Guild Wars 2

Ten98 on Reddit suggested a really interesting idea that I think has merit.

We all know about the “vocal minority”. If a player is enjoying the game, they are far more likely to keep playing and stay off the forums. They’re probably not going to take the time to leave detailed positive feed back. I’m part of this group; I only get on the forums when I’m not allowed to get on GW2 (at work :P). However, if a player is unhappy with something, they’re far more likely to leave the game, get on the forums, and complain about the issue. This leads to very skewed results in the feedback on the forums. If only 5% of the players are unhappy about something, they might still make up 50% of the forum population on that issue.

Developers know this, and they keep that in mind while looking at player feedback. However, if the overwhelming majority of player feedback on a subject is negative, they might succumb and change it. We all know that listening to the vocal minority will ruin a game, because what they’ll never be happy.

So, here’s the idea to combat that:

In-game surveys.

I’m not talking about long, painful surveys. I’m talking about something like we got in the BWE events. Maybe once a week/month, we’d get a short (less than ten questions) survey in game. Answers would be a simple 1-5. They could even add a reward for completing it in stead of clicking “ignore”. Some people would brush it off or hit 1 for everything, but I think that almost all people would be happy to spend sixty seconds to make the game better (and get xp/gold!).

This would give Arena Net much better feedback. They could get tons of posts whining about the lack of gear progression in this game, only to run the survey and find out that 92% of players are happy with the amount of gear progression we have. That would keep them from putting in a change due to skewed feedback.

Here’s my build. I use that for everything; PvP, PvE, levelling, group play. Swap S/D for Shortbow and you have my WvW build. It has lots of flexibility and utility. You support your allies with great boons. You can dodge like crazy (one dodge every three seconds). You average something like +20% damage from traits and constantly have >6 stacks of might on you. Lots of mobility with perma-swiftness and shadowstepping, tons of self-heals from Assassin’s Reward and Signet of Malice. It’s a solid jack-of-all-trades build.

…

I hate to be that guy who shouts “L2P”, but I’m afraid I have to here.

Haste + Pistol Whip is very powerful, there’s no denying that. However, it’s just like any other class’ massive burst combo (see Bull’s Charge + Frenzy + Hundred Blades from Warrior, Signet of the Hunt + Sharpening Stone + Quickness + Rapid Fire from Ranger, etc). It takes a sacrifice of sustained damage and/or utility to use, every class has a hard counter to it, and it leaves you highly vulnerable after it’s over.

I regularly laugh off thieves with Pistol Whip. I run S/D and P/D. If I see a S/P thief, I get S/D out and use Infiltrator’s Strike. The moment he pops Haste, I hit Shadow Return. They always blow 5? on a Pistol Whip, and some will spam the button and use it twice. Then it’s a simple matter of using either a stealth, a CC, a slow, or just dodging to keep them off of you for two seconds, and their powerful combo is gone. At that point, I have the upper hand.

enenion.8127

I think flanking strike would be better if the first strike occurred before the evasion and the second strike had an additional element to it. This way you are far more likely to remove a boon from the first strike, because the skill has a tendency to move you out of the way, while providing an additional bonus for hitting the second time other than just mediocre damage.

Alternatively, split it into two skills. Flanking strike, which strikes then evades behind and then a separate skill with an additional effect if you hit from behind or to the sides. Giving you the chance to activate the second strike would make it more likely to hit IMO.

That… that would actually be an incredible idea. I really like this. It would make FS feel more reactive (because it doesn’t lock you down into a long animation), make it far more likely to hit, and just generally make the skill better. I already use S/D, but this would make me much happier about it ^^

Steal is epic.

Untraited in solo PvE, I’ll agree that it can seem a bit weak at times. Fang Stab is really weak (1 stack of bleeding on something that dies in >10s is wimpy). However, Throw Gunk is pretty powerful (especially combined with Signet of Malice) and Blinding Feathers is a great skill. AoE blind, stealth (+2 initiative for me!) and the ability to use your stealth attack for high damage. Then there are the epic skills like Use Scepter or Whirling Axe which do AoE damage or daze.

In PvP it’s incredibly strong. The skill you get will be random, but it will always be really powerful. You have the chance to get some truly epic skills. The 3s AoE fear from a necro, all boons for 5s (8s for me!) from a mesmer, whirling axe from a warrior, healing tree from a ranger… They’re all powerful skills that can turn a fight around.

Add your build and you only make it more epic. My Steal gives 16s of Fury, Might, and Swiftness to me and all nearby allies. It also gives ~30s of Vigor (I get 24s of Might and 3s of Swiftness when I dodge, so Vigor is epic). It removes two boons and grants those to myself and nearby allies. It gives me 3 initiative. That’s an incredible, incredible skill.

Okay, here’s one I haven’t heard about anywhere else. The thief trait Shadow Protector is broken.

When you stealth an ally, they gain regeneration for 5 seconds.

This also applies to you. However, the regeneration only applies intermittently. I know for sure that if you stealth (giving yourself regeneration) and then stealth again before regeneration runs out, the regeneration will not apply again. So stealth, then stealth three seconds later, and you only have 3s of regen in stead of 5.

I’m pretty sure that this also won’t apply if you have regeneration from other people on you, but I’m not positive about that.

This really hurts my build. I have +60% boon duration and I stealth both myself and allies frequently. I’m losing out on a lot of regeneration that I should be getting.

You guys are forgetting one incredibly powerful thing: Superior Rune of Lyssa. The important part is your bonus for having all 6 runes:

When you use an elite skill lose all conditions and gain all boons for 5 seconds.

With 20 points in deadly arts, you can get basilisk venom down to a 36s cooldown. This makes that skill extremely powerful.

I’ll agree, it’s not the world’s best. However, try combining it with that rune and you’ll be very happy with the results.

Gonna use my standard copypasta response to “[class] is broken!” people:

There are four possible things happening here.

The first is that you’re not a good enough player. GW2 is hard, and different from other MMOs, and that can take some time to get used to. Keep at it and I’m sure you’ll get better. However, I must ask that you stop blaming it on your class.

The second is that you are trying to get your class to do something it’s not designed to do. Guardians complaining about their lack of ranged burst damage or Thieves complaining about their lack of group healing fall under this category. Every class has strengths and weaknesses. If all classes were the same, this game would be a lot less fun. Just because you’ve discovered one of your class’ intended weaknesses, that class is not broken.

The third is that you’re playing the wrong class. For any given playstyle, there are going to be a few classes that you rock with, several that you’re decent with, and a few that you’re horrible at. This is because of how that class matches up with how you like to play. If your class does not feel intuitive or natural to you, this may very well be your problem. I’d strongly recommend that you try out some other classes.

The fourth reason is that you just need to learn more about your class. If you’re not building your character in a way that makes sense, you’re going to feel underpowered compared to people with a build that complements itself. If you think you fall in this category, spend some time on the wiki and build editor , and start learning.

I’d peg you solidly in type 3, with some type 2 thrown in for good measure.

Okay, has no one else been looking for this problem, or am I just the only person getting it?

Shadow Protector (Shadow Arts III):

When you stealth an ally, they gain regeneration for 5 seconds.

This is partially broken. If I do not have regeneration on myself and I use a stealth skill, then it will apply regeneration as expected. However, if I stealth myself again before the regeneration runs out, it will not apply regeneration again. If I have half a second of regeneration left when I go into stealth, regeneration will still expire in half a second.

I’ve tested this using Cloak and Dagger, Blinding Powder, Shadow Trap, and Shadow Refuge in various orders. I cannot get the regeneration to apply to myself if I already have regeneration. This is pretty damaging to my build. I’ve tested this mostly on golems in the mists, although I see the same things on players while in a match.

I haven’t tested how this works with regeneration given by other players yet, or how it works when applying regeneration to other players. I plan to play around with that today when I get home from work.

My exact build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fYEQNAoYVlcmKPHfy3E+5EBnCjyUPFkdsdPuqV1KA;T0AA1Cvo8y0lwLbQuukBtKYUwpgXBzCA

If others could test and confirm this, that would be wonderful.