Diminishing returns hurts bots more that it hurts you.
The diminishing returns are really easy to avoid too. Rather that standing in one place farming the same mob over and over again. Move.
Any thing your trying to farm there are multiple mobs in multiple locations that drop said items. All you have to do is go to those various locations and farm them.
Diminishing returns ALSO keep the market from being flooded with resources thereby making them have some actual virtual value. Since resources have virtual value that means your copper, silver and gold have virtual value too.
And what you cant farm you can buy from others that are willing to sell. Its called an in-game ….economy.
The nail in the coffin for me is the 4 second charge PER mantra.
The +1 trait ( so they can be use 3 times instead of 2) is nice.
The +heal on use COULD be awesome BUT the heal only activates on charge and not on use of a mantra.
Direct damage mantra? nice.
Condition removal? very useful.
Daze ? nice
Break stun? very nice!
But like I said. Once your out of charges….
Not to mention that if you run with 3 mantras that 12ish seconds of standing around charging them up for use. WAY too much time…especially in PVP.
Elementlists water has a nice array of CC (slow/immobilize) and AOE healing.
Air has a lot of CC in the way of blinds.
Earth has a number of bleeds but also has slows/immobilizes as well.
I think a lot of people that play the Ele want a big boom, but they do have a lot in the way of utility.
Guardian is really good as a tank support class. You have a number of skills that affect the party that provide aegis, damage mitigation as well as healing. Basically you can let someone else “tank” and use your tank skills on them.
The Necromancer can offer a LOT in the way of support too. Plenty of AOE heals and (especially overlooked and exceedingly useful) condition removal.
Rangers have (imho) the best AOE heal in the game. They also have spirits that provide damage mitigation + party wide boons as well.
Warrior banners provide a lot of defensive and offensive bonuses.
Thief has plenty of blinds and a really nice AOE heal.
The classes offer significantly more depth if you dig deeper into their skills and abilities. Pretty much every class offers some form of support to the party.
Well. Items have some actual value if there is only a limited supply that enters the game.
This makes in game currency have value.
This supports an in game economy. EG. you /may/ have to buy (or sell) to other players.
This IS an MMO and not a single player game.
You can do dungeons VERY successfully at the level them open up to you.
Any of the story modes are pretty doable with a moderatly deccent group.
The explorer modes are substantially more challenging. Those you really need to make sure you gear is up to snuff for your level. ( all greens really makes a difference )
Balanced around level 80….not really.
WvW I may be more inclined to agree with you on the balanced around level 80. You CAN be pretty effective level 30 – 35 + though. At 30 you get your elite skill and 35 access to rare armor/weapons. Properly geared you will fair well. The only thing you do not have access to are exotic gear. The difference is pretty small but across ALL pieces of gear it can add up (not to mention runes ).
I am going to go out on a limb and say WvW.
Yeah. There really is something special about the WvW.
Zerging really does not accomplish much. But when you claim, escort resources, fortify a place and hold it….Its like watching waves crash against rocks in the ocean.
I must admit though I really miss the GvG from GW1. Battle for the favor of the gods was pretty awesome at times too. Hopefully they will add those in at some point in the future.
There are a few dragons that spawn.
They can drop some pretty good loot. Get as much MF (magic find) on you gear as you can. Participate in the dragon events.
Sell/melt the drops for cash.
There are a few zones where high end materials drop (orr for example) so running around gathering and selling those can earn you some cash.
Low end materials can also sell really well. May be worth the time to roll and alt and run arond gathering those.
Playing the market is probably a losing battle. You have to compete with everyone else that is trying to buy low/sell high too. Competition can be benneficial, but it can also be detrimental.
Pretty much run around, have fun, play the game and you will be alright.
Armor is specifically race restricted.
Many (but not all) of the T1 armors can be found if you dig around enough. The T2 and T3 culture armor are unique.
ONLY the T1 racial weapons can be found in the general population. The T2 and T3 for pretty much all of them are pretty specific.
There are other “culture” vendors that sell unique weapon and armor sets around the world too.
I do agree that they seem to be excessivly priced. The T1 and T2 are not completly aweful, but the T3 prices (for /only/ a rare) are kittens.
Necromancer.
Mesmer.
Engineer.
are the 3 least played. ( the difference is less that 1% between them so depending on the results you read it could be any one of the 3 thats lowest)
The Charr is the least played race.
Female is the least played sex.
This IS an mmo.
you could always…you know….ask a guildmate for help?
This game DOES stand on its own merits.
The issue is that people want this game to play like another MMO.
This game plays like Guild Wars 2.
You have been sold on the idea that the MMO “end game” starts at the level cap.
Guild Wars 2 “end game” starts at level 1.
You have been told that the only “end game” is raiding.
Guild Wars 2 has no raiding therefore we conclude (erroneously) that there is no “end game”
So maybe different is not for you.
I hear that the pandas are comming. Enjoy.
1. do NOT facetank. DODGE!
2. Dont use fire.
3. Dont use a staff.
4. Swap elements. Water has some healing, its not much but it may save your life.
5. Take (and USE) DEFENSIVE skills.
6. OMG Toughness !
7. OMG Vitality!
8. Learn mobs agro range. IF you get downed #3 when it comes up may let you move far enough that you can move out of the agro range. You can then 4 yourself back up.
So you want to dps…thats great. Yeah, power for more dps is great. Yeah precesion for more critical damage is great. Dead DPS do 0 dps.
FAR FAR FAR too many run around with their staff casting fireballs at everything. They don’t move, they don’t dodge, take only DPS skills and then wonder why they die so much. Just run around for a few minutes and you will pick them out.
People would rather complain than learn.
The elementalist is a great class and a blast to play.
I kinda agree. The costs are pretty outrageous.
I can’t make 5g in 8 hours. Please share!
It increases the chances for you to get uncommon/rare/exotic drops.
The exact math behind it is obscured but @100% magic find your doubling your chances to find uncommon/rare/exotic drops.
eg. if there is a 5% chance for an uncommon to drop you get an additional 100% ( of 5% ) chance to find an uncommon drop.
I am sure one of the more mathy types can provide much more specific information.
Questing in GW2 is probably one of the best aspect of the game.
I can almost guarantee that you will see this in games/mmo’s moving forward.
Its a great and refreshing change for the better as far as gaming goes.
Theif ->Dagger MH-> #2 attack seems to miss an aweful lot too.
Its not a large leap. But even when in melee range is will miss.
Edit:
Guardian Greatsword #4 will miss ocasionally too. But its not nearly as bad as the thief dagger skill.
Dual daggers.
Earth/Water/Air.
1. do NOT facetank. DODGE!
2. Dont use fire.
3. Dont use a staff.
4. Swap elements. Water has some healing, its not much but it may save your life.
5. Take (and USE) DEFENSIVE skills.
6. OMG Toughness !
7. OMG Vitality!
8. Learn mobs agro range. IF you get downed #3 when it comes up may let you move far enough that you can move out of the agro range. You can then 4 yourself back up.
So you want to dps…thats great. Yeah, power for more dps is great. Yeah precesion for more critical damage is great. Dead DPS do 0 dps.
FAR FAR FAR too many run around with their staff casting fireballs at everything. They don’t move, they don’t dodge, take only DPS skills and then wonder why they die so much. Just run around for a few minutes and you will pick them out.
Mesmer just WRECKS people in PVP. Does moderatly well in PVE.
Guardian is just plain awesome in PVE.
Elementalist is awesome as kittens in PVE as well. (dual dagger earth/water/air F T W )
I see a LOT of complaints about the elementalist.
1. Dont face tank. DODGE !
2. Dont use a staff.
3. Dont use fire.
4. Take DEFENSIVE skills and use them.
5. O M G Toughness!
6. OMG Vitality ! YAY more HP!
7. Swap elements. Water does offer some healing, its small but it just may save your life.
( pass it on ! )
Rangers rock. Great ranged and melee attacks + great group support skills. Collecting pets is kinda fun too.
Warrior does alright.
1. Hit enemy with weapon.
2. Is enemy dead? if yes, move on to next enemy.
If no, return to #1.
Thief is a ton of fun to play as well. Great mobility and every weapon conbo feels really solid.
Engineer is different with all the weapon kits you get. I am kinda mixed on the engineer. I am not sure I have stumbled upon the right set of goodies that really make the class spectacular. But then again I am Asuran so The engineer IS the best. Science has proven this to be true.
No comment on the necro, havent played it yet.
As long as it takes.
I do not recall there ever being a “play how you want” tag to the game.
Anyway, here is a link to what they DID say:
http://www.arena.net/blog/guild-wars-2-design-manifesto
There is a really good “state of security” post. It’s a really good read.
I miss GvG.
Hopefully they will add this in at some point.
Apparently you didnt read the reddit posts about the first wave of bans.
Don’t worry, more bans are comming.
Things I miss from GW1.
Dual classes.
Guild vs Guild pvp.
Capturing elite skills.
Thats where your wrong.
you are NOT instantly dead, but you are downed. BIG difference.
you are also provided visual queue that tell you when that attack is comming so you can dodge out of the way taking no damage or use a block skill ( again 0 damage).
There are PLENTY of options for mitigating/avoiding the damage.
Learn to use them.
Best way to make gold?
Make sure you have gathering tools equipped and gather every resource you can find.
Sell it all on the trading post.
Currently server transfers are free.
It will be availabe when server transfers are no longer free.
I am guessing that they are waiting for the player population to settle in some before locking things down.
SO. Gather your friends, choose a server, all transfer there, enjoy!
Great suggestions on #4.
This is especially true in Orr. I have been in some of the DE’s ( you know what I am talking about) where the AOE spam is so massive and so intense that as soon at the mobs move from being invulnerable they are instagibbed. IF your lucky you may tag a mob or 2. But its frustrating to get no credit or a bronze because of the AOE spam.
Well. The warrior used his sword and shield to keep the boss agroed on him. He moved and dodged where necessary to avoid taking massive damage.
The Necromancer used skills to purge negative conditions and put down wells that provided AOE healing.
The ranged provided a life spring ( AOE heal) and spirits to grant defensive and offensive boons (buffs) to the party. The rangers pet also had an ability to assist downed players.
The guardian used skills that provided aegis (block and attack , take 0 damage), damage mitigaiton and some healing skills that benefited the party.
The other warrior used his hammer to knockdown and stun as well as skills that provided offensive boons to the party.
When someone was downed others rushed to get them back up before they were out of the fight.
When fighting multiple mobs CTRL + T marks the target for everyone.
We did wipe once. But it was tight and controlled and not the chaos that you seem to describe.
We had 0 DPS with us and instead had 5 players who worked together to support the party. Thats the difference.
Things I miss from the original Guild Wars:
1. Guild vs Guild matches. There was a ladder and being up on the latter netted you some recognition from others when they saw your guild tag.
2. Favor of the Gods. Was great when you could get and hold it for your region. Players really appreciated it since it gained access to specific instances that were only available when you had favor.
3. Elite skill capture. Was nice to be able to find groups to run down and capture elite skills. (yea you could do it solo but players were always prefered to heroes/npc’s)
4. Dual classes/meta game. There were always discussions going on about what class combo had a great skill synergy. Putting together a solid build and being able to share it with others was a great feature as well. The meta game was always about group composition and how to best manage class skill synergies to maximize their effective use. But you always needed to cover your bases with mitigation, healing, corpse control, mobility, enchantment removal etc etc.
To me they really added a lot to the game as a whole and was a very social aspect of the game.
1. Remember you actually need to dodge.
2. Remember to swap weapons where needed. ( usually 1 melee 1 ranged works quite well for most classes)
3. Remember that YOU need to heal YOU.
4. Remember that you need to defend yourslef. DPS skills are great but you cant dps when your dead. Defensive skills (especially ones that have an AOE effect) are a massive help.
5. This is an M M O. Plan on working/playing with others. If a mob dies you BOTH get loot/xp/etc.
6. Gather, Gather and Gather. When your inventory is looking full right click on the little gear icon in your inventory and “send all collectables to stash” They are now all in your bank.
7. Salvage, Salvage, Salvage. Then send the collectables to your stash.
8. IF you craft, DISCOVERIES are where the XP is at. “grinding” known recipes will net you VERY little.
9. Killing yellow mobs (nutral) can sometimes yield MASSIVE bonus XP. Pretty much just kill everything. Odds are it will drop something worthwhile.
10. If your dying a lot, try a different weapon/skill set.
11. Skill points are spent. You will get WAY more than enough (eventually) to unlock ALL of your skills.
12. We know this is not WoW. Thats why we are here playing and enjoying the game.
There are usually multiple events happening at the same time.
you could always….you know….run the other way.
Ironically one of the biggest complaints about GW1 was how easy gear was to get and how the game lacked any form of “gear grind”
GW2 has a small “gear grind” to it and now people are complaining about that.
Kittened if you do, kittened if you don’t.
Glad you tried the game.
Sorry you don’t like it.
Enjoy kung fu pandaria.
Cheers!
It is an MMO (massive MULTIPLAYER online )
Getting exotic gear isnt all that bad at all. There are TONS of groups running dungeons.
There are events going on all the time in Orr so you can get Karma rather quickly. (lets not mention WvW)
There is the trading hall where you can buy exotic gear.
More information would be useful such as what weapon your using, what attunements your using, what skills/elite your using.
I ask because I am wrecking things with my ele that my warrior can’t even touch.
I think part of the issue is that people have been “sold” on the idea that the game starts at the level cap.
Its nice to see another game where the “endgame” starts at level 1.
When you look at GW2 as a whole there is an enormous amount of content. Its shame that people don’t see that.
I have to agree that the issue is with the player and not the class.
I see far to many ele’s running around with a staff and using fire attumenent…and thats it.
They try to facetank everything.
They never dodge.
They never change attunement.
They never use any other weapon. (dual daggers = pwn by the way)
They NEVER use defensive skills. Its’ offense, offense and more offense.
The ALWAYS use fire. Fire Fire ….uhuhuhh, yeah yeah FIRE.
I Will say the glyph of elemental mastery is really extra super good. The secondary effects make it ( for me) almost impossible to pass up.
PS:
Skates die easy peasy. Earth damage bleeds STACK. They health bar goes down FAST after about 4 or 5 stacks.
Now that you mention it…
It would be really cool to see them add in culture specific turrets etc.
Hopefully in time they will be able to do that !
I am an 80 mesmer.
If you think the class is “very weak” then I am not sure you understnad how the class works. As anyone who does WvW or SPVP and they will tell you horror stories at how they killed themself while trying to fight a mesmer.
Nothing makes me smile when some warrior, ranger or thief thinks they are going to take me 1 on 1.
Cant comment on the necro, havent played it yet. The ones I see running around seem to do JUST FINE.
Guardian has a great array of abilities that really work great in groups. Its actually probably one of the more dynamic classes out there.
Elementalist just seem to run around with their staff casting fireballs. Dual dagger frost/earth + signet of elements = win. Your not squishy if mobs/players can’t catch you.
Different game, different set of rules to play by.
I am going to assume you are joking, twelve, or completely misguided.
As you said, all these abilities are there. but none of them are good enough to be used efficiently at all. Why do I care i have tanking abilities if there is no tank and have to use them at random? Why have healing abilities when they are not nearly enough? Why even bother with healing when one of the rangers gets on you and cc’s you for 5 sec while draining your health? Just let people chain rez.
The point is that this is just a mess inside the dungeon. No order at all. Trinity gave us order and a logical challenge. This is not a challenge. It is a shooting barrel with fish that are really hard to kill.
But that’s just it.
If your not using your abilities efficiently thats a problem with the player, not the game.
If you are “randomly using abilities” that is a problem with the player, not the game.
If your not healing yourslef that is a problem with the player, not the game.
If your not communicating with the rest of the group to work out skills and strategies thats ….you guessed it…a problem with the player, not the game.
There is challenge-a-plenty because you need to use tactics and synergies with the other players and WORK TOGETHER to overcome the obsticles in the dungeons.
And thats just it. People want to shoot fish in a barrel, they expect tank-n-spank and that just does not exist here.
Its easier to blame the game for the “problems” that it is to blame yourself for not being a good player.
I will state that AC (ascalon catacombs) was a total clusterkitten. Its the first dungeon, its quite challenging, you get a bunch of new people that have no real clue what they are doing (eg, don’t weapon swap, dont change out skills for different fights, dont dodge, dont heal themself, dont rez etc etc).
After that dungeons are a BLAST to play.
I am sure I am going to get crucified for this but:
I Would like to see mounts added to the game.
1. The artwork is simply amazing. I would love to see the imagination and creativity extend to mounts. I mean in GW1 you got to drive a worm, how epic was that?
2. I know that you can simply use the waypoints to get around which great (don’t get me wrong) but running around and exploring just feel …like I should be doing it up on a trusty steed.
3. The “bling” factor. Getting a nice glowey legendary weapon to adorn your back is says BAD KITTY. So does a hard to get unique mount.
4. Blocking vendors. Considering all you have to do is get close and hit F it shouldnt be a big deal really. You could also avert this by having a “standing still” timer that will auto dismount someone after like a minute.
5. movement speed. It does not need to be a huge buff. There are plenty of abilities that increase movement speed already as it is.
6. Immersion. Its only natural that the inhabitants would use amimals/charr machinery/Asura technology (-cough- CHARR as in.. charr as mounts) as a mode of transportation. They use the other animals to carry heavy goods…but curiously enough not people. The lack of mounts feels seemingly out of place.
I know why you don’t want them in the game but …you know…think it over, change your mind, add them in.
Thank you.
No.
There are a multitude of abilities that when used act as a dodge (eg. rangers lightning reflexes), reduce incomming damage (eg. guardian stand your ground), block attacks (which means you take 0 damage) and other abilites that boost the regeneration rate of your energy (eg, lightning reflexes again).
There is also a substantial number of abilites that provide this that are AOE group boons (buffs).
Take a few minutes and READ what your skills do.
Remove the “holy trinity” and what do you get?
ABSOLUTE AWESOME.
For reference there ARE tanking abilities.
There ARE healing abilities.
There ARE crowd control abilities.
Just because you don’t use them does not mean that they don’t exist.
You DO know that you can dodge attacks and take 0 damage right?
You DO know that you can block attack and take 0 damage right?
You DO know that you can kite mobs and get hit less often right?
You DO know that pretty much every class has ranged weapons available to it right?
From your post it sounds like you are a “dps” and trying to run in and face tank everything on your own. You are expecting others to “tank” for you and “heal” you. Take a few minutes to read what your class can do. Pretty much every class has a “tanky” and “support/healing” option available to it.
Rather than blaming the game for not working how you want it to, why don’t you take the time to learn to play the game?
The problem with dungeon is every one runs in going " I ’m a DPS"
They dps, dps, and dps and forget that:
1. you need to actually dodge attacks.
2. you need to heal yourself. Having skills that heal team mates are also a HUGE help.
3. Its not about DPS. Take the skills that assist your team.
The average player suffers from the “MMO mentality” where the tank tanks and holds all the agro. The healer heals everyone and the DPS just pew pew pew until everything is dead. THAT DOES NOT WORK here.
Are the dungons difficult?
yes.
Are they as difficult as everyone makes them out to be?
No.
If you take 5 minutes to sort out skills before you go in it makes a HUGE difference.
The Ascalon catacombs is one of the more difficult dungeons and has the luxury of being the first of the bunch.
I will say though it would be nice to see some nicer rewards from completing the dungons though.
-possibly a treasure chest for completing story mode + each variation on explorer mode. ( with NIIIICE loot in it too)
DPS meter would be completly pointless.
As the traditional Tank/healer/DPS is not quite there that means not only do you need to DPS but you ALSO need to make sure you heal yourself and take skills that increase your survival. If you go running off in some dungeon with nothing but DPS skills your a detriment to your team because your not going to live long enough to be of any use. Dead DPS = 0.
It is a meaningless number and triple so in GW2.