Guild Wars 2

Spend your glory/

All classes have a new heal bought with skill points (pve and pvp). New grandmaster traits next patch will be bought with gold.

Hrmm interesting. I don’t play mobas because I thought they looked too simplistic. Your argument, and correct me if I’m wrong, is that the simplicity actually adds depth because you know what to expect/avoid. Too many permutations and the opponents can’t react/preact to eachother. It’s something to think about I guess, ty.

One thing though, and please don’t take this the wrong way, but do you consider yourself a high-tier gw2 player? When you’re familiar with meta specs I’d argue you can reasonably anticipate what players will do in GW2. But still, point taken I think.

Cheese builds are anything you don’t like =/

you heard it here first guys

super adventure box normalized player size, it should really be ported over to pvp

http://dulfy.net/2014/03/21/gw2-ready-up-episode-8-developer-livestream/

^Notice how I said make the war useless not kill him outright. Stability only lasts for a few seconds, and typically should be reserved for rezzing/stomping in team fights. The rest of the time, I can rain hell on those big telegraph abilities.

So I rarely ever complain here, but I think this is the tip of a huge issue, and I really have to get this out. Consider this:

I think the Anet rational for purchased traits is that since gold is now earned in pvp, it needs to have a corresponding gold sink. I also understand that trait and skill unlocks are seen as horizontal, and thus shouldn’t hinder players in pvp.

Here’s my problems:

1- Horizontal progression is still vertical progression. Access to more skills and traits allows for more permutations in builds, more statistical access to meta quality builds. 1 or 2 trait/skill unlocks doesn’t seem like much now, but if Anet continues on this path it’s going to be more and more apparent that longer playing players have a distinct advantage.

2- Freedom to experiment. One of the core great features of gw2 pvp. Unlike any other game, in gw2 you have the freedom to try any class, play any spec, and learn everything you can from it. I never fully understand another build until I play it. When you start creating meta builds that require unlocks, you destroy that amazing learning experience.

This game’s pvp was originally built on the concept of an equal playing field. No restricted skills, gear to grind, etc. That’s an amazing concept, and one of the core reasons I play gw2 pvp and not SWTOR or WOW. I think it’s extremely dangerous to mess with that formula. I really really urge Anet to reconsider this and future updates.

Charge as much as you want for cosmetics if you want a gold sink, don’t mess with the actual pvp.

Actually I think this is going to be very strong against warrior, mostly for rupting the short CD burst skills. Interrupting combustive and earthshaker will make the war nearly useless, and vulnerable to condis.

So all I got out of that is that Anet doesn’t like forum strawpolls. Suddenly that means that the forums are completely worthless, am I missing something?

?

Also, this thread has been posted so many times it kinda makes me wonder if it’s just a troll now.

OverlordOutpost.5961:

Brigg.6189:

You know, back in my day people pvp’d just because it was fun. Maybe I’m getting old.

Back in my day people had to start the game over from Level 1 if they died. Unless you’re deleting characters on death, I don’t see your point.

My point is that there’s incentives to playing the game aside from just e-items. My incentive to play is that I just plain like pvp. Of course I was being facetious earlier though, I know everyone doesn’t share my sentiment.

You know, back in my day people pvp’d just because it was fun. Maybe I’m getting old.

^I’m really not sure how you can say that. I have much more fun in gw2 than either wow or swtor for many reasons. Just being able to try different classes/builds/gearing at will makes it so much more interesting alone. Not to mention the combat system is 100x better. Only thing I miss is healers.

lol, wildstar is pretty bad compared to gw2.

I’ll probably try it and quit for gw2

Yes it might happen. If it’s just two of you as well, you could join a dueling server (custom server that someone has labeled as for duels in the title) and just go off in a corner or something. On a dueling server people will at least ask if you want to fight instead of just jumping in, might work out better.

It is kind of a bummer that custom servers cost so much, but at least personally I think you get so much in this game for free that I’m okay with it. I think you get a lot more that most subscription games (which often don’t have private servers). MMOs are expensive, gotta pay the bills somehow.

Hey Armunn, please excuse the trolls, there’s frequent arguments here about going max dps here. Let me help catch you up:

1. -Going tanky in this game is not very rewarding, because bosses have attacks that hit so hard they can’t be eaten, even by a tank. You have to dodge/block/blind for survival. This leads to point #2…

1. -The optimal way to run pve content is with all high dps characters, especially the warriors. In GW2 the best defense is a good offense. That said, you don’t have to be the most optimal build to clear content, it just will be slower and arguably less reliable.

So back to the original question: Sw+Sh is a solid PVP/WVW option, but sword is not a strong pve dps weapon. Axe is really the king there. I would recommend picking up an axe, a mix of zerker and toughness gear, and practice your dps and avoiding damage, phasing in more zerk gear as you improve.

If you were dead set on being tanky, you might consider something like toughness/healing/condi damage gear, and focus on generating high bleed stacks with sword while being super tanky. You could take something like shout healing or banner healing with that. Just note that condi damage isn’t very desirable because multiple people using condi stacks pooly.

Brigg.6189:

Other things:
I really want to make a distracting strikes build work, but it’s been tough to do. Something like mace/sw + LB, shooting for hybrid condi/power damage.

The only other power option you might have is something like mace/sh + axe/mace. There’s sick stun juggles like skullcrack->swap -> axe AA -> tremor -> eviscerate – > swap -> shield bash -> daze -> skullcrack that I haven’t played with since the sigil of para nerf. Not sure how well it works now, and mobility is going to be tough. Again, maybe strong against decap engi. Might be possible to frenzy those combos.

Just wanted to post some experiences with the builds I theorycrafted earlier

#1-Distracting strikes – R O M used this build in the last mistpedia tournament (placed second). It’s a decent duelist build with a decent skillcap, landing rupts and blocks are key. That said, I’m not crazy about it, not quite sure why he liked it enough to run it in the tourny. My biggest problem is amulet choice though, I’m not sure what’s best here, and I don’t think I was able to maximize effectiveness. It’s an interesting build though.

#2-Power Mace- I ran this with soldier ammy/zerk jewel and really liked the feel. Good duelist, great stunlocking potential, biggest downside is mobility and lack of aoe. For small fights though it’s very fun, managed to get some 2v1s with this thanks to the down state management with stuns.

I was stupid earlier though, mace is terrible against engi due to protection injection, forgot about that.

Kind of a strange experiment since you’d probably have buffers using builds that would never be seen in pvp. Some classes just aren’t very boon reliant either (like necro).

I totally see where you’re coming from with this, but I am a little worried that you’re pigeon-holing warriors into CI even more. I’d love to see a GS burst fix that makes it a worthy competitor to using for CI, not enhancing it, if that makes sense.

Pretty sure this was requested and devs responded that it’s very difficult to implement on their code base.

Well, even if it’s a reasonably even 1v1 matchup vs. thief, thief has a huge tactical advantages in matches: the mobility and engage/disengage potential. Thief could be a terrible 1v1er, but still be strong just for the fact that they can jump on a weak target for a quick kill. Anyone else that tries to run zerker in a match is in danger of that.

Oh man, yeah, this exact train of thought has been through my mind too. Unfortunately I don’t have a great solution either, but I can chime in with some thoughts:

On GS/Mace builds: In my mind this has always been a premier dueling build with a subtly high skill cap. The interrupts, blocks, and GS evade can be utilized to great effect if you use them well. You can still land skullcrack reliably against most classes (thief/guard, not so much) if you know class mechanics well and count dodges. What has me excited right now too is that you might be able to counter debunk engi pretty hard with this. The downside though, I just don’t think it’s a strong enough teamfighter, not compared to hambow. You might have to stick to side capping.

Other things:
I really want to make a distracting strikes build work, but it’s been tough to do. Something like mace/sw + LB, shooting for hybrid condi/power damage.

The only other power option you might have is something like mace/sh + axe/mace. There’s sick stun juggles like skullcrack->swap -> axe AA -> tremor -> eviscerate – > swap -> shield bash -> daze -> skullcrack that I haven’t played with since the sigil of para nerf. Not sure how well it works now, and mobility is going to be tough. Again, maybe strong against decap engi. Might be possible to frenzy those combos.

GS/Hammer is really fun imo. Also, GS burst is not really necessary because fury uptime should be high already with your elite signet and FGJ. Axe burst is indeed a strong hit, but from what I remember it ends up being a dps loss overall when you’re using that tasty zerker power trait.

Hey also, in case you haven’t seen it, this is kind of the definitive warrior dps theorycrafting thread: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/83915-axemace-dps-build-for-dungeons-and-fractals-101513/

Don’t feel like you have to copy exactly (especially if you want to mix in tankiness for your duo gameplay), but it’s good to be familiar with what’s optimal and why.

So your new build for example drops attack of opportunity for CI. That’s a legitimate trade if you feel like you need the condi clear (practically a required trait for pvp btw), but AoO is a big time dps trait. So just be aware of that.

Oh, last thing you could consider is warhorn too. Weakness is an amazing debuff. There’s some commentary on that in the thread as well.

Skyhammer map awhile back a ranger caught me at low health trying to cap a point. As a last ditch I tried to fear him off the ledge, but it got transferred to the pet (shared anguish). I thought I was sunk until he hit shortbow #3 and knocked himself off.

What you have there already looks pretty good. I’d advise against dropping healing signet for pve, even with the nerf. The HPS is very strong, sometimes you just have to stretch it’s usefulness by kiting for a few seconds or letting the pet take over tanking.

On that note though, you might also consider taking LB. I just think it’s a great general purpose weapon for kiting, might stacking, and aoe, when needed. It’s not optimal dps, but the every-day utility is great.

In my experience most people come to these types of forums to rant about what they don’t like, usually falsely expecting that if they do the devs will do something about it. Rational discussion or actually learning something… not so much.

So, the pm offer is out to anyone if you want to share ideas, but as far trying to have a rigorous debate or something lolz… it’s not really the place for it.

Also, just for fun I wanted to see what a successful pvp game forums were like. Lol forums, some gems from the first page:
“Riot, You are ruining your own game. It’s boring and trashy.”
“Why is Riot so ****ing lazy”
“Quitting league (My Opinion)”

Maena if you want serious answers to those PM me and I’ll be happy to give some input. I’m just not that into forum hyperbole/ranting etc.

and then people realize it’s trivial to kite around a large point, and you get a bunker meta worse than you have now

Overall balance is pretty good, some of the largest build diversity I can remember as well. Ele and mesmer are both having trouble finding a role in the meta, but still have dangerous specs, warrior sustain is a little high.

Probably the biggest issue is that some of the meta specs are a little lame. Warriors, spirit rangers, decap engis, and minion mancers can all be frustrating to fight against and easy for inexperienced players to be moderately successful on.

These forums have always been excessively negative, so take them with a grain of salt. Every meta is the worst meta. I don’t think warrior is overall more dominant than ele at it’s peak atm.

I don’t think they’re terrible, just outclassed in their team position by warrior atm (like ostrich mentioned).

Fresh air is deadly, but I’d take a thief instead.

Warrior stats have nothing to do with being OP, warrior was terrible for a long time with those stats.

How “OP” actually happened:

• CI and zerk stance were introduced, but warrior was still UP. Not enough sustain, still a slow death, but close to useful.
• Healing signet boosted a huge amount. This was the patch that tipped the scales, but still no one played warrior until…
• Good fights wins tournament using hambow warrior (anas tarcis’ build)

After that, the flood gates opened.

Just to be clear though 1/2 of being labeled “OP” is being a popular class, which warrior became after a few key tournament showings.

Well, out of the other aspects you list there, I’d be most interested in good balance and diversity. Who would be better for that?

(not moba’s plz, can’t get into that gametype)

Is there a better pvp mmorpg? Just curious.

Ok, so I have a lot of reservations about this build, but maybe I’ll give it a go tonight, it’s been awhile since I ran shouts. My biggest concerns are the lack of down-state management, and that the condi damage won’t be enough pressure in team fights.

Here’s a question for you though: Does this work in a tpvp and setting, and if so what kind of team would you run with it? Are you taking the place of a bunk guardian?

Chaosbroker.3860:

Brigg.6189:

No, HS was overtuned, I’m willing to admit that.

It’s not even that, it’s the simple fact that it’s impossible to stop and poison is a difficult thing to keep on a warrior long enough for it to limit the healing. On the other side of the problem is the fact that it’s very much a “Remove this hotkey” skill. It’s best utilised by not using it. Yet another passive defence in a class dominated by passive defences.

I think people overemphasize how significant heal rupts are (especially with other heals like shelter, healing turret, withdraw), but yes, I still mostly agree with this. That’s why I wrote “Passive needs to be nerfed, with active buffed to actually be usable.”

Funny, but he is kinda right. Playing war without sustain, condi clears, or stealth was/is difficult. Warrior was in a bad place for a long time, seems like everyone immediately forgot that after healing signet was overtuned.

I agree with the op/powerr though, adding more sigil swap bonuses to warrior is a little scary. I certainly know what spec I’ll be trying first when the changes hit.

Full disclosure: I actually like skyhammer. It’s flawed but I like it.

• Remove from solo-queue temporarily. We can argue about percentages of who likes it, but if such a high percentage of the players hate it, you should probably stop “forcing” them to play it.

• Tweak the map. I think two changes are necessary.
  • Glass kills are too easy. No one likes 1-ability kills. Change glass from being a fall-kill to being damaging when you stand on it.
  • Hammer is too dominate. Make it dodgeable and add a little bit more area to the hammer platform.

If those two items aren’t enough to make skyhammer fun, you could add a second level to eliminate knock-off kills, but I don’t think that’s necessary. Getting good people off a ledge is reasonably difficult at present, aside from the hammer platform.

No, the ele elite is funny though.

No, HS was overtuned, I’m willing to admit that. I think the devs are on the right (albeit slow) track. Passive needs to be nerfed, with active buffed to actually be usable.

You just have to be very very careful with it though. I think precisely because warrior is a simplistic class, it’s easy to push it over or under-balanced. Warrior buffs were rolled out over several updates, and it wasn’t until HS was buffed that it was even considered competitive. You revert HS buffs, or over-nerf, and you run the risk of warrior falling back to being unused.

Fast hands (15pt discipline) will make weapon swapping to secondary a lot cleaner, you swap for 100b and not waste a lot of time autoattacking with GS. Until then, it might not even be worth swapping for dps increase.

Just keep in mind though, if you’re leveling, travel speed is a big deal too. GS, sword, and WH are great options to improve mobility, while you do your main dps with axe.

a t s e.9614:

Even without healing signet warrior is still the best class in the game . Clear 3 condis every 7 sec , massive AoE damge , decent condi damage without investing into it . No precision required because of UF+ perma fury , alot of CC , berserker stance is very strong , you can kill a necro\engi easely> zerker stance+ stability = dead necro\engi. Lyssa every 48 sec is insane aswell.

The only class that has a chance to beat warriors are thieves. The evade spam and massive damage can shut down a warrior but nothing else really .
The class has everything thats pretty much it .

As a main warr , 1,1k hours Id be happy if they deleted healing signet to make the class a bit less faceroll .

Is that why only 5 people played warrior pre-HS buff?

yeah, I’ve seen players appear to tele around when it’s laggy. Probably that.

Actually, tranquility is double-edged sword. Zerging it is not a good strat. Overall I think stillness is a more important buff (11:30, 8:30).

1. - Zerging tranq is easily countered by backcapping. If one side sends too many to tranq, the other side can just go to all 3 points and immediately decap/cap.
2. - A bunker at tranq can stall for long periods of time, and help force a #1 situation if the other team over-commits to killing the bunk.

So imo:

• Ninja tranq if you can, otherwise send a bunker to stall
• Decap sides if you know you can’t ninja tranq

Or is it Allie that’s doing the trolling

I was going to rip on this because it’s lacking some of the typical OP warrior items… but I see what you’re doing with this now and I think I need to play it to give feedback on the major choices. Kudos for doing something different though, been awhile since I’ve seen a leg specialist build. Played well, this should be able to compete with some meta builds, but it’s going to be a lot more work since your not relying on the typical LB spam/stances/CI.

Here’s some more minor items for now though:
Sigil of para doesn’t work with tremor KD. Suggest replacing that with sigil of force.

You have 2 sigil of bloodlust, consider switching to just 1 and swapping to that weapon before stomps/kills. Sigil of force and sigil of fire would be decent replacement options.

Drop 30 arms for 30 discipline (burst mastery). I’d drop the rending strikes when you do this.

If you’re running signet traits, you may as well go dolyak instead of balanced stance imo.

Major design things I’m worried about but would need to play with:
I’m worried about running dual axe mainhands and your low mobility. My gut says sword/wh would be a better option, but it kind of complicates leg specialist usage. Axe/wh + LB might be a stronger point fighter as well.

I’m also just not sure leg specialist/signets is worth making a build around, but again, it’s been a long time since I’ve even attempted one of those builds.

Julie Yann.5379:

Cygnus.6903:

A tip and a fun thing to do with hammer. When running away from a fight, bind a key to look behind you. You can use earthshaker like this for a surprise stun that almost nobody anticipates.

also, use about face, then hammer 3 then about face again to cripple pursuers. You can do the same thing with hammer 5, charge it, last second about face and boom. More obvious then the earthshaker trick though.

I love doing that reverse ES trick. It’s true that no one ever expects it cause it lands everytime.

haha, that’s pretty good. I do the same thing with eviscerates actually

• Building momentum is one of the most overlooked minors in the game, and borderline OP with longbow – use it thoughtfully.
• Cancel sword flurry (stow weapon) to land big attacks (100b, final thrust, hammer cc)
• Sword 2 can cross several key gaps in spvp, great for juking/disengaging: Ledge->mid point in Khylo, the holes near serenity in temple, in between ledges at keep, etc.
• Maximize GS #3 hits on a target by spinning into a wall or other object. Also works good on targets running away from you for an extra hit.

Maybe just in general too: warrior is one of the most capable stun jugglers. There’s many combinations possible when using weapon swaps. Most people know the meta juggles (like hammer only), but think about your own juggles and how to fit damage abilities in between stuns, a lot is possible. A personal favorite is mace #5 → axe eviscerate → wpn swap → shield #4 → sword #3.

Ceraldor.3160:

Yes but one fight is more saying when def setups fought against each other than berserker setups.
Just because 1 soldier fights takes like 3 times+ as long…

I agree in theory that lower damage builds should yield more consistent win/loss results than high damage. That’s fine.

I think the issue is that GW2 has a lot more factors to it, you can’t take that statement in a vacuum and make conclusions about the game.