Guild Wars 2

Prismatic Understanding is pretty cool now at least.

Blurred Frenzy: This is now evasion instead of immunity. This means it will be affected by retaliation. Increased the cooldown to 12 seconds.

:(
Evasion, ok.
12s base CD? Don’t get that at all.

Oh kitten.

Blurred frenzy has taken a hit. :/

Yep, downloading.

LumAnth.5124:

Yes, here are the list of nerfs I believe will come to pass if they keep listening to these intolerable whiners

Blurred Frenzy
Deceptive Evasion
Distortion
Mind Wrack / Overall Shatter builds
Glamours (omg where my Might stack go? Null field? nerf plz)
Veil

Seriously. It will all lead to this…
Mantras are too powerful! Mesmers can precast it before a battle and they can 1-100 me with so much utility!

Anet, please do not listen to these whiners

You missed:
- Portal – 180s cooldown
- iLeap – AAH immobilise, get rid of it!

:p

I won’t list any more just in case someone takes them seriously and starts to press for a nerf!

Edit: Ouch, patch notes are painful…

When holstered/stowed, there is still a white light/glow around the player which is only removed when swapping weapon.

It is a little distracting and annoying, which is a shame because the torch skin is quite beautiful.

Edit: I should say, this effect is not apparent in the Preview window, and I am a little upset at having spent the karma and a transmutation stone on it. I will be keeping it in my inventory and using another torch in the hope that one day it might be fixed.

crystal.5930:

Curunen.8729:

No it doesn’t matter – my post was serious in that I didn’t understand, no offence intended.

I may have been a little more brusque than necessary. It’s hard to determine someone’s tone in text and I assumed the worst. Sorry.

No worries!
Yes I can see how my post could have come across as judgemental.

Personally I find it hard to concentrate in game for more than a few hours. At most I could do half a dozen hours in a day, but need time to recover.

Even more so for pvp – I find my skill degrades after a couple of hours play – muscle and brain coordination isn’t easy to maintain, especially in front of a computer.

crystal.5930:

Curunen.8729:

Ah now I get it – so people with hundreds/thousands of hours have a lot of time spent either afk, waiting for other people or chatting ingame.

I tend to play solo or loosely grouped most of the time, so my time ingame is nearly always spent actively doing something.

Edit: So it’s quite a lot to do with usage patterns – leaving your machine on and leaving the game open in the background or something.

Or maybe people with hundreds/thousands of hours spend their in game time “actively doing something” and almost never hanging around chatting or afk. Or maybe they do a combo. Does it matter?

No it doesn’t matter – my post was serious in that I didn’t understand, no offence intended.

I think the trait should still exist, and remain in the Illusions tree.

However if left at 20% it should be a Major trait (either at Master or Adept level), like all other cooldown traits.

On the other hand it could be reduced to 10%, give us back 10% on the skills as standard, and keep it as either a Minor or Major trait.

At the same time, all weapon skill cooldowns should be looked at and some reduced (for example iMage).

Ah now I get it – so people with hundreds/thousands of hours have a lot of time spent either afk, waiting for other people or chatting ingame.

I tend to play solo or loosely grouped most of the time, so my time ingame is nearly always spent actively doing something.

Edit: So it’s quite a lot to do with usage patterns – leaving your machine on and leaving the game open in the background or something.

PistolWhip.2697:

“It takes more skill to beat a mesmer, than it takes to play one.”

I could say that about every class, apart from engineer which I think in general it takes far more skill to play one than to beat one.

Just thinking about it – anything more than around 800 hours in 9 months is around 3 hours a day, every single day.

I don’t understand how people can have more than 1000 hours. Maybe I’m just too casual.

Arale.4207:

<snip>However, I think a 10% shave off of non IC cooldowns is in order to balance it out. Then, IC could give the other 10, thus giving illusion tree specced mesmers the old cooldown times that they were used to anyways, while easing things a bit for non IC mesmer builds.

This is a good compromise. Lower base illusion cooldowns by 10% across the board. Reduce IC to 10% and leave it somewhere in the illusions tree – whether a minor or a major trait.

The could have just reduced it to 10% cooldown rather than 20.

Or moved it up to the Master minor.

Or made it an adept major trait!

Now unless you want to sink 20 points in dom for torch cooldown, or 25 in illusions, iMage is going to be on a kittenly long cooldown.

30s is way too long, it needs to be reduced to around 20s base.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Curunen.8729:

The Minor Adept trait “Illusionists Celerity” has been made the Minor Grandmaster trait and the other Minor traits have been pushed down.

…

…

Sorry, my jaw just hit the floor.

…

Ah well, something had to be done about that trait, it was very powerful.

A silver lining is now we don’t have to sink 5 points into illusions on builds focused on other trait lines.

Hooray, we don’t have to sink 5 points into illusions for all of our builds. I’m really going to enjoy tossing around these extra 5 points to try and compensate for the 20% cooldown nerf it caused.

I’m trying to stay positive!

The Minor Adept trait “Illusionists Celerity” has been made the Minor Grandmaster trait and the other Minor traits have been pushed down.

…

…

Sorry, my jaw just hit the floor.

…

Ah well, something had to be done about that trait, it was very powerful.

A silver lining is now we don’t have to sink 5 points into illusions on builds focused on other trait lines.

I only think there are two instances where mesmers can be considered overpowered:

1. Max damage phantasm build in 1v1 duel.
- Needs no explaining, but even so they are not unbeatable. I do believe phantasm damage traits should be looked at though.

2. Illusions and the game’s targeting system.
- If there were NO illusions, just the mesmer, even with all the active defence they would be easy.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s easy to target a mesmer. However illusions add to visual clutter, passive offence through retaliation or on death conditions, and passive defence through other traits, and there will be times when you do not have them targeted and will have to retarget them – any second where you do not have the mesmer targeted adds to their survivability. I’m not going into mesmer stealth because we only have 4 skills, with an average stealth rotation time of around 15 seconds, and I consider that to be perfectly fair. However this does become compounded with the illusion screen clutter, when a mesmer stealths.

Otherwise I believe there is no problem at all – bunker build? Plenty of other classes doing that too.

Blurred frenzy damage is moderate in any build with passive defence – I do not understand the complaints about this skill.
Distortion has a long cooldown on its own, and yes you can get more of it but at cost of traits and signet of illusions.
Shattering is such an active mechanic – it requires a lot of skill to use properly. In my opinion pure shatter builds are the hardest build to play.

Everything comes at a cost buildwise – every mesmer build will have a weakness.
The challenge is trying to determine what kind of mesmer it is while you are fighting them (because of the build variety), and it is not obvious at first glance.

Got to sink 30 in chaos for PU – is already fantastic and well, with the patch…

I’d personally build x/x/30/x/5, and then you can choose either
- power/prec build (something like x/20/30/x/5) or
- condition build (something like x/x/30/x/5 – shove the points where you like)

Grab a mix of cavalier/soldier/knights/berserker for option A.
Option B can go with rabid or similar.

AoE retaliation pulsing to nearby allies?

Torment/confusion on bounce?

Burning on bounce?

Lower CD?

This again?

I give up – just delete it and let’s get some clone/phantasm elite. Will stop this nonsense whining and we’ll have something else to use other than MI (or TW in a group)…

Caledon Forest – pretty much all of it. Best zone in the game and the only one I can never get bored of.

The Grove – bottom level. Really chills you out.

I’m not fond of everything East of Snowden Drifts – all either white snow or brown desert. Only nice parts are the branded areas with crystals!
Doing map exploration of Fields of Ruin, Blazeridge Steppes, Iron Marches, etc – I nearly went mad with the monotony! Had a pretty negative affect on my mood in RL, it’s so boring/dull/dry. No greenery!

jportell.2197:

Curunen.8729:

Master of Timespace.2548:

Dess.4391:

ill give that. At least both traits are grandmaster….

Prismatic Understanding: This trait now pulses once every second while stealthed. This1 i dont get it, PU was allready a nice trait and now it will be awesome. I can almost smell prema protection….

Is that so special though? Plenty of classes already have it anyway, and one even has perma stealth. D;

No it’s decent but not special.
IP is far more powerful, as is warden’s feedback and masterful reflection and retaliatory demise…

Seriously.

Lol IP is a crutch that mesmers feel like they “have” to take. And PU can already get perma protection in PvE and now it will be possible in pvp. People greatly underestimate our other grandmaster traits simply because they see iPersona and think it is our only valuable source of defense through traits. Prismatic understanding is going to give “Aegis/Regen/Protection” every second you are in stealth. Aegis alone is as godly as an ipersona shatter and you can proc it faster than a guardian can as well as share it with ur party more often.

I think you missed the tone of my post. I’m only doing as you advised a couple of pages back. Don’t mention the war, and all that.

LOOK a distraction!

Male asura voice > female asura voice. He’s just so kitten funny/tongue-in-cheek, yet manages to be serious at the same time. Female voice has a more serious/straightforward tone.

My main is female purely because it wasn’t my first character.
I only play asura – my first character was a male thief. Shortly into levelling him I made a female mesmer (current main). Eventually thief got boring so I deleted him, focusing on the mesmer. I’ve recreated the male now as an ele, but only to get some Vigil armour pieces, otherwise he’s inactive.

So yeah that’s the only reason my character is a female mesmer.
I do have a makeover kit I got from a black lion chest, but I quite like this character as she is now!

Use what you get from story rewards/looting and save the cash for now.

Master of Timespace.2548:

Dess.4391:

ill give that. At least both traits are grandmaster….

Prismatic Understanding: This trait now pulses once every second while stealthed. This1 i dont get it, PU was allready a nice trait and now it will be awesome. I can almost smell prema protection….

Is that so special though? Plenty of classes already have it anyway, and one even has perma stealth. D;

No it’s decent but not special.
IP is far more powerful, as is warden’s feedback and masterful reflection and retaliatory demise…

Seriously.

Vayne.8563:

I really dislike most MMOs. I’ve always liked the idea behind them, or rather saw the potential, but very few MMOs can hold my interest for any length of time.

I do agree with this, which is why I’ve never played one until now (sadly never played gw1).

Still a lot of repetitive content – hearts for example, and the gear systems, however it contains enough elements to be enjoyable without pressuring you.

:D Haha, good read, that’s certainly all the extreme ends covered.

I think it covers a spectrum rather than separate stereotypes, and there are tendencies in everyone towards some of those extreme parts.

Esplen.3940:

Actually, the Kodan believe themselves to be above personal conflict. They solve their problems by working together, with each person of the tribe fulfilling his/her duty. They are close to being one with Koda and are highly religious. They also consider balance to be of utmost importance.

Yeah, maybe I’m being too critical of them but the stick asura usually get is sometimes uncalled for.

I do recall one npc dialog in one of the Sanctuaries about being reborn and something like they would naturally be reborn as a Kodan because they are a higher form of life or something…

And then all the “you are not worthy to learn about balance” and such stuff.

They’re not bad though.

… the Kodan.

Sure asura are often eccentric and extrovert, carried away with their ideas and some with their superiority.

But the Kodan – these guys come across as humble with their peaceful Zen-like philosophies, but deep down lies a belief that they are simply better than everything else.

At least you know what you’re getting with an asura, and their genius is well justified.

No idea what prompted me to type this, just thought it worth posting!

I heard one line last week when lifting a boulder that I’ve never heard before on my asura.

“Must. Lift. With. Legs”

Since then I’ve heard it again when lifting a water bucket.

I miss this a lot.

I didn’t use mantras much anyway, but that was the main selling part.
Mantra of Resolve had a kitten (good) line.

Zumi.6384:

He’s saying he doesn’t want people to talk about how good PU is so it doesn’t get nerfed.

At least that’s my understanding.

Yes, this.

And now I must stop quoting and posting on this subject!

waves hand What is this PU you are talking about? We know of no such trait.

;)

^Heh no problem, thanks for sharing.

I might just buy one and keep it on a weapon in the inventory to just play around with and gauge for myself.

Crossplay.2067:

I have it on my focus and use it on champions that constantly reapply boons. It was a godsend during the Southsun Living Story events because champion karkas constantly reapply retaliation and regeneration.

I take it you were using Sw/F?

Did you notice it much when using blurred frenzy, or the first two attacks in the sword auto?

Good to know, I’ll just stick with generosity then, cheers.

Does anyone use this, and if you do, which weapon do you use it on?

Does it still trigger the CD if no boon is removed or has that been fixed?

Is it worth using to enhance MH sword boon stripping potential?

I’ve never considered using it before so just wondering if it is worth it.

jportell.2197:

Curunen.8729:

PU buff seems overkill – it’s already an amazing trait.

Ah, I’m not complaining, but I’d be surprised if it remains like that pulsing every second – it’s already pretty much guaranteed protection or aegis.

Shhhhh…. don’t tell anet that

Hehe, well they’ll find out anyway.

I just hope it doesn’t shift the meta to 30 points in chaos.

PU and compounding celerity buff = I’m laughing.

Edit: Now we just need a third underwater stealth skill…

PU buff seems overkill – it’s already an amazing trait.

Ah, I’m not complaining, but I’d be surprised if it remains like that pulsing every second – it’s already pretty much guaranteed protection or aegis.

Thumbs up:
- Feigned surge
- Signet of Midnight
- Furious interruption – now that is good!
- COMPOUNDING CELERITY!!! Fan-tastic.
- Mind stab
- Protected mantras

Thumbs down:
- Siren’s call

Scratch head?
- Mind spike? Bit of a weird change, not sure what to make of it.

Furious interruption + halting strikes + chaotic interruption should be an interesting combo trait choice.

I’m indifferent to the ItV change.

I wonder if iMage will have it? Could be a decent buff there.

I wonder if you can stunbreak torment like with fear, or whether you have to use condition removal.

Engineer in general more active, more button pressing, harder to learn (personal opinion). I do not play one regularly, this is what I gleaned from attempting to play one, so wait for more advice from a seasoned engineer.

Mesmer – a lot of utility, pretty visuals, a lot of build variety (can pretty much build for any role), not as much button pressing (varies between builds – in a shatter build you’ll be pressing buttons far more frequently for example).

That’s the problem – the principle of a “living world” is great, however the actual goals set for each section have been on the whole, a grind.

Dragon bash – I didn’t really bother with this at all because I wasn’t interested in the skins, and most of the achievements are monotonous grinding – eat x amount of food, kill x amount of holographic minions…

So while I agree with the living story in principle, it needs to be made far more engaging than its current state.

The stunbreak comment has me worried – I hope they leave decoy and blink alone.

Otherwise I can’t wait to see what they’ve done with the traits.

Torment… hmm.

Might be fun.

Yes, well said.

The only problem is if there is a one time skin released that for whatever reason a player missed out on – in this way there should be some “archived” story section which allows a player to experience some of what has gone before, or even an alternative way in game of earning that skin (or through the gemstore).

Otherwise I am in agreement with the OP – as long as there are regular story updates throughout the life of the game, I believe the model can be a positive success.

Yep it keeps coming up and I’ll keep posting in support of it each time.

More choice of #1-5 skills in the future would be great.

I only have a couple of issues with sceptre:

1. The painfully exaggerated animations on #1 and #3.
- On an asura #1 looks like you’re trying to hit a ball into orbit. #3 has the arm way too outstretched as well. It just looks awkward.

2. The slow travel time and appearance of #1.
- I would be happier if they were fast travelling bolts and not blobs. Perhaps a two part chain – the first part having two rapid fire bolts, and the third part being slightly slower with clone generation?
Edit: Instead of “throwing” the blobs, perhaps the animation could have the sceptre held out straight in front?