Guild Wars 2

The pet’s downed state is something that’s been nagging me about this concept.

Your pet getting KO’d would have to trigger aspect mode, similar to what Psientist says, (but probably lasting clear until the pet revives). If not, anyone who doesn’t manage to quickly stow their pet when it’s low on health will be severely shooting themselves in the foot.

An obvious issue here is that it turns the whole pet-death mechanic on its head. This means it would take yet more work to balance. Not that it can’t, (or shouldn’t), be done, but it is a concern.

Artificer, Schmartificer. I want more to craft with my jeweler!

<WvW +>

Overview
So, some people want to have no pet, and want spirits to work differently. What if spirits were pets?

Goal
Pets and spirits both have poor uptime in some gameplay modes, and do not fit the desired play style of some rangers. Merge spirits into pet category with unique mechanics for a dependable solution.

Functionality
A spirit in a pet slot will follow you around, giving you and allies in range an effect like they do now, (but stronger).

Instead of health, they have a Spirit Power gauge that depletes whenever the buff procs, and recharges slowly over time. If the gauge runs empty, the spirit disappears until power refills. Importantly: having no health means they are immune to damage, (but still susceptible to control effects), making them viable in AoE-heavy situations. When swapping between a spirit and a living pet, the spirit power and health gauges share the same approximate level.

Commands for spirits would be different than fleshy pets:

• F1: Force effect to proc on next attack (consumes extra power)
• F2: Trigger spirit’s active skill
• F3: Toggle spirit’s range on/off, to grant effect to allies or conserve power

When a spirit is in the “stowed” pet slot instead of being out and active, it still grants its effect to the ranger themselves – on a lower proc chance and without consuming spirit power.

Risks
Having multiple spirits up simultaneously is no longer possible, (unless we get an elite skill to bring out both pets simultaneously for a while), effectively ending the “spirit build” as we know it. You have less counter-play against an enemy’s spirit, aside from stunning it or hoping they run it out of power. Traits and balance would need to be heavily reworked. Rangers would lose an entire category of right-side skills, which would probably need to be replaced. Altogether, this change would require a hefty investment of team resources.

(Note: The forthcoming subclass CDI could theoretically have a large impact on this concept.)

I would much rather see profession-specific equipment. Also, a set that changes with the wearer’s personality.

I’m thinking the house might serve a function in the next release. Maybe a meeting point and jumping ground for assaulting the Breachmaker.

If I could change L.A., I would:

• Remove direct loot rewards when a new rescue tier is reached
• Create 5 tiers of rescue bags
  • The tier of bag dropped by enemies is tied to the current rescue count tier
• Introduce a buff, (“Lion’s Hope”), scaling with the rescue count tier
  • Increases revive speed
  • Grants karma when reviving an ally or NPC
  • Grants karma when encouraging an NPC
  • Grants a random boon when an NPC you rescued makes it to safety

Running a zerg in L.A. upscales events so far that rewards become minimized. Enemies hit too hard and die too fast, becoming a rampant waste of time.

I tend to get about 25% more loot when running with small groups, with the added advantage of leaving without a single piece of damaged armor. And rescuing more citizens on top of that? Heck, yes. When I see a zerg, I run the other direction.

You all seem to be forgetting that crits are more than just extra damage. Most high-crit builds proc conditions, boons, and other effects on crit. Currently the defender has no way to counter these.

That said, I would prefer a boon over an attribute for this function.

I wouldn’t expect a node for a resource that is only used to make one item. At least sprockets, candy corn, and quartz have multiple uses.

The back piece is directly tied to the Escape From L.A. story, so I don’t predict it will be available after the ashes settle.

My problem is that the location of the Chantry of Secrets was, well…a secret. A pretty big one. Nobody outside the Order was supposed to know that it’s under Stormbluff Isle.

It’s shocking that right now, the Lost Grotto is almost safer than the Chantry.

This was worse in the first day or two, when several of the events weren’t giving credit. Remembering what you’ve run is easy. Remembering which one didn’t give you that umpteen thousandth gold medal, however, can be problematic.

Eonel.5624:

Gulesave.5073:

What exactly is the point of using a fishing rod and bait, when we can swim down and kill the fish ourselves?

Did you fish in other MMO’s like runescape or WoW? It has a unique relaxing feeling

Let’s be clear. You’re specifically speaking of rod-fishing. That’s only one method of several. Fishing in general is something we can already do, using real-world fishing methods ported into the game.

I loved rod-fishing in FFXI, but they didn’t implement it redundantly on top of another fishing system.

Surely, there must be a relaxing activity to include that fills a function we don’t already have?

Sorry, I’m a little confused. We already have this. Spear-fishing. Harpoon-fishing. Trident-fishing. That’s as much legitimate fishing as killing a deer with a bow or rifle is hunting.

If we’re already carrying out this task, with tools designed for it, why add a separate mechanic that only lets you perform the same task slower?

That’s the portal the supply dolyaks escape through at the end of their escort events.

The Lost Witch.7601:

What would we like the summaries to look like?

Readers need to be able to digest all the key information from three pages of posts, in the space of one single post. Crediting and links are of less use in getting up to speed on the discussion, (if they wanted this much info, they would just read the three pages), but can be helpful when trying to get more detail or reply to what was brought up.

I recommend a bullet list of talking points independent of their source posts and posters. Sub-bullets can be used to list subtopics and counter-arguments as needed.

Links to individual posts can be fused into the text. You can link to as many posts as you have words to make into links. With direct access to the posts themselves, we don’t need poster names present in the summary at all; they serve little purpose here other than in cultivating bias.

Anything that detracts from the discussion points themselves should be hidden or removed, so that people trying to get up to speed are willing to actually use the summaries to do so.

The rotating skill bar reminds me of Chronicles of Spellborn, (R.I.P.). While interesting, it’s not really an equivalent to weapon swapping. The same skills are available to you at all times without any extra cooldown required when you need to access new functionality. If an elementalist could access all their weapon skills without attunement swapping, they would be nigh unstoppable.

Instead of no weapon swap, how about a forced weapon swap? Or at least a heavily encouraged one.

Let’s say the first weapon set gives you “vengeance” themed weapon skills, and the second grants “ancestral” themed skills. Even if you equipped two greatswords, you would still have two completely different skill bars. Some non-weapon skills would link to this system as well.

Now, add a sliding gauge that moves back and forth between vengeance and ancestral power. Using skills of one type will move the gauge the opposite direction. Staying on one weapon set too long would net you diminishing returns while setting up for high power when you switch.

Insert some F1-4 skills that depend on and interact with the position of the gauge, and voila.

Nike.2631:

Hmm. At one point we had some mighty summaries being delivered in a second parallel player-created thread (marked with a red balloon since a Dev stopped in to post ‘thanks’). Maybe if there was just a pointer to a thread housing the summaries instead of cramming them in-line in the main thread we could cut down on the bloat. Can we trust that anyone interested enough to read a summary is willing to click a link to get there? (I’m not sure we can, honestly.) Aaaaand, (to beat a horse that’s wounded, but hopefully not dead yet) if the threads were put into Q & A-mode the summary or link to summary thread could be stored in the Answer post and held neatly at the top of each page without adding to the page count at all .

Placing all the summaries in a thread of their own could make catching up on the discussion much more simple and attractive. If a new person can read through four pages instead of forty to get all the major talking points, I’m all for it.

It’s also important that a summary make a clear note whenever a topic is nudged out of the CDI by the dev. Adding links to these topics’ non-CDI threads might be helpful.

As for who does them, I prefer keeping that in the hands of players, who have already proven willing and more than capable. However, I would prefer that they have a set format, and that summary threads be locked to contain nothing but the summaries.

“Butcher what isn’t us.” ~Magnus the Bloody-Handed

When he said this during the evacuation of Lion’s Arch, the history buff in me bolted awake and shivered. If human history had a coat of arms, this motto would be at the bottom.¹

I would like to extend kudos to the writer for getting that reaction out of me.

¹Applies to both Earth and Tyria.

I think they’re fantastically beautiful. Your character is made to look like some sort of celestial deva that would fit right into the Neverending Story, and it’s stunning. I am perfectly okay with artistic nudity – when applied equally to both genders. (A buttock or two would seem fair equivalent for a couple breasts, no?)

As much as I love the blue star field effect, it could be a touch bolder – especially for lower display settings.

And that phantasm bug is a major problem. I’ve seen the same issue on weapons for a while, so I wouldn’t expect the fix to be soon.

They understand how important that wall is, and not just for themselves. It must be defended against every threat, no matter how innocent.

From what we know, Primordus’ minions are bubbling up right under the Dominion of Winds. Letting them poke holes in a few foolish heroes today might save thousands more when things become worse on the other side of the wall.

Why can’t I put them both in the Mystic Forge with a permanent quaggan tonic and a makeover kit? My guardian’s appearance still doesn’t match how he feels on the inside.

I’m excited to see how the discussions play out with these guidelines in place.

Chris, will they be somehow visible outside the opening post, without you needing to manually bump them every couple pages?

On the male-vs-female discussion: yes, they show skin on guys, but not in areas that are popularly eroticized like a woman’s chest is. Male characters are deliberately desexualized in a jarring and downright surgical way, (their entire pelvic area is emasculated more than a Ken doll’s).

On humanoid females, the new zodiac armor looks like it was designed for the easy nursing of infants. Take a look at the medium set for example.

Certainly, it has artistic merit and beauty, and the human body is nothing to be ashamed of. On the other hand, it’s hard to claim that this isn’t biased sexualization. Considering that males are neutered to the point of looking comically unnatural below the navel, the presence of fully exposed chest-orbs seems a little unbalanced.

What do you think?

My mesmer decked out for the end of the world.

I think we’ll see Destiny’s Edge in only the slightest capacity until aforementioned final battle is against an elder dragon.

The thought just occurred to me. What if destroying and rebuilding Lion’s Arch serves the additional purpose of letting them set it up for future player housing development?

To me, the biggest problem with the Fort Trinity hub concept is not leveling or zoning, but story.

For characters who haven’t reached that part of their personal story yet, Fort Trinity isn’t supposed to exist. Heck, it’s your character who names the danged place.

Yes, you can already sneak over there as soon as you can survive the mobs, but we shouldn’t be deliberately throwing newer characters and players into the middle of a giant spoiler without warning or good reason.

The design philosophies behind GW2 have changed during the last year or two. I wouldn’t depend on old dev quotes, one way or another.

Maybe there just isn’t anything out there. Try contacting the artist through their site. They might be accommodating.

80 is high enough, thanks very much.

I will admit, though, that it would be fun to play around with having more trait points. Maybe not in the main game, but in a special area built for it.

This is the best source I’ve found: http://cghub.com/images/view/553381

Still not fully screen-sized, but bigger than the rest.

Chris Whiteside.6102:

A R W E N.6895:

For the PvE topic would it be to much if it is about Fractals but also about dungeons in general?

Hi Arwen,

I have been thinking a lot about this. My concern is that the PVE thread may become cumbersome. I will think about it a little more.

Chris

You could open it up a bit by allowing any topic that involves both fractals and dungeons, while excluding topics that are explicitly dungeon-only. That might encourage some nice cross-fertilization.

In Neverwinter, I’ve been enjoying the control wizard class. They can put one of their encounter powers into a special slot. Each power gains a certain bonus if it’s slotted here: extra damage, more range, etc.

I think this could be done in GW2 to merge the utility and elite systems. Have four utility slots. The fourth slot upgrades its skill to elite quality. The effect of the elite boost differs with each skill, (or at least each skill type).

If some of the existing elites can’t be realistically toned down to utility level, they could easily be made elite-only, that can only be used in that slot.

If those items let you explore a model, that would make them valuable. I don’t need to use up inventory slots to play videos I can pull up on YouTube.

Nike.2631:

Or you could let players use all he tools and decide for themselves what degree of clipping is tolerable or avoid it entirely by their choices.

A player’s experience of how attractive the game is isn’t based solely on their own character. Many people would not bother with or even know about the ways to fix their clipping, with the result being that every time you run into other players, you are assaulted with bad armor pairings that make the whole game look glitchy and poorly designed.

By taking it into their own hands and exercising control to remove bad combinations, the devs are maintaining the asthetic integrity of their product.

Romo.3709:

Hopefully fractals will be included

This reminds me to make a quick note: Discussing the merits of previous changes to the game is not the stated purpose of the CDI, unless new ideas are needed beyond “reverse the change.” For example, the introduction of ascended equipment was seen by some as problematic, but the discussion was on new ways to make it work better, not simply removing it.

Almost all of the fractal-related posts I have seen in the CDI have been about the reward level reset, and generally wanting it reversed. This is a valid topic, but one outside the scope of the CDI project, and will get better traction if discussed in the appropriate place.

The three armor classes have different construction and fitting for how all the pieces work together. Mixing them would result in horrid clipping, naked spots, and other problems.

Having different frameworks allows them to a create a broader range of styles with fewer technical issues. For example: players can’t try to pair a long coat with a billowy robe/skirt, so they have more freedom when designing either element.

I would argue that Skelk Venom is what finally made thieves into team players.

Some mobs are also immune to other specific control effects or even conditions. For example, there are certain champions you will never see stacks of Torment on.

It’s unclear if this is supposed to be a deliberate immunity as part of the mob’s design, or just a weird glitch.

I would rather they include dervish functions via an overhaul to human racial skills.

Bolster prayer-type skills according to the number of boons on the player, to recall how dervish skills were fueled by enchantments. In avatar states, give them a scythe with a unique weapon bar. That’s all you need.

Closers and retreats are different in ways other than which direction they toss you. One has offensive aspects, and the other defensive. Letting these skills become both offensive and defensive gives players more versatility than desired for balance.

It also makes it harder to use the skills as intended: you have to remember to hold forward with your closer, else accidentally throw yourself in the wrong direction.

The Mega Giant Skrittomaton
(aka the Trojan Rat)

Legendary difficulty
30+ players
10 minutes

Background: Inquest-tormented skritt have made a gigantic hollow mechaskritt filled with some scrap mechanisms and as many skritt as they can cram into the blasted thing. This many tightly-packed skritt are as dangerously clever as the Inquest they’re escaping.

Description: Stop the enraged-yet-suddenly-ingenious skritt from leveling the local village and nuking the whole region! Stop the Inquest from brainwashing the skritt and taking over the Skrittomaton! It’s a three-way battle of wits and brawn!

Pre-event: Local authorities hear rumbling from a nearby cliff, and see an influx of Inquest. An evacuation order is issued by guards. Protect NPC’s and carry supplies to an underground shelter while hindering the Inquest support headed in from all directions.

Transition: The holographic cliff face disappears as the Skrittomaton crashes out into the open. It’s headed for the nearby Inquest reactor!

Fight: There are two gauges:

1. Skrittomaton Health
2. Brainwashed skritt in Skrittomaton

• It takes 10 minutes for the skritt to reach the reactor and exact their revenge. This is the only fail condition. Bring the Skrittomaton’s HP to 0 to win.
  • If the Brainwashed gauge is full and they reach the reactor, they will not destroy it. Instead, they will rampage back toward the Inquest hideout.
• As the Skrittomaton takes damage, skritt will fall out of it. They are friendly to players, and will try to run away.
  **Inquest agents will try to defeat and capture them. Downed skritt are brainwashed, making them turn hostile to players. They become stronger and try to get back to the Skrittomaton.
  • Pieces of tech scrap can fall off with the skritt. These are environmental weapons, but you’ll have to beat Inquest and brainwashed skritt to them. Players using scrap weapons become priority targets for the Inquest who want them.
  • As the Brainwashed gauge fills up, the Skrittomaton’s attacks become stronger, faster, and more erratic. At full, the fight becomes nearly impossible.
• When the Skrittomaton is preparing a Wreck or Burninate attack that would damage property, it telegraphs for a few seconds and generates stacks of a buff. The more stacks present when the skill triggers, the more damage is done.
  • Wreck needs Primed Pistons. Use control skills to deplete stacks as they generate.
  • Burninate needs Burny Gas. Inflict conditions and use boon-stripping skills to lift stacks.
  • The less property damage inflicted during the fight, the better the rewards at the end. Each intact building will have a reward bundle, varying in quality with building condition.
• The Skrittomaton has constant Stability, so that its march will always take exactly 10 minutes.
• The “Trojan Rat” is not immune to critical hits. However, it is not without defenses:
  • When the Skrittomaton takes a high amount of damage in a short period of time, it gains Protection and Retaliation, and releases an arcing electric blast that inflicts Weakness and Chill.
  • If any condition stack on the Skrittomaton would exceed 25, it removes 18 stacks and releases a cloud that deals Confusion and Poison.
• Inquest agents range from trash mobs to elites, and have multiple goals during the fight:
  • They will try to rig local structures into giant shrapnel bombs. When one of these goes off, it will inflict Burning, Torment, and Cripple on players and non-brainwashed skritt in the area.
  • They will attempt to capture and brainwash skritt that fall out of the colossus.
  • They want to pick up or steal scrap weapons. Acquiring a scrap weapon upgrades an agent to a tougher enemy class.
  • Some agents use special attacks on the Skrittomaton that deal no damage, but will make more skritt fall out for them to brainwash.
  • Agents do not want players to get near the Skrittomaton. They will use various control skills, containment devices, and even portal traps to keep players away from it. Even though the skritt made the thing to escape them and exact revenge, the Inquest find it a promising surprise, and would rather get it under control than see it destroyed.

chemiclord.3978:

Where in the kitten is Scarlet getting the resources for this level of assault?

This has been bugging me a lot, too. She’s probably operating outside the maps we have access to, but I won’t hold that as an interesting excuse. There was so much potential to cover this part of the story, and it only would have taken a few extra lines of dialogue.

Have Mai Trin use her (pre-Dragon Bash) position to route money and supplies. Make the Aetherblades raid everywhere not for giggles, but for resources. Keep the Molten Weapon Facility and Aetherblade Retreat functioning in the background, (even if they’re not assailable), because Scarlet still needs places to route production and operations. Let a few random random NPC’s spout snippets about wanting to sign up with one of her alliances.

It would have been easy to make the scale of her organization believable, but it’s even easier to sit here and nitpick their mistakes in hindsight.

I still believe that the Zaishen should have been one of the three Orders, instead of creating the Vigil.

Fun theories, but I wouldn’t expect anything gods-related as a major arc in the Living Story. They’re trying to focus on themes connecting all the races.

On the other hand, Scarlet’s vision has also been theoretically linked to the Eternal Alchemy, Elder Dragons, and the Dream, so maybe Tyria will see some sort of spiritual Unified Theory of Everything that brings the gods back for a mention.

To me, the best solution would be to vary caps on different types of enemies. For example:

• Trash mobs can cap at x total stacks between all conditions, instead of y per condition. They don’t live long enough to accrue many conditions anyway.
• Veterans and elites keep this sum-cap mechanic, but raise the number.
• Champions switch to per-condition capping, and very importantly: they all acquire regular condition removal and/or transferring, to keep the stacks from hitting that cap.
• Legendaries are like champs, but with much higher caps and more vigorous clearing.

Improvisation: I would rather see this changed to the simple “recharges one utility skill.”

Venomous Strength: I would like to see this merged with Residual Venoms, and replace the Might with a bonus based on how many unused venom stacks you’re sitting on.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Bearhugger.4326:

Warriors have no protection by design.

They make up for it by having high health and higher regens/heals.

Giving them protection would probably open a huge can of worm and require nerfs elsewhere.

And I’d personally like its use effect to be a support one. ie: It heals others for 50% of what it heals the warrior.

No protection? Blocks and Invuls dont count to you as protection? Lets not forget that Healing Signet continues to heal while they are immune and they can continue to deal damage or run…

I think they were referring specifically to the boon, Protection.

As the devs have repeated every time they talk about this preview, including in the opening post of this thread: This is NOT everything. These are just some examples.