Guild Wars 2

Xaylin.1860:

Traited Sword removes 1 boon on critical hits. 1s ICD.

Harrrr!

Since sword auto attack and #3 clone’s third attack already remove 1 boon, they can simply make iswordsman removes 1 boon on hit as well.

OMG, the traits are ridiculously good.
Now I am feeling maybe everyone will be chronomancer. Is that good?

The easiest way to help your team win is to play a shout bow warrior. Tons of support and a banner to help those who die too quickly in the team fight.

I am a terrible warrior player but still have the highest win ratio playing this spec.

Kaiser.9873:

I’m not saying leave BG. Don’t try to put word in my mouth. Why does BG have a RIGHT to stay T1? Being in T1 is not something that BG is entitled to, and if they can’t do the work to stay there, for whatever reason they don’t need to stay. If BG doesn’t have players playing right now then they deserve to get rolled by TC and JQ, and subsequently drop tiers. That’s how this game works. If YB players decided to take a long break then why should they stay in T2? They shouldn’t.

So since BG players decide to take a long break, ANet should change the rules to allow new players to move into BG? BG is no more entitled to a spot in T1 than any other server. So either get the players motivated to get into the BLs more than every other week, or drop.

Also, regarding YB.
You are healthy only because you are one of the two not full servers in top 6. I am pretty sure there are YB players who also take breaks and transfer away. The only thing that keeps your server healthy is that players can transfer in.

Since the currrent server choice only matters to WvW players, the server status should really be implemented in a way to reflect the server’s WvW population.

The current status of server means absolutely nothing to players and provides no helpful information regarding choosing a server.

e.g. Full server should be those with high number of queues so that players don’t mindless transfer there for endless of queues.

Kaiser.9873:

I’m not saying leave BG. Don’t try to put word in my mouth. Why does BG have a RIGHT to stay T1? Being in T1 is not something that BG is entitled to, and if they can’t do the work to stay there, for whatever reason they don’t need to stay. If BG doesn’t have players playing right now then they deserve to get rolled by TC and JQ, and subsequently drop tiers. That’s how this game works. If YB players decided to take a long break then why should they stay in T2? They shouldn’t.

So since BG players decide to take a long break, ANet should change the rules to allow new players to move into BG? BG is no more entitled to a spot in T1 than any other server. So either get the players motivated to get into the BLs more than every other week, or drop.

I am afraid you got it all wrong.

It’s not like players from other servers don’t recruit or don’t motivate their players to play. It is normal for some of your players to afk and some of your players to transfer away. However, being full means you will get very few transfer ins. So over time, it will cause a decrease of WvW population.

This is something that is completely controlled by Anet not any of the players.

To make things worse, it is never easy to get a bit of change up of your matchup with current glicko system. BG players might prefer to play some of the other T2 T3 servers, but they won’t be able to unless they deliberately tank a few weeks. This is not something healthy for the game either.

Aktium.9506:

Ithilwen.1529:

Then realistically you need to accept that power ranger should be eliminated from the game. It has the same basic objections. There really isn’t a counterplay for a one-shot kill from behind at 1200 range. Nor for a fire and forget guided missle.

There’s a Look Behind button you know. If a Ranger manages to sneak up on you from behind and fire off a Rapid Fire without you noticing in time to dodge then you sorta deserve to get hit. I do think the range on Longbow is far too long though. In my opinion longbow projectiles, all projectiles for that matter, should magically go poof immediately after reaching the stated range. The 2k~ range on traited LB has always been kittening dumb. Damage is fine though, it’s not that high to begin with.

TBH, the OP plays memser, looking behind doesn’t help since the damaging attack to mesmer from ranger is usually the autoattack rather than the infamous 2 skill. The autoattack can hit mesmer for 2k damage if it is a critical hit.

The only way to counter play is to LOS. If it is an open field, you are basically just doomed.

I am sorry to hear the difficulty for you to play.
There WILL definitely be easier to play builds even after HoT comes out. It is just that it will probably not be mesmer.

No matter you like him or not, his stream is simply one of the best out there with a lot f things you can learn from here and there.

Such commentary play is really needed not only for mesmer players but for pvp players in general. It helps great deal to understand the game better and enjoy it more.

For any new player(100 games should definitely be considered very new), If you have any problems with specific class, try playing its meta build yourself and know its mechanics.

Most of such grief comes from not understanding the opponent’s class at all. Saying things like 1 hit takes 10k damage explicitly shows that.

Well, the devs want you to be a hunter not a knight. Hunter uses traps, fair enough?

I started playing the game a year ago and by that time the living word season 1 is already over. You can kinda just get a feeling by reading the wiki and checking out some youtube videos

I still did the personal story and living season 2. They are pretty well made but it is not mind-blowing good type of thing that you can’t miss. Currently, if you want to play season 2, you need to pay gems. So unless you are really the kind of person who is into the story, you probably can just skip it.

The game does not seem to encourage you to fight mobs that are higher level than you.
Try going for areas that are equal or lower level than yours.
Gear wise, power is kinda necessary. Other stats can be chosen by your own preference.

I will probably take Sword/shield + staff or GS in the end.

If there needs to be dueling mode, then it has to be purely for fun w/o any rewards or competition tied to it.

Dueling is simply not the mode Anet balance things around. It will also be almost impossible to balance all the 1v1 builds. If it ever became a competitive game mode, you will see tons of complaints on certain imbalanced builds.

MidoriMarch.8067:

I’ve heard Sea of Sorrow has most OCE players is it still valid?

SBI or SoS?

btw thanks for the reply

On SoS, we used to the unofficial OCE server. But after a couple guilds transfer away to T1 . We are about even with other T2 competitors. We still have the largest PvX OCE population though.

As an SoSian, will surely enjoy to fight you on the battle ground

T raw.4658:

Exciton.8942:

T raw.4658:

Quadox.7834:

T raw.4658:

In a legit 1v1 a mesmer has a very good chance to win. The age old thief counters mesmer comes from the thief focusing the mesmer in X v X battles. The current meta mesmer builds can’t deal with that.

Yet 1v1 it comes down to individual player skill more so than the mesmer community will let on.

Same thing with rangers as well. Rangers in today’s game should not be losing to thieves 1v1. When that happens it’s due to the ranger player being either extremely horrible or really stupid build.

This is wrong. Mesmer cannot win vs a decent thief unless on very specific points (mine on forerst). It does not matter if it is 1v1, XvX, whatever. This is mainly because the thief can go in and out and exhaust cooldowns like there’s no tomorrow. This is especilially true for SD thief. In terms of ranger vs thief, SD thif wins hands down, if there is any line of sight at all. Only d/p struggles vs ranger.

Concerning after the patch, sure mesmer is getting nice buffs, but i promise you, thieves will still own them. Actually, probably even harder than before due to the incredible thief buffs.

So your example is only on a point where there is LoS abuse…..

What happens if there is no LoS tactics available?

What happens with DP panic strike thieves?

Claiming thieves dominate 1 mesmer build with their one SD build isn’t a legit reason for people to call that match up a hard counter.

Well, for a long time, this is the most common thief build against the most common mesmer build. And power shatter is still the best mesmer PvP build

Mesmer sure has more chance 1v1 against a DP but statistically it is still to mesmer’s disadvantage. The DP has the initiative and it is up to the mesmer to guess. In addition to that, thief can most of the time reset the fight if it goes south.

Funny thing is PvP doesn’t utilize SA so in a duel double range shatter win percentage is closer to 50/50 then you’re willing to admit

You can still easily reset with a shadow refuge and it is next to impossible for mesmer to guess timing of the next action. Also There is no actual duel in PvP. The reality is if thief gets a good opening, the result is a dead mesmer. And if mesmer gets a good opening, thief easily escapes and will use his mobility for something else.

I think that is a hard enough counter.

T raw.4658:

Quadox.7834:

T raw.4658:

In a legit 1v1 a mesmer has a very good chance to win. The age old thief counters mesmer comes from the thief focusing the mesmer in X v X battles. The current meta mesmer builds can’t deal with that.

Yet 1v1 it comes down to individual player skill more so than the mesmer community will let on.

Same thing with rangers as well. Rangers in today’s game should not be losing to thieves 1v1. When that happens it’s due to the ranger player being either extremely horrible or really stupid build.

This is wrong. Mesmer cannot win vs a decent thief unless on very specific points (mine on forerst). It does not matter if it is 1v1, XvX, whatever. This is mainly because the thief can go in and out and exhaust cooldowns like there’s no tomorrow. This is especilially true for SD thief. In terms of ranger vs thief, SD thif wins hands down, if there is any line of sight at all. Only d/p struggles vs ranger.

Concerning after the patch, sure mesmer is getting nice buffs, but i promise you, thieves will still own them. Actually, probably even harder than before due to the incredible thief buffs.

So your example is only on a point where there is LoS abuse…..

What happens if there is no LoS tactics available?

What happens with DP panic strike thieves?

Claiming thieves dominate 1 mesmer build with their one SD build isn’t a legit reason for people to call that match up a hard counter.

Well, for a long time, this is the most common thief build against the most common mesmer build. And power shatter is still the best mesmer PvP build

Mesmer sure has more chance 1v1 against a DP but statistically it is still to mesmer’s disadvantage. The DP has the initiative and it is up to the mesmer to guess. In addition to that, thief can most of the time reset the fight if it goes south.

Anet, plz.
A look into such problem is long overdue.
We are not asking for a complete fix on the population imbalance . But some easier improvement can definitely be done.

messiah.1908:

i think the chronomancer role will be with phantasm mainly giving cc and buff to the area
for power burst the power shatter will still be upper as if you buff too much the dmg with chrono line there will be no point taking others. thus i guess chrono will have less power/condi base but will have nice tricks with f5

question:
if i dont choose chrono line will i be able to use f5?

No. I think you have to take chrono line to use f5, shield and wells.

Power shatter mesmer will probably still go for 66006. The question is whether it will still be the most effective mesmer build.

Welcome back to the game.
You should consider join on the SoS community website http://www.sosgw2.com/ You can find plenty of guild recruitment information there.
Also, try running with some guilds in WvW and see if their level/style fits you.

skcamow.3527:

Chance.2365:

Yo, for PvE boys : one GM of the Chronomancer line will actually let you shatter phantasm and they’ll be summoned again immediatly.
This. Is. Cool.

And there’s one for clones, too (on shatter spawn one clone on you). Another clone generation option outside of DE, finally.

Interesting. Now this sounds like a line that can potentially replace Dueling.

Ithilwen.1529:

I crafted, not bought, my legendary and have 12K+ AP and Dragon rank.. You learn to play. ANET apparently trashed a favorite build secretly and I’m not happy about it.

You learn to think for yourself instead of parroting the latest “cool” snark on forums.

The clone death traits and PU were nerfed quite a while ago due to massive complaints back then(last summer I believe)

So It’s really not a stealth nerf. It might be just you who missed the moment.

Sorel.4870:

I think the man has a point there, even if he doesn’t express it quite clearly. There is no real trade-off for being a Chronomancer it seems (I’ll wait for the stream to be sure). You will lose some skills, gain some, but in the case of shatters, you just gain one.

The new F5 looks a lot like our current Distorsion. It’s technically an immunity to all incoming damage for 1-4s (I’m pretty sure about the length, though it hasn’t be confirmed). The differences are:
- The new F5 will likely be on a slightly longer CD.
- You cannot wait for your skills to recharge with the new F5 (since you return to where you were in space-time)
- You can cast skills and they will be recharged instantly after the F5 ends.
- You can maybe die during the new F5 if you’re not careful, but that’s not even sure.

A logical choice would have been, regarding the similarities between the two skills, to just replace Distorsion by this new shatter. But since we can use both, I fear that not picking the elite specialization will be a bad choice, no matter the build.

It still depends on the trait line. I foresee the trait line has a lot to do with the well skills . If you opt for a traditional shatter build, I feel you are probably still better off with Domination, Dueling and Illusions.

Domination offer strong dps, boon strip and interruption
Dueling offers Deceptive evasion and some more neat tricks.
Illusions reduce your shatter recharge and improve your shatter.

None of these three can be easily given up. If we go for the chronomancer route, I think we will build our mesmer completely differently compared to its current high burst damage role.

Sagat.3285:

Power shatter mesmer is not the only spec around, it looks like an upgrade to base mesmer not is simply because it’s all speculation so far and we are lacking info. Extreme damage is never OP exploit safe damage is. I’m not saying it’s OP but the concept itself is loose one leaning mostly to extremities.

It is basically an elite skill that gives mesmer a chance to be aggressive/creative for 1-4 seconds. But you give up some other traits so that you will be less effective outside that burst period.

That duration can be countered by opponent being more defensive and disengage. I really don’t find such concept pushing things to extreme.

Sagat.3285:

Bunda.2691:

Keep in mind that mesmer will have to give up another trait line to spec in chrono, so burst mes won’t be as bursty. This will be the same for other classes — likely increased utility at the other expense of dps.

Huh? 1)Choose 2 dps lines 2)get elite line 3)profit.

It’s still looks like an upgrade.

I think you really need to study the mesmer trait line in more detail to make comment like that.

IMHO, the new elite trait line is by no means a must-take trait line for mesmer and be a simple upgrade.

Let’s take a look at what a traditional burst shatter mesmer take.
1. Domination: brings high dps, interrupt and boon strip
2. Dueling: Deceptive evasion, essential for mesmer to shatter often.
3. Illusion: Improve shattering capability, reduce shatter cooldown.

Which one do you think can be given up easily for a shatter damage orientated mesmer?

The new elite line, despite not being revealed fully, is probably gonna offer strong powerful but clunky skills with long cool downs. E.g F5 shatter skill sounds like an elite shatter skill. I think it will probably have a cooldown between 90 to 180 seconds. The length of that skill will probably be 1-4 seconds, depending on how many illusions you shattered. There is really a limited number of things you can do in those 4 seconds and the easiest counter is probably to keep distance and survive for that duration of time.

Also, the new well utility skills will have long cool down and force mesmer to give up one of portal, decoy and blink which are essential for the squishy shatter spec to survive.

I really foresee mesmers who opt for the chronomancer route to take a completely different approach to the class compared to the traditional power shatter. I can immediately see such mesmer being a strong support force in WvW. But they will not be a direct upgrade of the original power shatter.

There is definitely no worry about the elite skill being OP. The concept is definitely solid and only requires number tweaking to balance.

Well, it might be an overkill but we are still better off w/o this spec than with it in terms of having fun.

Shoutbow warrior, probably.

SoS is indeed the unofficial OCE server but our WvW population at that timezone is about even against FA and YB.

We do still have a much larger PvE OCE population but it really does not matter any more with the megaserver system.

If any of you really wants to join SoS, the full server status does become very high quite frequently recently. We do have a community website (http://sosgw2.com) in which there is a public chat box that people say the server is open when they see.

They have tons of teleports but most of them have cooldown. Sword 2 and DP3 are weapon skill port but not stun breakers.

Remember a DP thief can basically steal open on you from 2400 range away and still has a shadow step to spare.

StickerHappy.8052:

I main mesmer lol. I eat rangers alive. But at the same time I play ranger, so, When I play ranger, I also rekt most mesmers alive.

So My main advice is play the class so youll know how to counter it.

Sorry for being rude but In all honesty you guys should be complaining about engies, not a bottom tier ranger.

A good power ranger has a slight edge over a good shatter mesmer. But it so happens that most ranger players are just bad.

Emapudapus.1307:

Ppl you should not read these posts literaly .

Ofc turret engi and power rangers (maybe also power necro) arent meta, but complaints about them doesnt come because they would be top tier but rather because they have lame mechanics. Turret engis had AI and power rangers have lame fast shooting bow. Both engi AI and Bow do too much for skill invested. Its just some wild anet design choice to make classes more viable trough lame stuff. And maybe many ppl would agree that normalising the bow and buffing other parts of ranger could be better choice, not just nerfing stuff to the ground.

Exactly this

SoS recently is getting some EU coverage and you are more than welcome to come.
FA surely outnumber both oppositions greatly atm but I think some more hard-core player may like a bit more challenge or want to help balance tier out a bit

They mentioned in the stream that they want to push mesmer into more of a high skill level profession. So no more passive clone death.

I guess the new easier way to mesmer will be condie shatter. If you really want to benefit from the buffs, you kinda have to go into the interrupt regime now.

In this game, legendary is all about its look and shiny effects, not about its power. Anet basically designs this game to be a pretty flat playground for all players. If you want to more gear progression, you probably want something like WoW or Diablo.

But I am very thankful for this style of game Anet delivered. There are still plenty of powerful traits you can choose from to make your character feel strong. However, it still keeps balance pretty much in the check. This is what you don’t have from other online MMORPG.

Being on SoS, I have terrible experience roaming against FA. They literally send out 5+ players chasing you down once you get on their BL. Even on SoS BL, they send 5+ man group around the taken hill to ensure no supply yak is lost.

Simply put, the roaming group from FA is just too fat to be a roaming group

Welcome to the real world of WvW.
Many servers have been experiencing this kinda lopsided matchups for way more than 3 weeks.

If you want to get involved more into organized group play, ele is way better in every aspect of the game. They are harder to learn but still very manageable.

If you are fine with PUG, then ranger is pretty good. Easy to play and still powerful. However, to really get all the potential out of ranger is actually even harder than an ele. Ele is more well-rounded class while ranger has noticeable weaknesses.

Liston.9708:

Exciton.8942:

Liston.9708:

Ark Bladesteele.2943:

Liston.9708:

Hmm I thought you had to be within 100 Glicko to even have a chance. TC/fa > 100 SOS/db > 100…

Nope. RNG is exactly that: random. We’ve been matched with servers 300 glicko higher than us and 200 glicko lower than us. It does happen.

If that is true, how was t1 100% locked for so long? Once the first domino falls maybe there is an unavoidable ripple effect though……

The server has +/-100(or maybe a bit more) random roll. But it is always possible to be matched with servers with a much higher/lower glicko rating.

E.g. DB has a small chance of swapping position with SoS. If that happens, that means they are matched up with a server(FA) that is 200 glicko higher than them.

But you need to compare the lowest of one tier and highest of the one below. Sure fa can be 200+ if SOS/db swap. The question was what is that breakpoint ? Lowest t1 and highest t2 is 130ish apart – that is where I thought the 100 came into play. It can’t be 200 or t1 would not have been 100% locked the last several months….. Chaba may have the right answer……

That is a good point. Either the random roll range is not 100 or there is some other restriction on the glicko roll.

AOE has always been the most reliable damage in large scale WvW fight. Even melee class need to rely on large-area cleave. Single target skills are at a significant disadvantage as not only they do less overall damage but also the targeting itself is already difficult and unreliable in large skill fight.

Liston.9708:

Ark Bladesteele.2943:

Liston.9708:

Hmm I thought you had to be within 100 Glicko to even have a chance. TC/fa > 100 SOS/db > 100…

Nope. RNG is exactly that: random. We’ve been matched with servers 300 glicko higher than us and 200 glicko lower than us. It does happen.

If that is true, how was t1 100% locked for so long? Once the first domino falls maybe there is an unavoidable ripple effect though……

The server has +/-100(or maybe a bit more) random roll. But it is always possible to be matched with servers with a much higher/lower glicko rating.

E.g. DB has a small chance of swapping position with SoS. If that happens, that means they are matched up with a server(FA) that is 200 glicko higher than them.

Orangensaft.7139:

as long as you dont have screenshots that show him flying in the air with the hack its no proof…

that spot on your screenshot can be reached easily by everyone with a few jumps

There was once a flying mesmer from FA into SoS keep and has been recorded by an SoS player and uploaded to youtube. It could be the same person.

Yeah, hacking mesmer(s) on FA is well known from all three T2 servers and have been reported several times by players from all three servers. Not sure why he is still not banned yet. Or maybe there are more than one of them?

Anet has been putting absolute zero effort in improving WvW for the past year, which is inexcusable.

rsiloliveira.6429:

I watched a couple videos… do you think a Ranger GS/Bow would be good?

GS/Bow ranger is really a long-range dps dealer. You want to be far away from your enemy for most of the time.

According to your description, I would say a s/d or d/p thief, or meditation guardian fits that style more. Ham bow warrior also kinda fits.

AnniMira.2506:

I wait for comments from mesmer experts. Should we organize a test? 5 gs mesmers in Arah vs 5 staff mesmers in Arah.

The optimal setup for mesmer in dungeons is mostly mainhand sword with offhand focus/sword/pistol. And the build mostly focuses on sustained damage from sword autoattack and setting up 3 hardhitting phantasms.

Johje Holan.4607:

Sorry I didn’t mean 8 T2 Servers. I meant 5.

And yes that does only leave the neccessity of finding one more server to move into T2 in order to have a pretty good balanced tier with 6 possible servers to be matched up with.

Has DB really lost people? True they don’t seem to be destroying SBI and DH this week the way they did in the past.

Hopefully not everyone will bandwagon to Mag and instead spread themselves out to try to create 6 T2 servers. But they way they’re still pounding NSP even in non-NA Prime perhaps its too late.

It’s really hard to balance. At its core, WvW is just a number’s game. People want easy wins so they bandwagon to DB, bandwagon to FA. They will now bandwagon to Mag. It will happen after Mag beats DB when they match up together.

Ballads.2509:

its more likely T3 might actually be balanced out. DB losing a few guilds and mag gaining only leaves the need for one more sever to cement a stable t3 maybe SBI can hold there own with 2 balanced combatants even.

T3 will not balance out. Mag will be the next bandwagon and I see them start winning T3 by hugh margin in a couple of weeks.

And probably after a month or so, they will create a new four T2 server rotation.

This can happen even faster than I predict.

Same in T2, at some point, u can’t really cast any skill.