Guild Wars 2

Amaimon.7823:

this could all be avoided by making it worthwhile to play, even if you lose
but right now, there is zero reward for losing, and equally zero reward for winning.
So right now there is no incentive to take dragonbash seriously whichever side you’re on. The numbers are just for show, there are no winners because there is no reward

ego stroking

Free yourself. Ignore mass minipet collections.

And only get the ones you actually want…that Rooster is not anything special.

Saiyan.1704:

Low tier Silver after placements. Reached Plat with a 60% win rate, currently at 57% win rate as I’m not really going any higher than tier 1 Plat. 114W, 85L

Gold tier entry, +25 rating per win
Gold tier 2, +15 rating per win
Gold tier 3 & Plat entry, +7 to +8 rating per win

I’m gaining on average 8 points per win, losing -15+ per loss. Matchmaking gives +/- 2 points depending on how it thinks I should do.

I have friends in Legend or Upper Plat who have worse win percentages than me (50% or less) yet their placements matches carried them past silver/gold/plat so they’re hovering around 1800 to 1900 rating…

To say the least, i’m a bit bitter with placements. The rating system (mmr) could be a bit less volatile. I should be gaining a lot more than +7 when grinding through gold & plat with the win rate i’m on.

^ This

I never thought I should stop playing PvP to actually move up faster. That’s f’d up. It doesn’t really matter if I win/lose as it’s only a few points one way or the other for me too.

It’s impossible to move up/down with the current MMR in ranks and I don’t see myself as playing in PvP all that much with a couple of matches here and there.

Once the major sigils run out (which will happen with just 3-4 more people buying the amount for a set), the best part is Sup Sigil value is closer to ~17.8g each to craft from minors on up so they will be selling for over 20g each after Wintersday.

The sub 10g Sup Sigils are a “bargain”.

The counter to DH stacking is playing mobility class comp (swapping before match if need be)/map rotation knowledge of team. The issue here is map rotation/map awareness tends to only be known by the “higher” skill end which also thinks DHs are mostly a joke at that level.

This is not a coincidence.

The flaw of the PvP season system IS the lack of players. There just isn’t enough middle to top end (from a skill standpoint/MMR at any given time) so it bleeds into squash the green player base (doing it for the rewards) which is immensely the majority. And at that point, it’s still luck of the draw even for mid/top MMR to get a decent team because it’s not like we are all evenly playing 5 at a time to make a group.

Again, the PvP season is still a joke because fundamentally it comes down to a mix of pre-existing MMR/2-man still included in singles/no substantial personal score contribution.

By pre-existing MMR, I mean it is abhorrent that a new account with 10-11 wins (placement matches) and nothing else takes #1 on the leaderboard.

2-man premade is still way too much of a leniency compared to singles only team composition (Anet hopefully sees the math – I haven’t been in a single game this season where multiple 2-man didn’t win it in fact); it should be a singles division and a 5-man premade division (and nothing in between).

No substantial personal score inhibits personal contribution (top contribution benchmarks) to crawl out of poor rolls for team at any given time. There needs to be many more and they need to be at least half the weighting of the MMR moves. (Note, this also encourages not having class stacking which is better overall for the format)

afk.8230:

As a higher skilled thief … outnumber the thief 5 to 1

So you are complaining that you can’t win a 5v1 and/or escape a 5v1 because of a stealth trap you see thrown on the ground (that you can see being casted and takes 4s to cast AND you have to run over it) …

Do you think other non-stealth classes can escape a 5v1 situation without a tower door nearby?

higher skilled thief

Another option is to allow soft reset of MMR again and again (after 10 matches). Even if the rewards are postponed/reward chests are reset as well, it makes sense since strings of poorly made teams/bad-connection-players is inevitable.

DocRimpel.5280:

Surely the only purpose is to delay the start of the next round so you can’t farm presents faster than the other activities? Same as the waiting for players takes ages between songs.
Don’t get me wrong I’d love it to be removed tho.

It’s a legacy thing before instruments were in the game if I recall. Since then we’ve had many permanent gemstore and then infinite or breakable choir bells added in other Wintersday Seasons.

It just needs to be cleaned up and shortened in length.

As for farming presents, the Wintersday Wonderland jumping puzzle still gives 10 per completion and takes ~1.5 minutes to do with a 30 minute map length and virtually no downtime/animation graphic between map changes. Even if you don’t practice much, you could easily do every 3 minutes or so after a few hours of practice.

Net net you get ~13 gifts plus occasion daily from the choir bell for 5-6 minutes and 3-4 minutes of downtime to repeat (exit/re-enter and find a suitable map is just as bad) and you get ~30 gifts plus guaranteed daily for Winter Wonderland jumping puzzle in the same amount of time. No contest.

What’s funny is if Stronghold was the map, 4 thieves + guard would be pretty broken.

The issue with PvP is that a poor teammate makes such an impact on the overall score/outcome. With a couple of bad movements/rotations by teammates, it becomes much much worse.

The only solution is to open PvP to larger than 5 man and/or configure MMR score on more than just winning the PvP match (top performer categories help but need to be much more weighty or at least equal to a win for the losing team).

This part should be removed entirely (the last 3-4 minutes).

If ANet cared, there would be a “practice this song” option with accuracy/no damage instead and it would be BEFORE not after.

Simonoly.4352:

I actually think PPK should be reduced to 1 point and PPS increased to 3 (5 with ruins buff). There’s very little differentiating kills achieved by a zerg mindlessly mowing down smaller groups versus those that actually had to earn their kill. Securing a stomp should be far more rewarding.

And Scrappers (Function Gyro) goes wild…I get stomps a lot in zergs still. I’m not sure that would help anyone as zergs would just slow down some as commanders would just instruct to tag only and let the stomp happen.

Step #1, use an Alt account that has no ranking. Win your top 8-10 games which will put your MMR at 2000+ (you should do this with a partner to ensure this happens).

Step #2, play 1 game a day (win or lose) and your MMR will adjust ~33 points at most.

Step #3, ignore playing RANKED for the remainder of the day.

Step #4, collect top 250 prize.

A borked system is borked. The problem is really step #1 where the MMR for new players is way too artificially low when not established.

I would not be surprised if ANet throws a ton of AP into the next expansion and the “complete everything” point becomes moot. What is likely to happen is as soon as you hit 39K AP that every other semi-dedicated veteran player will have it as well in another 2-3 months.

ANet is notorious for creating a soft cap on progression benefits (WvW ranks (nothing new but a title), PvP 80 ranks, Fractal levels, etc.) and AP will be no different.

It’s too abusable if PPK increases without a time-out or reduction if repeatedly killed in a quick timeframe. I can already imagine match manipulation with a couple of “spy” accounts in some remote part of one of the borderland maps.

Alec B.8905:

Engineer

Jump Shot: The damage of the initial jump has been reduced by 56%. The damage of the landing has been increased by 28%.

The best part is ANet clearly devoted resources to review this particular Rifle skill but still didn’t address it’s lack of evasion frames like similar abilities across multiple other classes. Especially needed for compensation as opponent players react to and dodge the landing damage …

Khisanth.2948:

Artaz.3819:

Fused Molten Sickle is just as fast as the Consortium Sickle.

The true answer is buy whatever gathering tool is on sale in the gemstore though (or buy for aesthetics). Remember that the flute sound can get annoying and the solar tools can partially block screen view though (not good if gathering around close wandering mobs).

I highly doubt the Wintersday tools will ever come back – that’s the sole reason why I put off buying unlimited tools for well over a year when those were added…Anet knows that too.

No reason not to bring them back unless they are concerned about the price of snowflakes that aren’t good for much.

Except for the snowflakes they have all the disadvantages of the tools you can buy from vendors.

I had somewhere around 20 stacks of the green frostbitten toolboxes (the random ones) back in the day and it lasted me for over a year. This was before shared inventory slots and a single slot per character usage for backup tools was best use of storage. I through away thousands of tools that I didn’t need for picks.

I had ~10 toons parked at hot gathering spots (10x, sometimes multiple times per day) and pounded the ore or elder wood logs for over a year.

It would be a huge mistake for Anet to reintroduce if they intended their customers to buy unlimited gemstore tools. It’s Wintersday but even I don’t think ANet could be that generous.

There is a reason why there is millions upon millions of tiny snowflakes on the trading post and I know I wasn’t the only one to add to that.

Because for some reason when ANet said they were revamping the costs of Scribing, they forgot that they needed to hit every recipe. All Writs should have the 3x prior Writ material level requirement reduced to 1×.

The upgrade from Writ of Masterful Speed takes 3x Writ of Studied Speed, which in turn, each Studied Speed takes 3x Writ of Basic Speed. Writ of Basic Speed requires ~88s minimum to craft each. That’s ~8g (and a ton of time really) just for one part and ~2g in cost for the other parts to make 1 Writ of Masterful Speed.

If you craft them, Writ is still 10g a pop for a 30m 25% speed boost that takes your utility nourishment spot (a reasonable chunk of your damage output) … so not worth it.

If you reduce the 3x material cost to 1x, it’s still about 1g to craft. More reasonable at least but still not worth it even for the most desperate of class builds …

Plus side, crafting for profit is good for this item right now with a +240% return.

Fused Molten Sickle is just as fast as the Consortium Sickle.

The true answer is buy whatever gathering tool is on sale in the gemstore though (or buy for aesthetics). Remember that the flute sound can get annoying and the solar tools can partially block screen view though (not good if gathering around close wandering mobs).

I highly doubt the Wintersday tools will ever come back – that’s the sole reason why I put off buying unlimited tools for well over a year when those were added…Anet knows that too.

Necros remain the masters of death

lordbachus.6091:

I have a little asura level 80 engineer, that i once choose for PvP reasons… and the better utillity skills…

- but, my little playfull asura does not feel like a commander…
- on top of that i have become to hate the fact that i cant see all the details on my character because its so small

Now i have a lvl 40 boost in my packs… and decided to make a new engineer… now which race should i choose… what engineer has the coolest moves and annimations? What makes you feel at home in your role as commander?

By commander, I think you probably mean WvW commander …

Here’s what you do – use your Asura and then buy the Infinite Kodan Elixir. The Elixir may prevent you from using siege buts that is exactly the same reason the Ghostly Elixir is used.

Kodan >>> Charr. Plus if you can get other zerg mates to do the same you can hide yourself in the crowd from getting sniped.

Jim Hunter.6821:

Nuzt.7894:

trueanimus.4085:

Jeknar.6184:

Nuzt.7894:

I asked the question in Ranger forums, if they insist on shoving Pets down Rangers/Druids throats why is it there is no pet with AoE stability Available on their F2?

This would be a step forward in making the class a little more desirable, sure they would need more then just that but that alone would be a huge leap forward.

Give it to a bear.

strength of the pact already has stab

Well aware of this 3 stack 60 sec CD Elite. The point is to try and get something more inline with most other classes. 60 sec is to long of a CD, 25-30 sec is what you guys should be pushing for, and there is no reason why it couldn’t be an F2 ability on the pet, god knows there is a plethora of useless pets in the game.

You also have a stab on Signet of the Wild but again it’s a 60 sec CD, an ability like Stability should never be on a 60 sec CD because at that point the skill becomes useless and will always lose out to something more efficient.

Both of which are personal stabs (pet included), they need more stuff that benefits the grp/raid/squad imo.

You forgot the biggest problem with both of those stabs, neither is instant cast.
Having a 1 sec cast time on a stability skill is moronic.

Enlargement is insta-cast though. Even having perma-stability (some AoE) still does not warrant a Druid in WvW though over other classes. Because the fundamental Druid/Ranger issue IS the slow, clunky pet that doesn’t hit targets and projectile hate in general with many fast-attacking abilities.

Druid/Ranger “support” options is not really it’s WvW zerg problem (a shout Guardian/Tempest still would be preferred). More Stability (for any class) would sure be welcome but not the issue.

Projectile hate limits a lot of options for a lot of classes including Rangers (since projectile hate kills other teammates). And fast-attacking abilities (Longbow/Shortbow/Axe) gets you killed because of retribution boon.

Druid is awesome in roaming/solo and horrible when enemy players can layer Retribution boon and projectile hate over one another. That’s why it isn’t grand when you see Druids not using Staff and/or a Sword/GS weapon in zerg play as you know they are actually helping the enemy team more frequently (read: liability) than they should be.

I imagine ANet will introduce all new gliders/outfits in Black Lion Chests going forward depending on product test/consumer feedback. Then after a period of time, release them on gemstore as normal. And then many moons later, introduce as part of a gemstore sale in “bundles” (more gems but packaged to have perceived value prop). You’ll have a “fire sale” like during anniversary date timing without bundles. And then finally, ANet will likely put them back into the Black Lion Chests but then allow them to be sellable on TP (~18-24 months later)…depends on what gem/gold rates are at.

This seems like basic 101 stuff to me to maximize lifetime digital product value but what do I know.

Swamurabi.7890:

Next weeks T1 matchup after glicko adjustments. BG/JQ/CD

Battle of the overstacked.

CD+Dh+DR is currently the bottom of the barrel and losing in T4. Here’s the hint people, ANet’s definition of “population” is flawed.

Don’t kid yourselves. This proves it. Anet’s definition of WvW Population is NOT the means to balance servers and never has been. The inherent bias to large servers is allowed because they have created their own perceived problem when ANet decided to link servers.

And ANet still not addressed the core WvW issue.

I’m very close (less than 2K AP away) to having a full armor set (probably will pick Hellfire) when I hit 30K AP without really trying after 4 years of playing. Point, I have not done raiding ever (and have no real plans to ever do so), I haven’t done fractals for over a year so there’s a ton of achievements there I haven’t done and I also haven’t done many of the dungeons (in fact, I still need to do two of the dungeon stories still )

I wouldn’t call me a casual-player type though. But if I can hit sub 29K AP in 4 years and a few months, I honestly think it is fine. I have never AP hunted per se the entire time of playing except for the purpose of getting Tyria and HoT mastery points.

Only reason I am commenting is because I was looking at this the other day and thinking of new goals to do in GW2 playtime and realized I was actually pretty close.

39K for the back piece is somewhat far-fetched (at least without another expansion) in my eyes but there are 2-3 awesome looking fire/molten-themed back pieces anyways (even the bat wings looks pretty good).

FYI – If you get the helm, shoulders, hands, boots, the Citadel of Flame chest and leg armor [&CtECAAA=] and [&CtACAAA=] looks almost better with it anyways – especially the non-skirt leggings and use Pyre/Molten dye and Charcoal dye to match to color scheme.

TL;DR I think it’s fine as is.

zerorogue.9410:

gebrechen.5643:

I find thieves far more disgusting because of their limitless mobility combined with damage and stealth

I know what your talking about, thieves are very annoying, but they also are very fragile. Anyone who is AoE heavy has a significant advantage against them.

LOL, really? My roaming thief with Dire/Trailblazer, perma-Invisibility option, superior evasion uptime, and a low cooldown block is fragile? Hint, you don’t need Stability in solo roaming if you have multi-stunbreaks and invisibility. Thief does not have to be full Power squishy to win.

Do we even play the same WvW game?

Warriors are annoying because there is no strip option to combo class utilities of back-to-back damage immunity/Stability/Resistance for several seconds. But if that chain of utilities runs out and you aren’t on the ground (see invisibility/many classes have better mobility), you can own them.

Warriors run because they have long cooldown utilities but the stance utilities are obscenely overpowered while up. They can’t compete outside of their utilities combo use and they are basically immune to everything during. I’m not saying it is balanced but if they want to play 90s Warrior with 70s+ of downtime in between, let them.

I have a better idea that solves all these problems. Why not have the players who play on T1 simply have an NPC that they donate gems to? For every gem, you get a one PPT.

No one has to transfer. Everyone wins. Especially ANet.
.
.
.
.
.
Because that is pay-to-win you say? Oh, then what is the difference when you buy guilds/players/coverage?

Stop deluding yourselves

Necros are fine in solo PvP. Skill gap can easily be learned – it’s not hard to play any class with average skill level/correct build to survive in PvP.

If the enemy team is zerging you, you have two options (a) follow around your other team mates with your necro (and call targets) or (b) keep pulling everyone that follows you off points and let your team decap/cap points to help your team win.

The latter is how I play…stop thinking it’s a bad thing to be the most hated target on the map and that the other team needs to focus you nonstop. Use it to your advantage.

Hoaxintelligence.4628:

Headbutt you must not touch, HoT you must buy… master Yoda

These are not the nerfs you are looking for.

Head Butt will be nerfed (cooldown increased, minimum 40s cooldown, yes double) when the next expansion after HoT comes (if not sooner). Mark my words #remindme!

Offhand Axe moves another step closer to Ranger’s offhand Axe but still underperforms as a unique purpose …

Axe 4 damage was buffed because offhand Torch 4 was so much better, better range, more damage, same cleave 3 targets pre-update (3s base cooldown difference).

The movement speed increase on Axe offhand 5 was meant to be a ~3s pseudo superspeed effect for gap closing. Ultimately, the problem is that the radius of the Axe 5 melee attack is it is too small and be should changed to radius 180 to match offhand torch or torch radius should be nerfed. (ducks and covers)

Dual Strike should have evade frames (or block) of .75s or so and then remove the cleave (3 targets) component. With a 12s cooldown this would be huge and gives it a specific purpose more unique than torch 4.

TL;DR The problem is offhand axe is competing with offhand torch for basically the same role (AoE offensive pressure) and offhand torch is so much better because mobile fire field plus condition cleanse.

Mahkno.7593:

very hard match for a rifle engi due to targeting/stealth, but sneak gyro immediately, heal up, detection pulse, magnet, prybar, rifle cc rotation. grenades at your feet when they invis… dodgetrops will still eat you up. seek shelter…

Don’t keep stealth gyro out if the Thief is using Cloak and Dagger on it.

The best bet is to use gyro/use detection pulse. If detection pulse doesn’t hit the thief, leave (keep gyro alive). If detection pulse does hit the thief, hit hard and CC/kill gyro (you have 5-6s).

If the thief is average or above, they’ll live through the detection burst (since using Dire) but then disengage (Shadowstep utility allows that easily). You’ll occasionally run into enemy thieves who don’t know what they are doing (using Cloak and Dagger as the 100% crutch) or because they have been waiting for a solo fight, go all in and both will get decimated.

Regardless, it’s a tough fight since stealth/invisibility/range opponent always is (same problem with PU cancer mesmer).

All inscriptions
All insignias

Can you all just do some data analytics and view what’s in player’s bank slots / guild banks and then remove the already in storage inventory / any weapons/armor/chests?

Example, if Tattered Bat Wings shows up in 20% of bank storage (and it’s used in a recipe), wouldn’t that be a solid flag?

Also, purdy please, can we get a refrigerator for food / utility items?

A toy chest for all my gemstore/gizmo items? (Executioner Axe Toy, Enchanted Broom, Musical Instruments, etc. and maybe adds some spots for Boosters or Endless Potions, etc.)

I’ve stopped buying gemstore gizmos because I don’t have the room in the bank.

:D

If ANet skills team sees too many players running the same utility slot (SotP), they nerf it. If ANet skills team sees no players running it, it gets buffed. This has been the mode of operations for changes for 2+ years now.

This general rule applies to all classes and even pours over to traits. It’s taken in a vacuum to an extent and only applies to single class changes.

By the way, SotP change is still 2 years behind Signet of Rage / Warriors cooldown nerf so don’t think it’s not ANet’s first time at the shooting gallery.

What seems to have changed in ANet’s mentality is Druid was supposed to be the focused healing class for (HoT) raiding but they made the cooldown nerf for Celestial Avatar game wide because of Druidic Clarity and Celestial Shadow (when those two traits probably should have been nerfed instead).

It’s market speak for “this has too many uses or is too useful”. I cringe every time I see that phrase in the old job world since that means cut cut cut.

Too funny – ANet continues to make WvW ghost thief more annoying … keeping buffing Spider Venom, it needs to apply double poison stacks with eat hit next time around or it still isn’t useful. LOL

You do realize that if Mesmer Signet of Inspiration and Revenant Naturalistic Resonance becomes nerfed, that the next cheese-build is spam Rite of the Great Dwarf with Versed in Stone for Revenant, right? No other spam-it-to-win comes close to a 50% all around damage reduction (pair with a stability/protection boon Guardian Shout build for good measure and enjoy).

The best case scenario for Revenant is the nerf to Naturalistic Resonance is replaced with a boon enhancement (or cooldown reduction) of One With Nature (the active effect) and this may actually be a buff to Revenant after gear reconfig. Patch incoming so we’ll know shortly …

So the main argument that Dagger/Spellbreaker won’t be the next Warrior Elite is because of aesthetics? ROFL

Seriously, do you all even look at the art of the characters and all the clipping issues with weapons and armor? Do you see how many times Charr tails and Asura ears just disappear?

Secondly, I know many people admire the spin of Daggerstorm or Whirling Axe. It’s not about just the weapon in hand but the animations and vibe.

D/D only (no option for other weapons in slots) would be a mistake (and require far more tech work) so that isn’t going to happen. Dagger/Shield or Dagger/Axe will be an option and there is plenty of good looks that go with it. Now take the other side, like Sword/Dagger and its aesthetics …

If Revenant Facet of Nature passive boon duration is being nerfed, is the Active effect One With Nature being buffed to compensate?

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Artaz.3819:

Finally, since you are running a perma-resistance setup, the only way to get there is Berserker Stance, Healing Signet and Durability Runes (not required but very good for base overlap) plus heavy boon duration gear and typically traited with Last Stand. Berserker Stance pulses every 3s so any use during that time is quickly replaced with the next tick < 3s later.

Actually the build I’m currently running is slightly different: Wanderer’s gear (was Vigilant; either works), Healing Sig, Bers Stance, and Revenant Runes. I also replaced all the trinket jewels with Plat doubloons. Signet Mastery means I can use Sig of Rage every time it’s up for near-perma swift/might/fury, which fits in nicely with the padding boons you recommend. Other padding comes from Axe 4, 4GJ, Spiked Armor, and Last Stand.

I had dismissed Dogged March because of the lack of HP, but your argument for it makes sense. Thanx for that!

~EW

Interesting, I never did the Leadership Runes version. I prefer Battle Standard over a Signet Mastery/Signet of Rage build (which also locks you into Arms trait line) to provide some group support since banner has single-handedly won close zerg fights. Plus Banner gives boons too. And Durability does provide Protection boon for cover (even if only on hit). I landed on a Defense/Discipline/Berserker build because I love me some Adrenaline/F2 spam but it leaves options for non-essential traits and can handle different weapon setups too.

I guess if Durability Runes get nerfed, I would probably use Leadership Runes but then have to swap some Commander gear for Wanderer to make up for the Vitality difference. All personal preference at that point. Rune of Defender (supplement with Shield also becomes an interesting rune choice alternative if Signet Mastery build to me)

I’d never use Vigilant, I don’t see a need for condition duration since any burn/bleed damage is just bonus (seems minor in outcome or does no/little damage) so it’s either Commander or Wanderer. Food + Utility + Exotic trinkets with Platinum Doubloons to make up the difference to get to 100%.

Overall, having perma-resistance boon makes it a tougher than normal to take down WvW build – no doubt about that. Downside, is it’s also expensive to run and to make the gear for it to work. And no matter what you do, if you get corrupt spam/zerg pinned, you’re dead but that goes with every class and build.

Stacks yes (25 is the upper limit), duration no. Stability boon stacks in intensity but not duration (since March 2015 update).

Guild Wars 2 is only finished after all the dragons are dead and we align ourselves to the various factions/magical realms/mists and war with one another (like various guilds in a war with one another would do).

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Ensign.2189:

John Smith.4610:

Kind of ironically, his work is more applicable to a game economy than a real economy.

I don’t follow – Keynes’ insights flow from introducing transaction lags and breaking the neutrality of money via finance, neither of which applies to a game economy (at least, not to the GW2 economy). What parts do you think describe the GW2 economy well?

I think John’s speaking more along the lines that government (Anet) intervention is necessary to keep the economy in check. This is true with GW2, since Anet is always making adjustments behind the scenes to artificially influence prices. Example: Over abundant Silk? Increase the cost to make bolts, and introduce Ascended recipes that make Silk highly desirable, thus increasing values.

So for Anet to take a step back and let us move the economy on our own, that’s basically anti-Keynesian.

However, a key difference is unlike a true economy is you can’t have unlimited types of goods available because a single consumer is going to hold what they perceive as rare. In order to continue demand over the life cycle of an economy in a MMO, products (items) must be reused even across expansions/major developments.

The #1 issue of the present day GW2 economy is that there has become too many “currency-related” items (like those mentioned earlier) and various types of “keys” since every new map/every new major update (like raids/fractals/PvP/WvW) has added multiple currencies or locks to currencies/items in the game and to every game mode.

This forces players to retain items over and over (stock piling behavior) as oppose to recycling (balancing supply with demand via trade post) because the consumer/player knows they can not attain said item/currency again without going back to old content.

If ANet is to play governmental regulation authority, it needs to have one standard currency (gold) be the underlying currency.

To begin to stir the ship back to calmer waters, my suggestion is to use similar functional vendors like the Carnival weapon set whereby the vendor sells objects but purchased cheaper from the map event (using things like vouchers) but straight up gold can be used as well or in addition to as an alternative. This serves multiple purposes that balances the economy by creating large gold sinks and allows access to primary WvW/PvP players (new untapped consumers creating more demand) that normally would not do the PvE-related content. The key is to have an option to purchase said items for gold as an alternative creating a more liquid economy.

FYI – And while we are at it, let’s have a pass on currencies like vouchers added to the wallet. Something for the intern to do

sephiroth.4217:

Unblockable Attacks are blocked by Endure Pain.

Unblockable attacks are not blocked by Signet Of Stone.

Is there a reason for this? Which one is not working properly?

Not true but …

Both are probably working as intended. However, if you believe that these two utilities on two different classes lived in a bubble and were actually compared to one another only by themselves,

Endure Pain is 4s, 60s cooldown base. (5s over 60s with trait)

Signet of Stone is 6s, 80s cooldown base. (6s over 64s with trait) However, Signet of Stone also has a passive secondary effect when not in use and that’s likely the kicker since it provides passive toughness to Ranger and pet until needed.

Boon corruption is a hard counter to a heavy Resistance (boon duration) build. Fortunately the only real corruption you need to worry about is from necros (wells/NCSY shout mainly if zerg). In solo land, Mesmer/Thief has strip boon (not corrupt) as well. I rarely see a Wells Necro running anything but in zerg but every Necro runs Wells.

Step #1, try to stay out of wide AoE wells or stay as close as possible to the blob since wells have a target limit of 5 and pulses once per second.

Step #2, have “cover” boons. Don’t focus on just having Resistance boon up.

Step #3, have condition removals too (lighter than normal but still important so run Brawler’s Recovery). Since Resistance converts to Chill condition run Dogged March (which also gives you a Regen cover boon – see #2). Running Cleansing Ire is useful still too but I haven’t found it required with a perma setup. Another option is using Sigils. And yet another option to play with is trait Savage Instinct probably over Smash Brawler; for me, SI is better in solo roaming and SB is better in zerg.

Finally, since you are running a perma-resistance setup, the only way to get there is Berserker Stance, Healing Signet and Durability Runes (not required but very good for base overlap) plus heavy boon duration gear and typically traited with Last Stand. Berserker Stance pulses every 3s so any use during that time is quickly replaced with the next tick < 3s later.

Here’s the thing, Guards and Revs and Eles are everywhere in Zerg situations and remove conditions nonstop so you can do what other people do and rely more on teammates to cover the odd situation where your Resistance is corrupted.

You’ll want Mirage/Projectile hate with Thief Rifle spam.

If all rumor is true, Rifle will be broken OP in beta testing for Thief. It’ll be toned down before live to specific use case only (probably only useful from stealth) since it’ll rely on low damage and/or high initiative costs to balance.

Next gemstore item

OriOri.8724:

Lord Trejgon.2809:

very early in her life caithe has been forced to make tought calls
she made those calls
she’s not goody-to-shoes [like some other character we’ve seen in living world updates….] but her “orientation” in general scheme seems right

even when her ways are questionable

Yup, Caithe is simply Chaotic Good, an orientation that few to no other characters in GW2 have imo.

Some people hate her to the extreme, and honestly its a bit offputting how much they hate her. Its almost an unhealthy amount of hate towards a character in a videogame. Its just a shame that people can’t see that she is truly a chaotic good character, one whose intentions are in the right place, but her methods are not. Yet people on these forums act as if she is literally kitten

Spoiler HoT/Living Story/etc. inside

DeceiverX.8361:

And that’s what we’re gonna get lol.

Seriously, profession balance is never getting better until they massively nerf the power creep from HoT and remove half the runes and armor they introduced.

HoT power creep will be nerfed more when the next expansion happens – work with it.

If ANet nerfs/removes the Runes and Sigils, people will simply go to the HoT T6 Orbs/Maguuma Lily/Black Diamond, etc. So that is not the solution.

There is basically one specific HoT Rune (Durability) that needs to be hit hard with the nerf stick. Only Sigil of Concentration is somewhat OP but that’s only a problem because of other boon duration.

I would argue that Plate of Gnashblade Mussels food is far more unbalancing than any HoT sigil or other non-Durability Rune though.

Bigpapasmurf.5623:

Whilst I cannot complain about any “meta” as I never run meta builds or do anything meta, my druid (staff/lb) does quite well 2v1 and 3v1 and have had people invite me to their party/squad (some pugmanders, some seem organized). I guess some servers need meta to win and some don’t. Either way, ill play (and stream) my druid and have fun

My guess is no one disagrees that Druids/Thieves/Engins are strong in a solo/havoc roaming role or if you are scouting for zerg. That’s not the point of this thread though.

Title should read: “Ranger/Druid Not Part of Current Zerg/Blob Meta”