Guild Wars 2

The only thing keeping a berserker roaming ranger alive is being a tricksy hobbitses. “Most people don’t play ranger right” comes from people trying to brute force their way through a warrior, rather than using the evades, stealths and CC appropriately.

There are some great tips here, but it really comes down to experience using those skills. At first, use them as ~ much as possible, and then through that experimentation you’ll get the hang of when using those skills causes the most annoyance to the opponent.

For example, any time you stealth with the longbow it makes your opponent lose his target, which is already annoying. Then as was mentioned, you can use that stealth to cover up another action like moving behind the opponent and putting down an entangle. Now they’re facing the wrong direction, can’t see where you unstealthed and you’re ready to do the next annoying trick.

Try to chain together these sorts of annoyances. If your wolf knocks someone down, follow that up with a fear and then a knockback on the longbow. No one action is going to kill the opponent, but rangers win through being annoying and whittling people down.

The Gates Assassin.9827:

1. New fail mechanic. It really brings agency to keeping the event from failing.
2. Puts a lot of agency in the hands of the players.

What the heck is “agency?”?? I can’t figure out a word that makes sense there. Control?

Appropriate pet use.

Vol.7601:

Also doesn’t help that you have rangers who are clueless on putting their pets to passive.

This is purely semantics that is annoying me, but pets should NOT be on passive. They need to be recalled for the few seconds it takes to run over a mine, then target reset on the warden. Especially since you’re probably using a jungle stalker or snow leopard.

Everyone in map chat shouts “rangers don’t use your pets!” and then I have to explain to a bunch of now confused rangers that you absolutely should use your pets, just appropriately.

I think some sort of minimal competency requirement would be helpful. Kingdom of Loathing had (has? Is it still around?) a simple grammar test before you were allowed to type in chat.

It takes roughly five people to fail the event from start to finish for the entire map of well over a hundred people. And having watched those people on other platforms, it’s pretty obvious to everyone they do not read map chat, do not read the boss descriptions, do not read guides, do not read the forums, are not observant enough to notice boss mechanics, and probably have no idea they were the ones that caused so many people to fail.

If these people had SOMEthing to prevent them from just wandering in to whatever they feel like and randomly swinging a sword, that would make a lot of people less frustrated, including the clueless people that have been barred from the content.

It’s been suggested quite a few times. At first I was on board, but now I don’t think I like turning it in to a fractal. Part of what makes the fight so cool is the massive size of it, and the pressure of over a hundred people depending on you when you fight the warden.

I do like the suggestion of making a new, permanent world boss with similar mechanics. It could even be better than what we have right now, since the devs have learned from this experience.

You know when you see someone making a complete fool of themselves and you just feel bad for them? Ya, this thread is that.

Elbegast.6970:

I don’t like having to beg others to carry me through content. If I can’t do it alone, then I just won’t do it.

Then quit the game. This is a team or guild based game, very little of the game is by yourself. You need to quit your ego and join a group.

Feel free to PM me and I’ll walk you through some of the common group content and why people find it fun. Otherwise,you may be in the wrong game.

LA can’t be destroyed because a ton of personal story steps use it. And use it intact (i.e. we need to save it from Zhaitan.)

Personal Story is a giant detractor from Living Story. Zhaitan is forever alive, Orr is forever corrupted, LA is forever untouched. If PS wasn’t there, imagine the possibilities. ANYthing could change. We could literally cleanse Orr forever, sort of like the Karka event.

All classes are viable in PvE, so forget that. I’d give an extremely slight edge to ranger for WvW roaming, but it really depends on the player.

We need a lot more of these difficult bosses so people will figure out they aren’t entitled to win every encounter added to the game. You can spam 1 to win 99.9% of PvE; don’t complain when good content is added. If it’s not for you, it’s not for you. But a lot of us are loving this stuff.

Either it’s bugged or there are fight mechanics. I saw a head melt by almost by accident. People have been saying nutrients increase your damage and also that there are double damage spots. Also I’m not sure if anyone is 100% sure what that trail does?

I mentioned in another thread I think these should have name that suggest the difficult, because a lot of people are flipping the kitten out that they can’t immediately complete them.

In GW1 they were labeled in red “Master Difficulty” to prevent new players from attempting them and expecting success.

I think something along the lines of “Master Challenge” for Marionette and “Expert Challenge” for the wurm.

I keep hoping to spot myself in these videos like some dork on TV at a football game.

I got the impression that the steam creatures were sort of obsolete in Scarlet’s army. She’s progressed well beyond her initial invasion force, and the clockwork creatures she so willingly slaughters for a weapon test are far more competent.

Solid by in terms of gameplay AND story. BotFW was amazing gameplay but a little “bizarre” (get it?) in terms of the living story. I still do not see how or if it relates to anything else in the game.

First of all, you absolutely do not need to be there more than an hour ahead of time. To get on to the native server (i.e. if you’re from BG and want to play on BG) you might have to, but you could show up 5 minutes before the fight if you already know how the fight works. “Hey guys, which group needs 1 extra person that knows what we’re doing?”

Second, the wurm is not general content. If you don’t like it, it is almost certainly not meant to be played by you. I think a warning that it’s not normal content, but rather an extreme challenge, would help prevent random people like possessed from trying to beat it and then getting frustrated by losing. In GW1 they had text warnings that some things are extraordinarily hard and you might not want to try them.

possessed.2036:

Fluffball.8307:

The only problem with the wurm being so hard is that Bob the level 37 ele thinks it was made for him. Perhaps a warning similar to ski slopes “EXPERTS ONLY” would have helped mitigate all this criticism of it.

I’ve spent way too many enjoyable hours on the wurm. The people it wasn’t made for hate it for mistaking it for general content.

It would be nice if we all could whittle away many hrs for zero rewards , however my time ingame is precious so I have to make every minute count. I don’t have time to stand around while everyone holds hands & sings songs pre event to feel co-ordinated.

Many of you seem to crave this mass co-ordination & communication & feeling of community, its quite simple to find, its called a life, go live it & let us play playable content LIVE not in 2 hrs. Thank you.

My time in game is precious too, which is why I spent it playing the wurm and having fun. I’m honestly confused what you’re getting at, other than taking the time to insult people who like to play the wurm.

It’s been so popular I think it has to make a comeback somehow. Maybe a heavily modified version in a fractal.

The only problem with the wurm being so hard is that Bob the level 37 ele thinks it was made for him. Perhaps a warning similar to ski slopes “EXPERTS ONLY” would have helped mitigate all this criticism of it.

I’ve spent way too many enjoyable hours on the wurm. The people it wasn’t made for hate it for mistaking it for general content.

Pennry.9215:

Fluffball.8307:

There was a scholar in the story instance that mentions it was found by the Priory. I think, don’t quote me on that.

It’s the NPC with the story page on it’s head right as you go in. She asks if you want to know more about Scarlet and you say “yes”, then she tells you they found the “lab” (more like a cell imo).

I said don’t quote me!

There was a scholar in the story instance that mentions it was found by the Priory. I think, don’t quote me on that.

Aedelric.1287:

Seems almost obvious to me, Scarlet hates a specific dragon according to the diary she wrote. Thumpers are used to discern location of dragon (Diagram in lair points to this) who is likely Primordius (Fire rising you cannot contain). Marionette UFO is a giant drill (Diagram of this in the lair) and she plans to dig at the location and lower down her robot to kill the dragon. Judging by the map the location is Lions Arch.

A lot of people have crazy theories involving pale tree, bubbles and so on, but I really do not see the story being too convoluted. Still it is sometimes great to read what others think about the situation.

One thing Arena Net have done right this time is that the story has had a push in the right direction.

Again, not talking about the lore of a dragon fight, but the mechanics of one.

As close as a lot of people have gotten, it’s just a matter of everyone optimizing themselves. Right now people are almost finishing this with tons of casual PUG players mixed in. People aren’t using cons, people are probably wearing some masterwork karma gear, there might be some uplevels, and yet the heads are still half dead when time runs out.

This may actually get easier once the hype dies down and it’s 120 guildies all wearing full ascended gear.

ViralVarda.2739:

On topic, I don’t think the laser is going to be used for fighting the actual dragon. It might be, but I believe she’ll be using the toxic from the Toxic Alliance.

I meant the mechanics of it. I think they’re experimenting with different types of full map fights so the dragon death can be epic. Both of these new encounters are fighting a single boss, yet split the 120 or whatever people playing it in to small groups. The invasions split people up, but these new fights are fighting a single major boss (a la a dragon.)

25 per path, not all are in the same spot. If you’re guarding all the way back at the gate you might only see 5 people. If you’re working the hammer you might be all by yourself.

Anyway, not to argue about that. If you’re having frame rate issues, you’re having them. I just find it weird you do. I’m lucky enough I don’t have any problems with 3-way full map fights in WvW.

You’re having frame rate issues with these new boss fights? There are only ~ 15 people on your screen at any given time in the Marionette fight.

… a dragon boss fight test.

It seems most people thought the Zhaitan dungeon was outstanding until the boss “fight”. Actually almost all of the original dungeons and world events had dull fights. And Anet has learned massively about how to do this right.

I think each of these LS bosses (think how cool some have been, and some are even immortalized in the new Fractals) are Anet tested on us how to kill the next dragon.

I believe the next dragon death will be a massive world event, a better version of the Marionette fight. Maybe even at the end of a world dungeon, a better version of the Nightmare Tower. Think Karka event except with interesting mechanics.

I don’t see how Scarlet could be on our side, because she would massively, massively upstage us. She’s far more capable than our characters (it take hundreds of us just to inconvenience her weapon tests).

They said they wanted to get GW2 back to focusing on the player, since the LS had drifted towards focusing on the world instead. If we don’t fight Scarlet, the LS is now about her heroism instead of ours.

I completed the Marionette fight for the first time and decided to celebrate by checking out the lair. I got 39 rares and a mini moa! That’s more than every other LS update combined! I still haven’t even used all those “I can be any type of key” bags yet either.

If you’re getting frustrated with the rewards of this update, just go to Scarlet’s Lair and roll around in your new found wealth.

The evasiveness and CC. It just feels beautiful to have so many options when you’re fighting another player.

RyuDragnier.9476:

Have you ever heard of Druids?

Sure, but GW2 rangers are up to this point basically 100% martial. If you were to redo the class like Diablo 2 and make them casters it would make sense. Also Sylvari could be elves. :-P

ANY way to get ascended gear other than the unpleasant experience of crafting is ok with me.

A lot of us don’t like crafting Anet!! Let us play your beautiful game and earn our gear!

Stand The Wall.6987:

You mean 5 “roamers” versus 1 “blobling”?
I never get annoyed if it really is a 1v1 when I’m running back to my guild group of ~25, but its usually 3-10 v me. Its really boring and pathetic.

Now that I know you don’t like it, next time I’ll let you get back to taking my garrison unhindered. You should have said something earlier.

Reducing berserker strength because of community outrage springs to mind.

Also almost 100% of sPvP changes. I personally thinks it’s both refreshing and weird how much ANet actually listens to the PvP community.

Snorcha.7586:

Cash grab from Anet. Expect more in the future. Not making enough money from GEMS? – Lets change a major stat in the game..

Ya it wasn’t driven by countless scores of pages of player complaints about berserker’s gear at all.

Do you live in Denver by any chance?

Manekk.6981:

I’m all for more weapon choices, I would prefer a spear to be used on land though over staff for rangers though.

Same. Staff doesn’t fit the martial theme of rangers unless it were used like a bo-staff, which wouldn’t work with the staff skins.

I feel like this is offset by people using full ascended gear and consumables. I plan to still roam in zerkers and see how that works. I think it will probably be unnoticeable.

It wasn’t that long ago roamers didn’t even have access to ascended amulets. And at least 50% or more of people don’t even use food today.

Rangers have more mobility than necro, guardian, mesmer, ele, and engy. Thieves and warriors are faster/have more escape options, but not by a lot. If the warrior isn’t set up to roam the ranger will easily catch him. If the war is using a sword/GS obviously he’s faster than a thief but you can sometimes kill him with the LB before he pulls too far away. Thieves are slower but chasing them is usually completely futile.

It’s extremely difficult to disengage a ranger due to the absurd length of the LB, how good the 1h sword is against players and all the cripple/immobilize options.

law.9410:

Well if you use that logic, any skills from any class can be called anything.

That’s my point. Warriors already exist as a martial profession with all those attributes you want. If you make the ranger like that, why is it a ranger? Thieves use swords, but aren’t warriors because thieves are defined by stealth. Mesmers aren’t warriors because they use clones. Rangers aren’t warriors because they have a pet. Remove the pet and we are warriors.

Rename your ranger-centered wolf fear to “Fear Me!” and your bonus toughness from using a bear in to “Thick Skin”, bonus crit damage from felines could be called “Axe Mastery”.

Like Yelloweyedemon said, rangers are defined by the pet.

You basically want to turn the ranger in to a warrior.

Prysin.8542:

sazaw.1347:

I don’t even bother to click anything on my necro when I’m down.

same with my ranger. Unless i am underwater, or the enemy by some miracle forgets that im down, i dont even bother to use any skill. The #2, the AOE stun, is targeted and misses more often then it hits (yes, even when im not blinded)

You’re wasting a good opportunity, then. Between 2 pets and the ranger’s own interrupt, I find I can rez myself in a 1v1 about a third of the time.

I use a drakehound and wolf, so assuming everything goes the way I want (which doesn’t happen every time of course), I’ll immobilize the stomper before they get to me, dog will KD, wolf will KD, wolf will fear, I’ll interrupt with Lightning Strike.

One of the reasons rangers are so popular for WvW roaming is they’re one of the most mobile classes.

Elenire.7306:

They also mentioned looking at sword auto attack change possibly some changes coming there but likely not this update.

Ouch, this is devastating news. I was about to craft some ascended armor for my ranger but if they change sword I may have to switch to warrior as a main. I will be one extremely sad puppy.

The autoattack is not quite as bad as it appears since it can hit several targets, or even hit the same target twice. I use a power ranger in PvP (not optimal, but I play it well ankitten ot stupid, [edit: no idea why this is bleeped out] so it evens out). I want a S/D most of the time, but I also want to have access to a warhorn and range. A/W is the only choice available, and it works well for team fights where I am near death and can’t heal up. Drop off the cap point and support teammates with the axe and warhorn from relative safety, and hopefully you can survive 8 seconds before you get back in to a more defensive and damaging S/D.

It’s also not bad for especially dangerous PvE like high level fractals. Again sometimes in those dangerous dungeons you need to drop back for a second and axe can be handy.

And as mentioned, axe offhand is excellent in the right situations.

I guess you have to compare it to other bunker builds, which I think offer more. Guardian bunkers offer more than just regen and cleansing, and the tank-condi builds of several classes (including ranger) offer a hell of a lot of damage as well as being tanky.

Still, it will definitely work, no doubt in my mind.

Mungrul.9358:

The last thing this game needs is more checklists of monotonous, repetitive tasks to be completed.

I really enjoy doing dailies and monthlies. Presumably the people that don’t enjoy them aren’t doing them, and also wouldn’t do a weekly.