Guild Wars 2

Can I just point this out again -

“Gun Flame: Now only explodes on the first target hit. This skill now allows player movement during casting.”

I will miss the exploding on ever target it hit if it pierced, but moving while casting! Speaking WvW…so much YES!

Christmas is arriving faster than the Druid reveal….AHHHGGG!!!!

Well, I hit 12K on a gravedigger and was happy-shocked. I’ve never seen single hit crits like that on a necro before like that. I’d say that’s PvE enough for me .

screenie for the proofs, bottom left hand corner.

arenta.2953:

ok yeah…GS skill 5 needs to actually pull them. not knock them down where they standing

The knock down seems to be a terrain pathing issue that has plagued similar skills like Engi’s magnet pull. I’ve noticed it especially when I am on a slope higher than the target. For the most part however, it is working as a pull.

This is PvE-
I’ve been running Death Magic and that line works well with it. Shrouded Removal and Corruptors Fervor go well especially running two shouts with Augury of Death. Pop of a shout with that and it’s CD is reduce by 35% (7% x 5 enemies) to 19 seconds!

Thanks for the suggestion.

We need to specify in what modes we think it is bad i.e. PvP, WvW or PvE. In PvE it is an excellent alternative to axe, though I think the GS needs some tweaks. I have found it to be very fun, in addition to the reaper skills. Reaper skill 2 is a great movement skill to avoid damage spikes or reposition.

Again, we just need to specify what mode we are talking about.

Bhawb.7408:

Solid idea, GS is basically unusable right now.

When you say unusable are you referring to PvP/WvW?

In PvE it is a welcome option from axe and if quite strong. I’m enjoying it in that realm greatly and find it very effective.

My only suggestion is when we give feedback we want to specify what mode we are talking about.

Ryn.6459:

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

Ryn.6459:

Guang, what numbers do you get for sinister engi, if I may ask?

18.5k on a balanced Traveler setup, 19.2k on a DPS-only Nightmare setup.

Thank you. Just one last thing, can you provide me the rotation?

Here’s his link on GW2 Guru that goes through the build (found on first post of this thread):
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/96806-zerk-is-for-casuals-june-2015-ranger-builds/

Also, you can go through his comments on Reddit, where this has been discussed for some time, and see where he explains it.

https://www.reddit.com/user/GuanglaiKangyi

Crazy bleeding kitten of fiery torment!

You see up to 8K burning tics and up to 5K bleed tics in the beginning; afterward, they average 5K to 4K tics for both burning and bleeding.

Nice. Very nice.

Manekk.6981:

Expiatus.4210:

RevanCorana.8942:

Did you notice Tripwire has a knockdown of 3 seconds while Spiketrap is only 1 second? Despite that Spiketrap recharges 1.5 times slower.
Essentially the thief trap works better without having to invest any trait into it.
I call bullkitten.

Please explain “spiketrap recharges 1.5 times slower”. Tripwire has a 30 second cool down, 24 second traited. Spike Trap has a 25 second cooldown, 20 second traited.

How does thief trap work better without having to invest any traits into it? Untraited Tripwire is just a longer knockdown. You have to take the trait to get the might, vulnerability and cool down reduction.

That’s the old one, the new spiketrap has a base cd of 45 seconds

(I wrote “fortyfive s” first and it got translated to “kitten” lol)

Oh! Today I learned…thanks for the explanation.

RevanCorana.8942:

Did you notice Tripwire has a knockdown of 3 seconds while Spiketrap is only 1 second? Despite that Spiketrap recharges 1.5 times slower.
Essentially the thief trap works better without having to invest any trait into it.
I call bullkitten.

Please explain “spiketrap recharges 1.5 times slower”. Tripwire has a 30 second cool down, 24 second traited. Spike Trap has a 25 second cooldown, 20 second traited.

How does thief trap work better without having to invest any traits into it? Untraited Tripwire is just a longer knockdown. You have to take the trait to get the might, vulnerability and cool down reduction.

Spartacus.3192:

i bought a set of Trapper Runes from TP the day they revealed DragonHunter just in case but i get the feeling the CD on traps will make it not worth while.

Did you buy Runes of the Trooper instead? Trapper Runes are account bound since you have to make them through crafting.

Just wondering.

17-2 characters

Found here https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates/Game-Update-Notes-July-28-2015

- Pets: Increased the power, precision, toughness, and vitality of pets by up to 150 at level 80.
- Crippling Talon: Increased the range to 1200.
- Throw Torch: Increased the range to 1200.
- Bonfire: Increased the radius to 240.
- Hunter’s Call: Increased the range to 1200.
- Call of the Wild: Increased the radius to 750.
- Whirling Defense: Increased the reflection radius to 150.
- Path of Scars: Increased the base range to 1200.
- Nature’s Vengeance: Fixed an issue that caused spirit effects to list a 70% chance on hit when using this trait.
- Light on Your Feet: Fixed an issue in which this trait granted 3 seconds of the effect instead of 4 seconds.
- “We Heal as One!”: Fixed an issue that prevented this skill from displaying the bonuses from the Resounding Timbre trait (the bonuses were still being properly applied).
- “Strength of the Pack!”: Fixed an issue that prevented this skill from displaying the bonuses from the Resounding Timbre trait (the bonuses were still being properly applied).
- Natural Healing: Fixed an issue that prevented this trait from affecting pets as frequently as it should have.
- Go for the Eyes: Fixed an issue that prevented this trait from activating while in a downed state.
- Wilting Strike: Fixed an issue that prevented this trait from activating while in a downed state.
- Beastly Warden: Fixed an issue that prevented this trait from activating while in a downed state.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Yes. Flavor of the Month 2-week Mesmers are strong, but not OP. Mostly because they don’t really know what they’re doing outside of their FoTM Bursts.

… Where is that dead horse .gif? I think I’ll need it for the future.

Your wish is granted!

I’ll be honest, I miss the older bomb pack. For me it had a lot of character and it looked much better than the wooden half-barrels we are currently carrying around.

While looking through GW2 Reddit I cam across SuperJeanJean’s post testing if condi damage does even out at 700.

It interested me since we have so much poison application. A quick summary but go read the math and analysis.

POISON – since it can stack, the damage output evens out at 850 Condition Damage with 2 stacks. At 3 stacks and above, you don’t even need Condition Damage, you already deal more damage.

BURNING – With burning stacking the damage output evens out at 1083 Condition Damage for 2 stacks. At 3 stacks and above, you don’t need Condition Damage to have your damage output boosted.

BLEEDING – (directly quoted)
Senario 1: 1v1, PvP or PvE : Very few build are able to go above the previous limit of 25 stacks. If you are under 2050 Condition Damage and can’t go above 25 stacks, it’s a nerf. 49% less damage if you don’t have CD, 17.5% less damage at the famous 700 mark. It’s a solid nerf if you don’t build specifically for Condition Damage.

Scenario 2: It’s a lot easier to go above the previous limit of 25 stacks. 2 players generating 13 stacks, 3 players generating 9 stacks… if you have a small group that’s dedicated to conditions, you will enjoy a boost of the damage output. Even more with big groups like on World Bosses where even with 0 CD it will wreck the boss.

Torment and Confusion will make this a wall of text so head over an read it at this link
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3b2n3z/new_condition_damage_evens_out_at_700_base_stat/

Burning is still the condi champ, poison is now second, bleeding is third but you typically can apply bleeds quicker.

Roy Cronacher wrote up a piece explaining future changes to the combat system. Some good news for condi builds.

Bullet Summary
• Each intensity-stacking damaging condition will stack to a much larger number. In other words, there will be no more limit on damaging conditions
• Burning and poison will be intensity-stacking conditions, damage formulas will be adjusted to account for this.
• Poison will only stack its damaging portion on a foe, healing affecting portion has no change.
• Confusion will be split it into two effects. It will retain the damage on attack, but at a lesser amount than its previous version. That damage has been added back in the form of a damage-over-time effect.
• The condi damage formulas are still being adjusted the break-even point before you start doing more damage is around 700 condition damage.
• Vulnerability will increase both direct damage and condition damage taken by an afflicted foe.
• Movement skills will be normalized so that movement-speed increases or decreases do not impact the distance traveled by your character.

Source – https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/combat-changes-dotsanddashes/

According to Roy Conacher:
We didn’t want to leave out the last damaging condition, confusion. Confusion is quite fickle. Currently, whenever a foe afflicted with confusion attacks, they take damage. In some combat situations, this is far too effective, such as against a very rapidly attacking character. In other cases, it performs very poorly, such as on a slowly attacking boss.

To make this damaging condition more reliable, we’ve changed what it does, splitting it into two effects. It will retain the damage on attack, but at a lesser amount than its previous version. That damage has been added back in the form of a damage-over-time effect.

When confusion is placed on an enemy, it will not just slowly drain their life over time but also damage them when they attack. This allows for a more consistent result, as some foes attack quickly but others only once every few seconds, wasting potential damage. We believe we’ve found a happy middle ground where confusion retains its original design intent but will be useful in more areas of the game.

Full article here – https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/combat-changes-dotsanddashes/

Heal as One becoming a shout quote and source:

Ten Ton Hammer:
How much of a revision are existing skills getting for each profession? Are any and all up for improvement or revision and if so, to what degree do you think you’ve done this?

Jon:
It depends on the profession and it depends on the skill. We talked about some examples for instance where Mortar is turning into a kit. There are other examples like where Heal as One is becoming a shout. We’re also rebalancing some skills based on the way traits are changing. The goal of this is to make more viable builds and give more definition to professions.

Source- http://www.tentonhammer.com/news/guild-wars-2/guild-wars-2-heart-thorns-specializations-and-jon-peters-qa

MMORPG:
How will new mechanics for elite specializations be implemented? Will they be implemented through the new traits, skills, or another method? A combination of all of the above? An example would be great.

Jon Peters:
The new mechanics for each profession will come in a variety of forms. The bulk of the first set of specializations modifies profession skills but there are other things we are doing as well. As one example, the warrior profession will have a new way to spend adrenaline, and a new way to interact with their adrenaline bar. (Toward the later third of the article)

Source- http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/473/feature/9624/Guild-Wars-2-Specializations-Define-Roles-in-Heart-of-Thorns.html

Massivley OP:
There have been hints at new core mechanics for each profession based on its elite specialization, such as an alternate way to take advantage of life force for Necromancers. Can you elaborate a bit more on some of the new mechanics, and have you any plans for future specializations with entirely new mechanics?

Jon Peters:
Fundamentally, we’re altering how players play the game with their chosen profession. In the first set of specializations, that often means altering the profession mechanic. For example, the active version of the virtues for the Guardian profession are going to be different. (This is found at the end of the article)

Source – http://massivelyop.net/2015/04/23/exclusive-guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns-interview-unwraps-specializations-and-traits/

EremiteAngel.9765:

is it worth using a superior sigil of torment for a necro?

I calculated and I only do around 160 damage per tick when I apply torment.

Does the 5 seconds get boosted by my increase in condi duration?
Does it get decreased by enemies’ -condi duration food?

Is it better to just equip a sigil of air?

Sig of Torment is works well with condi builds since it will be affected by both condi damage/might and duration. On top of that is helps cover conditions when your opponents cleanses them.

Enemies can decrease duration if they run a condi-decrease food.

Regarding sig of air. That is usually use in power builds since it synergizes better with power builds.

Overall, it depends on your build and what you want it to be.

After about two years of playing I finally tried out necro. I tried out all the classes, played many to 80, only to delete them (only the ranger and engi survived), but I wanted a light armored class. After quick leveling him with some tomes and getting the hang of it, I started to really enjoy it. Necro is the only class for me where I can be full zerk and face tank by popping in and out of death shroud. I love face tanking btw. I’ve started spending so much more time on the necro than my other toons. I take him into PvE, WvW and PvP and do just fine in all of them. I dungeon every so often with guildies or PUGs and I’m usually one of the few surviving the encounters.

I always enjoy playing the necro. Give it a try, it can’t hurt anything.

As I have said before:
“Rangers can bench press two bears at once, walk on water, shark pets dedicate a week to us, Lyssa calls us for dates, we swim after eating, Ascalon ghosts sit around fires and tell stories about us, we teach Krytan drake hounds to bark in Canthan, we talk about fight club, we grant genies 3 wishes and only a ranger has swum across the Crystal Desert.”

Ranger is just too much fun to play.

Puck.9612:

Expiatus.4210:

Did you guys catch the tool tip part that says " You and your pet grant each other might when you attack"

Going to test to see if we got buffed.

That’s been that way. Try it with marsh drakes f2

Well I feel like a noob! I’ve been playing since Beta and I’ve never noticed it. HA!

Thanks for the intel.

Did you guys catch the tool tip part that says " You and your pet grant each other might when you attack"

Going to test to see if we got buffed.

1. Do NOT use LB#4 because it is off cool down. Use it to create space, interrupt a heal, knock off a stomp.
2. LB is just one of two weapons. Learn them both.
3. I think this was said; Zephyr+Maul GS is a nasty combo.
4. Use terrain to your advantage.
5. You have to be aware if your surroundings.

No pet?! Then who am I suppose to roam around Tyria with? I want my drake hound around. I keep him alive and he nomnoms faces.

Aside, I have a sneaky suspicion Dave Mark has some fixes for pet AI in the upcoming xpack.

I give you two Ranger main-hand sword lessons by Faeral Cutsu.

First: Slash Kick Pounce
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbNuv4T8J1I

Second: Hornet Sting | Monarch’s Leap | Serpent’s Strike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ5f7iEEFZc

Good Stuff!

I believe! I’ve always had good results with your builds. I’ll jump into some PvP a little later on and get familiar with it.

Blackmoa.3186:

Martial arts version:

warriors would be kyokushin karate (facetanking and just throwing punches till someone gets knocked out)
thieves would be ninjutsu (wannabe cool guys that dont care for fairness)
rangers would be kyudo (shooting at stuff from high range)
eles would be Kungfu (too many styles)
engineers would be krav maga (let’s just take a bit of everything we like and everything goes)
guardians would be sumo (fat guys that dont want to move out of a ring)
mesmers would be wingchun (lots of kitten flying at you)
necros would be WTF takwondo (rather impractible but if they get to hit you their way you gonna get kittened)

AHAHHAAAHHHAAAAA!!!! Black Moa wins! The necro comparison is pure win.

For WvW or PvP:
Turn off auto attack.
Now, if you need to create distance, deselect target and use Swoop to get out of dodge. It works even better when combo’d with Lightning Reflexes, then Swoop

Don’t know if any of you have seen this on the twiterverse.

https://twitter.com/GuildWars2/status/537969851432968192

Aloe seeds? Are we getting closer to Ronan’s Cave? Who is that charr?

I didn’t see this up yet. The teaser trailer for the next episode is up. https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/trailer-seeds-of-truth-begins-december-2/

I won’t divulge it’s contents so as to not spoil anything with one exception. What are those markings at the 57 second mark? They resemble door handles. I wonder if they are on a door? And if a door, where does it go?

I’m just now trying thieves again but I remember Xsorus’ ole venom share build and it seemed to do pretty well if you got the jump on folks. The decreased cool down along with Quick Venoms brings venom use to every 32 seconds. It will be interesting to try that build out again.

Build references:
GW2 Skills Net-
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAqYVlUmKN3aS0E95EB3DnC1n6VosaPupNjJA-jACBoOCi0CBikGMTqIasFTFRjV3ATxiIq2roIa1SBso0I-e
Video-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBj4pEnMzNA

Nausiation,
I recently leveled a necro. It was the last class I’ve ever tried, and I’ve been playing since beta. I am loving it! The survivability is great for my play style. I can tank so much in a zerk DS spec and still put out enough DPS for my liking.

Will I get picked up for a speed or min/max group, no, but I don’t play that style. I do PvE and dungeons with guildies or LFG and perform quite well.

I only have two other 80s; a ranger and engi so it doesn’t hurt to role one and give it a try. I’m glad I did.

it is freaking, amazing fun!

I’ve been playing since beta and I’ve tried everything but Necro, until recently. I had no idea it could be such an “in your face” melee caster class. I love it! I tried all the other caster, clothy types and I know they have a melee component but, Ele was like playing Mozart on two pianos and Mesmer was…well I just don’t get it.

In PvE, I’m running a zerk DS spec (62006) and I love getting in to melee, dropping in and out of DS and surviving all the junk the baddies can throw at me. WvW I just go condi with scepter/horn and staff and again just have a life blast (queue rim shot).
I only have a level 80 Ranger and Engi, but my Necro has become my main for the time being.

I never thought I’d enjoy it but man was I wrong. I’m glad I tried it.

draxynnic.3719

Regarding the names… it strikes me that the dragons placed opposite one another are, well, opposites. Zhaitan is the dragon of death while Mordremoth is a dragon of uncontrolled (plant) life. Primordus is fire to Jormag’s ice. Kralkatorrik and Scleritethin (:P) are a little less clear, but given that one moved to a desert while the other dwells in the deep ocean, it could be a case of ‘wet versus dry’ or something like that.

Maybe it can be looked at in a different vector. The sea dragon is diagonal from Jormag – liquid form of water opposite it’s solid form. Primodius diagonal from Kralkatorik – rock’s liquid form opposite it’s solid form (crystalline structure). Four dragons/spheres at the four corners representing two phases of matter. Also, as Konig pointed out, the circle markings are different for these four from Mordy and Zhai’s markings. Maybe because, as you said, they are opposites of existence – life versus death or different states of beings and not phases of matter.

@ Konig – Whoops! Thanks for the grammar check.

Regarding the name Scleritethin, you may be onto something. Didn’t the sclerite weapons come out with the initial Southsun Cove release or was it the Secrets of Southsun Cove? Either way, dripping crustacean-like weapons released in conjunction with a once undersea land, ancient sea creatures…sounds like a stretch but best one I’ve heard yet.

Omadd’s Machine Cinematic picture -

The second ceiling pan, the one after the Abbadon statue, caught my eye. On the ceiling there is a geometric assemblage that parallels the spheres we saw in Omadd’s machine. The letters going from top to bottom, then left to right are:
S – K
Z – M
P? – J (The proposed P letter is partially covered by a suspension line.)

After reviewing Omadd’s Machine cinematic the colored spheres appear to match the letters i.e. S = Sea dragon, K = Kralkatoric, Z = Zhaitan, etc.

I’m curios who put this drawing up there. What knowledge do they have? How did they get it. We players needed an Asura machine to see it. It may never be explained but, some other person or group has/had access to that knowledge and we are now getting some of it.

In addition, it looks like a suspended dragon’s tail is there in the shot.

Ceiling picture -

I think what Xusa is trying to relay is, sometimes to best understand the situation they need to experience the situation.

Is it pretty challenging to take camps, keeps and SM with 5 to 10 people and avoid zergs, etc.? Yes, but I do miss the days when we were on a somewhat equal footing with the other servers. Fight are just better with close to equivalent groups of people.

How my pet AI acts sometimes.

Ehecatl.9172:

Jim Hunter.6821:

All of Skeletors posts

WINNING!

No wonder he hates rangers. His arch nemesis He-Man was obviously a greatsword ranger with a special green tiger pet.

MORE WINNING!

@ Skroo or Archon,
What type of food do you use? Loaf of Saffron Bread, Lemon Grass Poultry, Roasted Lotus Root?

Sicarius.4639:

Expiatus.4210:

I’ll position myself, get my healing going, jungle spider F2, QZ+RF and then I will snipe them dead and terminate their aoe.

How are you finding things like retal? I run a glass build and run in a mid sized guild group. We look for similar sized fights around the map and I’m having trouble with taking a reasonable chunk of damage purely from retaliation. Any tips? Anything I’m overlooking that could help?

Fighting from walls I’m pretty selective on targets. I tend to find those far enough out from retail coverage by clicking on them and looking for their buffs. Also, I typically test shot (LB#1) when a large group is attacking. If retail spikes I can wait a few seconds until it falls off then lay on QZ+RF. Remember you can “break target” to stop shooting and you can dodge roll your own RF. Finally, as Kaybosh said, TU is a nice buffer that helps you press through.

Regarding Piercing Arrows, if you play disciplined enough and you are patient, you can run it when fighting against zergs/large groups. You just have to be mindful of when their buffs fall off whether they are stripped or expire.

One of the reason I like playing Ranger. We can better survey the battle from a distance and figure out where we want to add pressure.

Atherakhia.4086:

And lets go for the trifecta! You already have full celestial you said which means you cover a lot of what the apoth+whatever can provide. I’d suggest full dire.

Full Dire also has the added benefit of it being quite strong for Engineer and Thief should you decide to run an alt.

Oh good point. I totally forgot Ascended equipment is account bound now.

Oh that 9K maul is beautiful

You know one thing the LB change really helped us on in WvW – defending from the keep walls.

There is usually a glass ele or necro dropping aoe on the wall. I’ll position myself, get my healing going, jungle spider F2, QZ+RF and then I will snipe them dead and terminate their aoe. If they are paying attention, they can peel off but usually their is enough punch, plus the imob to down them.

I don’t have ascended yet but I use exotic Dire armor/weapons and exotic Apothecary trinkets and they work quite well. It offers a good amount of flexibility since WS, NM and Beast all benefit from the mixed stats. I’ve even tried points in Skirmishing for better traps and it worked pretty fair, though the precision is just wasted.

An older, but still helpful, video explanation is Xsorus’ BM Bunker guide found here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzkHpSawTA8&list=UUXpX7JMwRXtczc5GTrIYRIw

The BM Bunker part starts around 12:30 minute mark.