At least this is better then the crazy theory crafting I saw ingame about the Shadow of the Dragon actually appearing as a new world megaboss with the jungle dragon awakening…
Well, there is that empty space in the current boss rotation, and iirc it’s in one of the “big” boss spots…
This is a huge improvement over how gem store armor used to be, which was you got one copy of the skins and that was it (and you still needed transmutation crystals if you wanted to move the skin to another item).
We should have been given a precursor token for completing story mode.
I know, right? That would have made far more sense. “We found these weapons in Arah’s armory and think a hero like you can unlock their true potential”, etc.
Making a legendary shouldn’t be “I have everything but the precursor, now to save up a kittenload of gold and buy it/flush weapons down the mystic toilet”, it should be “I have this precursor, what do I need to collect to create a legendary out of it”.
Taidha’s event has always been a giant mess (just look at the hoops you used to have to go to before it would even start) and she’s always been woefully underscaled for some reason.
Transmutation charges available everywhere? I don’t think so. You were guaranteed to get 3 stones (now equivalent to 1 charge) per map completion. Now, it is hit or miss on 99% of the map completion rewards, with the only exception being the town maps, judging from people’s posts.
Map completion used to reward stones most, but not all, of the time (it seemed to be roughly 2/3-3/4 of the time, in my extensive experience), except for towns. I’m getting charges for most of the maps I’ve completed since the patch, so it doesn’t seem to have changed anything but substituting a charge for the stones.
I’m a little confused about this new wardrobe system, and slightly worried. Today, I bought the Phoenix outfit from the gem store for $10, and I was able to apply each piece of it to my current armor, and it shows up in the wardrobe tab to be applied to future armor. However, my problem is that I have to spend these transmutation charges in order to do it. Maybe I’m missing something here, but I just spent ten dollars on this outfit, and now I have to spend more money to use it as intended? Should these outfits not be free to apply the same way heritage pieces are?.
Skins, gem store and otherwise, have always worked like that: the initial use is free, but using it again (whether moving the skin to a new item in the old system or reapplying it from the wardrobe in the new) costs transmutation stones/crystals/charges (except for hom/achievement skins, which are always free in the new system).
Using transmutation stones on sub-80 characters was always kind of a waste since you level so fast, but there was literally nothing else that could be done with them so why not.
At least map completion rewards something level 80s can use now.
4) Story driven rewards – theres at least one set of armor that seems to only be gotten through completing story paths (or rarely elsewhere). Considering how all of my character slots are full (mostly with 80’s), is it really expected that I buy a new slot just to unlock those skins? It seems kind of… shortsighted?
I believe the only exclusive skins you get from the personal story are the Apostle and Stalwart chests, and the chest/shoulders/legs of Marauder, all of which were otherwise only available in PVP. and aren’t available at all right now. They’ll probably throw those sets (plus that witch doctor one that isn’t in PVE at all) into a PVP reward track at some point. I really hope they do because I still need the Apostle legs and Stalwart shoulders.
I don’t think Anet did this intentionally, it’s just that you can’t jury-rig a solution to the unsalvageable gear thing (which has existed for a very long time, presumably as a reaction to some early exploit by players) with transmutation any more.
Better solution, let us use transmutation charges to move runes and sigils to like equipment. Don’t make us purchase an item just to recover something that we used to be able to keep for free.
It wasn’t “free” before, at least if the item was level 80: transmutation crystals were required.
After finding out that you only get guaranteed Transmutation Charges from completing the 4 main cities, and that any other map completion there’s only a small chance of getting -1- charge,
Assuming they straight up replaced the old 3-stone reward for map completion with a 1-charge reward, you’ll get plenty of them.
The million-dollar question is this, what was the point of dropping the old town clothes system?
Town clothes were a convoluted mess of a system, and Anet salvaged the parts that worked and jury-rigged a solution for the handful of bits and pieces left over so they wouldn’t be completely wasted.
In the same way, they took non-combat items, which were a confusing hodgepodge of items that could be equipped and items that had to be used from the inventory for no apparent reason, and made them consistent.
Also, you missed one. If they insist on Outfits for the future, they need to retain their dye colors. Right now if you switch Outfits, it loses the dye scheme you applied and goes back to the default colors.
…you realize you have to accept the dye changes for them to count, right? The outfits dye just fine.
Is ANYONE fooled into believing this feature was implemented for any reason other than promoting gem store sales?
It’s literally the exact same transmutation system (I think charges are actually slightly cheaper than crystals were), except you don’t destroy the skin that provides the appearance any more.
Most of the stuff on the gem store are convenience items (like infinite tools and the 1%er passes), cosmetic items (transmutation charges, armor skins, costumes, dyes, finishers), or fun items (minipets, instruments, toys), all of which are the sort of thing that should be sold as microtransactions.
Any reason why underwater weapons cant have 2 Sigils?
i understand underwater combat isnt favoured, by anyone, but still, you said 2 handed weapons can have 2 sigils, underwater weapons are still 2 handed?
I had this marvelous oversized wizard hat equipped on my asura as town clothing. Was hoping it would be converted into the piece of armor so I could run around like little black mage. Sadly it would never happen.
That is what happens to the wizard hat (and a couple other stand-alone hats), just talk to the black lion armor guy and light, medium, and heavy versions will be unlocked in the wardrobe.
Or for that matter, never again buy games that were made by a generation that was socialized to see the customer as some kind of an animal, and use tools of manipulation and suggestion.
My opinions on the “new blood”
I actively like Marjory, Taimi, and Rox. Braham I can take or leave. Kasmeer … well, if I need an NPC Mesmer to deal with, where’s my Tegwyn? Or Anise.
Tegwen died during the lead up to Zhaitan’s defeat (in the Vigil “path to Orr” set of missions).
4 pieces, actually: mask, shoulders, coat, and pants (but not the gloves or boots for some reason).
I’m more curious about the weapons that have different skins in PVP than in PVE (the Vanguard spear and trident, the Lionguard trident, a few others), which version the wardrobe will use.
I think what you are missing out on is character level. Remember, loot scales to the individual as much as possible, but characters can’t go past level 80. So as a level 80 running around a level 30 zone, the bags you find will be dropping mats for level 30ish items, but the weapons, armors and so on will mostly be between 75-80. As far as I can tell, its the same thing that keeps Mithril ore down below the 50c mark. The only thing keeping it from being as depressed as leather is the fact that it is used by nearly as many crafting disciplines as silk. Even then, I never really expect to see it break the 30c mark it hovers around, short of a massive Living Story requirement.
I’m pretty sure mithril is cheap for one reason : the high-level zones are crammed with mithril nodes and you can salvage it from virtually everything except light and medium armor.
There is a polearm in the database that is clearly a Order of Whispers-style skin. You can also see the polearm for the Lionguard set displayed in-game in Rytlock’s office.
Beyond that its just a code stub. No signs they’ve added to it, thought including the Tormented Polearm in the April’s Fool Day screen shots was neat/cruel .
I think the category also exists for the sake of NPCs that wield spears on land (quaggan, hylek, krait, centaurs, etc).
It’s really not that hard to find the orichalcum/ancient wood nodes in Cursed Shore (and to a lesser extent Malchor’s and Frostgorge), they seem to always spawn in a handful of possible locations.
Even if there was danger there, living story areas tend to level you up to the required level. You won’t have all the benefits of a level 80 player but it’s enough to hold your own.
LA was brutal on upleveled characters, to be honest.
I’d assume skins that can be any class (like most achievement and standalone gem store skins) will be unlocked for all armor classes in the wardrobe, similar to how converting it to pvp works now.
Then they have been planning this from the start. They seem to leave themselves openings for places to come back to later. Another example would be the stairs down marked on Divinity’s Reach’s ground floor map, yet there is no door or access. Also the gates to Elona near Ebonhawke that are shut. Does anyone remember having gates to Cragstead on the map before Flame & Frost introduced an area behind them? I think it’s great that these future expansion areas are around.
It does raise the question of how those 80’s are gonna be delt with, since it is a 20’s zone. Most likely an instance.
There’s several obvious blocked portals around the world. For example, there’s one in northwest Frostgorge, one in southeast Maelstrom, and one in western Sparkfly.
Probably about as many that have seen the rare Spotter or Frost Spirit. Despite so many people playing rangers, that trait and that skill aren’t common at all.
Spotter is terribly placed, for starters (Marksmanship is horribly backloaded, with Piercing Arrows, Eagle Eye, and Spotter all in the same tier and Signet of the Beastmaster one tier up).
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