Guild Wars 2

Fun to watch. I have yet to win a 1v1 as a necro, but in my case PEBKAC.

The absolute best PvE defensive specs are those that emphasize blinds, chills, and weakness. From a numbers perspective, these far outweigh healing. I’d argue they’re better than speccing a lot of blocks too, because often you’re not doing damage while blocking, which means you’re not being productive in killing the foe.

My dungeon spec is based upon the idea of applying perma-weakness with the elixir gun (plus the other cool things it does) and semi-tanking to help out my melee buddies with a variety of blinds (pistol 3, bomb 4, and flame turret overcharge). It’s a thankless job because many people aren’t even aware of these kinds of things.

Outside of prime time on GoM, you’d be hard-pressed to organize enough people to even make a zerg. I was on our BL today and saw only one invader. Lot’s of back-capping and camp/tower swapping. I blame the mad king, actually, as a ton of people are farming him.

GoM here. I want to point out that it’s been a bit of a difficult stretch getting here. This the first week in a long time where a match up is competitive. We’ve had several big guilds bail, leaving GoM to come up with a grass-roots community. We’ve moved down 3 or 4 tiers, which has been bad for morale. Those of us remaining value a fun competitive match more than success and high level of performance. We’re probably in the right tier.

GoM here. Good match this week. We have an uphill battle ahead, but it’s better than the weeks and weeks of blow-outs up until now. Our server apparently has a bigger population of post work/school players because all BL and EB are pretty much empty before 2pm (pacific). I get the feeling we’ll be seeing this matchup a lot, unless free server transfers results in another huge flux of players.

GoM seems to be stuffed into LA to do repeated Mad King runs. Something about exotics. I think it’s a self-imposed grind.

We also just 3-manned him. 2 80 and 1 (me) a 57.

WvW is at its best when the scores are close. Scores are close when match-ups are appropriate. Match-ups are appropriate when the populations in a bracket are similar (number, skill, hours of operation). Populations in a bracket are similar when there is not a large flux of players. There is not a large flux of players when there are no free server transfers.

The logical deduction is therefore: WvW is at its best when there are no free server transfers.

Yes, and let’s all remember that our matchups will be screwed up as long as free transfers exist, so let’s not bail on this when we have a really bad week.

[MGA] (a very small guild of friends) wants to fight for GoM.

Rankings do influence people’s decisions. So does queue times. I suspect they can’t just turn off free server transfers because many servers will be stuck with huge queue times. Then there will be complaining that ANet did it to force people to buy gems because they are greedy.

Rankings are needed for matchups. If you don’t have rankings for matchups, how would you suggest it be implemented?

Well I’m the leader of a small guild on GoM and I’m charged with determining whether we should move. PRO was the only organization we had. With them gone we’re going to be a bottom or next-to-bottom tier server. Truth be told, I’m fine with that. I’ve never needed to dominate, or even win. But we do need fun matches, and that means proper matchups (ANet needs to get rid of free server transfers) and a solution to night-capping (If it’s still a problem after free server transfers are disabled).

After transferring myself to Yak’s Bend last night to get an idea of the environment, a couple things stood out. 1) YB is more organized and has better communication. I think this stems from guilds that stuck around and server pride. GoM doesn’t have any of this. 2) They’ve experienced the same problems with bad match-ups (this week is an example) and night-capping. Moral of the story is, many servers are in the same boat as we are, and it’s not going to get better until free server transfers are turned off.

I’m not worried about the hackers effect on GoM long term. People will forget, and we’ll just be another server.

Now about losing our big guilds. I’m in favor of helping a grass-roots effort to build one from scratch, as long as that guild’s charter is to remain on GoM or disband, but NEVER transfer off. Someone willing to start such an effort can depend upon my support, so friend me and I’ll help get things started.

I would like GoM to be matched up against other servers that don’t have a night crew, like us. When’s that gonna happen…

Nice to know that another group of quitters will be leaving GoM

Think what you want. Servers intentionally gang up on GoM players because of our reputation from early orb hacking. That doesn’t sit well with me. My clan tries not to associated with cheaters. If you’re okay with that, then by all means stick around.

Even if my server loses every week, I’m at least looking for a close fight. It’s not fun otherwise.

Small GoM guild considering a new server with some active WvW guilds, but not much queue time. Hoping for a server that doesn’t easily get overrun over night the first night. Any recommendations?

My small guild is on GoM right now, and we’re down to one reasonably sized WvW guild (Pro). For the last several weeks matches have been blowouts, and that doesn’t help build up server pride. Everyone benefits when servers are evenly matched. Our guild is considering transferring because GoM’s bad reputation thanks to orb hacking. How does the guild and queue situation look on YB?

I don’t think it’s losing that’s necessarily the issue. It’s that one server owns 99% of the map from day one, with everything upgraded. At that point the week is over and it’s time to wait until the next week.

The actual post no longer exists because it was made on the official forums after a Beta Weekend Event, and those forum posts have all been deleted. The dev comment, paraphrased, is that they are aware of the sigils not affecting kits, and were looking for a solution to that. They didn’t say anything about weapon stats. The community inferred from the dev response about sigils, perhaps incorrectly, that weapon stats will also carry over to kits if/when sigils work for kits.

However, there is still hope, but it comes from the reddit AMA all the way back to early June: http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/uodjr/im_a_guild_wars_2_developer_ama_about_the_next/c4x4ffk

Coglin’s basic premise is correct. Stats are lost when donning bundles, which applies to Warrior banners and Elementalist conjures.

Question: why Melandru? Is it just in case your condition transfers are all on cooldown and you’re getting unlucky with your sigils?

I don’t think any of your options answer the question fully. Guardians have abilities that let them absorb lots of damage. Specifically they have blocks and Aegis and a lot of regen. Engineers must be mobile in fights, because that’s just how the profession works. I recall a specific fight with a veteran and several adds a couple levels above me. With my guardian I just jumped in and slowly worked them down. With my engineer I’d have to pick off the adds first, or kite like mad.

So perhaps it can be argued that the guardian is better in that scenario. I’m sure there’s scenarios where engineers are better.

unleashed.8679:

I think he means 5% runes, as there are no sigil of krait, centaure and afflicted.

Do you have the trait that gives 20% more bleed duration active? because that would make 6s out of it.

No.

So if it’s actually a 5-second base, that’s a few silver wasted on a couple duration runes

Scepter auto-attack has a 4-second bleed. I’m at level 36 and have 10 in Spite for 10% increased bleed duration. I have 3 minor rune bonuses which each giving 5% more bleeding duration (Krait, Afflicted, Centaur). Nothing else in my build (sigils, traits, jewelry, consumables) increases condition duration. That should put me at +25% bleed duration, making my scepter bleed tick one extra second.

However, I just tried it out and found two things wrong.

1) The tool-tip says the bleed will last 4 1/2 seconds. Fine the tool-tip is wrong, no big deal.
2) My 4s bleed application should tick 5 times, but it ticks 6 times!

Where is my math wrong?

Bomb kit + flame turret overcharge = break for melee. Didn’t mention it because it was off topic.

Elixir gun has to be tops for condition engineer in dungeons, right? Perma-weakness, lots of support, and our best reliable bleed. I don’t think my group is aware enough to have a clue how much support I bring to the table. Case-in-point, one of them was happy to have an engineer because of my Healing Turret :P

I tried MM for a couple levels in the 28-29 range and ran into the issues gamefreak described. Yeah, I died a couple times because of those issues, so I went back to the build Newsin described (after a few levels trying out a power build, which also got me killed a lot in over-pulls).

Yes, the mortar does indeed suck. Not even really all that good in WvW either.

In theory the turrets are excellent for point defense. But it is rare to see high level players using them in PvP for three reasons:

1) Lack of mobility
2) They die too easy
3) they aren’t improved through stats

All these things can be slightly improved via trait investments, as you have done. But it seems many folks don’t think you get enough return in turret trait and skill investment compared to other builds. I was hoping to see this proven wrong because right now it seems turrets are the red-headed step-children of engineer utilities. Specifically there are generally better ways to do the things turrets can do with better synergies. This is not a knock on your build, which you used quite expertly. But it seems to me that is more a credit to your skill, not the utility of turrets.

My first alt is a necro because it is super fun. Minions are seriously bugged almost to the point of being unusable. Other than that there is a long list of bugs (see the sticky at the top), many having to do with traits, or utility skills not working like they are supposed to. Since I’m only level 33 and have only played PvE and WvW with the necro, I don’t think I have enough necro experience to notice when the skill/trait bugs show up. Those who have played the profession a while are much better at spotting the bugs, and particularly pointing out when the bug makes a necro’s life suck.

Let me tell you how to get you and your team 18 seconds of out-of-combat stealth.

1) Use pistol/shield
2) Put down your healing turret, rifle turret, and a mine
3) Switch to your bomb kit
4) Drop Big Ol’ bomb
5) Drop bomb kit 4 skill then switch back to pistol/shield
6) Prepare to drop supply crate on yourself
7) Wait for the smoke bomb to explode
8) Immediately drop the supply crate, detonate your two turrets and your mine
9) Double-tap shield 4 for Magnetic inversion

Steps 4-9 need to be done as fast as game mechanics allow, because the smoke field only lasts 3 second. Do this many times and you’ll get a grand idea of engineer’s self-combo fields. Consider other fields, like the bomb kit #2 for 18 stacks of might. Also the flame turret creates a smoke field for 5 second which would be easier except the field only works when you are in combat with the enemy close to the turret.

Another thing I did, to prove it worked, was to allow myself to get a long poison from a spider in Lonar’s pass, drop Elixir Gun’s Super Elixir, and shoot through it with my gun (or perhaps the took kit tool belt skill) to see if the projectile finisher will actually remove the poison when combo’d through my light field. Spoiler: it does.

Not an expert, but since the staff 2-5 abilities are traps, you might consider setting them up before pulling so the mobs walk into them. That also allows you to open up with the scepter to begin the engagement.

I have found myself switching to staff mid fight when all the scepter/dagger stuff is on cooldown, especially for longer fights like veterans. Unfortunately I admit my use of the staff skills is less strategic than it could be (e.g. saving AoE fear for when I need to get some distance).

Nice video production. Perhaps eliminate or reduce the voice track of your friend.

You didn’t convince me that the trait and skill investment in turrets was worth it, though. Turrets are annoying for opponents, I’m sure, but I’d like to see more about how the turrets make the build.

Lastly, the mortar in the video (about 4:29) is just an oversight, right?

I tried running minions at around 25 and found bleeds and kiting better. Perhaps I’ll look more into it using the tips you’ve given.

Even though my necro is still lowish level, and I routinely get beat 1v1 in WvWvW and PvP, I can say playing the necro is super fun. This is a game, right?

I actually play condition Engi as my main. Adding bleeds since the 4s -> 2s pistol nerf is not so easy anymore. One needs to use the rifle’s blunderbuss combined with the shrapnel grenade and the elixir gun auto-attack to reach 10, and there’s a lot of kit switching going on there, meaning that’s ALL an engineer is doing. Consider that the rifle is actually a power weapon, there is a lack of synergy there.

Condition engineer is about the combination of bleeds, burns, and poisons, conducted in melee to mid range, and at most half of that is AoE, and the AoE versions are weaker. So while engineers can do comparable damage to condition necro, I wouldn’t call it superior.

As for the OPs build, sorry no comment. I’ve only gotten my necro to level 27, much of it in WvWvW, so I haven’t even touched the second tier yet.

Does it make any sense whatsoever to try to balance offensive and defensive stats to increase survivability in dungeons, or should a necro just go for max damage? If a balanced approach works, which is better: vitality or toughness?

So far the responses are about 50/50. That it’s not 90/10 is a bummer. I was hoping that GW2 would be different. It’s not the trinity anymore, but many still think dedicated tanks are still needed, thus defensive plate wearers are believed by many to be necessary for a smooth run.

So if my friend wants to play a glass cannon ele and die 25% more than balanced spec characters, I guess he is justified in doing so because he will always look for runs with a tank in them. FWIW, he doesn’t strive for the “flawless” run; success for him is measured only based upon whether we complete the dungeon. He’s perfectly fine graveyard rushing. I guess that means he is not wrong, he’s just not my ideal dungeon buddy.

I had a debate with a friend which I think I lost. My argument was that the best chances for a smooth dungeon run are those where everyone is running builds balancing damage, control, and support. Jack of all trades, master of none. His argument was that the overall group needs to be balanced, which means some be people specced to mitigate damage through defensive stats, control, and support, while retaining much/most of the aggro, and some specced to do tons of damage, while avoiding aggro. I realize both will work, but which will work smoother (fewer deaths, faster battles)?

The real reason I ask this is because I’m the kind of guy who strives for the “flawless” run, which I realize is a tall order. I made myself believe, since early pre-order beta, that dungeons could be run just as smoothly with and without plate wearers (assuming equal skill). But now I’m starting to question that. Are the smoothest runs those with defensive-specced plate wearers (i.e. tanks)?

About the tooltips, I noticed that condition duration on those turret tooltips are changed when adding condition damage. Gives me hope.

This is not a rant. This is a genuine question of whether these build limitations are by design, or just the mechanics are not fully implementated.

We know kits aren’t affected by sigils and weapon stats (same with conjures and banners). Though that’s likely a design issue with bundles, I imagine if they ever tried to bring stats and sigils in there could be balance issues. Imagine Superior Silig of Earth in conjunction with the Flame Jet. So while some aspects of this issue seem clunky (e.g. loss of health when swapping from a vitality weapon to a kit, toolbelt skills more powerful when holding a weapon), I’m not sure they can really solve the problem.

I think the worse limitation is turrets not inheriting player stats. Am I right this is the same for the other utility pets of other classes (ranger spirits, guardian spirit weapons, mesmer utility illusions, necro minions, elementalist elementals)? It makes the use of those utility pets more of a novelty instead of a specialization. Consider a condition heavy build using the Flame Turret. While your normal burns will tick for, say 600, your flame turret burns will tick for 328. Or how about the healing turret which will give regen ticks of 130, since it doesn’t scale with healing power. But could they fix this? Constant full-strength regen without needing a recast would probably be out of balance with other professions’ regens. I’m not sure they can really solve this problem either.

What do you think? Are these by design and something we need to live with, thus limiting build potential? Or will they eventuntually get around to making these things work?

Turret detonation is still a blast finisher. So is Magnetic Inversion.

I’m betting BoB will once again be a blast finisher one day. If you recall from the earlier betas it was a blast finisher but only when the bomb was placed, not when it exploded. I think ANet wants it to blast finish when it explodes, but they don’t have the code in place to do it. So in the meantime BoB doesn’t have a blast finisher.

Blinds, weakness, and chills. Those are the key. Nobody can expect to take more than a hit or two from a boss-level mob, even with a myriad of healing skills. When groups coordinate applying the above conditions, runs will go a lot smoother. Off the top of my head I can think of 5 different blinds engineers have, untraited, though not all 5 are available at once.

Did you test Regenerating Mist (Healing Turret toolbelt) to see if it is affected by gear?

So do we think it’s an unintended consequence of stats not affecting turrets, or is it intentional because the regen is effectively continuous and indefinite and would otherwise be OP? I guess I’m really asking…will this get fixed?

Quiznos.4296:

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ChairGraveyard.2967:

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Well that’s fine, and it’s what so many have said in this thread, but it just validates my point. In my opinion the reward of a dungeon is not the coin, levels, or gear, (i.e. digital compensation), it’s the experience of doing it, and eventually when done enough times, doing it well. If the price paid to obtain that reward is tons of wipes and loss of coin, so be it.

I’m not so naive as to believe that I have the knowledge of fights, mechanics, and professions to be able to succeed at the highest levels, which is clearly required for explorable dungeons. If a sufficiently geared, coordinated, communicating group running a dungeon has a bunch of deaths, then by definition, some or all in the group lack sufficient skill to run that dungeon with a high degree of success. It doesn’t mean that the dungeon is too hard, it means the players aren’t good enough yet. Perhaps ANet will decrease the difficulty so that explorables are accessible to more people sooner. Doing so doesn’t mean they are properly tuning it, it means they are catering to a lower skill level.

I’m behind the times and just now getting to AC story mode level (lots of alts, lots of exploring, lots of real life). My dungeon groups like a challenge and like to work out fight mechanics. These are far and away more rewarding than a piece of shiny at the end. To us the rewards are experiences, not digital things, and we’re good with that even if it means losing coin in the process.

Reading these forums has been a bit of a bummer, but not because of ANet’s changes. It’s because so many people seem to care so little about the dungeons themselves. They don’t want them to be entertaining, they want them to be reliably completeable so they can reach cool shiny stuff at the end with a high degree of likelihood. If that’s the way MMOs are and must always be in order to keep the masses happy, that is a severe limitation on the genre. I want GW2 to be different, and so far it has succeeded in doing that in a good way.

It’s tough reading these comments. It’s clear people want a challenge, but they don’t want to be over-challenged or under-rewarded. Makes sense. But you need to get ANet right when you paraphrase them. They want story mode dungeons to be something you can PUG. They want explorables to be quite difficult, but doable with a skilled, coordinated, and reasonably composed team. They expect it to be very hard at first, but slightly easier as time goes on as people get better. They base this upon their experiece with GW1. And they want the rewards from explorables (i.e. dungeon gear) to stand out, not be common-place.

I plan to do a lot of dungeons, and I’ll be running them with friends. We’ll be starting with story modes and once we get much better, moving on to explorable modes. We’re going to be doing them for the challenge and the fun. When we’ve memorized all the mechanics and the dungeons become easy, they will no longer be fun, and I will stop doing them. For me, playing the game is the draw, not the “precious” at the end. I understand that others need the “precious”. I guess that means dungeons just aren’t for them.

No, I do not think Grenade #1 will ever be auto-attack. You can’t turn it on at all right now, so even when they fix remembering auto-attack on our kits, it won’t matter. They have to change skill #1 to be player targeted, not ground targeted, and I don’t think they want to do that.

Sahfur.5612:

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It could work. They would need different tiered tokens for the different difficulty, so that the higher prestige skins come from the harder mode.

Lots of replies saying you have a bad build and you don’t know what you’re doing. They have no idea what happened. I do not believe explorables are for PUGs. Or rather, if one PUGs explorables, one should expect various degrees of success. Perhaps over time when a lot of people have a lot of dungeon experience, the rate of success will increase. I’d rather it take a long time for me and my friends to get good enough, than for AN to decrease the difficulty and make me get bored sooner.

Hey, good job Eliande. I don’t understand why people are being mean and dismissing your accomplishment. Maybe it’s an ego thing, upset someone else has the confidence to do something they wouldn’t dare to try unless they saw someone else do it first.

I also find it funny how many threads there are saying that minion builds are useless, and here we have a minion build that works. Again, good job.

PotatoOverdose.6583:

From my perspective it seems more like a common sense thing, but w/e.

Of course it’s common sense! My OP was rhetorical. Let me be more overt so that nobody else thinks I’m an idiot:

ArenaNet: The throw mine tool-tips are inaccurate as they are not blast finishers. On the other hand, if you wanted throw mine to be blast finishers, please make them so.

Jeez.

Remember the Magnetic Inversion bug back in BWE2 (I think)? That was also the same BWE where rifle got a small buff. I don’t think the “bug” was accidental. It encouraged players to try out different builds and specs. Could be the same thing here. Perhaps they think many people got it in their head that pistol condition build was the only sPvP viable engineer build, and they temporarily nerfed the pistol to encourage people to experiment. One can only hope.