Guild Wars 2

I prefer logging in from the client. I don’t see what’s so special about that login screen; we already get the awesome music in the character select.

I was using a similar build for WvW and looks like this is a great variation, especially with the new Runes of Strength.
Thanks for posting this!

I’m pretty sure the Dragon finisher existed BEFORE the patch. It’s not a new thing, it’s just the first time people got to dragon and could finally see it.

Chase.8415:

Only weapons are shared, traits are still separated.

Are you sure it works that way for you?
Because when I change my traits from the hero panel, it also changes in the PvP build UI and vice versa.

In the wardrobe introduction blog (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/introducing-the-wardrobe-system/), it clearly says:

" Unlocked skins can be applied to items infinitely (for just one Transmutation Charge), which makes it much less stressful to try out a new look for your character, since you can always switch back!"

yet it doesn’t seem to work that way in-game.
This is quite disappointing, I should say.

Why aren’t traits and weapons separate anymore?
When you change your traits and weapons through the PvP build UI, it also changes your Hero Panel’s traits and weapons.

Though I guess it’s not catastrophic, it’s still a big inconvenience for players who play both game types regularly, with different builds. Especially until I get used to the new trait UI.

Is this intended in the first place?

^ Yeah, smart.

Any serious answers? And particularly from devs? (though unlikely)

In the wardrobe introduction blog (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/introducing-the-wardrobe-system/), it clearly says:

" Unlocked skins can be applied to items infinitely (for just one Transmutation Charge), which makes it much less stressful to try out a new look for your character, since you can always switch back!"

yet it doesn’t seem to work that way in-game.
This is quite disappointing, I should say.

The only thing I don’t really like about the new patch is having to do stuff to unlock the new traits :P

Though I agree it’s logical to do it, I’m too lazy to bother…
I wish they were stuff I could do alone, at least.

Spoj The Second.7680:

So you agree with us then?

I meant someone already made that point and I already answered to him.

snoeckie.9230:

So profession-bound skins will be in the wardrobe?
Hell yea

They’re not really profession bound… You could simply transmute them and use them on a different character anyway.

Spoj The Second.7680:

The ooze has nothing to do with stacking. Thats just a safe spot. Using a safe spot is exploiting. All the other examples are different.

All the others are simply stack spots so players can burn the boss faster with fgs/ww. There is no exploiting of mechanics because those bosses are designed to only use certain attacks in melee and certain attacks when ranged. Most bosses work like this. By your logic no matter what you do you are exploiting because you will bypass either a ranged or melee attack at all times. When in reality its how the bosses are designed and how they are supposed to work.

Your point has already been raised and answered.

What do you think about the instruments in the game currently?
I was thinking of buying one and I can’t decide!

They feel a bit lackluster at the moment, but with the new Drum, it looks like they’re heading towards a good direction to improving them.
It would definitely be cool to get a few friends and jam in game! :P

So, have you bought any instruments? What’s your experience with them so far?

I don’t think you can straight-up say “a class is weak”.

You need to consider game type, build, player skill, enemy build/skill, etc

From what I hear, no, you don’t need to.

Like a pretentious teenager emo.

deSade.9437:

Axelwarrior.9084:

Oh boy, so much stuff to reply to.

@ deSade: I don’t have enough experience with that fight to comment on it specifically (by that I mean that I’ve only done it a few times and only without stacking etc), but I’m guessing the same things apply.

You’re guessing? It seems to me like you have tons of experience in game design and overall dungeons in all previous mmo; you seem to claim to know what is unintended by anet and what isn’t, what is an exploit and what isn’t. After all, if all other games don’t include stacking and los’ing and bosses using attacks based on distance, then it must be unintended. Just wondering, isn’t it that maybe you were guessing with the other example too?
Alright, nevermind. Let’s hear. More examples.
What about Lupicus, phase 1, 2 and 3? Mind sharing your observations and results on that fight with us?
Or… hm… The archers in the TA room, f-f. Is their behaviour specifically unintended by anet, therefore is ranging at a certain distance an exploit?

I’m “guessing” because the things I’ve mentioned apply to how the game works in general and not the specific enemy. I wouldn’t know how the abomination reacts to stacking, so I can’t talk about it specifically.
Your sarcasm won’t work on me. It only makes me less willing to take you seriously and continue this conversation.
I’d like you to be more specific with your examples.
But while we’re mentioning examples, do you mind telling me YOUR take on Arah’s P1 ooze? Specifically, the fact that you can conveniently stack on a specific coral, making the boss unable to attack you while you can simply pound away with absolutely no threats.

TurtleDragon.3108:

When you stack to gather the spider queen in one spot at melee range, she has two AoEs. 1 is a bite that applies weakness (also a giant DPS loss if not cleansed), and a channelled breath attack that applies immobilize and bleeds. I might have mixed up the conditions, but the point is that you are also at risk of being AoE’d down by the boss..
It’s not oversimplifying it if it has different mechanics to deal with, especially when they can easily kill bad groups.

This case is in particular isn’t a “creative use of game mechanics”, but it’s also not an exploit. An example for the former is using tomes, pets or summons to body block Old Tom’s poison bolts.a But the whole point of mentioning that was that players trick enemies or use creative tactics in trinity MMOs as well.

I’m asking you which one of the examples I mentioned, which I consider exploits, are creative. Obviously, I’m not denying that creative strategies exist, nor did I ever say that the one at Old Tom is an exploit. It’s not interfering with the boss in any way, you’re using your own abilities to protect yourself.

About the spider queen, you can indeed die while stacked, but that doesn’t change anything. You’re still basically crippling her damage output and she can’t do anything to react to it. The players shouldn’t be the ones controlling the boss and its attacks simply by stacking.

Very nice video, but wouldn’t Close to Death be better for a Deathly Perception build?

I really don’t get what problem you’re describing. Can someone explain it properly?

o.o o.o o.o o.o o.o o.o o.o o.o o.o o.o o.o o.o

Well, I don’t really think that’s a priority here. I guess it would be a nice extra, but not necessary, imo.

Me right now:

*opens launcher* "Is it live yet?" *closes launcher*
5 minutes pass
*opens launcher* "Is it live yet?" *closes launcher*
etc

Good job! That was…. THRILLING

Oh boy, so much stuff to reply to.

@ deSade: I don’t have enough experience with that fight to comment on it specifically (by that I mean that I’ve only done it a few times and only without stacking etc), but I’m guessing the same things apply.

@ TurtleDragon: I realize you’ve missed the entire point. When you stack to gather enemies in one spot, at melee range, it’s so that they DON’T use their AoE and your AoE hits everything (At least in the case of the Spider Queen). Read my previous posts.
I don’t see how staying still in a corner and oversimplifying a fight is creative. Care to elaborate?

@ Anabasis: I never said it prevents her from attacking at all, only said it prevents her from using certain attacks, in this case her AoE. Read more carefully, please. I don’t have time to repeat myself constantly.

@ Star Ace: I’ve clearly stated that I don’t blame the players or the Berserker’s stat combo, but the game design.

@ Kaiser: No, I want to avoid getting hit with my abilities, not because the meta forces me to stack. Or, if I can’t avoid getting hit, I should be encouraged to compensate by not going glasscannon and not by tricking the enemy instead.
Whether the PuGs you’ve seen don’t dodge her melee attack because they can’t (or don’t have to) has nothing to do with this discussion.
You’ll be glad to know I’m already in a friendly guild and we do dungeons (almost) regularly, without stacking or skipping. Unfortunately, I still have to PuG most of the time.

Phew, that was all. This is getting tiresome.

Dalanor.5387:

1. Don’t dodge the first point.

2. You answered yourself. If you want to make sure every mob hits you, thus you can cleave / aoe dps them down, you want to get agro and drag them to a los spot, since you know, you don’t have a tank to pull them together with a threat mechanics.

3. Indeed. Don’t use it if you don’t want it is the easiest solution.

I mean players are already superior to mobs, due to intelligence (players aren’t that stupid as AI) and gear (players can adapt to encounters, finding the least resistance aka meta builds).
That what PvE is in every MMO. Scripted, predictable and has less variety.

1. I didn’t, I replied to Kaiser, since you passed the ball to him.

2. …Or skillfully kill them while dodging their attacks or using CC to get them where you want? Clearly, mobs shouldn’t just LET you gather them in one place so you can get done with them quicker. That’s the whole point. They need to be smarter.

Obviously players are always gonna be smarter than AI, but it’s ridiculous at this point. The enemies are not adapting or reacting to the player’s strategy or skills, making them way too predictable.
As mentioned in my first post, I don’t have a particular problem with meta builds. I just think it’s boring to have one acceptable kind of stat comb. If conditions were on par with power in PvE, I would be happy.

Why would you just accept that? That’s why I’m trying to persuade you into my way of thinking. It’s more fun imagining things this way, trust me.

I’d love to keep discussing another time, people, but I have to go. I hope this thread doesn’t die before I come back.

EDIT: Just noticed your post, deSade. Read everything I wrote in other posts above. It doesn’t just apply to Spider Queen.

Dalanor.5387:

Axelwarrior.9084:

Kaiser.8504:

So tell us more about how ranging prevents her from using her melee attack, which incidentally applies weakness and 6 bleed stacks. Or Lupicus’ kick/doubleslash of doom.
Or any melee attack for that matter.

Go on, tell us it’s an exploit.

I don’t understand. Do you think (or wish) this game was designed for players to stand still in one position, at a certain distance from the enemy, never moving or dodging, so they can DPS the enemy while it sits still and uses one kind of attack?

As as I mentioned in my edit, the fact that you can do that is bad enemy design. And players are exploiting that bad design. See how I correctly used that word in bold there?

I don’t accept that developers in GW2 intended for such a boring game, especially considering the awesome mechanics they have implemented.

And, yes, you can stand at a certain distance from the Spider so that she stands in place, misses her web, doesn’t move closer and only throws poison fields you can easily dodge. Was that intended? Did they design all her attacks and AI so that players can just trick her into not using them?

You clearly don’t understand the mechanics of that boss fight. Educate yourself and please stop spreading misinformation.
http://gw2dungeons.net

If you range it (aka easy mode afk pew pew), it punishes you.
If you melee it, it applies weakness (aka less deepz from you) and does hard pressure with bleeds.

That would be less exploity when a tanks holds agro to DPS it without any issue and a healer heals you when you make a mistake, right?

I CLEARLY said that it DOESN’T PUNISH you when you range it at a certain distance. Did you not read, or just didn’t get that part?

At least when you have a DPS/tank/healer that each commit to their role, you don’t have to trick enemies into not attacking you or into grouping up so you can clean them up easily and without a threat.
When you do have them, you’re accepting the boss’s mechanics and you find ways to counter them/overcome them by replacing some DPS.

What do you think it the most logical approach? Tricking enemies and avoiding most of their mechanics, or using a right combination and strategy to beat them fair and square?

Admittedly, the tank/DPS/healer trinity is brainless skill spamming in most cases. That’s why GW2 doesn’t need it. However, that doesn’t change anything. Normally, you should still use the right strategy and not just bring Zerker to DPS everything down while they can’t do any significant damage to you because you’re stacking.
I agree that, when it comes to skillful, organized groups, max DPS would often be ideal, since they could burst enemies down effectively without exploits while dodging enemy attacks.

Dalanor.5387:

1. Kaiser made a good point in that topic.

2. Indeed, but it’s not a big think, it happens in other games, just don’t bother white knights, because tanks can pack up mobs.

3. If they aren’t ok with the damage, they could reduce it, but nothing happened. Since there is no official statement about the unintended behavior, we can assume more or less FGS works as intended.

If someone finds it “cheap”, their problem, players already has an upper hand due to gear and intelligence against mobs so … yeah, don’t try to find excuses. Nothing personal against you.

2. Again. Your point? ANet clearly doesn’t want a holy trinity in this game, therefore they don’t want mobs not attacking the players hitting them.

3. Since it’s a sensitive topic, I think there’s no point discussing it. But, since they haven’t said anything about it working as intended, I wouldn’t assume that either.

“Upper hand” because of “gear” and “intelligence”? wut?
By bad enemy design, I’m mainly referring to their lack of reactions and variety in skills. They’re predictable, too.

Kaiser.8504:

So tell us more about how ranging prevents her from using her melee attack, which incidentally applies weakness and 6 bleed stacks. Or Lupicus’ kick/doubleslash of doom.
Or any melee attack for that matter.

Go on, tell us it’s an exploit.

I don’t understand. Do you think (or wish) this game was designed for players to stand still in one position, at a certain distance from the enemy, never moving or dodging, so they can DPS the enemy while it sits still and uses one kind of attack?

As as I mentioned in my edit, the fact that you can do that is bad enemy design. And players are exploiting that bad design. See how I correctly used that word in bold there?

I don’t accept that developers in GW2 intended for such a boring game, especially considering the awesome mechanics they have implemented.

And, yes, you can stand at a certain distance from the Spider so that she stands in place, misses her web, doesn’t move closer and only throws poison fields you can easily dodge. Was that intended? Did they design all her attacks and AI so that players can just trick her into not using them?

Dalanor.5387:

Go in melee range on the open field, it won’t do the aoe poison on close targets. Stop spreading misinformation.

Doesn’t change anything. You’re still doing certain actions to prevent attacks. It’s just easier when stacking.

LoS works in every game, just unneeded due to tanks.

I don’t remember saying otherwise. Your point? (Though I do recall someone saying that it didn’t work in GW1 and I also doubt you’ve played every game in existence, so it’s invalid anyway.)

The FGS glitch is really questionable, but i think it’s an unintended use of the skill which developers found fun. Any official statment about the behavior of FGS?

I’m not sure about the general use of Fiery Rush against a wall, without a target, but the FR + LF glitch is getting patched, AFAIK. I also think it’s a fun “mechanic”, but I really doubt the developers are OK with its extreme damage.
I’m assuming they’re letting it slide because it’s a big part of the meta and particularly the Elementalist’s role in PvE.

P.S. In case anyone’s taking it personally: I’m not blaming the players in any way. I think the enemy AI needs improvement.

NoTrigger.8396:

Axelwarrior.9084:

The problem isn’t caused by the stat, it’s caused by the dungeon imbalance.

Currently, Berserker’s is ALWAYS the best solution to everything (well, maybe with rare exceptions, usually being Assassin’s) because we can bypass the difficulty by stacking/skipping etc.

If “exploits” weren’t possible, then we’d need more survivability in dungeons and thus Berserker’s wouldn’t always be the best option.

from this post alone i can say you dont know what you are talking about and you should spend your time to l2p the game instead of writing nonsense.

Do you even know what I’m referring to as exploits? I’d like you to elaborate on why I need to l2p and how my post inspired you to say so.

P.S. By exploits, I mean:

• Doing certain actions (stacking) to prevent enemy attacks. (for example, Spider Queen at AC)
• Stacking on a corner to gather enemies there, taking advantage of their dumb AI and LoS.
• FGS Fiery Rush (This is a bit of a sensitive issue, but I personally consider it an exploit. Though, I understand why some people wouldn’t.)

Don’t forget that you only need to use ONE transmutation charge for each skin and you can use it infinitely.

I’d say that’s just enough freedom. A few goldsinks help a lot with the economy, too.

That’s like buying a game when it first comes out at the full price and then complaining when it’s put on sale a few months later.

Evilek.5690:

Axelwarrior.9084:

Evilek.5690:

Steal without trait is useless class skill as hell

A free gap-closer that gives you an additional skill?

I would be laughing if I wasn’t confused

Sorry but you’re ridiculous.

Mesmer F1 F F3 make burst,invurnerability and daze

Necromancer F1 18k+ HP with 5 skills

Warrior F1 ? No comment 8k Eviscerate in sPvP with axe, Massive aoe with bow, Big stun with mace and all this with 6 sec CD !

Engineer with powerfull kits

vs

Thief steal stolen horrible skills with 35 sec CD ? http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Steal

Mesmers need illusions to use their Shatters and, unless traited, they’re not particularly strong. The distortion is quite good, but on a pretty big cooldown (and, again, you need illusions)

Death Shroud is the Necromancer’s only defense mechanic and it’s very weak against multiple opponents. And it requires Life Force.

Eviscerate is indeed a hard-hitting skill, but only when it crits and uses full adrenaline. But, just like all the Burst skills, it’s a very obvious animation and easy to dodge.

By “powerful kits”, I suppose you mean the Toolbelt skills. I don’t see why they’re better than Steal.

If you think the Stolen skills are horrible, then you’re probably just bad with Thief.

Evilek.5690:

Steal without trait is useless class skill as hell

A free gap-closer that gives you an additional skill?

I would be laughing if I wasn’t confused

The problem isn’t caused by the stat, it’s caused by the dungeon imbalance.

Currently, Berserker’s is ALWAYS the best solution to everything (well, maybe with rare exceptions, usually being Assassin’s) because we can bypass the difficulty by stacking/skipping etc.

If “exploits” weren’t possible, then we’d need more survivability in dungeons and thus Berserker’s wouldn’t always be the best option.

Because the /rank command shows your current rank, not the rank you want to show.

I like the idea.

Those rewards though, rofl

That’s hilarious

Sounds like you don’t like anything about GW2, really. I suggest finding a different game.

To be honest, while your gameplay looks pretty decent to say the least, the opponents barely put up a fight.
If you want tips for improvement, it’d be better to show us videos of your defeats, not your victories.

We have Steal, Traps, Stealth and Venoms. Those are all mechanics that remind me of Thieves. If they’re underused because of the meta is another subject altogether.

Btw, I don’t know why people keep bashing on the Steal mechanic. The idea is pretty awesome, even though it could use some refinement, like more stolen skills.

Dehvi.1435:

Intensity.8964:

Dehvi.1435:

Thaddeus.4891:

If he think that stealth finisher are unfair, wait until he figure out stealth + shadowstep finishing lol.

This is true. Absolutely nothing can be done to stop this finish.

Actually this is untrue, have you ever tried to shadowstep out of a guardians hammer 5? It won’t let you do it without knocking you down, correct? Same thing applies if he were to ring you and you shadowstep returned. Line of warding works, along with countless other control effects over the downed player.

His hammer 5 won’t do anything at all if he is blinded, which he will be when I CnD and immediately shadow step. It is unstoppable.

He can break the blind with condi cleanse or attacking you once before you shadowstep.
Also, even if you blind him once and he doesn’t do anything to cleanse it, you’ll only be able to shadowstep past the line once. Therefore, your stomp will be interrupted on your return.

You should probably use the x/x/x/30/30 build with D/D. It has decent survivability and AoE damage, which are the best counters to a Thief.

With enough experience, you should be able to hold your own against a thief in a 1v1.

Another option, which requires a lot of practice and doesn’t work well against good thieves, is going full glasscannon and bursting the enemy before he can do anything. However, it’s very hard to play with this spec and you’ll probably end up dying more. It’s a kill or be killed situation.

This might have been answered before, but I can’t seem to find a thread.

Since the PvP skins will be removed and implemented into the Wardrobe, will the skins already equipped on the characters be saved on the Wardrobe too? Or do we need to have them in the locker?

I suggest using Shadow Refuge just before you get downed, so you’ll have enough stealth to heal up.

I wouldn’t say this is an important issue. Thieves are pretty strong at avoiding damage in PvE and their downed skills are just as good as any other profession’s for helping yourself survive while downed (Except for Ranger’s, but that’s a different balancing issue altogether.)

Am I the only one playing with default keybinds? :P

attrail.8613:

Also a tip keep rocket boots on your tool bar lol. You probably have watched yishis play his engj…and go with 3 kits but I honestly dont know how he does it without rocket boots. That being said if you havent watches him you should check it out. Yishis engineer. He explains extremely well

He usually replaces Rocket Boots with Elixir Gun, so he can still keep the leap.

Guys.

According to the blog post you need to use ONE CHARGE for each skin to unlock it PERMANENTLY.

“Unlocked skins can be applied to items infinitely (for just one Transmutation Charge), which makes it much less stressful to try out a new look for your character, since you can always switch back!”

Zorlon.4127:

Thieves are very squishy. I believe it was the only thing that could of put us on par with warrior and other professions. Shocks that is really unfair. We got nothing.

You can still stealth very reliably, depending on the spec you’re using.
The nerf to the Infusion of Shadows doesn’t have much of an impact, really. Perma-stealthing is useless in realistic scenarios. (and you can still pull it off with certain traits/utilities)

Rangers already have a big advantage in PvP with pets when it comes to the Downed mechanic. If you want to make pets stronger against AoE (which I don’t think is needed either), make sure to give players a way to counter Rangers when downed.

I’d say engineer is one of the least suitable classes with ping. You need good reaction times with switching kits.
Also, I don’t think the healing turret combo would work well with ping.