Guild Wars 2

I’ve done 6 complete world map completions (I know others with many more!) and a few of those were when we had to map WvW. I think it’s fine. If you ask me every single map, both old and new, should be added (minus HoT maps ofc), including dungeons and WvW. If you want a LEGENDARY the journey should be made legendary.

If you level new characters in a normal explore the world fashion (especially if you do it with alts and different races) you will quickly pick up on how, where and when to do hearts, events associated with them and map completion in general.

It took me 3 weeks to create a level 80 ele, all story missions done (LS2 as well) and full world map completion. Once you pick up on how things work it really isn’t that bad. I do think that Hero Points should be made easier to see on the mini map though.

Rezzet.3614:

if anything needs increasing is the ammount of ores per node 3 from normal veins and 10 from rich is meh

If anything needs changing it’s the value of copper, silver and gold. They are virtually worthless and need more sinks in the game to drive demand and thus value up. Maybe level 500 Jeweler will do this someday but as it stands right now the last thing the economy needs is more copper, silver and gold on the market.

Jack O’ Lantern staff skin that glows at night. Take my money plz!

Halloween is my favorite time of the year and I can’t wait to go on a skele & mummy killing spree in the Lab again!

I do wish it would come a week earlier than HoT but am happy to carve up some pumpkins regardless:-)

Hi Laila!

I help run a small NA based adult-casual guild on TC called Fools N Gold [FNG] where our focus is on a chill adult environment. Evenings our our prime time where we do mostly PvE related group activities but there are the occasional PvP/WvW craziness as well.

We have a few couples that play with us on and off throughout the year. There is a good mix of male/female gamers in the guild and most of us enjoy hanging out in our Mumble server for ease of communicating for group events or just to socialize and have a good laugh (usually at my expense!).

Here is a link to our forum recruitment thread for more info:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/lookingfor/NA-TC-Fools-N-Gold-Casual-Adult/first#post5549697

Hope you find what your looking for and happy hunting!

- Maplestix

We are about two weeks away from the launch of HoT! If you’re looking for a chilled and stable environment to kill stuff in and a small fun group of adult gamers to share a drink with then come check us out!

Hi bkpiazza! I help run a small adult-casual NA based guild on TC called Fools N Gold [FNG] and our primary hours are in the evenings as well. We do a little bit of everything but our focus is on PvE with nightly dungeon and fractal runs.

We also place importance on using our Mumble server (we still make heavy use of guild chat ofc) for ease of communicating and for strengthening bonds between guild members. Here we gossip about sports, movies, comics and video games of course and just have a good laugh at a dirty joke as well!

We are a small guild but if your looking for a casual group of adult gamers then we might just be the perfect fit for you.

- Maplestix

Hey now, I just did a solo run with the Druid on a level 1 Fractal where’s my respect?!

lol, I kid. Awesome job!

Mitch.4781:

Purple Miku.7032:

It is ironic that the people who’ve actually beaten the raid boss found it fun and are looking forward to more whereas the most vocal people that complain about it are either people who haven’t even bought the expansion let alone try it, or people that claim it to be boring and too easy yet haven’t even completed it once.

That really isn’t irony. Look it up. I have the exp. I paid 100 bucks for it. Beating it won’t make one bit of difference to whetehr the fight is “fun” or not.

Those that have probably have a shorterm feelgood about beating the first boss of the raid in BETA…

I don’t know why this isn’t sinking in. Should they have been able to beat the boss this easily? So much for challenging content lol

From my understanding it took them a while to get it done. One group that succeeded actually failed a couple times. And they were a well organized group on VOIP.

And you, with all that knowledge and experience, can’t beat it so it must be challenging!

I also heard they left a lot of things out of this beta raid. Like lore and some character models. So I doubt this is the finished product yet by far.

Those that have succeeded found it fun and challenging. Remember this is a beta so instead of all the anger and ranting maybe more constructive criticism would be the more productive route to take. Just maybe.

Been having fun with Tempest for the last 2 BWE’s now. Love the auramancer builds and the Tempest makes a good healing/condi/protection spamming spec.

Bri.8354:

Addressing Druid’s Support Role
The druid needs to branch out its support capability. Its primary role should be a healer, but with the ability to support allies with offensive boons while doing so, as well as some form of on-demand defense, such as a group aegis, to help against damage spikes.

For instance:

• Staff #1 (Solar Beam): Gives might (5s) to allies the beam touches.
• Staff #3 (Ansestral Grace): Shares your boons (at predefined durations, similar to WHaO) with allies.
• CA #1 (Cosmic Ray): Gives retaliation (1s) to allies.
• Seeds of life grant quickness (1s) to allies.
• Wisps give a random offensive boon to allies they heal.
• Upon entering Celestial Avatar you and nearby allies gain Aegis.
• Modify some trait so it activates Glyph of Empowerment. This would add some nice damage support to the druid.

With changes like these the druid would have a better spot in the game. Rather than just being viewed as a healer, players would also consider them for the buffs they apply to the group, which could make them valuable even if there wasn’t a strong need for a healer.

Sounds like you want to turn the Druid into a Guardian…

The Druid has a pet that allows for several support options. You also have different ways to go with the 2nd weapon set. Can go Axe/Warhorn for more boons and an extra blast. Can go Axe/torch for healer/condi spec. I actually was keeping enemies constantly rooted or knocked down with one of my builds.

So yes staff is pretty much all healing (#5 is great mitigation and #4 decent CC) but with pets, traits and 2nd weapon set the Druid has a lot of other ways to support a group.

Just spent a few hours testing the druid this morning and I found it rather promising. My biggest fear was build diversity outside of pure healing. I have to say soloing PvE content on a Druid is a real thing.

I made an Apothecary trapper build with Runes of the Krait. Took 333 in the spec and two canine pets for 2 sec KD’s for procing the Ancient Seeds GM. Staff and A/T with Quick Draw.

After running around in VB against the unintended nerfed mobs I went into a SW map to watch things melt. Needing a better PvE test I went and soloed two lvl 1 Fractal paths. That in itself is not saying much but the speed and ease at which I cleared the Uncategorized Fractal impressed me.

I rolled the Ascalon path next and a condi build vs the structures in there made it a real pain. It took way to long to clear but I did manage to clear it and slay the Captian in what became an epic battle. I ran out of time after that victory but with no deaths I am happy to see a condi Druid be a real thing!

Tonight I’ll try some PvP with it and try a couple more build ideas.

One last thing, Ancestral Wisp is pretty awesome and is quite the life saver!

Colin:
It isnt intentional, we were happy with bwe2 difficulty. We will have to investigate what suddenly made it seem easier – was not the plan to do so.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3nc080/the_reason_why_they_nerfed_bwe3s_open_world/

Whether or not this statement from Colin also refers to the PS mission I have no idea. But at least HoT Open World was not meant to be this easy and boring for BWE3.

SamTheGuardian.2938:

I disagree. To be fair to ArenaNet, they are probably accounting for these zones being empty which happens sometimes. Players with odd schedules who can only play at 3 AM shouldn’t be punished. During BWE1 they were a bit too difficult, they do need to be bumped up a bit, but not too much. Difficulty should be comparable to Cursed Shore. The following maps should be more difficult than the first, if the first map we encounter in HoT is as difficult as all that follow it destroys the progression experience. Not good. Also the first map is a place to learn gliding, mushrooms, etc… It is to an extent a training area.

I jump into SW at 3am and there is always a full map or two. There are megaservers for a reason and when HoT goes live you will be able to find HoT maps full of players IF the Risk vs Reward is similar to other successful maps.

Plus, too easy kills build diversity and the Zerk meta wins yet again. This is an MMO where playing with others should be encouraged. If your skilled enough and/or can put together a tougher build then you could even, during BWE2, run off by yourself.

I think BWE2 was the sweet spot but no matter what happens it definitely has to be much harder than it is for BWE3. Luckily Colin has confirmed this nerf was not intended.

Yea…supporting the zerk meta and killing build diversity is good for the game long term?

There is no need to play anything other than DPS this weekend and it makes me really sad. I really enjoyed my support Tempest during BWE2 because I felt NEEDED and it was rewarding to know that my support contribution may have turned the tide in some instances.

Even during BWE2 you could still roam around by yourself or in small groups but you just had to be smart about it and/or make tougher more durable builds.

Colin:
It isnt intentional, we were happy with bwe2 difficulty. We will have to investigate what suddenly made it seem easier – was not the plan to do so.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3nc080/the_reason_why_they_nerfed_bwe3s_open_world/

Totally agree OP. No reason to play anything other than DPS builds this weekend. Luckily this was not intended to be!

Fox.3469:

I agree, difficulty in BWE2 was much better

Absolutely. Needs to go back to BWE2 difficulty or the Zerk meta will win once again. No reason to play any of my support builds this weekend:/

phys.7689:

lol your funny. ascended boxes are random drop. You could be playing for massive amounts of hours and never see one drop. Back when i was grinding fairly hardcore in the game, like 6+ hours a day on average for months, i saw one single ascended weapons box.
a person with a normal/healthy play per dsy 1-3 hours would probably never see one.

I also find it odd you consider world bosses and silverwastes endgame play, or good preparation for raiding.

We have had 3 drop in our last 3 lvl 50 runs! Everyone in our guild that does high lvl fractals has seen at least one box drop. I have gotten two boxes from SW farming. One from achievements. Trinkets from collections, guild missions, laurels and fractals.

I gave a bunch of examples. Nice of you to choose and criticize parts of my argument and not look at everything I said. I also never said World Bosses or any of those things would prepare you for raiding. The closest thing would be high level fractals and I DID mention that. I was giving examples of how and where one could get an ascended drop or make the gold to pay for ascended gear. Do you work for a political party where it’s your job to spin everything?

Calcifire.1864:

ProtoGunner.4953:

Ascended gear is out an eternity, if you don’t have single character with ascended gear you’re doing it wrong. Raiding won’t be your thing then anyways, the game has lots of other stuff to offer.

there are reasons for not having ascended gear, for example:

I have a necro, mesmer, engi and ele.

I plan on maining Rev exclusively when HoT is released.

guess what ascended armor and crafting profession I DON’T have?

I’m just praying that the early bosses will be doable in just ascended accessories, the cost for making ascended armor in a timely manner is just stupid, 12g (or 300 scraps of silk) for a bolt of damask, and I need 25 >_>.

You have several weeks before the first wing is released and it was stated partial mix of ascended/exotic will be fine for skilled players. So you should already have the trinkets ready or can get them ready in time for any new alts.

Then we have who knows how much time until the raid wings that actually are recommended to have full ascended get released. Meaning you have tons of time to prepare.

Not only that but if you’ve been doing high level fractals, SW farming, guild missions and World Boss runs then you should also have a few ascended boxes and trinkets laying around in your bank. You can also get ascended items from achievements and collections.

If you haven’t been doing end game PvE content on a consistent basis then why do you think you should be given a free pass for the harder end game content? Self-entitled gamers!

We all have plenty of time to prepare people. Stop with the excuses and whining and get to work!

Still doing fine on my D/D ele. Whiners need a scapegoat and attacking “the company” is the easy way out for them instead of blaming themselves.

I don’t like the nerf to rof but I can still work with it. The other changes are just fine I think.

WhimsicalPacifist.2943:

Then they go onto Twitter and Twitch to gloat.

The gloating was in reference to the ice bow nerf. Which was way overdo, had been in the works for a while now and the drop mic was rather funny and well executed.

DarkSpirit.7046:

Kitty.1502:

DarkSpirit.7046:

Kitty.1502:

This was expected for me, if they want raids to be difficult that means they need to balance around the best equipment other wise those with ascended would have a much easier time.

The best equipment should be exotic not ascended.

Ascended is only for those players with crafters. Non-crafters can’t make ascended weapons/armor. Not everyone likes crafting.

Furthermore, this game has gone the route of the elitists who would kick anyone from their team whose equipment is not up to par and ascended armor and weapons are still too expensive for most players.

That is a different topic, ascended are in the game, they are better than exotics, significantly so, so if you want to make hard content you will balance around them.

How about those people who can’t afford ascended armor and weapons? Are they going to denied the Raid content that they have bought? Are they going to kicked out of parties?

The game designers should have sympathy for the poorer players!

Poor or lazy? There is a difference. Plus those players that these raids are aimed for are also those players that do high level fractals. These raids are designed as, get this, hard end game PvE content. Meaning you have done level 500 crafting, you have farmed the kitten out of Fractals and SW and are ready for the next step. That next step are these coming raids.

Not all content should be made immediately accessible and completed by all players. This is an MMO. Meaning there is a progression that you need to follow. You will notice that even dungeons have restrictions with regards to what level you need to be in order to be successful. If you don’t do high lvl fractals or any other end game content as it stands right now, which it is painfully obvious that you don’t, then you shouldn’t be able to do the final end game content which are these raids.

You have several weeks to gear up before we even see the easier more accessible raid wings. That is plenty of time to get your house in order.

DarkSpirit.7046:

Kitty.1502:

This was expected for me, if they want raids to be difficult that means they need to balance around the best equipment other wise those with ascended would have a much easier time.

The best equipment should be exotic not ascended.

Ascended is only for those players with crafters. Non-crafters can’t make ascended weapons/armor. Not everyone likes crafting.

Furthermore, this game has gone the route of the elitists who would kick anyone from their team whose equipment is not up to par and ascended armor and weapons are still too expensive for most players.

Define most? The GW2 player base or the actual target audience for this hard end game content? Because everyone in my guild has all of that. Even the casuals that work 40+ hours a week. Anyone that’s been playing for a while should have at least full trinkets and maybe a weapon or two.

It’s just too easy these days to get ascended. Guild missions, fractals and Silverwastes. Our guild group has had several ascended boxes drop in our lvl 50 fractal runs just over the last few weeks! If you can’t be bothered to craft up to lvl 500 and make yourself a set of ascended armor then you don’t really want to do hard end game content I guess.

Windsagio.1340:

Still looking for an answer:

How does this ‘requirement’ make practical sense to people?

Anybody who’s played much of the upper end content knows how tiny the effective change is.

Who said this was ever a requirement as well? The word used was “should”. Big difference. And that is for the later wings. The first couple was suggested a mix would be fine. Meaning we have plenty of time to gear up and find out what will be needed.

irrumatio.4893:

I worry that elitists will demand FULL ASCENDED ARMOR when in reality the benefit of adding ascended armor (to someone with ascended weapon and trinkets) is <2% damage output.

Source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/159ml1oahEyM6zWQ-oD4XQcHsk1mI5G6tVnjk_FOeinA/edit?pli=1#gid=348011649

Then don’t pug it, start your own raid groups or find a guild of like minded players. Easy fix to any sort of elitism. The fact that we have so much elitism with regards to dungeons when in fact they are so easy to complete is laughable.

As to the question about ascended for Raids. I’m all for it! It’s easy enough to get a mix of ascended/exotics for anyone that has been playing for a few months. Guild missions, Fractals and SW farming can fill most of the needs. If your serious about hard end-game content then getting full ascended shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

If you can’t get full ascended then you’re probably not the target audience these raids were designed for. It will be several weeks before we even get the first raid wing folks. And the first couple will be the easier ones! Plenty of time to get prepared.

Hiya’s Stickman,

We have a small friendly group of adventurers over here at Fools. Here is a link for more info about us: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/lookingfor/NA-TC-Fools-N-Gold-Casual-Adult/first#post5549697

Happy hunting!

Just carry a focus, a pocket ele/guradian/warrior or just wait a few weeks and go Chrono.

ditto to all of the above

D I V A.6018:

• Increase duration of auras applied by you by 33%
• Applying an aura increases damage by 5% for 10 seconds (max 5 stacks)
• Auras grant quickness for 2 seconds.
• When struck while below the threshold, grant all auras to yourself. Threshold 25%. (obviously needs ICD)
• Auras applied by you have increased effects. (Shocking aura has increaed stun duration etc)

Well, those are the ones I can think of right now, it is getting really late here.

D I V A

I really like a few of these. Increased duration is great but it would have to be made so that it wouldn’t stack with the Runes of Radiance that gives the same effect. But this would allow us to lengthen our auras and not need that rune set.

All auras while struck under a certain threshold might be a little OP. How about gain aura when struck under 50% health depending on which attunement you are in?

Just a few ideas:

Auras remove a condition

You and your allies cannot be critically hit when under the affects of an aura

You and your allies gain X amount of toughness (can be stacking or a base number) when under the affects of an aura

Apply AOE blind when an Aura ends

Valento.9852:

Because those nerfs needed to happen, and he announced them like a pro.

Absolutely! I main ele and I was so sick of that kitten Ice Bow! The Ice Bow will still have the longest CC in the game (if I remember correctly) and condi builds can still get some bleeds out of it (maybe going to 3 targets instead of 5 was a little too much?). That drop mic was epic and my friends and I were laughing pretty hard. Well done Irenio and Roy.

The other changes look good too with the exception of the nerf to rof. The dumbing down of skills is something I am not for and those that had problems with it was more about a L2P issue than anything else.

Looking forward to seeing what future changes to the scepter come about and the Tempest is still undergoing iteration. There’s a lot going on over the next few months and we’ll have to wait and see where all the pieces land to judge it all properly.

The Great Al.2546:

Glenstorm.4059:

Holy crap, Druid just COMPLETELY blows Tempest away in the group support department…AND does it at range.

Agreed. And especially with the increased emphasis on how difficult the new content will be, it is even more clear that Tempest does not have the tools necessary to survive in melee range

I had no problems surviving in melee range with my Tempest in BWE2. Aura’s are pretty powerful when used and traited properly. Not to mention a support Tempest can also put out some good condi damage which has been buffed for BWE3 with the addition of more bleeds.

While on my own I found it fun taking on larger amounts of enemies (something I struggled with on my zerk Daredevil) and in large events it was extremely rewarding playing the support role.

Where did I put my tin foil hat…and who took my meds?!

Yea, pretty sure the pets will have to be charmed in HoT content and the devs meant that you didn’t need the Elite Spec to do it or use them.

D/D is actually the better weapon set for open world stuff. You can kill faster, have good AOE and it’s a lot more fun than staff if you ask me. It does come with a higher learning curve though. It can be tricky to keep the staff’s best skill, lava font, on foes and Meteor Shower has such a long channel.

That being said the best ele weapon set is the one you enjoy playing the most and want to use. As they all can get the job done in the open world just fine. Also, leveling with the one you plan to use when you hit lvl 80 is also a good way to master it.

Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet but always make sure you have a 15% xp food buff on you (Strawberry Ghosts are my choice) and a maintenance oil as well. You can also go crazy with boosters and grab some fireworks off the tp too. Then when you start killing that group of fireflies or moa’s off the beaten path that bonus xp will be soo very yummy indeed!

Almost forgot, Fire – Arcane – Air is my preferred unlocking order. Evasive Arcana is pretty awesome even with a staff build but of course shines in a D/D build. I am also using a burn D/D Sin build on one of my ele’s with Fire/Aracane/Earth and everything melts sooooooo awesomely fast I have found it very enjoyable.

Anyhoo, have fun and happy hunting!

Of course it will. Unless you allow others to tell you how and what to do which it seems you have been allowing to happen. Seriously, find like minded people to play with, relax, have a beer and have fun!

We have necros and bear bow rangers in our level 50 fractal guild groups all the time and rock it. As long as players can communicate, learn and know how to operate whatever build/class they are using then it’s all good. This is PvE man. Not rocket science! Now, raids might be a totally different story. We shall see.

You never want the inmates running the asylum. For a beta its been fine. Some devs communicate better than others but we have to remember they are real people too.

Reading through and participating with the bwe feedback threads I feel like they are trying to walk that thin line of making us happy but not breaking the game and keeping to their vision at the same time. Not to mention with the release so close we can’t expect any sweeping changes. A lot of balancing will continue once the xpac ships because balancing in MMO’s never truly ends.

As long as it’s not a buggy mess like bwe1 then I will be happy. The zones seem really huge and expansive and if they can deliver on the “difficult content” it’s a win in my book. But we haven’t seen much so it’ll be hard to judge one way or the other and that’s fine by me. I would much rather have more surprises and that true feeling of exploration.

Done LS2 on a few different characters. Haven’t had any of these issues.

I agree with most of what your saying Nike. Ascended is not that hard to acquire for those that have been playing for more than a few months and there is nothing elitist about ascended. Trinkets are especially easier to get. We even had one guy get an ascended weapons chest off his very first Taco. Meaning anyone playing for the past few months and who has an eye on “difficult content” should at least have a mix of ascended/orange.

I also like your point on giving slack to someone you can vouch for who may, for any given reason, have the skill but not a lot of ascended.

Nike.2631:

See you in the raids. Only I won’t. Because ‘all orange’ is getting kicked by any sensible raid leader.

It was that remark that sparked my concern. Any sensible raid leader will take in account the variables of his/her group and allow some leeway if warranted.

We do not know exactly how difficult these raids will be. I’m with you in hoping they are so hard that we do need top notch gear, team composition, organization and skill level. I just haven’t seen anything in-game yet that requires all of these things and I’m still a little skeptical.

Still waiting on Tropical Bird/Parrot mini ANET! You already have them in-game in non-mini form so this shouldn’t be too much of a stretch. We are heading to the jungle and I need a tropical bird!

Axialbloom.8109:

Lightning Orb should fire an orb that sits in the air, zapping everything in its radius. Like a evil disco ball.

That would be pretty cool but we already have Glyph of Storms and Air Overload which already do this but w/out the cool evil disco ball thingy.

Kidel.2057:

still no Ice Bow nerf? It’s going to be fun in raids.

I know. As much as I love the Ice Bow it is way OP in PvE and needs to be balanced properly.

Nike.2631:

We must play different MMO outside of GW2, because 5% isn’t “barely” anything. That’s substantial. And the fact they’re going to double the gap between Exotic and Asceneded stats isn’t pushing for “barely”, that’s more “promote up or be left behind.”

See you in the raids. Only I won’t. Because ‘all orange’ is getting kicked by any sensible raid leader.

I usually agree with your comments Nike but I disagree with this line of argument. It is covered in Elitism drivel.

There is nothing in the game right now that makes full ascended mandatory to have. I run WvW roaming and lvl 50 fracts on characters with no ascended armor and a couple in full ascended armor and I can’t even tell the difference.

Plus, I love the ability to swap out armor/runes depending on what fractal we are facing. That versatility is pretty nice and putting all my AR into my trinkets/weapons allows me to do this.

We have no idea what raids will bring but I can tell you that our guild has some smart/intelligent players in it and we will be running raids with many of them not in full ascended and I feel we will do just fine thank you.

Alphard.6529:

Since most of the changes discussed here are from a pvp/wvw standpoint, I want to discuss pve issues as well.

The specializations patch killed all build variety for ele in pve. Everyone is now running staff. D/F Fresh Air used to be a viable meta build, not anymore. It seems Tempest is the same way. Karl, please consider what changes to make to Temest to make it work in pve as well. Tempest needs selfish options too.

What’s killing build variety in PvE has more to do with those conforming to a supposed meta than anything else. Perfect balancing across all game types is darn near impossible. There will almost always be some form of meta. Not to mention playing staff ele has a lower skill cap than the other weapon sets imho.

I run different types of builds through various PvE content and do just fine. Our guild did a 3 man fractal the other day and I ran with my D/D Sinister build. Still was able to cleanse those around me and the burns were glorious. The bigger issue is the OP Ice Bow. I just can’t leave it out of any dungeon/fractal path due to it’s kick-butt nature. We ran a 4 man all ranger team through HotW P1 and did it in 12 min. Those that conform to “a meta” with most of the PvE content being rather easy have themselves to blame. Anyways, this is the wrong place to discuss this.

One can imagine these Elite Specializations are being tailored for and tested on HoT content. Meaning they should excel or at least be made viable in raids, in the 4 new maps, Stronghold and the new WvW map.

In PvE I ran both condi and support builds on my Tempest in BWE2 and had a lot of fun doing so and with these latest changes the Tempest is getting to a better place. Heat Sync and a few other issues aside. Still plenty of time for iteration prior to release.
#Imiddlefingerthemeta

Karl McLain.5604:

We added two things to overloads today:
Overload Air will imbue allies with electricity, giving them the Static Charge buff. An ally with this buff will deliver a Lightning Jolt to the first enemy they strike.

Overload Earth will now leave behind a dust-nado (name ongoing) at the tempest’s location when complete, which delivers the same effects that occur while overloading (cripple, bleed, protection). Increased bleed duration to 9 seconds per strike.

Dust Storm – warhorn: Increased the velocity that each storm appears by 33%.

These changes are great Karl! Actually gives me a reason to use the Air Overload not to mention the Earth Overload is looking sublime.

Also, a much needed change to Dust Storm. Much like the clunky Tidal Wave (which still needs tweaking imho) the speed increase to Dust Storm puts this skill in a really good place.

I still don’t like Aura’s triggering at the end of Overloads. They should trigger at the beginning so they can be used with some reliance. Really makes using overloads for Aura’s a big crap shoot. Would be nice to see a change here so that we the players have more control over WHEN our aura’s trigger.

Also, I still want shocking aura (or something at least – maybe a blind?) tied to Eye of the Storm. This shout feels so situational as it is. I would love to have other reasons to have this on my skill bar.

Either way great job Karl! I was already excited to test a few builds in BWE3 but now you have me super excited to test these changes out!

#chickenado

This is a step in the right direction Karl. I like these new changes a lot. The fact that you can see a distinction between a trap specialist and a LB specialist in the traits now is a good thing.

I also like how you gave us condi folk our burns back on SoE. And finally SoE can be targeted behind us! Love it!! I still miss those bleeds though from the old Piercing of Light. I will have to test a few condi builds to see if they are viable now with DH in the next BWE.

True Shot: Damage increased by 12.5%. I like! This is the go to dps skill and can’t wait to try it out again. I also like the root and cast time. Don’t change a thing as it has a good feel to it, allows counter play and it stays true to it’s GW1 roots.

I agree with Nike and others that traps need a little more to them. I actually like them NOT being ground targeted. Maintains the feel of a trapper being unique and plays into the ambush style of play. Once you can start throwing traps you might as well just make them symbols which we already have and it takes away the skill required to kite and bait.

Looking forward to trying these changes out in the next BWE! Keep up the good work Karl.

xinkspillx.3914:

True Shot: A damage increase is welcome, but I still feel this skill should be given a knockback function and Heavy Light replaced.

I agree with most of what you suggested in your post as you had some good ideas but this right here is just pure madness. You want a knockback tied to the DH’s best dps skill? Think this through man! DH’s would be hated in all of the PvE things!

Tannin.1920:

I’m sick of it by playing almost three years and not feel rewarded for it. On the contrary, what I got because I had to pay to have bought gems to have an ascending equipment. Unlike adolescents aged 15 to 25 who mostly do not have children, job or something I have 39 years and do not feel that the game is fair to me rewarding me in 3 or 4 hours I can play every day. You developers are ignoring the casual gamers. I will not be making the insane grind you will put sure to indulge people who have the time to do it. Is fair only those who have the spare time can have the best items in the game?

I understand the concept of reward for effort, but think well, if you release the legendary equipments for the elite, let them ascended to the casual.

Was working 50 hour weeks and am much older then you and still got everything I wanted. Sure it took me a bit longer but I always eventually get what I want and never a need to buy gems.

Make a list of goals. Stick to them. Learn how to farm in the SW. Do dungeons. Finding a good guild and making friends will also open a lot of doors for you.

I couldn’t disagree more with your post OP. GW2 is about as casual as it can get.

Morozzko.2136:

3 stacks of fire per second op

Stop walking across it silly. When your mom tells you the stove top is hot it means do not touch!

Axialbloom.8109:

Valento.9852:

I guess some people complaining about Overload Fire damage nerf doesn’t get that overloads shouldn’t necessarily rival direct damage base ele already has. Think it through…

I believe YOU should think it through. If the Fire Overload, WHICH ONLY DOES DAMAGE, does not even match normal damage, then it is USELESS.

Do not underestimate the burn application and whirl finisher. If used correctly Fire Overload is still pretty strong.

Overload Earth: Cast time reduced from 5 seconds to 4. Bleeding has been added to the pulsing effect, one application of 6 seconds per pulse. The effects of this ability now trigger when the ability starts, instead of waiting one second before it applies cripple and protection. This ability no longer has a break bar, but instead applies 3 stacks of stability for 4 seconds when it begins.

I really like this change. Not only do we gain 3 stacks of stab but we get bleeding on top of it.

Overload Fire: Reduced cast time to 4 seconds. note: We’ll be reducing the damage of this overload, as it’s got too much in its current state. I don’t have the numbers on this right now, but will update when I get a chance.

Just keep the burning application for us condi builds and it’s all good

Overload Air: The damage for this skill now activates at 0.5 seconds, rather than at 1 second. Increased duration of the static area by 1 second. Increased the radius of the static area from 240 to 360. Reduced cast time 4.75 seconds to 4 seconds.

Much needed increase in radius. Like it

Dust Storm: Removed vulnerability application. This ability now applies two stacks of bleeding for 10 seconds on each pulse.

Would love to have both the vuln and bleeds! Otherwise I like this change as it adds more fuel to condi builds and ele’s need help in the bleeding department.

note: Heat Sync is currently over-performing in its ability to spread all boons to allies. We’ll be looking to narrow down the boons it can spread, to just the Might boon, in order to keep its purpose more clear.

I agree with others in that might is already to readily available from multiple builds/classes. This also doesn’t synergize well with support builds. I would recommend having the list be might, protection, fury and swiftness.

Rebound: This ability now applies an effect to nearby allies for 5 seconds. If the ally would take a lethal blow, they are healed instead of going into the downed state. If this effect expires naturally, grant an aura based on your current attunement. Reduced cast time from 3/4 second to 1/4 second. note: It heals for about 2000 at level 80 and heals additionally based on 1.5x your healing power.

I love it! Finally an elite for the ele that can be useful if timed correctly. Was getting tired of the bland ele elites and this new iteration of Rebound has me excited.

Traits
note: We’d like to add something more to Earthen Proxy at some point if it remains based on protection. It’s not going to go all that great if EP affects allies, because it’s hard to know when your own protection is on them and not your ally Guardian standing next to you. This trait is more likely to remain a bit selfish, or change to something else.

Yes please. How about a cd reduction on shouts?

Elemental Bastion: Fixed an issue where shouts would cause this trait to double-heal. Increased base healing per level by 50%. Increased healing contribution by 50%. Reduced the base heal from 40 to 10.

I like this a lot. Anything to beef up support builds is a good thing.

Harmonious Conduit: This trait has been re-worked. Upon activating an overload, gain stability for 4 seconds. If the overload is successfully completed, gain 10% damage for 5 seconds.

Greatly needed and will be a must in competitive environments.

Imbued melodies: This trait has been re-worked. While wielding a warhorn, your boon duration is increased by 20%. Use sand squall when you are struck while below the 90% health threshold.

So we lose WH cd reduction? I don’t mind the change but it would be nice to get the WH cd reduction added in somewhere. The WH needs buffs not nerfs.

What about Unstable Conduit? Having the aura applied at the end of an Overload makes using this trait with any form of tactical precision darn near impossible. The aura needs to be applied at beginning of the Overloads or most of the time the aura’s usefulness will be wasted. Especially with regards to magnetic aura.

Eye of the Storm needs a shocking aura.

Flash Freeze needs more to it. An increase in chill duration or a blast finisher.

Tidal Surge feels clunky and as with my issue with Unstable Conduit using the knockback with any tactical precision is negated with it coming at the end.

Water Globe: It would be nice to slow the water field down a notch. I had trouble keeping up with it a few times due to terrain or a drop in fps. Otherwise I really like it.

All-in-all I like most of these changes and my condi/support Tempest is in a happier place now. I look forward to testing these changes out in BWE3! Keep up the good work Karl.

It’s Looking Better