Guild Wars 2

Tolmos.8395:

Incoming blog post with this as a reference to show how “Wildly successful” class balance has been up to this point.

Seriously, though… I am kind of curious why they haven’t gone ahead and removed Engies yet. It’s pretty obvious no one in Anet actually likes the class, since they go out of their way to make it as unenjoyable to play as possible… not sure why they don’t just give it a good mercy killing instead of leaving the class to thrash and suffer slowly.

Lol wow. This forum is a cornucopia of QQ and angst.

Engineer is one of Anet’s babies, a class completely original in it’s design for this game. You really think Anet hates the class or is going out of their way to ruin it?

Seriously?

Do people know Anet can pretty much push an update whenever they like? More then likely whenever it’s good and ready?

Or is this a case of “it wasn’t on the big day woe is me” bunk?

The guard thing was a bug and any honest soul will confess as much. That was fixed, and rangers were given several minor quality of life buffs.

We got ‘something’. They’re still aware of ranger issues. A more serious update is in the works.

If it’s a massive overhaul unlike anything they’ve done with any other class that they’re doing, that’s going to take time.

Deal with it.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Reducing the chest-loot when guesting may help, but is NOT the best solution

Wow.

Okay before you kill it for the rest of us, the drop rate isn’t the problem. Thank you Anet for increasing the good loot we can get from these daily chests.

Don’t listen to this guy, please.

People server hop/guest to get the chests again. That bit needs to be fixed where guesting won’t net you more then they intended (once a day), not the drop rate.

Fix that, and the problem goes away. Cool servers have to deal with being cool. You all said go to TC for a good time, they came.

The problem is magnified because of the chest exploit. No one posted with a problem concerning guesting and overflows at the dragon events until after the update.

That’s not a coincidence. It’s a simple solution. It is pretty amazing watching some of you trying to reinvent the wheel over this.

The problem isn’t guesting. It’s player greed. It’s an unintended bug that the devs will have to correct. Once that’s patched, the problem will literally go away overnight.

Also, yeah. The people saying the game is dying, low population… interesting how that’s playing out, ain’t it?

Kangaroocyancomic.1298:

Although I am ashamed of my emotional linkage to something so absurd such as my racial abilities in this game, I could use some advice on how to create a more positive connection with my intelligence

It’s not as uncommon as you think.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to relate to your character. IQ tests are flawed by nature. They measure your intelligence up until that specific point.

You can do better or worse depending on a multitude of things on the next test.

You also never told us what kind of an IQ test you took. Is this an accredited source like a university, or some random online quiz you did for the lulz?

If the later, the chances are good that your IQ is higher then the bloke who made the test.

If you can play this game and understand the controls and intricacies of the system therein, you’re a pretty competent Joe. Don’t let it bother you.

Embrace simplicity.

Raine.1394:

No, there is a difference. One of the markers of a successful profession is that you feel strong, i.e., you actually feel like a hero rather than a sissy that spends as much time running from a fight as he or she does running to a fight.

Rangers, necromancers, engineers, elementalists, mesmers, and thieves aren’t sissies. They’ll still kill you, even if they do use hit and run guerrilla warfare types of tactics.

You play warrior, right? Guardian maybe?

Lol people.

Just tell me you’re doing the daily dodge in whatever impolite way your meager minds can manage and I’ll probably stop. Maybe.

But if I think you’ll say even more funny things if I continue, no promises.

If you’re a decent person about it, I’ll use a kit and break aggro and be on my merry way.

Gaudrath.6725:

I’m sorry, but are you having difficulties getting exotic gear for your characters?

Really?

Yeah. I was thinking about that. You can craft exotics and if that’s not an option, you can get exotics with karma. The game throws karma at you if you just play it.

Exotics aren’t very hard to come by. Dungeons are an option that you can do, not to farm, but casually.

Nothing to do with RNG or luck. It will happen.

Eventually you’ll get enough to deck yourself out in high end “15k” gear, and in the mean time before that you should be making a steady stream of money.

But let’s say you hate dungeons and none of the 15k armors interest you.

Okay. I can get just about a gold in an hour without trying. Much more if I’m actually trying to make money.

Since the downleveling balance, you can feasibly get level appropriate gear anywhere you want and so, more money to get whatever your heart desires.

They made it even easier. You’re always going to be disappointed if you’re waiting on that exotic drop to vindicate your time. You’re doing it wrong.

Clyne.9038:

Some forum posters have no clue on how an organisation works around here.
Seriously, i wonder how Anet deals with this amount of bull, day in and out.

Respect.

Right? I’m loving GW2 but the official forums are… awful. Can’t tell if teenage angsties or terribad adults.

+1 to you Geotherma, thank you for posting this. Even I was thinking for a while they only had two people working on everything.

Good to know the truth. It makes a lot more sense.

plasmacutter.2709:

0/10/0/30/30 ele is the gold standard of how everyone else should be.

Absolutely. Your way alone is the end all, be all of playing the D/D ele and woe to any fool who dares differ or threaten your ideal, let alone those pesky devs!

You’re warning them! You’ll leave! You really truly mean it!

plasmacutter.2709:

If they destroy this build rather than incorporating proper synergy-breakers like corrupt boon is for this build, and adding synergy like this to other builds, I will be forced to conclude ANet is too lazy to enter the AAA mmo arena, and simply leave.

I’ve been let down too many times, and will probably swap to books, because even console games are starting to get nerfed post-launch.

Some of us outgrow gaming. Nothing to be ashamed of. I hope you find what you’re looking for someday.

Chickenshoes.6250:

How is it that those 2 jokers are the only ones they have on class balance? I didn’t even get the impression that they entirely knew what they were doing.

Izzy’s been in the industry for 10+ years, almost 20 years now. Jon’s got about as much, more or less. They have a general idea.

Chickenshoes.6250:

Not even that, they hinted they were waiting for bug fixes and small changes to specific weapons or traits before they got around to thinking about the broader class issues. They strongly suggested they were scared to change anything for fear of breaking something.

So, you’re scared that they’re scared about breaking something? Do you want them to break something?

Everything is running pretty smooth, with the understanding that some classes are just a bit underpowered ATM.

Slightly underpowered > completely broken and unusable

Chickenshoes.6250:

This will never get fixed. If next patch doesn’t have something really awesome for engineers I’m rerolling a warrior. I could have a warrior lvl 80 and exotic’d in a fraction of a fraction of the time it takes for my engi to get some proper lovin’.

Lol okay. That settles that then. Have fun on your warrior. It’s a pretty cool class.

Gasoline.2570:

But srs. This cannot be possible via legit play, and if it is, arenanets RNG system is broken beyond belief.

Anet uses a true RNG system. RNG is RNG. Some people get lucky. Some people get average. Some people are in a RNG void and get nothing.

The same people that are lucky now may be in the RNG void in the next moment. Unless they’re not.

Those who run average may soon find themselves exactly where they are now. Unless they do better or worse.

Those in the RNG void have no reason to think the next moment will be any different then it is now. Unless it is.

Maybe they’ll get lucky. Maybe it’ll get worse. Maybe they’ll manage average for a drop or two. Maybe they’ll get double precursors from eight rares in the mystic forge.

Your brain is angry because it can’t find a pattern and your sense of ‘fairness’ is outraged over the luck of some VS your own.

Isn’t chaos keen?

Red Falcon.8257:

CETheLucid.3964:

No, that’d be the easiest. Just nerf warrior, guardian, and mesmer to the point that necros, engies, and rangers become relevant statwise.

Perfectly logical and honest solution. Fitting too, given the attitudes of some in the community.

Get popcorn for incoming QQ threads!

…. Nah, I’m just kidding. I think.

Yeah, instead of fixing some issues present in 3 classes, they spread bugs and flawed designs among all other 5 so they’re all equally inefficient. That’s pure genius right there, file a curriculum to Arena Net.

What’s the matter, scared?

Have you read what Anet has to say about class balance? Nothing will give you a better idea then both that and their track record with class balance.

They do good things. Ranger used to be OP, they corrected it, and now they’re a little UP. But they’re listening.

The reason these three classes (necro, ranger, and engi) are a little worse for wear is because prior to going live, these classes were ridiculously broken.

Now they’re a little too neutered. Anet can fix that.

It’s a balancing act, they got two lead guys on it and a small internal testing group, and they’re pumping new free content at the same time. They’re only human.

Give them some time. It won’t be long.

What can a Ranger do with GS and S/D?

Dodge all of the things forever!

Geotherma.2395:

http://eggbaron.blogspot.ca/2013/02/colin-johanson-on-loot-drop.html

“It’s worth noting, the X-files conspiracy comment was directly responding to the theory something changed in the November release that made it all suddenly worse that has been perpetuated since Lost Shores. _We confirmed nothing what so ever changed in November,_ as we posted after a complete investigation into all parts of that release, thus the comment. Probably not worded the best on my part, but please take the time to read the actual comment in context and don’t apply it to other situations that had nothing to do with the remark.
As posted within the loot discussion thread, we did exactly what we said we would do: we completed our investigation of the November release and all loot tables and found no issues what so ever, we immediately let the community know no issues were discovered from the changes in the November release.
We then expanded the search to other parts of the game, here we found issues that had existed since launch and have both let you know about them, and will be correcting them.
To those who theorized there were issues since launch with qualifying for loot, you were indeed correct and your tinfoil hat is justified, thanks very much for helping us find this issue! November however, remains an X-files level conspiracy that has been debunked. There ya go”

That should settle it. Thank you for posting this, +1.

Leviathan.9850:

From personal experience, I can confirm that engineer and ranger are somewhat under par compared to how I see other professions perform. It would be pretty cool should that be resolved soon, by either buffing the weakest professions (the engi-necro-ranger trinity), or by changing the game so that those classes become valuable. The latter would be the coolest, but would also be the hardest to do.

No, that’d be the easiest. Just nerf warrior, guardian, and mesmer to the point that necros, engies, and rangers become relevant statwise.

Perfectly logical and honest soloution. Fitting too, given the attitudes of some in the community.

Get popcorn for incoming QQ threads!

…. Nah, I’m just kidding. I think.

CETheLucid.3964:

Do well, and you have crazy damage, split damage like no other, more tank and kite then a warrior, and two HP bars that make necros jelly. Better armor too.

FrouFrou.4958:

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH hahah ahah… Good joke man, good joke! Oh wait, you are not joking? You are serious as in, serious serious? Oh god. Uhhhoh. AHAHAHAAHAHAAH!

Yeah, I could have suffered to elaborate that bit being more on the PVE side of things.

Ranger is very good, but it’s a more difficult class to play because you must pay attention to your pet. You cannot be lazy and you cannot afford leaving it alone.

You can’t “veg” out and be a good ranger. Warrior can be half a sleep and do some of the best damage in the game.

All your attention all the time or you suck, you lose 40% of your damage potential and you die.

Do well, and you have crazy damage, split damage like no other, more tank and kite then a warrior, and two HP bars that make necros jelly. Better armor too.

But no other class has this high skill requirement. Ele shares a similar skill ceiling, but in my opinion, it’s lesser then the rangers.

Ranger is one of the hardest classes to play in the game because of the pet mechanic.

If Anet didn’t intend that, ranger desperately needs some quality of life love to help with that stress.

But as is so far, Anet’s done very well with the ranger. They’re not terribad like all the complaining hypocritical opinionated people make them out to be.

Manage your pet or fail.

Anet, please please make that easier. I would say make pets more intelligent AI wise, responsive input wise (mouse click VS keyboard) and durable overall.

Not much more beyond that.

I sympathize with people who argue on principle that rangers should be unmatched with bows damage wise, but there isn’t really that much of a problem damage wise.

I wouldn’t mind if ranger longbow got a buff or quality of life looking at. Longbow is ridiculously easy to avoid.

Side stepping is a valid strategy to mitigate and avoid damage, but it shouldn’t completely render a rangers longbow useless.

Maybe give lowbow a better fire rate or make the arrows travel faster? Shortbow got such a quality of life buff and it isn’t overpowered for it.

Avatar Rage.4369:

Daggers are small and easy to wield, so if you are going for a traditional mage look it still would not break your characters aesthetic

Safer Saviour.9685:

Because giving Elementalists swords steps on the Mesmer’s toes a little. The Mesmer’s the ‘magical duellist’.

Best answers.

The mesmer never actually leaps with that hunk of metal; she sends an illusion and then magically switches spots and unleashes a very heavy magically supported auto-attack.

The ele now actually physically leaps into combat with daggers (still somewhat magically/magnetically assisted) and it makes much more sense for a scholar type to physically leap with a dagger then it does a sword.

I really like that change to magnetic grasp. Very bad kitten

Still a little buggy, but I’m pretty sure a fix for that is incoming at the very least with the Feb update (along with a general D/D nerf).

Danikat.8537:

It is true that they don’t list every single bug fix they do. I’ve reported a lot of minor text and graphic bugs over time, and every so often I go back and check on the ones I happen to remember and they’re usually gone. But I somehow doubt many people would want to scroll through pages of “corrected the punctuation in some random NPCs dialogue” or “fixed the position of a rock on the edge of the map in Queensdale to match it’s image” when they’re more concerned about skill changes and bugged event chains.

This is right.

The stuff they don’t mention isn’t really all that big of a deal. If it is, the community will notice regardless.

Maybe to make all the pedants happy they should say something along the lines of “no significant/meaningful changes, but if you insist, please feel free to find the rock or shader issue in one particular spot that we fixed”.

You know, I used to really harp on pets being tripe until it dawned on me that I was just being lazy about it.

F1 and F3 are your friends and if it worked right all the time, we’d be golden.

There shouldn’t be a lag between mouse clicking it and it actually happening VS keyboard pressing. It should also actually work when you do it, regardless.

It tends to work better when your pet is in peaceful, but what would be great is if it kept a similar functionality when you have them on aggressive.

For example, on peaceful you can tell your pet to attack one enemy while you handle another.

But if you’re on aggressive sometimes your pet doesn’t listen and then begins to attack the target you’re attacking.

That’s annoying.

What’s also annoying is if you have your pet on peaceful and it manages to finish off the enemy you’re dealing with, your pet will return to you and do nothing until you tell it too.

What would be perfect is if you order your pet to attack one enemy on aggressive, it stays on the target you tell it until it dies, and then the pet goes on and attacks the enemy you’re attacking.

The pet controls we do have over the pet need to be just a bit more responsive, while at the same time the pets AI needs to be just a little more automated/intelligent in how it works.

Once you “get” how pets work and that you can’t just ignore/be lazy about what they’re doing, pet’s become like a second character that you have (mostly) complete control over.

They’re not bad by any means.

They define the Ranger class, but yes, to be a good Ranger this secondary handling mechanic of the pet raises the skill bar needed to play one.

You must master how to handle your pet or you will never be a good Ranger.

Celtic Lady.3729:

What if working toward a particular goal IS your definition of having fun? Or it would be if you hadn’t encountered a grind. Sometimes, in the course of having fun in a game, grinds are encountered. When one is, the choices are to give up and find something else to do or work through the grind until you’re on the other side again.

Sky.9347:

Except WvW exotics.

Look, WvW exotics are skins. It is a cosmetic grind.

That’s the sum of it really. So heres the deal.

When you run into something where you cannot even play this game unless you grind it out, then you have a case to make.

Nothing prevents you from playing the game as is right now with others in whatever you’ve so happened to aquire.

Those shiny cosmetic things are nice goals to set for yourself based on want and taste. But they are not necessary at all.

Conncept.7638:

That is a cop out excuse for the weak minded and uncreative. This is like a chef saying it doesn’t matter what his food tastes like.

All art and design has an audience, if the audience isn’t satisfied, it’s your fault not theirs.
A good artist considers critique, and improves. A bad artist makes this claim, and doesn’t.

Oh but of course!

After all, the Guild Wars series is objectively an awful set of games that just didn’t get it’s audience.

Because critics are never wrong and public opinion is a god that must be served zealously, right?

Furthermore, official forums are certainly a bastion of unbiased and professional critics of the highest caliber and certainly represent the entirety of the user base.

Come off it man.

If you don’t like the game, just leave. You’re not fooling anyone. You’re being “that guy” that says Paul Bocuse or Gordon Ramsay sucks at cooking.

That’s an ironic conversation.

“Our enemies aren’t making any headway!”

They said as your citadel was being invaded. I think one of my friends reported something similar even before this update when we were having a terribad week.

It could be an exploit though. No clue. Very interesting.

To redo your Sylvari’s glow you’ll need a total makeover kit, not the standard one. This recent update does allow you to preview it. Documented on the wiki.

Sahfur.5612:

Your arguments are paper thin, just because stats alone aren’t what makes me powerful doesn’t mean that its not an insult to those of us who earned those stats to lose them. Just because someone else might be able to beat me (plenty of zergs in wvw have accomplished this with relative ease, and of course the culling builds), doesn’t invalidate my argument.

In other words: Big deal? My point still stands. I was one of those that hated the fact that ascended gear could only be obtained through one means. I’ve provided alternate solutions to the problem of having limited methods of obtaining them in several posts (guess what, it was very similar to the system they are currently employing, a scavenger hunt of sorts that can be done in normal pve).

The game was designed for “everyone” in accordance with their mission statement, and so a compromise between no scaling and full scaling was met, and an attempt to break that balance has been made. In other words… no.. full scaling isn’t more “gw2” than the previous compromise. How about that logic stuff?

Try not to talk out of both sides of your mouth. Consistency is key.

Sahfur.5612:

Go play a different game.

I hate the idea of someone who just killed a dragon having difficulty mowing down a bloody worm. We already have our stats scaled down, it was at a good mid point.

You want more than the mid point, you want to ruin the game for people who don’t like scaling in the -first- place.

Sahfur.5612:

You have your cooperation, and its already way more cooperative than WoW. A mid point was made, and it has been passed. Its unreasonable to expect further compromise.

Sounds like you’re the guy that needs to go play a different game. You’ll never have a decisive advantage over anybody else in game based on your stats alone.

Hate to tell you this, but someone else will always be out there that can outdo you in that regard. Being more powerful only subsists until the next guy knocks you down.

The game is geared towards skill and teamwork.

Sahfur.5612:

They might as well eliminate item tiers and levels if they continue on this route.

They’re trying!

The fanbase had a conniption over ascended gear and Anet backed off. Ascended gear is it and it’s just been made viable for everyone else.

It’s no longer a fractals only thing in the means of the earning of it. You can now obtain ascended gear without fractal grinding.

Yet, it’s only honest purpose is to serve for people who enjoy the fractals. You don’t need it. Everybody wins.

Chickenshoes.6250:

There’s nothing to complain about. If you don’t like ridiculous cost, don’t go to a high pop server.

Free server hops severely damaged WvW. This fixes it and gives Anet monies. Cry more.

Well said. +1

goldenwing.8473:

Yes, you can rez NPCs. Why bother going out to find them when you can just sit in Lion’s Arch and be done?

Because most people aren’t complete lemmings.

Lady Vireo.5189:

Well actually OP’s point is moot, because reviving the same person over and over doesn’t count.

UrbanEMP.2654:

There is no hack. You do not know what a hack is.
You were probably a very bad Dev if you considered this a hack.

Way to choose the most inefficient way to complete such a simple task.
Ever tried doing PvE and looking around for the clusters of dead NPC’s instead of wasting your time watching your pal fall to his death?

I’m seriously fed up with the pointless topics on this forum. Nothing but idiots and complainers.

Haha!

Easy to say, but for the life of me I can’t explain why I keep coming back here. I should just pretend these forums don’t exist and play the game.

I think Anet pays attention to this forum and for this reason on especially the more serious issues where a small vocal minority tries to move the game in a bad direction, I want to be a voice of reason if not dissent to oppose the stupid.

But that whole pretending this place doesn’t exist isn’t a bad idea either…

Tolmos.8395:

preparing to have fun as opposed to having fun

The former is doing it wrong and the later is the reality you want to achieve. You’re too focused on the end game when the point is to enjoy the game in general.

This is a beautiful engaging game with a wonderful story. A greater part of the fun to be had isn’t just the end game, but the getting there.

If you’re not having fun from start to finish, you need to stop what you’re doing and really consider why you’re playing at all.

Blackmoon.6837:

Solving this problem is inevitably the same as the skipping issue. You simply have to coordinate you groups better. It’s a community, so be social and discuss the issues before making your parties. /Solved

I’ve made many groups and I always take whoever I get, from newer players who still have things to learn down to MF users. I’ll enjoy the game either way, yet wait… I’m not opposing MF so my opinion is irrelevant, right?

If you’re really strung out about MF, then make a guild that focuses on not using it. Just take advantage of the social aspects and quit blaming your lack of effort to do so on the game’s design.

But… but… if folks did that, people might find they’re being the pedants they left/criticized WoW over!

complains about ascended gear
plays gear elitist regarding MF users

Not naming names. You can figure it out by looking at peoples forum posts and their signatures in some instances. But yeah.

If you hated on ascended gear but want to throw down over people using MF gear, surprise!

You’re a hypocrite.

joe.9815:

Oh I don’t know
Can I move from somewhere like the crystal desert to underworld? NO…

Um, yes?

You won’t be able to guest across the continental servers, but yes, you’ll be able to transfer across the US/EU ones just the same as you can now.

You’ll continue to have that option even after they implement guesting and close down free server transfers, which is what is making the ladder so crazy right now.

Right now is the perfect time to get a feel for the worlds before you decide on a permanent home.

You have a few days left to do so.

Depending upon the time of day you play most, it would even be a good idea for you to play a server different from your continent.

You’ll have more people to play with that way if you’re a night gamer, etc.

Many EU servers would appreciate US players and US players would appreciate EU players to cover their night time WvW game.

As for making a WvW free server? Why? Why would you want them to remove content for a server?

One of the best ways to level and make money in this game is WvW. Seriously. It helps your world to boot.

Supplies matters. Deny it from your enemy and they’ll feel it eventually. If they have to organize something to deal with you, you’re doing it right.

Seriously? You don’t even have to leave the town. You can only hear the bells if you’re within a certain distance from them.

Just move to a different spot until you can’t hear them anymore. Very cool bell videos!

Rhinzual.7861:

The problem isn’t political in the sense that we can relate to them normally, because the human god Balthazar guided humans to conquest Tyria, the other human gods were cool with this, aside maybe Abbadon.

Melandru didn’t support it. She made the charr.

Either the humans did that of their own volition or the human gods are borderline schizophrenic.

Maybe it’s just Balthazar.

Then again, Dwayna’s pretty heartless for a deity that’s supposed to be the patron of mercy and monks.

Look up the history for a place called Malchor’s Leap. She could have rescued the man, or at the very least restored his sight before she left him.

Patron deity of healers. Come on now.

Waar Kijk Je Naar.8713:

Current situation:
Player 1 gets rewarded more for doing less (lower attributes means lower damage, heal, control, etc)
Players 2, 3, 4 and 5 don’t get any extra rewards despite having a tougher time because of Player 1.
Only player 1 is happy.

Gisei.5749:

Personally, I just don’t like the idea of shouldering more weight to help some random guy get better drops. If someone is running with me, I expect them to do their best, and they can’t do that with MF gear.

There is absolutely no logical argument for MF. Losing a stat gimps your performance, and it is at the expense of others. If you have three apples, and lose one, no matter how you try to word it, or twist it, you have less apples. The same applies to stats.

You’re assuming player 1 would be a better player if he wore better gear, wheras if player 1 stunk in MF gear, player 1 wouldn’t become a better player in optimal gear.

A good player playing naked can outgame a bad player in perfect stats.

Player 1’s personal skill with the game will always be the optimum. A stinker VS someone competent will always be the deciding factor. Not the gear. Ever.

What’s being argued here in the technical is as if the PUGs you find in the game are these perfect people and you’ll always play a perfect game with them if they’re wearing anything but MF.

I have a sneaking suspicion that most of the folks this pedantic about the whole thing don’t even play with PUGs to begin with if they can in anyway help it.

Time’s precious, y’know? You’re not going to waste five minutes playing a game if you can get it done in three. Right?

And you won’t know what kind of a player they are until you play with them.

This aside, I like the idea of a MF player contributing her MF in the way Waar Kijk Je Naar lays out.

Siadea.3950:

Seriously, who takes over land haunted by respawning ghosts and says “don’t care, ours anyway”? The charr, that’s who.

This made me laugh so hard.

Manoa.5897:

irrimn.3192:

Hickeroar.9734:

ColinJohanson.2394:

That should say dynamic level adjustment system, way back in the day we called that the sidekicking system and that snuck through to the website.

How it did so without any of us noticing is an enigma wrapped in a paradox, surrounded in a mystery.

I’m guessing the name came from the idea that a lvl 80 toon could go wander around with a lvl 10 toon as their “sidekick?”

Actually it was the other way around, that a level 10 could join a party with a level 80 and be upscaled as their sidekick. This idea was ultimately scrapped.

See more here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sidekick

Again, the idea had its roots in the old sidekicking/exemplar system in City of Heroes. In COH, “sidekicking” meant you were upleveled UP to a higher level character team leader (to one level below the higher level character IIRC). The term “sidekick” (or “lackey” if you played a villain) was used for the system because it was thematic with the comic book genre. The system also included something called “exemplaring,” where a higher level character could “exemplar” DOWN (i.e. downlevel) to a lower level team leader. This system was eventually redesigned to be more dynamic and flexible in nature (dubbed the “super-sidekicking” system) where you were autoleveled up or down based on the level of the active mission (or to the team leader if no mission was selected). This was all based on the mission/team leader, none of it was map-specific.

The dynamic level adjustment we have now in GW2 is the natural extension of COH’s super-sidekicking system (by tying the autoleveling it to the zone rather than your party). The idea of “sidekicking” up to higher level character was in beta, but was scrapped for GW2’s PvE though because ArenaNet found too many people were bypassing content (so we now only see such upleveling in WvW and sPvP). In PvE, we only have something similar to “exemplaring” (downleveling).

Good answer. +1

Astralporing.1957:

Sleel.8365:

So, taking a few seconds longer to kill an ooglie booglie means less loot drops? My kitten

Yes. The mere existence of MF stat means that drop chances are lowered to compensate for everyone.

You know what?

If Anet buffed MF sets to have stats just barely under their corresponding non-MF sets, you would still complain on these same basis, just because gear elitism and it’s MF.

The existence of MF doesn’t lower the drop rate of stuff for everyone else. It remains a constant.

It simply raises the better end drop rate for the MF user. You’re arguing a glass half empty analogy and others would argue it’s half full.

The gear someone else is using isn’t messing up your personal RNG. You would get the same drops whether you teamed up with a MF user or a non-MF user.

Sitale also makes a point.

Even with MF, RNG is a cruel game. I hope Anet looks into that or even reconsiders the current RNG system. Tougher enemies should be worth the fight and be more rewarding.

Dungeon mobs (even the trash mobs) which are inherently tougher then your average mob, should reward you more for killing them rather then the non-dungeon variety.

Same principle everywhere else.

There is also a theory that MF stacked past a certain point does in fact break MF for whatever reason and you end up with RNG the same as everyone else.

There’s supposedly a sweet spot and after that you truly gimp yourself.

If that’s true, it’s a bug that needs to be fixed and given the complaints maybe give MF a quality of life buff to really close those numbers.

(Not that it would make any difference to the “it took me three extra minutes imadie” crowd… then it would be “it took me one extra minute imadie”)

Or else just fix any potential MF bugs and give even more MF on the current gear as is to compensate for the stat hit you take for MF.

Either way is viable. Maybe even both. Close the gap more closely to the stat based gear that the corresponding MF gear is based off of and also buff the MF stats on this gear.

Anet isn’t going to make the anti-MF crowd happy short of completely removing it. It’s up to Anet.

You want mounts? Be an asura. They ride around inside golems. Want a golem sans the asura? Play WvW! You can purchase yourself a golem and ride into the zerg like a hero of heroes.

Might be a little costly and everyone will yell at you, but what’s all that when compared to accomplishing your mount dreams in GW2? Be a rebel! :D

Half Tooth.1867:

There are plenty of ogre’s trolls and spiders, among other things, that are going about their daily social lives with other members of their species and we (the player) just casually march through their caves and dens and slaughter them all.

I feel considerably more offended by this than I do about killing Separatists because the Separatists are actively being destructive to the rest of the human species. The spiders however… are not, they are minding their own business.

And the spider/ogre/character that’s friendly or at the very least leaves me alone, I don’t attack.

Spiders, Ogres, and most things red tend to be hopelessly territorial though, and if it’s me or the spider welll… you know how that goes.

I don’t typically go out of my way to kill neutral mobs, unless it’s for food or they get caught in the crossfire and insist on pursuing me (as they so often do).

Oh well. OP might need to take a break. The separatists are terrorists.

How often do you knock on a door and the person that answers tries to shoot you in the face?

Yeah. Negotiation time is over.

Gurt.9368:

“Gwen the Goremonger” hits me like a dagger to the heart every time I hear it

Well to be fair, that’s more a thing of major respect among the charr rather then an insult.

Gwen would never be a viable proponent for peace talks. In that regard, Gwen’s hatred of the charr would rival King Adelberns.

It doesn’t blind her thinking process though, she was able to work with Pyre Fierceshot and his warband in that she didn’t kill them on sight.

That pain was always with her though and it didn’t let up much until she found love.

I don’t agree with throwing out the lore we have now. The story painted so far is epic and beautiful. There are some inconsistencies with ‘teh gods’, but eh.

I’m more of a modern human at any rate.

Don’t buy into the whole myriad of gods we have as being anything more then higher beings. Divine in origin? Maybe some of them. Gods in the truest sense? Nah.

I should make a charr.

gimmethegepgun.1284:

CETheLucid.3964:

gimmethegepgun.1284:

No, actually, the precision, and therefore crit chance, is the same.
The difference lies in the crit damage. Here, have some math:
Average damage multiplier = (chance to not crit) + [(chance to crit) * (crit multiplier)]
The base crit multiplier is 150%, or 1.5.
Average damage multiplier at 35% crit, no added crit damage = (.65) + [(.35) * (1.5)] = 1.175.
Average damage multiplier at 35% crit, 48% crit damage (full Berserker’s, with jewelry) = (.65) + [(.35) * (1.98)] = 1.343

1.343 / 1.175 = 1.14298, meaning the Crit Damage stat of Berserker’s increases your damage by 14.3%.

Larger crit chances generate a larger bonus from Berserker’s:
Avg dmg mult at 50% crit, 0 Crit Dam = (.5) + [(.5) * (1.5)] = 1.25
Avg dmg mult at 50% crit, 48 Crit Dam = (.5) + [(.5) * (1.98)] = 1.49

1.49 / 1.25 = 1.192, or 19.2% damage increase.

Okay and with jewelery, Explorer can narrow that gap back down to around… 10%. Not to mention food.

That still doesn’t stop 10% from being a significant difference.

Okay and with food and jewelry, Explorer is now on par with a Berserker that isn’t using crit chance food. You know what that Berserker is probably eating?

An omnom berry treat for MF.

Berserkers will always be the superior DPS choice, I never contended that. The difference is in the goal. One wants DPS, and one wants shines.

That’s the trade off in that 10%.

The actual difference in the gear is negligible, certainly not 69%. Somewhere in the ball park of 10-20% with/without jewels.

Crit chance food will just about close the gap between Explorer and Berserker and Berserker can open it again doing the same thing.

I appreciate your honesty with the math.

But it’s not a big difference. A good player wearing MF will always be superior to a bad one wearing Berserkers, and vice versa.

You wouldn’t honestly be able to tell a good Explorer and a Berserker apart, unless you were paying very close attention. Both are fragile and need skill to play.

It’s all about the player.

gimmethegepgun.1284:

No, actually, the precision, and therefore crit chance, is the same.
The difference lies in the crit damage. Here, have some math:
Average damage multiplier = (chance to not crit) + [(chance to crit) * (crit multiplier)]
The base crit multiplier is 150%, or 1.5.
Average damage multiplier at 35% crit, no added crit damage = (.65) + [(.35) * (1.5)] = 1.175.
Average damage multiplier at 35% crit, 48% crit damage (full Berserker’s, with jewelry) = (.65) + [(.35) * (1.98)] = 1.343

1.343 / 1.175 = 1.14298, meaning the Crit Damage stat of Berserker’s increases your damage by 14.3%.

Larger crit chances generate a larger bonus from Berserker’s:
Avg dmg mult at 50% crit, 0 Crit Dam = (.5) + [(.5) * (1.5)] = 1.25
Avg dmg mult at 50% crit, 48 Crit Dam = (.5) + [(.5) * (1.98)] = 1.49

1.49 / 1.25 = 1.192, or 19.2% damage increase.

Okay and with jewelery, Explorer can narrow that gap back down to around… 10%. Not to mention food.

gimmethegepgun.1284:

So suddenly, all abilities dealing more damage doesn’t mean you deal more damage.
Maybe it doesn’t matter much because they suck, but it’s still more.
And when you’re dealing more damage, the enemies die quicker, which means runs are faster, and the enemies present less danger because they’re dead.
Thus, dealing less damage in Explorer’s makes runs longer and more difficult for everyone, so that the one person can get more money.

Because your PUG team (assuming as such, I imagine a fellow like you surrounds himself with like minded folks) is always going be a flawlessly oiled machine of death and destruction and will perfectly fulfill their roles in perfect gear without fail, amirite?

I’m saying you’re getting all bent out of shape over 10%, when it’s the player that makes or breaks the team.

If they’re good at their role and doing what they’re supposed to be doing for their party well, what they’re wearing is irrelevant and shouldn’t bother you.

maddoctor.2738:

Fact is, Explorer’s does 69% of Berserker damage, that’s a FACT, it’s not 10% difference, it’s quite huge difference between the two.

Fact is, you need to do your own math. You’re wrong. It’s a 10% difference VS Berserker gear stats (base).

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Precision

gimmethegepgun.1284:

On a mere 35% crit chance (the lowest you can get with full Berserker’s) the crit damage alone is worth a 14% damage bonus, and that rises as your crit chance rises.

Versus 25% for Explorers. Everything you said about Berserker gear here applies to the MF Explorer set, minus 10%. The difference is 10%.

The trade off in that is the MF.

gimmethegepgun.1284:

Yeah, actually, they will. They’ll still be a sucky player, but they’ll be outputting more damage in Berserker’s, or receiving less in Knight’s, regardless of their skill level.
Just because they suck doesn’t magically mean their gear stats go away.

No, actually they won’t.

10% when compared to Berserkers isn’t going to make a difference when the player sucks to begin with. But go on, keep hiding behind that 10% like it means anything.

Folks like you should really quit trying to introduce your gear elitism into the game.

Roblight.1572:

The 4 used skill, strategy and lots of teamwork to accomplish what they did. While the enemy zerg just kept walking into the aoe choke point and didn’t use any abilities or other skills to reach the group of 4 to cause havoc.

I mean all it would have taken was 1 person getting to the group and doing any form of cc to them and the zerg would have reach them and stomped them. I main an ele and just can’t help think that 1 d/d ele could have easily reached them with lighting flash into RTL followed by the regular cc abilities causing all kinds of havoc and allowing the rest of the zerg to get in close.

So all that video shows is that skill, strategy and teamwork can beat larger numbers as long as culling isn’t an issue.

All that is true. If out of 30 people or so not one of them had a stability skill or some kind of blink skill, those four earned their win.

Zantetsuken.9051:

True, but people have complained about AoE as well. Some glass cannon builds in sPvP struggle because once committed, they can’t get out of a fight, and they die to casual AoE damage in seconds. Warrior and Elementalist are prone to this, whereas Thieves and Mesmers have stealth, which allows them to extricate themselves, giving them a huge advantage.

If you have an Ele, go into sPvP with a full glass cannon build, you can easily die even if no one is targeting you, because of AoE damage that is inherent in some of the weapon skills (all of which get used in a fight, it would be wrong not to).

Necromancer Axe is a single target weapon right? Yet Unholy Feast is an AoE attack, and is indiscriminate in who it hits. That kind of casual AoE damage, when used by several players, wrecks glass cannon builds, even if no one is trying to kill them.

I would have preferred to see health pools increased, but I suspect that would be harder to balance.

Glass cannon is glass cannon. That spec is extreme damage and nothing else. They die to everything. That’s the trade off. That’s balanced in of itself.

I’m not sure I like the idea of nerfing the damage they do, they certainly pay for it by being utterly vulnerable to everything out there.

A good hearted nerf to glass cannons would be to make them even squishier.

Not to the point where the spec is no longer viable, but something that makes them work even harder for it, puts them in more danger for running it.

Following that, I really like your health pool increase idea. Stats (therefore numbers) remain the same, but everyone get’s a higher HP pool to work with.

Gives everyone a little more wiggle room to eat those 14K hits, while maintaining 14K hits.

As before, by not making 14K hits useless, but by making the one doing 14k hits work harder for it and giving the unlucky victim just the littlest more time to react.

FateZero.8536:

The Zerg was just terribad. Didn’t dared to advance despite having outnumbered the 4. I don’t believe the zergs do not have stability or reflect skills. They could easily dodge or ran past the meteors to kill off the 4 but they didn’t.

It was more the CC AoE I saw that stopped the zerg advance, but yes, with stability even a few of the 30 could have simply ran past the CC fields and roflstomped them.

That’s a very good point!

Draemos.8045:

CETheLucid.3964:

I can only hope that this nerf in damage for PvP’s sake is compensated by tweaks in PvE.

This, and that the viability of AoE is left intact in general. Yes, It does need a nerf. The video demonstrates that irrefutably.

Though I hope staff and AoE will remain viable in WvW and PvP. That’s all I can ask as an elementalist that does a little bit of everything (PvE, WvW, little PvP now and then).

I don’t agree at all. That video is a testament to why it should remain the same. I absolutely love that 4 well played and clever players can take on that many bad players and come out ahead. That’s a fantastic thing. The larger Zerg always winning is god awful boring.

I want to say yes, but I’m sorry. Even if they are a terribad zerg, four people shouldn’t be able to win against 30. That’s not balanced.

But then I’m on the fence after watching that again. They really are terribads and the four players are really good on communication and actually listening to one and other.

I don’t know… if Anet’s watching this thread, please watch that video for yourselves.

I’m not so sure it was AoE being imbalanced so much as that zerg being absolutely terrible and the four players being fairly competent.

I’m starting to believe if the zerg just actually zerged the four, I’m certain they would have destroyed them.

But then the AoE CC had a lot to do with it as well. I see how they stopped the advance and then stacked the AoE’s FTW… ((shrug))

I’m not as sure about it as I was.

Draemos.8045:

The thing that’s likely to cause people to quit is sweeping nerfs to their classes when 80+% of their damage is AoE based. Nobody complains about AoE, they complain about getting mutilated by a thief in the span of 2 seconds.

Unless you’re the 30 folks getting owned by those four players. Then you’re complaining about AoE.

I can only hope that this nerf in damage for PvP’s sake is compensated by tweaks in PvE.

This, and that the viability of AoE is left intact in general. Yes, It does need a nerf. The video demonstrates that irrefutably.

Though I hope staff and AoE will remain viable in WvW and PvP. That’s all I can ask as an elementalist that does a little bit of everything (PvE, WvW, little PvP now and then).

Onshidesigns.1069:

But he thought he was talking about balance. When it sounded more like Imbalance.

Supersun.4603:

“Perfect Imbalance” is a terrible definition to what they are describing. What they are talking about is “Asymmetrical Balance.”