Guild Wars 2

KensaiZen.3740:

Sceptor/focus

30/10/0/20/10

Hammer of justice/sword of wisdom/prayer to lyssa/ mustfire wolf or hounds of balthazaar.

With the new VP it means you can dodge and heal every 5 seconds. 100% upkeep with scepter with decent crit rate.

Use rolls to avoid melee or ranged damage and to heal every 5 seconds. Prayer of lyssa spam to add boons to you and conditions to enemy (insta cast 1200 range 12 sec cooldown. Very good for cripples and chill)

For fighting ranged classes. Use shield instead if prayer for 20 seconds of absorbtion. More than enough time for spirit weapons+scepter to kill.

A ranged bunker lol

I hope this is a joke, I never take a scepter seriously, especially when it’s paired with our worst trait line…

0 in valor? Dunno how you expect to bunker..

Yeah, it’s pretty bad. Zealot’s flame throw does a lot of damage, but has a hefty CD. Cleansing flames are bad; the range is mediocre, it takes FOREVER to channel, and it doesn’t remove conditions from yourself. Auto attacking for that 4-5 second duration of CF will usually do more damage, so there’s no real reason to use a torch offhand.

I do love the torch concept, just wish they could do something better with the functionality

Too many replies about the AH stealth nerf and how it still works and is okay. I agree, I’m just stating that it was a stealth nerf.

I still use AH, and still own people in WvW. My biggest gripe, however, is that so many opportunities for a great Guardian improvement patch were overlooked. Major traits that are bugged and REPORTED to be bugged still untouched. Weapons that direly need projectile speed buffs are ignored, and other classes are receiving them instead. Literally the entire Zeal line is useless.

It’s just saddening to see.

Norn all the way…

Apologies for welfare T2 boot visual, Arah ones are on the way :P

After endless discussion about the absolutely required buff to Orb of Wrath on Scepter and fix to Orb of Light on Staff, ANet decided it was probably a better idea to boost the projectile speeds for Warrior and Ranger. Appalling!

Not only that, but I feel like many other issues have gone untouched. Vigorous precision change was a stealth-nerf to AH builds, while things such as ‘Immune’ visual annoyance from VoResolve + Major trait was ignored. No information on Pure of Voice bug not actually turning conditions into boons. Wow two buggy major traits with no fixes! (I’m sure there’s more..)

Many professions now have a +25% movement speed signet, wow! You thought it would be hard to catch people without cripple before, just wait. Crusade for Cripple was a fantastic thread and idea, gone under the radar and forgotten about, leaving the most melee-centric profession in the game no way to keep enemies in range.

“They can remove conditions more easily than the Warrior, but share the Warrior’s need to be in melee range to dole out maximum damage.”

The problem here isn’t the fact we need to be in melee for maximum damage (which I agree with), it’s that we have to be within melee range to do ANY damage. When you’re outside of 600 range, your damage is seriously going to be zilch except for maybe a few smite ticks. People running around with swiftness and buffed signets are going to be evading nearly every orb of wrath thrown. Even at melee to 600 range, the only thing slightly viable is 1. Staff spam (damage sucks, intimidation and aoe factor is decent) and 2. 50-50 chance for orbs to hit. I understand we are a melee-centric profession, but make us at least SOMEWHAT useful and fun to play at range.

/disappointed

1st: abyss + wrath
2nd: old jeans+ blue tint

Upon putting more thought into it, I think with the cooldown reduction and increased usefulness of the shield (with these changes), the current shield trait could be tweaked away from CD reduction and into something a little more interesting:

90 toughness while wearing a shield +one of the following
-protection boon (3s) when aegis ends
-regeneration boon (5s) when aegis ends
-increases movement speed (somewhat similar to warriors increase when wielding melee weapons
-Projectiles absorbed by Shield#5 provide additional healing to those inside
etc…

I think all of these add something new an interesting to the table, and could help shield get up into the tier of useful offhands

I read the other topic currently on the Guard Forum about the “shield” and how it’s our class icon, yet rather useless. So I brainstormed some ideas for revamping our long-lost offhand. Feel free to tweak or add your own flavor and idea to the table. I really, really want shield to be a contender for best offhand.

Shield #4 –
Cooldown: 30s -> 20s
Effects
Damage: Remains
Cone Range/Width: Remains
Protection boon duration: 4s -> 5s
Additional effect: Applies weakness to enemies hit by shield of judgement, 5s.

Shield of judgement should have some additional defensive utility present in the weakness. Lower CD allows more uses (more fun!) and buffs/debuffs are active from it 25% of the time. Weakness addition makes sense in my eyes, it is a shield of “judgement” after all.

Shield #5
Cooldown: 40s -> 30s
Channel/Bubble duration: 4s -> 5s
“Burst” heal transformed to -> Regeneration granted to allies within, lingers for 4 seconds after bubble is dissipated.

Lowered CD for the ability to ACTUALLY SHIELD YOUR TEAMMATES FROM HARM. 4 seconds (current state) is simply not enough and ends up feeling like a 2 second duration. Now Guardians can sacrifice movement to actually benefit allies, and more often. Regeneration in the area instead of the “burst” heal, adding some synergy with boon duration.

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

In theory you could sit on a story step entrance for a quick teleport. They tend to be in safe areas, but close enough to enemies a determined player could abuse them. There might be other cases I can’t think of right now.

Another terrible implementation ANet… You’re expecting people to abuse by exiting zones and ALT+F4ing? Man, this really really hurts the regular player a lot more than preventing XP gain abuse. I guess what ANet wants me to do is sit in one zone for a few HOURS, grinding mobs and DE’s to get the XP. Don’t worry though, during the process I’ll have diminishing returns on all the loot I gain too. Grind-free game, my kitten

If I were you I’d definitely consider rolling with Warrior. Healing shouts on pretty low cooldowns, improved rezzing speeds (in the same trait line as heal shouts, I believe), and the ability to block all attacks for 4-5 seconds with shield will provide a very strong bolster to the front lines. Battle standard also helps with rezzing. Huge HP pools, and good mobility with sword/warhorn (leap+swiftness).

Guards can provide SOME healing, but many overvalue them. Virtue “heals” it’s actually one heal, and on a decently hefty CD 60sec untraited. Guards are more of a front to mid-line support, focused on application of boons and area denial. Also, if you do WvW with a guardian, Wall of reflection is a MUST.

reserved (solutions/suggestions)

I wanted to create this thread to talk about the stale feeling of Guardian’s weaponset. This is not only based on actual skills from weapons but also synergy with traits as this definitely helps add some depth and fun in gameplay.

I really hope the devs can do a little bit of analyzing and improving the options open to Guardians (Jon Peters, where uat?). I started getting a bit bored of playing mine (320+ hrs, Full exotic, etc) but realized it’s mostly due to the lack of weaponry-based skills. I’m bored; I only use Hammer, GS, and Staff (to useful not to use, but really boring to use). The problem is, I feel completely useless using most other sets because I know what I COULD be achieving by running AH-Hammer+Staff. This is my personal rating of how our weapons feel to me; feel free to leave feedback and maybe let’s come up with some helpful ideas to get some of our weaponry out of the dumpster.

Greatsword – 4/5
Greatsword is THE known guardian go-to. Staleness is at a low; it was at an even better state before unwarranted symbol of wrath nerf. It has some fun pull-utility and a gap closer, and generally feels good to use. However, greatsword is LACKING in terms of trait synergy. Zeal, while supposed to be a GS go-to, is underwhelming and usually ignored. AH build works decently but still not as well as with Hammer.

Hammer – 4/5
Hammer has recently become the PvE/WvW undisputed king. Altruistic Healing + hammer auto chain and blast finishers not only provide 100% prot uptime for melee part members, but great damage and self healing as well. The problem? Hammer’s 3,4, and 5 skills are not only slow windups, but have very situational use. #3 Zealots embrace sloooow movespeed and usually misses. #4 useless in dungeons, #5 hard to land without JI. Traits work decent with hammer.

Staff – 2/5
Staff can be a great utility weapon, but staleness is definitely apparent. Auto attack is repetitive, boring, and sound effect makes your eardrums cry. #2 orb is not only useless, but sometimes more hurt than help (accidental aggro bc of random projectile vector). SymbSwift is good, but not exciting. Empower is a good skill, but stale – sitting still for extended time. Not much synergy with traits as well.

Scepter – 1/5
Scepter is a general pain to use. Orb is unreliable and useless during moving battles, not to mention not fun to use (at all). Smite is mediocre AOE, doing decent damage in a tiny radius. Immobilize is “ok” but doesn’t even have the 1200 range attached to it. Sound effects and graphical effects are miserable. Nothing worth traiting into.

Sword – 3/5
Sword is a pretty fun 1h, however suffers from a few detriments. Flash of light does miserable damage, and can literally only be used as gap closer (will kill your dps). Zealots defense looks sw00t, but can’t hit moving targets reliably and I also question it’s reflect properties. Auto chain is satisfying, and has decent trait synergy with radiance, only.

Mace – 3/5
Mace chain is pretty kitten good, doing solid damage with small aoe heal on third hit. Symbol has long-ish cast time, but still good for supporting. Channeled block is much better in party than in solo, imo. Decent synergy with traits, however mostly tunnelvisioned into the Altruistic Healing as with Hammer.

Focus – 4/5
Focus is the most effective offhand, providing great utility and survivability through blind+regen and on-command blocks. However, focus takes a huge hit in one department – Looks. I’m sitting here wearing 100lbs of steel, flaming gauntlets, smashing dragons in the face, holding a tiny antique…

Shield – 2/5
Shield is a decent offhand but tends to get stale due to long cooldowns and low perceived benefit of having equipped. Addition to armor is almost nil. #4 is GOOD, but too long cast time, too small of a cone. #5 is situational, but an AoE knockback and tiny heal can be beneficial. Much more effective with trait (reduc CD’s, toughness while equipped), but could still use some work.

Torch – 1/5
While a cool concept, torch fails in practicality. #4 skill is usually useless in dungeons, as burning is already up and only stacks duration. Throwing it does pretty good dmg at 1200, but long CD. #5 is OK for cond removal, but requires a long channel and to be close (400 rng I believe?). Usually ends up feeling like you’re holding it in your offhand, but youre not entirely sure why. Channeling on #5 is also not very fun to use imo.

Fay.2735:

In WoW you were forced to use mounts to get anywhere you needed. In guild wars 2 they give you the choice to waypoint or walk. I personally walk most places because I like to experience the world. So it’s really you that made the decision not to, not the game.

Mounts are a big no go for me in this game to be honest, maybe for brawl costume like the broom but not anything beyond that.

Again the “choice” argument. Let me go through a general “dungeon finding” grouping aspect for you (dungeon/grouping is a major part of GW2 correct me if I’m wrong – this should relate perfectly to the “dungeon addict” exemplified in your sig).

1. Look for people in LA. No one else is present anywhere in the game world especially since the introduction of the FotM.

2. Fill the group up.

3. Walk to the dungeon? No..

As much as they have deluded you into “choices” in the end, no party will stick around while you choose to admire the scenery while traveling across the world. Mounts would add a fluff factor and help players interact and experience areas of the world on a regular basis.

Essence Snow.3194:

George Steel.1804:

I can take a guess that the majority of the population ISN’T waypointing to a far location to have the “experience” of running to the dungeon. Removing excess quantities of WP’s and still leaving 1-3 per zone and introducing mounts to the game would somewhat “force” people to experience the world, however, do it in a way that allows somewhat quick travel riding on a fun animal/machine of their choosing.

Forcing players to do things won’t turn out well. While you might enjoy the feel/experience of traveling others do not. you still have the option to walk/run to your destination, way points in no way hinder you from that. Everyone had/has to at least experience it once per character. There’s no need to burden those who enjoy way points b/c some feel everyone needs to experience the game in the same manner as them.

I’m guessing when you say, “everyone has/had to experience it once per character” you mean discovering a waypoint. So let me get this right, you’re against forcing people to do ANYTHING, however are totally OKAY with forcing people to run out of the way to discover meaningless hordes of waypoints multiple times across different characters. How futile. I’m not trying to burden people, I’m trying to shoot some ideas to improve the game and the feeling of traveling in the in-game world (it’s an RPG after all).

Not to mention, I have over 300 hours/full exotics/nearly full Arah EXP set on my Guardian and don’t even have HALF the waypoints. Not only have I not experienced it once per character, I am not missing out on anything but not having them explored. Have LA Wp’s and all Dungeon Wp’s? Check! Nowhere else worth traveling.

Danno.5269:

i travel to a map via waypoint and then i walk everywhere and experience the whole place. I really enjoy walking everywhere. I only waypoint within a map if i see a really good event going on all the way across the map that will end by the time i get there. I don’t lose out on experiencing the world.

Maybe you don’t lose out, but I can take a guess that the majority of the population ISN’T waypointing to a far location to have the “experience” of running to the dungeon. Removing excess quantities of WP’s and still leaving 1-3 per zone and introducing mounts to the game would somewhat “force” people to experience the world, however, do it in a way that allows somewhat quick travel riding on a fun animal/machine of their choosing.

I understand the devs have responded to the topic of adding mounts to GW2 – with the angle of “Experience the world/Make it feel big/AFK on flightpoints to X area/etc”

And I do agree at least on the flight point issue, as that was bad.. at least in WoW.

However, I do feel a certain disconnect with the rest of their argument on mounts and how waypointing has impacted my gameplay within Tyria.

Right now, I’m in LA.. all the time. It’s where I log out and log back in. If I care to get to any place, I just hit M, search for my destination (usually Orr since I’m getting my gear set) and wham, I’m there. But in WoW (sry to compare), I would get to a certain zone or continent, get on my ground/flying mount, and actually travel to my destination.

I don’t feel like NOT having mounts is helping me experience the world at all. I did feel, however, that using a flying mount in WoW gave me an awesome perspective of the world, and helped me feel like I was getting places (and experiencing the world).

TLDR; Waypoints are convenient, but I think they really detract from the feeling of traveling to places within the world.

Agreeeeeed… I have so many options for awesome greatsword skins but can’t for the LIFE of me find a hammer skin that satisfies me. Quite unfortunate, as hammers have a great capacity for looking cool but it seems they were completely overshadowed by some other weapons.

I was one of the only reasons 4 of my good friends got the game. Now I feel exactly as you do; a drug pusher, a bad salesmen. I have stopped playing after word of the lost shores patch after playing over 340 hours on my Guardian. Not only me either.. Everyone who I recommended it to has quit as well. And no, unfortunately I would not recommend the game to anyone else because of what it is turning into.

@omega

I just want to thank you for also demonstrating good manners and representing the community in a positive way. People like you are another reason why I won’t be missing GW2 too much

catqeer.1954:

tl;dr by though really did you have to write that much to basically tell us your leaving because you have a problem with a perceived lack of change from the developers… who are busy figuring out ways to improve the game… well by then glad you had fun but didn’t have fun… _

I decided to write so much because a game with endless potential was, in my eyes, driven into the ground. It’s not only a perceived lack of change, it’s a real one; and if you had read my post, there are many, many good ideas floating around that were created by the very community who loves the game that should be looked at. But nothing is happening.

Anways, thanks for your well thought-out response.

What once was the golden child of new-age MMO’s, Guild Wars 2, is now one of my least played games. And it’s not only me.

Why? There are several (I’ll only cover 2) huge reasons that I think players have become unhappy with the game and the company running it.

1. Implementation of Lost Shores event: What some may consider the deathblow to the future of Guild Wars 2 was the most current Lost Shores event. A one-time, mass zerg lagfest was rewarded with a pretty high chance of getting a precursor item; however, if you disconnected prior to the finish, which many did, you chances were null. Additionally, those who had been trying to sell precursors prior had their profits slashed.

LS event also unfortunately introduced the worst idea and fragmented system in the game – Ascended gear – Which not only was against the basic philosophy of the gear treadmill system in GW2 but was also implemented in the worst way – “levels” of FotM. Essentially splitting players depending on their prior progress, this deterred players who tried to log on only to find that they had been left in the dust.

2. No regard for Community Ideas: There have been so many issues with the game addressed by the community, oftentimes in a very constructive and passionate way. However, instead of seeing the very creators of the game communicate and talk with the players who want to help IMPROVE the game, we see posts/threads being locked, closed, and very LIMITED interaction with the community as a whole.

This is evident in MANY areas and I will only touch on a few that I have personally seen.

Professions- First would be the enraged rangers who had their shortbow weapon “stealth nerfed” only to be left without answers. Necromancers who desperately need looking at their traits and skills because of BUGS and CORE design flaws affecting the class. Thread after thread in the Guardian forums because LACK of a viable ranged weapon and weakness with weapon viability. Terrible solution for the THIEF problem (rage about pistol whip) and flat out damage REDUCTION instead of taking a step back to reassess what else could be changed with the skill.

Dungeons- Constantly bugged events for the ARAH dungeon (one of the most fantastic/elite dungeons in the game) not only for getting in, but bugs relating to receiving completion and REWARD for the dungeon (path 1, looking at you.) Super-buffs to SE paths that make the road nigh-impossible to complete because of negligent changes to respawns as a hotfix.

So many things have been addressed by the community; glaring issues if you ask me, and ANet has unfortunately decided to put this on the backburner and instead release an event like LS (which the game simply did not need) and implement cash-shop antics.

I really did fall in love with this game, and unfortunately won’t be playing any more. I do thank ANet for the experience thus far; it was more than worth my $60. But the sheer potential that was lost because of how certain aspects of the game were handled is disappointing.

Say farewell my Guardian Platinum! The mists await!

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I’m definitely playing a LOT less than I used to. It all started like a week before the new patch…

I was the type of player who would do a lot of dungeon runs on my guardian. Also would WvW, but these were my two main activities. As soon as I heard there would be better gear releasing soon, I stopped putting together groups for Arah explorables (keep in mind my guardian is full exotics). I was working on getting Arah armor skins for the prestige. Didn’t help to hear that the ONE TIME EVENT I missed wasn’t just for the experience itself, it was a literal pot of gold and precursors.

Used to log on for 3+ hours a day at least.. Now it’s been over two weeks since I have even logged in at all…

I’m also visiting the forums less. I was really into theorycrafting and posting about builds in the guardian and dungeon forums, but I’ve lost most of my desire to play, so no sense in wasting time

Didn’t watch too much of the video, but scrolled through and saw you didn’t have wall of reflection on your utility bar. I personally cannot fathom how any guardian can run WITHOUT WoR in WvW, for me personally it is 100% must. This is all the feedback I can offer you

Saxi.9136:

Yeah… let’s make this already very overpowered profession even MORE overpowered

Someone’s pissed they got rolled over by a Guardian.

But I digress. Scepter really needs a rework – at least orb and smite. Those skills are so ill-conceived it’s frightening.

PvE I run empowering might for great AH heals and self/team might stacks
WvW I run 2hmastery – I like reduced CD on MB (dont get many auto chains off) and RoW also LoW (I run staff/hammer)

We just need some 80 zones that are really FUN and engaging… not another Orr. I think we’ll all have things to do once some new zones are put out by ANet .. hopefully

I play a Guardian, so the only thing I apply regularly is burning. I really think thought needs to be put into bleedcap at 25x and burning stack method. TBH, having more than one person doing any type of burning on a huge world boss is completely redundant.. who cares about the duration of the burn. Same with bleeds; if more than 2-3 people are straight up bleed spec the usefulness goes way down. I don’t know if the answer is to up the stack amount, or create an individual bleed stack cap amount, but some work needs to be done here.

I think MF is an issue ONLY when it’s implemented over stats on GEAR. As guild banners, edible buffs, etc— this is fine. But the fact that I now shelf my exotic gearset to equip greens with MF while doing dungeons doesn’t make any sense to me. It should be removed from gear period.

Soulcheg.5048:

No it’s not fine. No closer wp, dozens of boring encounters with fat mobs with billions hp, and so on, and after that i got a 5-6 red circles around me, then he auto-atacked me, with his lupin strike, or somewhat alike, and then he charged into me, spitting more red circles. How many dodges i should have? Like 200? He’s hitting me for 10-12k, twice in a second. I’m not a masochist, and i don’t like self-torments. Bosses must be challenging, but not frustrating.

Waypoint distance “issue” is only an issue if you actually die during Lupicus.. which shouldnt happen in the first place, and IF it does you SHOULD have to run a long way back. Graverunning a boss is no fun.

Dozens of boring encounters doesn’t necessarily have to do with Lupicus. I agree the dungeon has way too many trashmobs but this doesn’t have anything to do with the boss.

AOE circles – Turn around and run.
He charges you? Dodge
He turns to you in phase two and waves his arm? Single target projectile is coming at you, either dodge, or use reflect or block.

It’s a really easy boss. I read forums before I encountered him so I was initially worried and though it was going to be REALLY HARD as people have hyped him up to be. But he’s not.. all it takes is some planning, skill, and execution.

Boss is totally fine, have absolutely no problems downing him. Me and my friend do it regularly with 3 pubs in the group, we prefer experience but often one-shot it even with players new to the encounter.

Who looks stupid?

Well, the personal story severely lacked in quality.. so I never finished that.

Besides that though, I love my beefy Norn Guardian. His emotes, looks, and sheer epicness are definitely a plus. I’m 100% satisfied with my Norn selection.

Our elites DO suck, however, the Snow Leopard is GREATTT for WvW. 5 second stealth on a 10 second CD, hugeeeee range on the charge, etc… I just started using it recently and absolutely love it. (Also due to Guardian Elites sucking badly)

All in all, I really like my Norn.

5 trait points in zeal is a big waste if you ask me. A better spot for it would be in virtues for improved consecrations (higher uptime/lower cd on wall of reflection is great for support/dungeons)

My Guardian’s new updated gear! Final set will be complete soon.. more pics to come!

I just don’t think the fight was even 10% of what it could have been. ANets biggest mistake (I think) was trying to rush and release the content in time for the release date. The fight simply does not represent some of the quality shown in the game, and for the FINAL BOSS and the END ALL BE ALL of Tyria, is very much underwhelming. Very disappointing.

I’ve done AC story probably 10 times (it’s so kitten awesome) but will unfortunately never do Arah story again.

TheRiddick.1976:

I have been thinking about this recently after reading the forums with the players who seem upset with the difficulty of the dungeons as is. my solution to this is adding 3 difficulty levels instead of the 2 presently available. Those tiers would be as follows:

Tier one – Story: This would stay just as is and not change in difficulty. maybe a few tweeks to make it a bit easier for those just wanting lore and story info but leave it a bit challenging.

Tier two – Champion: This would be the explorable version of the dungeon. but it would be toned down a bit for those who want the gear but have poor gear themselves. this would be a dungeon for the casual gamer… short paths… as is now. The loot would be level appropriate masterwork until the last boss at which time you get a rare.

Tier three -Legendary: Make the dungeon longer, more boss fights… less junk mobs. Make the difficulty high. These would be dungeons for those who are highly into raid content and have rare to exotic armor. The drops for this dungeon would be level appropriate rares and the last boss would reward an exotic.

This allows all levels of gamers to be satisfied. Both explore and Heroic would still drop their tokens so it doesn’t mean that those who are casual cant get the gear. this would also be a great boon to such things as crafting, legendary weapons, the market, and endgame replayability.

Let me know what you think of the idea… Its far from polished so add things that you think could help and lets get an idea of something to hand to Anet instead of only complaints… thank you all.

The problem I see is the difference between your Tier 2 and Tier 3 proposed solutions. You still have story, which is and should be appropriate for casual gamers. However, I dont think even tier 2 should be tailored towards CASUAL gamers. Although it should be completed with mediocre/bad gear I AGREE, I think the difficulty should still be something significant. Otherwise, you’re going to end up with Tier1(casual), Tier2(casual), Tier3(elite players). There needs to be a middle ground.

I have absolutely no problem with the difficulty of Arah. The main problem, however, is that many paths of the dungeon take at LEAST 1 hour, usually more like 2,3, or even 4 hours. Who has this much time to play through an explorable dungeon? I’m glad we tried and completed path 2 on SUNDAY because there’s absolutely no chance I can spend 3+ hours doing that on a weekday.

I think less trash mobs/less boss HP would do wonders for the instance, even if this came at the price of added difficulty. It’s not that we WIPED a lot, there’s just a lot to battle through.

Spoiler alert.

I can’t being to express my disappointment with the last story dungeon in the game. How uneventful, clunky, and boring it feels compared to something like AC story mode.

First, let’s start off with the camera. While you are on these zeppelins, waiting for hours to get to an undetermined destination, the camera does nothing but raise blood pressure. You cant effectively look around at what is supposed to be the be-all-end-all dragon of Tyria. All I see is my camera stuck in walls, the ground, and bugging out when I attempt to use the funcannons.

Subject 2 is the funcannons. Awesome.. we get to shoot down dragons before we get to Zhaitan! Although not very fun to use at all, the cannons are .. OK.. I guess. Oh sweet here comes Zhaitan.. I can’t wait to stick my sword right through his neck….

Not in this boss. We are going to provide a very anti-climactic laser beam to first injure the dragon. Obviously we still need Destiny’s Edge to protect us from weak waves of dragon minions attacking the deck, but the high powered laser beam should take care of the rest. Now that he’s gripping the building…

You can only hit him with two cannons. Seriously did anyone at ANet play through this story mode and think “Yeah, this IS worthy of an ELDER DRAGON KILL”. Man, I spent literally 7 minutes on the deck watching two people spam button “2”. We’ve installed 5 cannons, but only two are able to actually shoot AT the dragon.

I was just deeply saddened by this entire slobfest of a dungeon.

TLDR; Arah Storymode is bad.

Hint: Wall of reflection. People at range will literally kill themselves while you continue to dance on the point.

Also, when wall of reflect is down, come out and challenge the ranged attackers. If you see them making a move for the point, dodge back to it quickly so they can’t contest it. More often than not, upon entering melee range the player will weapon switch away from the ranged option and enter melee/midrange combat. Then you won’t be at such a disadvantage.

You really can’t try and say ZE is as effective as other immobilizes. I’m inclined to say it’s probably the weakest one in the game. In terms of travel speed, graphic warning, cast time, and immobilize duration. If you can’t realize this fact, I think you may just be beyond help.

Sure, Guardian is boon oriented. But we’re not the only ones. Besides mesmers we are one of the most movement-hindered professions in the game. And remember, swiftness isn’t going to help you stay in melee range with someone else who has swiftness as well. You just won’t be losing ground (unless that person cripples you as well xD)

SKuDDer.1860:

Dibrom.6408:

George Steel.1804:

Now tell me which profession has NO condition removal? None.
Tell me which profession has NO gap closers? None.

.
Edit: These buggy forums are annoying. Show me that melee necro cripple. Also guardians are the KING of condition removal. I was shocked coming from my necro.
Seriously, you’re terrible if you can’t keep up with a sub 10 second gap closer.

Staff has a 4s chill 20s cd
axe has a 5s cripple, 25s cd
focus 5s chill 20s cd
warhorn pulsing cripple
scepter 5s cripple 10s cd

and thats just from their melee abilities.

SKud just explained to you the plethora of cripples necros have at their disposal.

What also bothered me was “show me that necro MELEE cripple” as in you wanted to see a necro cripple on a specific weapon set. Guess what though, Guardians don’t have a SINGLE CRIPPLE period. Not on any weapon, any utility. We do get a 45 second cooldown 2second duration chill, on crit, on ONE WEAPON, through traits. If you consider that anything..

EDIT: Oh we do have one cripple! On our Elite, Tome of Wrath, on ability 2. But you can’t exactly use that to help people stay in melee range, since it is a ranged elite. Hahaha.. I just realized our only cripple is embedded into our ranged damage dealing elite! Fantastic!

Dibrom.6408:

George Steel.1804:

First of all SKudder thanks for posting this thread .. and awesome name! I completely agree on the fact that Guardians need A TOOL for snaring people. I mean absolutely none of our weapons OR UTILITIES have a cripple on them. Which makes fighting in melee, which we have to do 100% of the time (cmon, don’t tell me you actually use scepter in pvp) very hard to do.

It’s sad that trolls have run rampant throughout the thread with totally LAME excuses for why Guardians shouldn’t get a cripple.

“ermagerd, you have cond removal”
Who cares, a necro can remove all his conditions while improving the effectiveness of his heal, with one ability. No one is even talking about cond removal, it’s the fact that we cant keep someone in melee with us, it’s simply way too easy to run away and disengage a Guardian.

“ermagerd, you have gap clersers”
Once again, a terrible attempt to disregard the need for a cripple. Yes, we can close gaps, NO ONE ARGUED THIS FACT. But closing gaps is a LOT DIFFERENT than keeping someone in melee range where you can effectively use your autoattacks and do damage. Keep in mind, our “gap closers” are usually 600 range unless you’re talking about our One ability (JI) to close a gap on a 45 second cooldown. Conversely, you can look at Thief SB (900range) Warrior Dash+Whirlwind (gets you about 1200 – 1500 range) ele’s lightning surge or whatever it’s called (900-1200 roughly) .. we’re not the only ones with gap closers.. but simply the only ones without cripples.

“ermagerd, you have RoW and LoW”
These area denial skills, while extremely useful in large scale engagements, are completely useless in 1v1/small scale skirmishes. Not only do both have a huge cast time while being completely immobile, but the area denial skills can be dodged/jumped/lucked through on a regular basis- and still fail to keep a target where you can actually work on doing damage in melee range.

I read this post as:
“you have EVEYTHING”
I want MORE!

Yes gap closers, pulls and immobilizes are not enough. We MUST have AoE cripples too. Class is completely unviable without it.

Go ahead and tell me what other Melee centric profession lacks a cripple. Actually, tell me ANY profession that lacks a cripple.

Now tell me which profession has NO condition removal? None.
Tell me which profession has NO gap closers? None.

Polle.6908:

Not only is the cast time very long with a noticeable animation, but the skill is pretty much 100% useless unless you’re using JudgeIntervention. Even when standing on top of someone, if they are moving, they will get out of the ring no problem. Now consider it does absolutely no damage, and only lasts for a measly 4(?) or 5 seconds, you really think was casting it even worth it, or should I have just Mighty Blowed that guy for 4K.

100% useless without JI is a far statement to make and completely false imo. There are other methods to guarantee RoW a more solid success rate. #3 is also a good option which I hated at first but love it now.

And for the love of our children, don’t treat RoW as something you only use to trap people. You can use it to keep people out of nodes, defend downed friends and trebuches. A knock down while in the middle of fight on a node usually means death in group situations. And last time i remembered, you do not need JI for these type of situations.

Sorry but Zealots Embrace is anything but effective. A slow traveling immobilize that has a success rate of 50%? And you realize the 2 seconds of immobilize is OVER if you are not already on top of them, and now you are stuck standing still casting RoW. Isn’t gonna work.

In theory and functionality it should be really good, but then after using it you realize it’s not.

In PvE it’s fine because simply mobs don’t have brains or endurance bars, etc..
But as soon as you try it out in PvP, that’s a whole different story.

Not only is the cast time very long with a noticeable animation, but the skill is pretty much 100% useless unless you’re using JudgeIntervention. Even when standing on top of someone, if they are moving, they will get out of the ring no problem. Now consider it does absolutely no damage, and only lasts for a measly 4(?) or 5 seconds, you really think was casting it even worth it, or should I have just Mighty Blowed that guy for 4K.

Let’s not talk about dodging, jumping, popping stability, or even getting knocked out of the ring. Because all of that detracts from it’s usefulness as well.

I use shield effectively by simply not using it at all!!

First of all SKudder thanks for posting this thread .. and awesome name! I completely agree on the fact that Guardians need A TOOL for snaring people. I mean absolutely none of our weapons OR UTILITIES have a cripple on them. Which makes fighting in melee, which we have to do 100% of the time (cmon, don’t tell me you actually use scepter in pvp) very hard to do.

It’s sad that trolls have run rampant throughout the thread with totally LAME excuses for why Guardians shouldn’t get a cripple.

“ermagerd, you have cond removal”
Who cares, a necro can remove all his conditions while improving the effectiveness of his heal, with one ability. No one is even talking about cond removal, it’s the fact that we cant keep someone in melee with us, it’s simply way too easy to run away and disengage a Guardian.

“ermagerd, you have gap clersers”
Once again, a terrible attempt to disregard the need for a cripple. Yes, we can close gaps, NO ONE ARGUED THIS FACT. But closing gaps is a LOT DIFFERENT than keeping someone in melee range where you can effectively use your autoattacks and do damage. Keep in mind, our “gap closers” are usually 600 range unless you’re talking about our One ability (JI) to close a gap on a 45 second cooldown. Conversely, you can look at Thief SB (900range) Warrior Dash+Whirlwind (gets you about 1200 – 1500 range) ele’s lightning surge or whatever it’s called (900-1200 roughly) .. we’re not the only ones with gap closers.. but simply the only ones without cripples.

“ermagerd, you have RoW and LoW”
These area denial skills, while extremely useful in large scale engagements, are completely useless in 1v1/small scale skirmishes. Not only do both have a huge cast time while being completely immobile, but the area denial skills can be dodged/jumped/lucked through on a regular basis- and still fail to keep a target where you can actually work on doing damage in melee range.

A major disappointing factor in GW2 is the fact that visually the developers/artists seemed to be very biased towards a few weapons:

Greatswords
Swords

I main a Guardian and run with a Hammer, and let me tell you there is a SEVERE lack of good looking hammers in this game. Even factoring exotic dungeon rewards, the only hammer I bought or can STAND to use is from HotW. And don’t get me started on how the legendary hammer looks.

I look at some of the weapon rewards from Arah and really start to wonder what people were thinking when drawing up concepts from the hardest dungeons in the game.

Why was so much work put into designing amazing looking swords but leaving others out?

I feel like this is the case for Daggers as well (legendary daggers should be SO noticeable, bigger, visually stunning) scepters, staffs, 1h MACES.. the list goes on. So much of this game is “cosmetic” appeal, yet there is such a lack of cosmetic options when it comes to weapons it is quite frustrating.

Please take into consideration the people that don’t play warriors or GS guardians and please think about adding some worthwhile weapon skins (even re-doing the old..bad ones..)

A couple weeks back I transitioned into Altruistic Healing running hammer + staff and let me tell you.. I love it. The gap closing on MB, survivability, sustainability, and decent range option with staff is just an amazingly fun play style.. I don’t even respec for WvW, I just switch some majors around.

The thing I fear, however, is changes to what I think is our only viable spec.

I’m wondering if anyone is really even happy playing with any other specs? And have you tried AH+hammer?

I like 1h sword, the autoattack, blink, but zealots defense.. Misses anything thats moving…
I straight up REFUSE to use scepter.. So I’m forced to use staff if I want any ranged options…
While 1h mace is decent.. It’s just boring (the autoattacks, long cast symbol, and channeled block)..
Focus is good! ^^
Shield.. No.
2h sword was my main weapon before the changes, and was definitely rated as one of our Mose unique and fun weapons..

Is anyone else worried about the Guardians future? I’m just scared ANet will change AH and make our only good spec bad. Then what weapons will I use? Because as of right now.. I don’t like the majority of them.

Wait you actually prefer the Human dance to the Norn? Listen I don’t like the Norn dance, but I’d rather look like Carleton than a straight up girl. Poor Humans and Sylvari… I really feel bad for them.

Maybe you should reroll Human my friend. If you like LMFAO or whatever that hipster group is called I don’t think you deserve to be a big bulky Norn!