, which means Anet/NCSoft get $25.
$25 is more than $0.
Read my post above. It appears it’s even worse: the expansion is $50, no matter what. You don’t get an extra copy of the base game. Whatever you paid already for the game, you’re going to eat that cost, the expansion is $50, and that’s that.
I redeemed the HoT code on my current account. There are no separate codes, it appears if you redeem the code on your existing account you do not get another “free” copy of the base game.
This is highly misleading, unless someone from ANet wishes to explain to me how to start another account from a code that has already been redeemed.
If not, and I suspect as such, then that’s BS. The news and order pages should be updated to state that you do not get a free copy of the base game if you activate HoT on a pre-existing account. It means that veteran players are indeed getting screwed; those of us that have an account already will pay whatever we paid for the game originally ($60 in my case) plus $50 for the expansion and no additional account. That brings my total up to $110.
New players get both the base game and the expansion for $50. Wow.
Servers – individual ranks (1,2,3, etc).
Tiers – consist of servers. Tier 1 is server ranked 1,2,3 etc.
Leages – consist of tiers. Gold is 1-6, Silver is 7-15, Bronze is 16-24 (or 26 if EU).
Don’t forget your blessing buffs and running through a zerg with whirling axe / hundred blades / whirling wrath healing for 20,000 with no cool down omnomberry pie. Make sure to have a full stack of golems in a box to throw off walls too. Way better than rapid fire pew pewers!
Is this satire? I think it’s satire. It’s hard to tell, because nobody’s going to heal for 20k from an omnomberry pie, and it’s on a one second cooldown. Beh.
No, but you can if you want! Choices are nice to have.
And running a group of 10 or 100 it’s still group play.
Correct!
And just because you’re allowed to play that way doesn’t mean it should be encouraged.
Incorrect! People should be encouraged to play whatever way they like.
It takes away from the WvW experience if you can only muster 10 people on your server and there’s 20 people who will wipe you every time.
It’s not my, or anyone else’s job on any opposing server to ensure your WvW experience is enjoyable. Some people actually like running smaller numbers against larger, in fact zerg busting is pretty much my favorite thing to do in WvW next to duo or solo roaming.
