Guild Wars 2

My experience has really not been what this thread describes. When I’m running around doing PVE stuff with my Mesmer, I get more party and guild invites than when I play Guardian or Thief. My survivability is way beyond a lot of what I see during events.

I agree we’re not so great at taking out trash mobs before the horde wipes them out, and clones aren’t a great mechanic for doing that. We do boost everyone’s performance though. And against veterans and champions, we shine.

The colors on (at least the blue morpho, probably others) butterflies’ wings are not pigment, but nanoscale structures that refract particular frequencies of light only from particular angles.

In other words: masters of illusion.

Also, butterflies are almost certainly a reference to the “butterfly effect” from chaos theory.

I love the butterflies.

Anyone asking for them to be replaced by bears should wind up with dancing teddy bears or something.

Crumbs.7643:

Honestly I feel that the main-hand pistol isn’t necessary, for a couple of reasons:

Reason 1: We already have a ranged power-based weapon, the Greatsword.

It’s a fantastic ranged weapon…

Yes, it is, but you may have noticed it doesn’t look or act anything at all like a pistol — some people want the aesthetics of a duelist here, not just another thing that goes pew. Also obviously, greatsword can’t be used with an offhand weapon.

Main-hand pistol necessary? No. Potentially very cool? Yes.

Crumbs.7643:

Reason 2: The Sceptre has the potential to be a hell of a wicked weapon…

And then you explain how all that requires is drastically fixing one skill and replacing another… that’s two out of three. Might as well say that mainhand pistol has the potential to be a wicked weapon.

As others have said, it’d be nice if Mesmers had an AOE tagging weapon. That could be a spray of magical somethingorother from a completely redesigned scepter… or it could be a hail of condition-carrying bullets from a pistol.

Why not have pistol primary AND fix scepter?

(As for my general dislike of sword main: after spending some more time with each weapon combo last night, I do like it a little better than I did, and my memory is refreshed about how poor scepter is, and torch too. But I like Greatsword more. I’ve taken to opening fights with it, and if there are survivors, switching to Staff to sweep up the mess.)

bluewanders.5297:

Sword 3 is a leap finisher…. use it in mid to melee range in a field to proc auras like chaos armor and root the subject to take the brunt of your sword #2 plus shatters… don’t think of it as a gap closer, think of it as a way to hold someone still while you nuke them.

I probably just need more practice with sword/focus to make the most of them, but honestly I like Staff so much more that I rarely want to switch out of it. Staff 2 is a leap finisher with a shorter cooldown than Sword 3 for instance.

I’m not necessarily looking for a weapon set to stand well on its own, so much as one that complements Staff.

I run staff as main, and am not particularly happy with sword/focus.

With the staff I am always moving and often queueing attacks. I find it too awkward to break that habit when switching to sword, so I always wind up interrupting Sword 2. Sword 3 doesn’t have enough range to engage hostile melee enemies with before they start running toward you. Focus 4 is fantastic of course. Illusory Warden is pretty good if it’s not being attacked and its target stays still. Sword 1 is very lackluster compared to Staff 1. And when you get down to it, I just don’t really want to be in melee with this character.

I haven’t tried scepter in a while and might have to, despite popular opinion being against it. But I’d certainly welcome being able to play Pistol/Focus.

Pistol main could be fun.

I’m imagining #3 could teleport you all around your target in a circle at random while firing at them, creating a clone partway through. “Wheel-lock of Fortune?”

Genesis.5169:

Don’t play my class, please.

Don’t use my internet, please.

Anyway, I’m all for Sylvari mesmers. It matches the effects best I think, and I hate most of the female cloth armor on Humans and Norns.

Frankly, those videos are very, very good, and that’s coming from someone who would almost always rather read something than watch a video.

If you want the shortest version just watch the third one, which exmplains a great build and is about 20 minutes long. It’s worth it, in a way that summarizing the build without an explanation would not be.

Actually, question: when leveling up with the build in your #3 video, what order would you grab traits in? To me it looks like Illusion > Chaos > Domination in general, but with a little bit of back-and-forth…

I’ve been having great fun with a Thief and a Guardian in PVE, and been kind of frustrated with my Mesmer. But I just watched your third video and am all excited about the Mesmer again.

Normally I prefer to read guides over watching videos, but this was really helpful. Thanks!

I went through an entire line of Personal Story stuff trying to help a male Sylvari save his girlfriend from the Nightmare Court. 36 levels later I encountered the first pair of lesbian Sylvari that I can recall , and that was merely hinted at by a single line of dialog after an event finished.

Skipping any arguments about Sylvari biology, this would be no different if these characters were human. The reality is that people are not all heterosexual, and it doesn’t make either stories or society better for writers to pretend otherwise..

I love my Sylvari Guardian. Some of the armor actually looks great on them I think (especially the Gladiator armor, dyed to look leafy).

I cannot stand playing as Charr. The run animation feels so slow and awkward, even if it actually is the same speed as other races. Partially an illusion because of character size I suppose. But every time I roll a Charr I delete them after an hour or two. Too bad, because I like some of the snarky Charr NPCs.

If I were to roll another Guardian, it’d be Norn. I like them better than Humans, for both looks and culture.

Asura amuse me but I’m not sure I want to play as one. I’d rather play as a Skritt or Quaggan.

Scepter would be great if the autoattack projectiles would either home in a little or moved a bit faster. Not even a drastic amount. It’s still usable for mid-range kiting.

But yeah, I agree with the OP. Guardians are seriously fun. And I don’t usually like the tanky, Paladin-ish types of characters in any sort of MMO.

After crafting myself a set of iron Gladiator armor, which looks more or less like leaves and leaf-shaped plates, I went over to Umber and Sour Apple. It matches really well with the rare Bandit Eviscerator greatsword I’ve been using. I wish I had a screenshot to share, maybe later.

I was glad to be able to use the leaf motif with my Sylvari, because otherwise it’s another silly example of less coverage = better armor.

I wound up spending a bit on Frost dye, and switching the blue to Hush. Looks pretty nice.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

1H sword doesn’t do that much damage in PvE. You want a Mace or GS for DPS. I mean, you could go 1H sword if you wanted, but you’re giving up a lot of damage and not getting much back in return.

Sword hits many more times in the same time period, which means more opportunities to crit and more setting enemies on fire.

Mace is more of a defensive weapon, with its heal on third autoattack and its block.

If we had three weapon loadouts available, I’d go sword/torch, scepter/focus, and mace/focus.

I use Matte and Mountain Sky. I would prefer a lighter white or silver though; in some light that armor looks a lot dirtier than befits a holy Guardian :)

The thing with that is, if you get too used to fighting in that style, dealing with enemies that have faster attacks can be a hassle. Or those that have long delays between their tells and the actual attack (some of the ice wurms I’m starting to come across now are like that).

I love Pistol/Dagger as primary. I currently have shortbow secondary but I’m not in love with it.. Going for the last three traits, and kiting /skirmishing with caltrops and signet.

And yeah, the run speed boost while exploring is a beautiful thing.

I used to use it all the time to regain some distance while kiting. Now though, since dodging gives me two boons and drops caltrops, I’m much more likely to use that instead.

A gap closer other than steal would be handy.

I didn’t quite hit my stride with Thief until I picked up 5 in Trickery. With a condition damage build and the healing signet, it all starts coming together. I mostly run P/D, with an in-and-out combat style. I get into melee for Steal and Cloak & Dagger, and tumble away dropping caltrops as I go. With multiple opponents I use more caltrops and Dancing Dagger. At this point, my Thief can deal with a tough enemy about as well as my Guardian can, but it’s a fun short-range kiting and skirmish style rather than facetanking.

Sounds like we’re not even playing the same game. I really digging PVE with my thief, more than any other class, and I mostly use P/D. In fact I can’t even decide on a secondary weapon set to use because everything else is kind of boring or feels riskier to me.

I thought SoS pretty much dropped off during combat anyway? I certainly feel slower when I start fighting something than when I’m just running around the world.

I thought it was just me, but maybe not. It’s actually okay by me, but I wish it was easier to tell when “revealed” is still on you.

Tulisin.6945:

Krathalos.3461:

Pistol/Dagger is a ranged, condition build.

Considering the best condition damage source P/D offers is the melee-required C&D->Sneak Attack combo, I see this combination being played up-close far more than at a range.

I see it as a mobile, skirmishing build, in and out of melee. It works nicely with the caltrops-on-dodge Trickery trait. My offset is D/P, and I think they complement each other nicely. For PVE anyway.

ens.9854:

You have to realize what kind of person the typical thief player is. Thread +1

Someone who… enjoys playing games?

Oh, at first I thought you meant the complainers were teenage trolls.

Given the sheer number of “nerf thieves!” PVP threads here, making it difficult to find advice about how to actually build a fun PVE thief, it seemed like a logical conclusion.

And then PVE players will be screwed. No thanks.

I don’t care about PVP at all. This game really does PVE right, so why not enjoy that?

I enjoyed my Thief but kept comparing her to my Guardian, who can wade into anything and almost always come out alive and victorious, even though it might take a while. My Thief has to be more cautious about what to engage, especially when no other players are around as helpful distractions (and rescuers if need be).

But I decided to take someone’s advice above and just try different weapons — I had been using DP/SB — and now I’ve settled on SP/PP with Trickery, caltrops and healing signet, and am really loving it. It’s starting to synergize and I’ve found my groove.

“head shot is trash in PvE”

Tell that to the Ettins two levels above me who couldn’t get off their nasty stun attacks. Or to enemies that are fleeing in events. It’s situational, but that interrupt is pretty useful at times.

I’m really liking PP as my second weapon set, after being told how “indispensible” SB is supposed to be.

Dynamite.6584:

I’m a semi-casual player.

I’m a semi-casual player. I have all my character slots full, and they range in level from 14 to 23 IIRC. I have probably been averaging more than 2 hours a day.

Dynamite.6584:

How about rolling another character? There isn’t much point to that…. all the characters can do essentially the same thing with varying effectiveness. So why roll a Thief when a Ranger can do many of the same things.

Why eat different kinds of food if they all provide nutrients? For variety. For life experience. For enjoyment.

Even within a single class there are many ways to play. The mechanics and the feel of playing a Thief are very different from playing a Ranger. I actually didn’t like Thief at first because of the initiative mechanic and wanting to spam all my powers, but now I find it more fun and active than my Ranger.

You and I are polar opposites in terms of how we approach a game. It will not surprise me at all if I buy new character slots to play the other classes in PvE before I ever get around to trying PvP.

PVE does not need to be made more difficult. I enjoy it like it is — mostly moderately easy, occasionally a cakewalk, and with the occasional serious challenge. In fact some events are still too difficult to deal with, with most professions. (Or all of them, if there don’t happen to be enough other players clustered around.)

Lumines.3916:

The ones having trouble surviving with a Guardian just haven’t fully gotten used to the class yet.

This. In my limited experience with the game — all PVE, too — I thought a Warrior with the healing signet was going to be the most survivable class. Longbow, rifle and greatsword were all so good I have to carry them all and swap between them just for fun.

Meanwhile my Guardian kept getting stomped.

With some experience though, I’m really enjoying PVE with mace/focus, with a good balance of Toughness, Vitality, Power and Healing. I still get downed by some tough enemies (usually skill challenge or “group event” bosses) but for the most part, what I can’t outlast I can at least escape. And when I’m not alone, people cluster around for all the regen and blocking and retaliation.

Focus 5 is a combo finisher, and while it’s not as spammable as Hammer or Greatsword combos it does work well with Mace 2, or with Purging Flames. Overall I seem to outlast tough fights best with mace/focus.

My secondary is staff (mostly for Empower and Symbol of Switfness) but I’m considering making Hammer my secondary, because it’s fun too and its combos are more spammable, and still offers some defensiveness. I feel pretty exposed switching to staff in the middle of a tough fight.

I went Longbow/Rifle for quite a while, because I couldn’t decide. Lately I have been running Longbow/Greatsword, but I keep a rifle in my backpack and will probably switch several times.

Been traiting Arms so far but I’m at relatively low level, so I’m not going to dispense any actual advice…

Every culture has thieves.

Granted I’m not high level in any class, but with my Mesmer I mostly use staff, but have sword/focus to give me access to Temporal Curtain for the run speed boost. It doesn’t hurt that sword/focus is also almost as much fun, and often quite workable, in combat too.

With my Thief I wanted to use pistol/dagger and dagger/pistol, but it won’t let you do that on weapon swap with the same two pieces of equipment

My Norn Thief died about 8 times trying to kill that Jotun spirit of the past, until I finally just started circle strafing with almost nothing but Headshot. Until I did that, I couldn’t whittle away even 1/4 of his life before he’d kill me. That was when I was two levels higher than the recommended level for the quest.

And now I’m on a mission with (IIRC) dozens of Sons of Svanir at the end of a bridge. I’m trying to take it slowly and make sure I don’t pull more than I can handle, when suddenly about six of them come from the bridge behind me and overrun me.

I actually quit playing my thief because I’m getting annoyed at this.

My sylvari Mesmer died several times in the white stag rescue, but I blamed myself for that because I tried to run for the exit rather than picking off everything — other than that mission it’s seemed to be very well balanced. Challenging but not insane.