Guild Wars 2

The boost can be used on a bunch of characters as a trial… and then applied to one character permanently. So, if you’ve got the time then try all the classes that interest you.

All the classes are viable PvE for a multitude of builds. I can’t comment with any confident authority on PvP and WvW, but it does seem like all are functional in those modes… optimal/balanced is always in hot debate, and in the eye of the beholder.

Speaking of Beholders, my advice is to avoid the class forums until you’re comfortable with the class you do choose. I don’t feel they’re a good place to be when you’re just starting to explore a class… later on they can be worthwhile.

As far as anyone claiming their classes were nerfed-beyond-recognition by this patch, please keep in mind that it hasn’t been out long enough for anyone to have adjusted their play style to make any such claims with 100% certainty… even more reason to avoid the class-specific forums for a little while.

Ultimately I suggest just choosing the one that you had the most fun with once you’ve used the trial on all the classes you’re considering. PvE/PvP/WvW will all fall into place so long as you’re enjoying playing the class.

Sorry I can’t be more definitive for you.

~EW

mcarswell.3768:

Are any of the dungeon paths soloable?

Many can be, but it’s important to keep in mind that they weren’t intended to be. There’re some that flat-out can’t be because advancement requires 2 or more players working together.

It takes a lot of trial and error, as well as some general internet research, to work through how to solo some of them. Youtube vids of people soloing can be somewhat informative, if you can stomach the music they’ve put with it. Definitely do some google searches of threads where this topic has been discussed before… there’s a fair number of them.

Also know that you won’t be able to do the ones that can potentially be done solo with just any build you bring… you’ll have to develop at least one build tailored to the path(s) you run… again, likely through trial and error. For example, right now I have 2 builds that I’m switching back and forth at certain parts of AC path 3, and I’m still tweaking both.

At least, that’s all been my experience so far.

~EW

edit: and also make liberal use of the wiki’s walkthroughs. Even though they’re written from a party perspective, much of it can be adapted to solo strategies.

graymouser.4698:

But simply the statement: “we don’t need horses because we have fast travel” is a 1oo% non-argument for me

We should base ourselves on immersion and lore when making a decision on horses.

It’s the ‘immersion and lore’ argument that doesn’t hold any water, sorry. In RL horses for travel all but disappeared because of the automobile showing up… cars are faster, easier, and cheaper to use. If cheap and accessible teleportation were to become widely available, automobiles would go the way of the horse.

Well, in GW2 there IS teleportation, as well as modes of travel that are cheaper and easier to use from an immersion standpoint. Horses/mounts are absolutely irrelevant in this context.

From a business standpoint adding in mounts would be time and energy spent making something that’s NOT special in comparison to other MMOs, and thus just ‘reinventing the horse.’ Faster travel that is special to GW2 (such as teleportation and gliding) is a much better use of ANet’s labor than being derivative. It’s that fact that gives the “we already have teleportation” argument more validity, even if you (and others) feel it’s a non-argument.

~EW

OP you hit on a solution to your problem… toggle ‘show bags’ back on.

The shared slot becomes its own ‘bag’, and the rest of your bags are uniform and easy to identify.

If you find the single (or more if you buy more) shared slot kinda off-putting visually, then once you use the boost stick something in the slot like a home-portal stone or revive orb or teleport to a friend, and consider the slot as the place where that item is found instead of it being a general bag space.

~EW

Maybe the dungeon improvements? I recently got into soloing/duoing dungeons, so it is an exciting change for me.

Even though I’ve read all the changes it’ll be a while before I can thoroughly experience all the ones that’ll directly affect me. I can’t give a definitive answer to your question… yet.

~EW

Silberfederling.9302:

remarkable how every complaint get some sort of l2p answer, do not even bother to condecent your crab any more i am out see you guys in 4 months

Any significant change to a trait or skill requires a period of adjustment… so, yeah, it comes down to RE-learn to play. Once you’ve given it a good go, then your complaints might have some validity.

~EW

@Choppy: you get 1 stack per bar of adrenaline spent… so if your adrenaline is maxed, you get all 3 stacks of AH when you land your burst. In berzerk mode, a single full bar of berzerk counts as 3 stacks of adrenaline for AH (this has been stated on the wiki for the previous AH, though hasn’t been updated with the new patch changes). So, even if you miss with one burst, in 5 sec you’ve got another shot at a full 3 stacks. So in or out of bezerk mode, it’s fairly easy to keep 3 stacks of AH up.

~EW

Silberfederling.9302:

yah
too bad that warriors main weakness is blind, good thing that you have hit i too do not see where there might be a problem
/sarcasm off

Everyone’s weakness is blind, that’s neither new or alarming. It’s just another reason that one has to approach AH from a different perspective than it being a passive… it’s not anymore… it’s a HOT that procs on burst hit. It procs passively, but that’s not the same thing as being a passive.

If you’re so worried about blind, there’s this AMAZING visual queue that tells you you’ve been blinded… so when that happens hit your AA and then burst. Might take some practice, but part of playing a game is learning how to play. /sarcasm off.

~EW

I tried out the new AH a bit last night… on nothing really difficult, though on retrospect I should have and will tonight.

Because AH is so hot in my mind, and it’s something that I want up constantly, I found myself trying to spam f1 all the time, even when it’s on cooldown. I feel a heavy pressure to get my t3 burst off the moment it’s available, especially the first time. Obviously this is a me-problem that will require me to adjust how I approach using my long-neglected burst skills.

When the healing was up, I found it to be pretty good. I do miss having it up as a passive; it was a security blanket (and a cornerstone of my survivability). It’s not a true passive any more, but it still is an effective HOT (that’s heal-over-time for those of you who’ve not played any other mmo’s )

Atm I think I’m good with the change… any problems I have with it are not mechanically based, but playstyle based, and such adjustments should always be expected in mmos.

I may think differently after I go against some more difficult things tonight… I doubt it, though.

Those are my in-game impressions so far, for any who are interested.

tl;dr: It’s a change, but I don’t find it to be either good or bad, and doesn’t seem to influence how I have my build structured. It just influences how I approach using bursts.

~EW

@Hamfast: just toggle the ‘show bags’ inventory option back on. Then you won’t have any problems accidentally putting something that’s supposed to go into a safe bag into the wrong bag.

edit: also, then your normal bags will be uniform again, because the shared slots count as their own bag.

~EW

@OP: On top of what everyone else has already said, there’s also the fact that you’re not ‘instantly given everything you need.’ The handful of waypoints you get is miniscule… you’ll still have to go out and explore to get ones near world bosses, for example. The gear you get is not going to be ideal for most builds, and the 2g certainly won’t pay for a set of exotics (or even rares) for whatever build you want to try. At most the boost gives a minor leg up and some encouragement to new players to explore the game in whichever way they wish to choose; and to not feel rushed exploring the lower level content. This is a good thing.

~EW

The cool thing about that lvl 80 boost is you can try ALL the classes before making it a permanent boost… so give ‘em all a try… there’s no way for anyone here to know what class would best fit your particular play style.

~EW

No idea. In MMOs I’m the kind of person who saves things ‘in case I’ll need them later.’ Especially irreplaceable things. My bank is a testament to this problem.

~EW

Bigsexy.8302:

You have to hit. Tried few times without hitting and didn’t get the buff.

This is really good to know. Thank you for testing and reporting on it.

~EW

JarrodJames.6845:

Couldnt agree more…I can agree that the dam from the chill skill in the necro tree was op…but completely chabging the mechanic of the skill to bleed is just lazy and makes it useless in pvp

I’d be more willing to try and understand this kind of reaction if the people making these kinds of complaints had done so after testing the new changes by playing the game for a while and trying to figure them out, instead of knee-kitten reacting to them.

One thing I’ve learned the hard way in this game is that what looks good/bad on paper, doesn’t necessarily translate the same to live game.

I’m interested to see if these kinds of negative sentiments to the balance changes are as visceral in a few weeks as they are now.

~EW

shadow.6174:

Btw… all these things just sounds to me more like a sneaky attempt to push people to purchase HoT or spend more time in HoT maps. I won’t go further on this to not derail this thread though.

Players get awesome stuff like a free 80 boost and shared inventory slot, and ANet gets a boost in business. Sounds like a win-win for everybody to me.

~EW

EvilSardine.9635:

My issue with this is that its another nail in the coffin for base warrior. Right now in berserker mode you can land so many bursts that you permanently have 3 stacks of adrenal health. On base warrior you are punished very hard if you miss a burst.

From what I’m reading you get the adrenal health when you spend the adrenaline… it doesn’t say anything about requiring you to hit with your burst.

If this is the case (I plan to test it when I get home) that still makes it really viable for the base warrior. It was always slow-ish to get to tier 3 adrenaline for base warrior anyways (and the speed of that hasn’t really changed), but it’s definitely doable within 15 seconds to keep t3 adrenal health up. I don’t see how this as punishing at all to base warriors; it even promotes more frequent use of burst skills. (edit: The only thing I see that the base warrior is missing out on is previously s/he benefited from having t1 and t2 adrenaline healing… and now if they want the full 3 stacks guaranteed, they’ll have to burst when at t3… so there’s that little bit of healing difference from having to wait until t3 adrenaline has been stacked to get the most healing).

…of course I could be misunderstanding the change… I’ll find out at some point in the near future, lol.

~EW

I’m very intrigued at the change to Adrenal Health… I see why they did it: to encourage use of adrenaline instead of saving it up… I just don’t know if it’ll be a benefit to my play style and build, or a hindrance. I’m looking forward to finding out.

At the very least I’ll be glad to use my burst skills more frequently.

~EW

This is a spectacular update, Gaile. Please pass on my thanks to everyone. I’m so looking forward to getting home tonight that it’s hard to concentrate on work.

~EW

Sartharina.3542:

It very, very, very rarely takes as much time for someone to answer a question than it takes for them to ‘do the research’.

You’re right… most of the time it’s faster to look it up yourself.

Sartharina.3542:

Web pages take time to browse and load, especially if you have to alt-tab out of game to look them up. And, the internet doesn’t know the social context you’re asking about.

You must have missed the part where I was talking about the forums, not in-game.

Sartharina.3542:

Sure, for something in-depth, it’s probably a good idea to direct someone to the wiki, but for things like Abreviation’s, it’s much faster for someone to ask and get a simple answer in light of the context than it is to minimize the game, open a browser window, try to phrase the question in a manner that coveys the context you’re asking, sort through chaffe if you use Google, and avoid ‘dead pages’ if you try to wiki. Especially when it comes to acronyms with multiple meanings (Like DS)

As opposed to taking the time to type out and word your post correctly, then wait the 5, 10, 15, NEVER minutes it might take someone to respond while refreshing the forum page? And trust that it’s an accurate response? It’s hilarious to me that you’re arguing that as being regularly/reliably faster than a cursory google search.

Sartharina.3542:

And… in the time it takes someone to say ‘Look it up", they can generally give the answer. So it’s not them saving their own effort – it’s going out of their way to spend effort they could have saved or spent constructively to instead just be an kitten.

You’re forgetting to include the time it took the person to type out and post their question, and the time it takes for someone who reads it being willing to take the time to type out a reply…. And in all that time they could have gotten their answer by looking it up… saving everyone time, including themselves.

~EW

edit: if doing an initial cursory search yourself wasn’t a good thing, then it wouldn’t have been written into the forum code of conduct.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

There’s a difference between a simple question (like “hey what’s the abbreviation mean”) and something a lot more in depth though. Basically what you’re saying is that its not ok to ask a kitten question in map chat for something so simple. Goddess forbid we bother anyone with a simple question right? Because if you can’t be bothered to answer what an abbreviate means, I can’t imagine you can be bothered to help with anything else either (“anyone seen ‘x’ boss” “how long before ‘x’ is up” etc etc) . We should just tell everyone to make sure they have at least a second monitor and keep the wiki open.

No, that’s not what I’m saying; please don’t put words in my mouth. What I’m saying do a quick google search before you ask something redundant or quick to figure out in the forums. Even the forums code of conduct states: “Read the forum before asking a question. There’s a good chance your question has already been answered.” https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/rules Forum searches suck, but google doesn’t.

~EW

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Lol Necrotic. I love people like you. Cause playing a game and trying to enjoy yourself is all about research right? Lets do some work so we can play a game.

I agree w/ Necrotic. When it comes to the choice of doing the research yourself or expecting others to do the work for you… well, do the kitten research yourself. Often it takes just as much time to do the research yourself as it does to post the question. If you still can’t find the info THEN ask; that’s cool.

~EW

Play content for other reasons/goals, and they’ll level themselves w/o you feeling like you’re grinding them.

~EW

Just a flesh wound.3589:

BrotherBelial.3094:

I’m swimming in charges. I’ve got around 120, and I’ll only end up with more, seeing as I hardly use them.

Just do map completion and you’ll soon have more than enough, if you play PvP you’ll also get alot from there.

seeing as I hardly use them.

Well, that’s sort of the thing isn’t ‘it. If you hardly use them of course you’re going to be swimming in them. However I do use them and while I’m not running out, I am using them faster than I get them. I’ve done full map completion on 8 characters and I do the PvP dailies each day. If I get much lower I’m thinking of making chars to do the cities, then delete and repeat… but boring.

Hence why they’re also available to purchase in the Gem Store for the fashionably inclined player. When it comes to microtransactions there’s either Pay-to-Win (which is horrible), or Pay-to-be-Pretty… Thank goodness ANet goes with the latter.

~EW

This thread is giving me déjà vu of when I followed the LA tour guide around.

~EW

I haven’t made a legendary because the process would make the game feel like work to me. My RL working allows me to afford games, it’s not for creating me more work.

~EW

Cecilia.5179:

Anybody else at least a little curious about what the balance aspect of this update will bring?

Not me. Que sera, sera.

~EW

TalleFjanten.7159:

Why would they release a legendary weapon that only thief/ranger? use.

This question seems to be asked a lot…

…from my perspective it seems likely because the other shortbow has a very narrow appeal due to its unicorn ascetics. As much as people are currently hating on this new one, it still has a much broader ascetic appeal than unicorn ammunition does.

~EW

Enko.6123:

It’s a gem which means you can only put it in exotic gear. You can’t put it in ascended.

Gtk. So, ya’ stick it in an exotic backpack which has the smallest stat pool among the 4 trinket types, thereby minimizing the optimal stat loss that’ll mess up the OP’s build.

Ascended 3-stat back item: 63, 40, 40
(stats taken from Tempered Spinal Blade)

Exotic 3-stat back item, with cele gem: 42, 33, 33, 12, 12, 12
(stats taken from exotic Spineguard + Preserved Queen Bee)

~EW

Because cele is stats for whatever build you’re running, thereby making the item more universally useful.

If your build truly gets messed up by one item having sub-optimal stats, then there’s something wrong with your build.

~EW

Edit: also I believe the effects are tied to the gem in the accessory, not the accessory itself… so you can take it out of the amulet/whatever and stick it somewhere else…. but I could be wrong about that ‘cause I don’t yet own any of those items.

I know it’s been said before… but just not by me ….

I’d love a Tempered Spinal Blades version of a glider.

It’d be even more awesome if it were handled similarly to what’s been done with the feather wings: that if you’ve already crafted the TSB you could ‘unlock’ a TSB glider.

~EW

DoctorDing.5890:

That’s nothing. Apparently gaming software can now slap you in the face too. I always ensure I wear a hard hat and safety goggles whilst playing.

I have a similar policy for these forums.

~EW

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Such an unwieldy, clunky looking weapon. The picture looks like someone started designing it and didn’t know when to stop. I can only hope it looks better in game.

I’d pick it over shooting unicorn ammunition any day. I like the design a lot.

~EW

I like the look of it.

~EW

Einlanzer.1627:

So, what’s holding it back?

Too many players taking the game way too seriously.

~EW

I love that for over 2 weeks this thread is still going strong.

~EW

I look forward to seeing what’s in store for us. Until then, I’ll keep doin’ what I’m doin’ ‘cause there’s no reason not to.

Que sera sera.

~EW

@simplesimon: there is a distinction being made as to what is mechanically possible, and what is allowed by policy. He is saying that mechanically mixing pet killing + mastery looting is fine… he’s not saying that afk farming is fine.

If you interpret it differently I can understand that… but I don’t think it’s worth risking one’s account over.

~EW

penelopehannibal.8947:

Yeah, so glad it was! I understood it was, I probably should have worded that paragraph better!!

Ooops, I’m sorry I misunderstood ya.’

~EW

penelopehannibal.8947:

And on the point of this thread, the point being are they allowed to do this – if the green light is lit for anybody to do this, then there will be an imbalance of the trading post economy, which does affect other players.

They aren’t allowed to do this (to afk farm)… it was clarified by the game support lead just a little ways up the thread on this page. AFK farming is against the rules.

~EW

Play and have fun. When you don’t have fun then move on. Quit worrying about things you have no control over. It’s a game for entertaining you, not a partner for you to be married to.

~EW

Esquilax.3491:

From what I understand, the map can no longer gain new players naturally after this notification happens, so a lot of people leaving basically ruins the map.

That’s not been my experience. I have clicked ‘later’ and before the map shutdown countdown completed the exit button went away and I got to stay where I was.

~EW

Click the button once to enjoy the buff, then subsequently click ‘later.’ If you don’t want the buff, then just click ‘later’ from the start. Sometimes server population increases enough that the exit option goes away and you won’t be forced to depart after the hour countdown.

~EW

I love playing my Warrior. I also find him effective in my preferred mode (PvE). So, I’ll keep playin’ him. As of last night I crafted him his first ascended weapon (it’s also the first ascended weapon I’ve ever crafted)… I’m still smiling about it.

Btw, in one of the “dev quotes from reddit” in the main discussion section it was admitted that there exists a Balance Team; a team specifically devoted to evaluating and improving class balance. With luck they’ll be available on a future AMA or other format to ask questions about how they perceive Warrior balance in relation to the other classes.

~EW

How ’bout a value pack of bag slot expansions?

I’m sorry, but I can’t justify $5 for a bag slot expansion for a single character. But, if I could get say 5 bag slot expansions at a noticeably reduced cost to spread around multiple characters, then I know I’d consider buying them.

Also, I need to +1 Faren’s Loincloth… It’d make it worth rolling a human or norn.

~EW

Power
Vitality (or Toughness, I’m not picky here)
Healing Power
Concentration

…I’ve been wanting to make a gw2 version of a thorns paladin with a guardian… and that will require keeping retaliation up 100% of the time on top requiring surviving all the hits. Those are the stats I’d need.

Whether or not I can make it work, who knows, but I’d have a lot of fun trying.

~EW

BrosefStalin.3475:

I don’t know anyone that has filled up their free character slots with solely Charr and Asura characters, but I’d guess there are a few.

You don’t know me, true, but I’m one of those people.

I also have a couple sylvari, but so far I think they only look good in their cultural armor… a ‘swimsuit’ that’d show off the glow would be pretty sweet, though… bonus points if the swimsuit could be in the style of their cultural armor.

~EW

Sartharina.3542:

I hope they add that loincloth as an outfit in the gem store!

^I can’t give this enough +1’s.

If they did make it an outfit, I might finally roll a human or norn.

~EW

Lunacy Solacio.6514:

That’s just it, they’ve been told now that it is perfectly ok so what risk is there?

Because I still question that there’s a misinterpretation of Michael’s words.

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

Pet behavior and mechanics is the “it.” Pets were designed to kill things on their own, and allow the ranger/necro to still loot. “This is allowed behavior” could either be referring to the pets or to the players; it’s that line that is ambiguous… I suspect it’s referring to the pets only because of how that rest of the sentence is worded.

So the risk you’re asking about is that the statement might not be a carte-blanche permission to afk farm… that it’s talking about pets only, and not players. To me that still makes it a pretty big risk after so much effort to level and any monies paid to ANet for game, expansion, and/or gemstore.

~EW

Tl;dr intentional mechanics that allow pet kills to give experience and loot =/= permission to afk farm.

I do consider it a shame (and a bit silly) that someone would put in all the effort required to get the auto loot mastery just to risk censure and/or ban with afk farming.

At least when it comes to the pristine spore samples, I have to be at my computer to click on them if I want them, even if I do go afk while I wait for respawn (preferably somewhere where I won’t be attacked).

~EW