Guild Wars 2

What about giving a Level 80 scroll in exchange for a gift of exploration?

It’d give players that don’t want a legendary something to do with that item.

Nova Stiker.8396:

I have 8 level 80’s, one of every profession, my main is decked with full ascended, everyone else is decked with full exotics.

I also PvP a lot, I currently have 165 Tomes of Knowledge which has no use for me and won’t have a use until a new profession comes out.

---

If you want a quick way to level 80, allowing players to sell Tomes of Knowledge would be amazing.

---

Buuuuuut is that P2W? After all, buying $50 worth of gems, traded for 500g, lets say Tomes of Knowledge are going for 10g each. You technically spent $50 to get 50 levels.

I personally don’t see it as a problem, but then again, my view is I got a bunch of worthless Tomes of Knowledge and I’d love to sell it to players for oodles of gold.
My answer to this is probably not ideal.

I wouldn’t say it was pay to win. You still have to work for you traits and gear.

I’d also say that with how abundant Tomes of Knowledge are, they’d probably end up being a little cheaper than ten gold. I’d guess they’s stay around 6 or 8.

1. Yep. Same process.

2. Really freaking cool. It’s just a big improvment that really didn’t need to happen, but I like it.

Two things that it needs to be better than the original:

a. A graph
b. The ability to buy less than one gold with gems. (I have one gem that I cant do crap with.)

3. Frostgorge train still runs, but you farm events instead of champs now. (You still get champ chests+Event reward)

A better option is dungeons and Silverwastes.

4.The new armor, Carapace. You can get the shoulders for completing the current living story episode. The rest of the armor will come out with later episodes. (The shoulders are the first part, the rest comes out 1 part per episode.)

I guess this is a thread is for two different questions, really.

1. Are there any plans to implement compatibility with curse voice?

2. Any plans for an Overlay?

And for players that currently use Curse Voice:

1. How do you like it? And problems with it?

2. Is there a way to pull up some kind of “Default” overlay that just shows who’s talking. (Like the Teamspeak Overlay.)

Reaven.3958:

InfernoHero.5687:

Is it possible to rip character models from the game in order to 3D print them as figures?

For profit or for personal enjoyment?

To make a little figure of my Norn to sit beside my Rytlock statue. (Personal use)

IDEA!

So, let’s say there’s a player that has a level 80 Warrior. That Warrior is a Norn.
He wants a Charr Warrior, but he really doesn’t want to level a second Warrior when he already has one.

Instead of putting in a race change item that would probably be very hard to implement, why don’t we give this player the option of draining the levels from his level 80 Warrior into a new Charr Warrior?

This could also be done if the player wants a character of the same race!
Player has Asura Guardian, but wants an Asura Elementalist.
Player transfers guardian’s levels to a new Asura Elementalist.

Issues:

“But then the player gets a free 80!”
Nope. He basically just changes his current 80’s race.

“But then the player wont learn the class!”
Incorrect. The player still has to get the traits unlocked, get gear. and all of the other important things you need to do with a fresh 80.

“But this will cause Anet to have more work to do! Why work on this when they should be adding in new content?”
Just let us spend levels to aquire Tomes of Knowledge. There, no more work needed.

Allow players to spend a level to buy a new level. All you’d need to do is implement a way to take away EXP.

Alternatives:

1. Allowing us to buy Tomes of Knowledge with laurels. 80 days (Or 70 days + Monthly) for another level 80 character sounds cool.

2. Class change gem store item.

3. An item that, when placed in a character’s inventory, forces all extra experience gained from the player’s level 80s to now go to the character with the item.

nasi.4785:

Sequences of keystrokes and/or mouse actions = macro
1 key to 1 function = keybinding
Macro is not allowed, keybinding is ok. Seems clear to me. But maybe I’m thinking to simple.

Please view the following thread: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/audio/Sad-truth-of-playing-the-ingame-instruments/first

Lishtenbird.2814:

I would prefer ANet to put in a macro recording function into instruments instead – you start recording, play, and then the sequence is saved (probably in a local file). Then you can play the file back without external utilities and clearly showing that it is a recording. That might also remove some severe lag issues which go along with playing.

This would be awesome

Lishtenbird.2814:

I still find the reasoning behind “not gaining any in-game advantage” by using macros to play music to be very moot.

Let’s face it: a large part of online games is bragging. You can be a clerk in a small company in a small town of Far Newyourkpeaks in real life, but a leader of a large guild with thousands of gold and a full set of legendaries in the game – and you play the game to have other people admire you and be jealous.

• If you’re using a macro to automate mystic forging of precursors to get gold to buy a legendary and make people jealous, you “gain an advantage” and get banned.
• If you’re using a macro to automate playing music and make people jealous (even without accepting tips), you’re “not gaining an advantage” and it’s legit.

So it looks like the real reasoning behind these macro restrictions is economical: if a macro can affect the rate at which a player acquires gold, it is bannable; if it is not, even if it provides clear advantage in other, non-monetary aspects, it is not bannable.

The problem here is that you assume all of us “Terrible Horrible Hacker Elite Macro Users” use these music macros to brag/make people envy us.

I tell anyone that asks that I’m using macros. The only thing I brag about is how awesome this stuff is.

JCROY.5730:

Shockwave.1230:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

So, does this mean we can use these music macros to play Bell Choir? If not, how does the game know the difference? Or is it just a matter of reporting people who seem good at the content?

Seems like a bad idea to me. /shrug

Is that the mini game? If so and you use a macro for it, you’ll be warned/banned if you have a multi action macro and are found out, since it’s giving an advantage at completing game content (and a kind of pvp?).

I do not think a macro is capable to cover this specific mini game..even the slightest lag/latency screws up this game hahaha (it happens even when I play this mini game as it is supposed to be played..you press a button and due to lag, it doesnt hit the note on the right spot)

How would that mini game even work with a macro? Assuming the mini game simply tells you what notes to hit, you can’t really program anything other than a full-on hack that’s built to play a simon says minigame.

Donari.5237:

There is truth in that. I haven’t even gone looking yet for a macro site and have no idea how easy they are to use for this.

But … I have no musical talent. Really, I have negative musical talent. I cause san loss in others if I try anything musical, I can’t even clap to a beat. Fortunately I’m not tone deaf, I can enjoy music. I simply can’t make it. Even with a “music sheet” for the game instruments telling me the key sequences, nothing remarkable comes out.

So all my instruments have languished even though I RP musical characters now and then. I wouldn’t mind having some macros of tunes they’d play, to use in RP situations (and would loudly proclaim to anyone thinking it was RL skill that it’s only a macro, as I did with downloaded .abc’s in LotRO). I’d use it for IC flavor, not to pretend I personally had the slightest skill in it.

That’s mostly how I’ve been doing it.

Sitting in DR and LA, playing Bad Apple, Tetris,etc.

If anyone comes up to listen, that’s awesome. If they complement me, I tell them what I’m doing and that it’s awesome that Anet allows it.

However, I haven’t quite figured out how I feel about accepting tips yet. So far, I’ve been returning them to sender, but I may start replying to the mails and telling them I’m using Macros. (I’ll also ask if they want their coin back)

I don’t really know if accepting tips would be considered gaining an advantage through macros, so I’ve been sending them back.

Astralporing.1957:

Zui.9245:

ANET’s actual (not explicitly stated) macro policy: If we can detect it, and we want to ban you, we will. Otherwise, we won’t. The determination of whether or not we want to ban you is solely at our own discretion.

Could they come up with a clear, and relatively unambiguous macro policy? Of course. But it’d require a pretty serious amount of careful deliberation, and probably hiring a technical writer.

And a lawyer. When you have clearcut rules, you will always find people trying to find loopholes. And willing to argue for hours that their interpretation of the rules is the right one.
And since GW2 (like every MMO) does have in its EULA the point that says that Anet can ban you with no explanation at their own discretion, without needing any reason for that, they don’t need to create clearcut rules. Just the guidelines.
And remember, one of the things they keep saying is “If you are unsure if that can get you banned, it most likely can. Err on the side of caution”

Which is reasonable, because most people that ask those questions are those that do want to use something that will give them advantage… just in a way that will let them plead innocence later.

Most games have a “We can ban you for anything” rule

I feel like I’ve been given a whole new part of the game now that I can easily play my flute! This is so awesome!

I just wanted to say “THANK YOU ANET!” for allowing us to use macros for music. This is quite possibly the most fun I’ve had doing anything with my flute.

He is yet another example of Arena Net causing mild confusion.

The official Guild Wars 2 keyboard allows for these macros. (See attached image.)

Alright, so a lot of the vets of Guild Wars 2 (Playing for at least a year or more) will agree with me when I say ArenaNet’s pretty solid in their rules. Harassing players/Interrupting farms/Botting/Anything of that nature gets you into trouble.

However, one thing has changed, and the argument could be made that it was never changed at all. It’s just been always misunderstood until now

Macros

With the recent rule change that allows you to use macros for music, I feel that it’s time to finally clear two things up, so if an authority on this matter could answer the following two questions, that’d be freaking awesome and I’d owe them a cookie.

Question One: Is there ANY kind of macro that would still cause trouble if ONLY used for playing instruments? For example: I have six programmable buttons on my keyboard. If I program one of them to play the full version of Swan Lake at 200% speed, would that get me kicked off of this lovely game faster than I could say Omnomberry?

Question Two:Does ArenaNet still hold the policy that EVERY third party program is a super quick ban?

Gaile Gray, an ArenaNet staff member has said the following:

Guild Wars 2 players are permitted to use macros as long as the macros are programmed with a 1 key for 1 function protocol. This means that if you program a macro, it must require one keystroke per action. You may not program a single key to perform multiple functions.

For example, if you Press A and it results in the casting of a single skill, you’re ok. If you Press A and it casts multiple spells, you’re not ok.

You cannot program a macro to perform the same or multiple actions on more than one account at a time.

You cannot program an “auto-clicker” macro that, for instance, opens chests while you play elsewhere.

Source: http://gw2.gameguyz.com/news/news/arenanet-s-clarification-on-macros-and-multi-boxing-in-guild-wars-2.html

So, does that mean that programs such as Combat Mode (A program that allows you to use your mouse keys as your first and second skills, and never changes anything other than what keys you press) is fine? Left Click becomes your first skill and Right Click becomes your second skill. Is this ok to use? It fits Gaile’s description of something that is perfectly fine.

While I understand that ArenaNet can not say “Yes, it is OK to use this program” as that would cause players to look at ArenaNet and expect them to solve issues with that program, I would hope ArenaNet would be safe in telling the forum community if they would be banned for using this type of program OR if there is anyway for ArenaNet to detect this kind of program.

For further information on Gaile’s thoughts of Combat Mode, please view the attached image.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Lol, no different than the message from Gaile dated September 25, 2012.

As I stated, the OP can discuss the issue with the CS Team now. The use of third-party programs may, or may not, be detected and flagged. Though the OP would likely regain control of his/her account, it does take some time, and occasionally does not work out as desired. I know because my account was ‘permanently’ banned, and then re-instated.

It is certainly up to him/her. /shrug

What was the ban for?

MrWubzy.3587:

I’m not really expecting a clear-cut answer, honestly, but I’ll put it in a ticket regardless. I’ll have to find a new way to play without using add-ons to help my slight issue.

According to Gail, it’s fine.

Look at this image.

So far four different people have stopped me and PM’s me about my shield. According to them, it’s completely messed up.

Fortunately, a few minutes ago, I ran into a kind little Asura and got her to upload some pictures to Imgur.

I see a normal guild defender shield, and for me the texture has no issue at all.

http://imgur.com/a/0Nspo

According to her, when she changed her settings to high and then relogged, that’s what fixed it for her. So, I guess it’s linked to some low setting.

If it’s linked to low settings, that would explain why I don’t see it as I always keep my game at max settings. (Even in WvW)

This issue seems to only happen on items where guild emblems are possible. This issue also happened when my shield was blank.

Gaile Gray.6029:

We absolutely adore fan art, fan projects, Machinimas, videos, and the whole lot! We love them, we often share them internally and with our fans, we offer a forum to host them… yep, yep, they’re great!

The difference between “it’s ok” and “it may be disallowed by copyright” comes down to how the assets will used. It’s pretty much a simple question: “Is this personal and non-profit?” Whether a video or a t-shirt, a single use of the assets for non-commercial purposes is great. (And sure, a video is going to be seen by a lot of people—so that might raise a question about “personal use”—but the video would be ok unless someone were to create a gated, pay-per-view video.)

Concerns and copyright issues arise when someone designs clothings, toys, books, or other items with the intent to sell them. Basically, profiting from the work of another — be it a writer or a software developer — is strictly protected by international copyright law.

But again, non-profit fan projects are wonderful and perfectly fine, as expressed in the CToU.

And, as always, the way you treat your community is completely and totally awesome.

That legal document could still scare a lot of people, but that could be said for all legal documents.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Ben K.6238:

Palador.2170:

Gaile Gray.6029:

The Content Terms of Use may help you.

If you have something to say, you should flat-out say it. Linking to a lengthy legal document and assuming that everyone knows what part you’re talking about AND can fully and correctly understand it is … well, it’s not good communication, for starters.

Don’t assume Gaile has a full knowledge of everything you can and can’t do with GW2 IP. That link is there in case something on that page answers the question.

Please note that the OP didn’t indicate whether the question was about making a single figure for personal use, or a bunch of figures to sell. I’m sure you can appreciate that making one t-shirt for your own use is entirely different than making 1,000 to sell on eBay.

Context is important, and a full resource like the CToU is the right thing to review to learn about acceptable use of our assets. We’re not in a position to review each request, because each request can be a bit different. So we ask that the person who wants to know about using our content please review the document with an eye to his/her specific project. Consider the project, review the legal document, and then figure out if the project falls under the permissions granted by the CToU. If it does, than the use of our assets would be fine.

The way that document is worded would suggest that printing out screenshots and posting them online is against the rules here.

I know that’s not the case, but that’s actually what that document says, and that could freak a few people out. ArenaNet is awesome with community stuff (Fan art and Screenshots included,) but the way your legal documents word things are pretty scary for someone who isn’t that versed in legal speak.

Dalanor.5387:

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

InfernoHero.5687:

Dalanor.5387:

InfernoHero.5687:

More of my thoughts:

Just farmed the heck out of SW.

Did just fine in Soldier’s gear. Others did just fine in Berserker’s gear.

Stop fighting. Go have fun.

But you started the whole argument with this thread … Oo

I didn’t want it to turn out like this, though.

I just wanted some people to come out and talk about how to fix the two extremes (Zerk extremists and anti-meta extremists)

Probably the best way to fix it would be for some dungeon paths to have different optimal setups. They would still have a “path meta,” there’s no avoiding that, and that’s fine. However, there are things that could be done to give different dungeon paths different speedrun metas rather than 5-zerk. Mechanics that force a longer fight inherently favor other gear setups, for example. Karka, Husks, or other high-toughness mobs would result in one or two of the zerkers getting replaced with condition builds as another possibility while not artificially limiting speedruns like timed events would.

But thats not diversity it’s outright excluding certain styles and gear sets for no apparent reason. World bosses are enough for this.

I’m actually ok with this.

PvE players that don’t really like damage builds take a little longer to do a dungeon, but help out more during world bosses.

Zerk players take less time in dungeons, but only really contribute damage for world bosses.

My Banner approves of the downed state.

Dalanor.5387:

InfernoHero.5687:

More of my thoughts:

Just farmed the heck out of SW.

Did just fine in Soldier’s gear. Others did just fine in Berserker’s gear.

Stop fighting. Go have fun.

But you started the whole argument with this thread … Oo

I didn’t want it to turn out like this, though.

I just wanted some people to come out and talk about how to fix the two extremes (Zerk extremists and anti-meta extremists)

I didn’t want all of this fighting to happen. I didn’t know people got this intense over gear and builds. I just want people to have fun how they want to without interference on either side.

More of my thoughts:

Just farmed the heck out of SW.

Did just fine in Soldier’s gear. Others did just fine in Berserker’s gear.

Stop fighting. Go have fun.

Mystic.5934:

And apparently you can’t make changes… so your 3d print must be something direct from the game (you couldn’t move the arms to make a Y, M, C, and A pose).

This would be hard to do if you want good details or a larger statue.

The way I print figures (Due to having a small printer) is by making the torso, head, legs, and arms separate and then “Click” them together like a doll.

By it’s nature, it would be moveable.

I’ve tried to do elbow and knee joints, but I haven’t really found a good way to do that AND make it easy to put together.

Yalora Istairiea.6287:

masterJP.5048:

Can we get a green one ? Please ?

2 Points

• I also was hoping for green as a commander color too but,
• I opened up the Map/Mission Map and after considering about 75 of the Non-Norn/Char maps are Green I figured that maybe ANet thought the practicality of green on green would be ill advised.

You are likely one of three people that realized this quickly. Good on ya.

As an experiment to see if people still like this sort of thing, I made an LFG listing for AC story, no stacking, watching cut scenes.

So much fun. My Warrior helped a few low levels with their first dungeon ever. Loved every second of it.

oxtred.7658:

For the love of god, how many times must we repeat berserker gear doesn’t equal to no group support?

Power/Precision/Healing Power

Best Elementalist ever.

SkyFallsInThunder.8257:

tagtastic!

I’m using this word now.

Class change seems a lot better than race change.

With a race change, you have story and other things to worry about. Class change wouldn’t harm anything.

tolunart.2095:

InfernoHero.5687:

Gaile Gray.6029:

The Content Terms of Use may help you.

…Their use is strictly prohibited unless approved in advance and in writing by ArenaNet…

Am I wrong in assuming that as long as this figure is for personal use (Sitting on a table or bookcase in my home, for example,) then Arena Net is ok with that?

You are wrong, unless you obtain permission in writing in advance, Anet is not okay with that.

Then the project shall be forgotten.

Oh well. Maybe they’ll sell figures at a later date. I’d love to get a statue on my Norn to sit beside Rytlock.

Dalanor.5387:

Still no one linked this?

Oh and about the LFG issues THIS is just pure gold.

The problem is when All Welcome LFG listings have a guy join that wants to kick people for not having zerk gear.

The other and equally important problem is non-zerk players joining zerk groups and wanting to be carried.

Why are people STILL missing the point of this thread? Why is everyone still fighting over the Meta?

Play how you want. It shouldn’t matter if you want to play with the meta, zerkers, soldier’s, rampagers, or a build that bugs the game to the point that you can press a button to poop rainbows.

That point of this thread was to address the issue of the small portion of the community that refuses to let people play how they want.

People that join Zerk only LFGs without the proper build and gear? This thread was made to address that issue.

People that join “All Welcome” LFGs and attempt to kick someone for not playing how they “Should?” This thread was made to address that issue.

Stop fighting over the Meta. That’s not the point of this thread.

zaced.7948:

there are diverse tools for that (texmod was popular in gw1, doesn’t work on gw2, though.). with most tools you’ll only capture the textures which you would have to remodel in 3d by hand in order to print it. it’s for sure possible. not so sure about it being allowed. however, who is gonna find out/do anything about it?

With the stigma against 3D printing currently making rounds, I’m not going to risk putting it in the spot light of a copyright claim or worse. With every new technology, there are people that see it as something that shouldn’t be around. 3D printing something that could otherwise be sold by the company is not something I’m willing to do.

What might happen if Arena Net wanted to one day sell figures of player characters for a cost, and it turned out that players had already 3D printed them? That would give 3D printing far to much negative publicity within the gaming community.

Fernling.1729:

I know figure prints makes very high quality figures. Not sure if they make for more than a couple of games though. Might be worth getting in touch with them.

Just MineCraft and WoW by the looks of their site.

Gaile Gray.6029:

The Content Terms of Use may help you.

It would appear that, as long as I am doing so for personal use only, I am allowed to do this.

This says no, but it sounds like it’s talking about commercial use and resell:

May I use your art or images for items, such as clothing, toys, or other game-related goods?

Our art assets-be they concept art, in-game screenshots, verbal content, or renders-are all copyrighted materials. Their use is strictly prohibited unless approved in advance and in writing by ArenaNet. Specific questions concerning the appropriate use of our content should be directed to community@arena.net.

Am I wrong in assuming that as long as this figure is for personal use (Sitting on a table or bookcase in my home, for example,) then Arena Net is ok with that?

Please inform me if I am incorrect or correct as I will probably not be doing this unless I am absolutely sure it is ok.

Even if I am given the OK on the forums, I will probably still contact community@arena.net.

Edit: I don’t even really know how to go about doing this to be honest. I have no idea how to get the model off of the game in the first place. I don’t even know if the model is even accessible.

Is it possible to rip character models from the game in order to 3D print them as figures?

Fernling.1729:

InfernoHero.5687:

Apply.5076:

I want to buy craft items and max crating professions..
this is so stupid…

Dude. Don’t do that on your first character.

Leveling your first time through PvE is one of the greatest parts of this game. Don’t miss out on it like that.

He wouldn’t miss out on any of that if he power levels to 80. You can still do the level 10 personal story, events/hearts in low level zones and anything else you can do while leveling.

Getting to max level asap would actually allow him the option for more content in the game at the same time.

That… actually makes sense.

Crap. Now I’m going to feel like I’m not getting proper rewards unless I’m on one of my two 80s.

Time to farm gold and power level.

azyume.6321:

My guardian is a full knight and with exception of 2 times only, both chars were tanky necros, he never fails to get aggro. I like the aspect that I have to hold my own with a target on my character’s head. Besides that, he have a decent crit chance and damage, but not optimal of course. For WvW my guardian uses soldier’s gear with trooper runes and usually he is the link, the tank, in the party bringing heals, protection and cleanse.

My warrior run a full zerker gear with strength runes but rather tanky traits, his comp is focused on party buffs: Empower Allies, Forceful Greatsword and Phalax Strength. That will give the party pretty much fury and might uptime and allow the other members to go with full DPS on their own.

My elementalist uses d/d and have full zerker gear as well. Air specialist with 4 points in Arcana for faster attunement and 4 points in Water for condition cleanse.

My necromancer use Rabid gear and is traited for maximum condition. However, I can’t use him on any party, unless the players aren’t worried about efficiency or time and just want to kill things while chatting.

I have other classes as well but will only cite those four and say that between them, I like my elementalist the most. I take him to run new content, to solo new things with him and have a ‘feel’ of how hard or easy they can be and how long it will take me to complete the tasks, events. The silverwastes is a good map for me to work on my skills, specially when engage several creeps, when 2 hits from them, if I am not paying attention, is more than enough to down my ele.

When I want a relaxed dungeon run, I use my guardian; when I want a speed run, I use my warrior; and when I want a bit of challenge, I use my elementalist.

When someone ask on map chat which gear they should use or which is the most efficient, I simply explain the current meta, since they will have to know when decide to use the LFG tool, and then ask which is their play style. According to their answer, I point to the gear which they would feel better, comfortable, playing.

It should be simple as that. This is a game and everyone have a sort of different definition of what is fun. Find out which one is yours and try to stick with like minded for better quality of life.

This is perfect. Thank you for this post.

Apply.5076:

I want to buy craft items and max crating professions..
this is so stupid…

Dude. Don’t do that on your first character.

Leveling your first time through PvE is one of the greatest parts of this game. Don’t miss out on it like that.

Astralporing.1957:

InfernoHero.5687:

2. If this math is true, then why is everyone so bent out of shape over a few seconds?

Both compared sets are primary power. They are not on opposite ends of the scale. In fact, you could say the are very close to each other – and yet there is already such difference. Try to compare Zerker to other stat sets as well.

But you can’t really compare sets like Rabid and zerkers or Cleric’s and zerkers simply because they serve a different role.

You would end up calculating the DPS of a DOT gear and a healing gear.

Soldier’s and zerkers are at opposite ends of the power spectrum.

Derren.8724:

-snip-

Would something like this work?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fJAQNAseTjMd0Fa3HOeQHagpgCXCcdACg0dQYHDA-TBSBwAXOlCGV+hT9nU6bkoEkt5vY7PA4JFAA-e

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

Something to take into consideration is how close the scales between damage outputs actually are. For this comparison, I’ll use a 6/6/2/0/0 thief build in exotic gear, and compare the effective power of both.

Full Zerker: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAV4Yl8Mp6pFOxxJ0PNRLRtdIEdfAXzg2PQAEiA-ThRDwAP3fIhSweK/ep+DIdPAM/BA-e

Full Soldier:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fZAQNAV4Yl8Mp6pFOxxJ0PNRLRtdIEdfAXzg2PQAEiA-ThxDwAN3f4juHeK/cp+DClgAM/BA-e

Zerker has 2584 power, 60% crit chance and 2.23 crit damage, comes to 4491 effective power.
Soldier has 2524 Power, 34% crit chance and 1.77 crit damage, comes to 3185 effective power.

In raw stats alone, zerker only does 41% more damage than soldiers. Now, factoring Keen Eye (5% crit rate), 1/3rd fury uptime (6.7% crit chance), revealed training (+200 power). we’ll get 5250 effective power for zerkers, 3689 effective power for soldiers, and a total difference of… 42%.

Go for broke (full might, banners, food, perma fury, swap trait to flanking strikes, Empower Allies, Spotter), you’ll get 11090 EP for zerkers, 8265 effective power for Soldiers, which comes to a 34% difference in effective power.

This is one of the design decision Anet made early on: to prevent hard tank/heal/other classes from forming, gear and stats were designed in such a way that the relative scale between two extremes wasn’t that far. I’ve come from previous games where the scales in effective health and effective power can be an order of magnitude different between classes. I imagine other people are coming from those games, too, which is why some players consider anything but zerk to be leeching. If everything else is equal, if a dungeon run has a full minute of combat in full zerker gear, then full soldier gear will only add 25 seconds to the run time.

Build and tactics are far more important than gear. Enforcing gear diversity is an issue, but it isn’t an extremely big one, which is why Anet hasn’t devoted too much time to fixing old content for it.

That’s…

Wow…

I’ve never actually seen the math behind gear like this, and it’s awesome to actually see it put in simple terms.

But I do have two questions:

1. Does your math factor in crit damage as well as crit chance?
2. If this math is true, then why is everyone so bent out of shape over a few seconds?

Derren.8724:

In general, warrior sword is something of a jack-of-all-trades weapon. It’s auto-attack chain applies bleeding and cripple, which makes it attractive to condi builds. Sword #2 is a low-cooldown leap that gives mobility, and Sword #3 is a heavy-damage attack to benefit from power builds. It’s burst skill benefits condi builds more than power, applying a LOT of bleed stacks, but it can hit decently hard with good power and crit chance as well.

In PvP, sword/shield works as a sort of substitute for a greatsword, offering less mobility, but more defense. You still have a leap to close gaps/cover ground, your auto-attack hits reasonably hard and fast, while shield bash’s stun helps you hold low-health targets still long enough to hit them with Final Thrust (and likely kill them, if it crits). Lots of warriors in zergs will run sword/warhorn for more mobility and group support, while condi builds might prefer sword/sword for the ranged torment and a block that counters with bleed stacks.

In general, it’s a weapon you’ll see a lot of warriors using in PvP. It works well with pretty much any build and pairs well with pretty much any other weapon set (I probably wouldn’t go sword/shield+greatsword in PvP… but you might be able to make it work). If you’re thinking of using it for PvP… go for it. Find a build that you like to run around with and have sword/shield be one of the weapon sets you use.

For PvE, however… it’s not really that useful. Again, a condi build can get a lot out of warrior sword (and more from sword/sword), but condi tends to appear lackluster in PvE, and most classes can outperform a warrior in condition-application where it counts. The mobility and defense can be useful if you want to pair it with axe/mace or axe/axe (or greatsword in this case), but in terms of raw damage output you will fall behind.

Try it out in PvE, though, maybe you can find a build to take advantage of it. The point of a game is to try and have fun, and sword/shield is by no means a ‘bad’ weapon set for warriors at all.

If I wanted to use Sword/Shield in PvE, what should my traits be?

I don’t have any condi gear.

kokiman.2364:

It will be in the gemstore next week.

Mission: Farm up 80 gold to buy it.

Current progress: 2/80

Dalanor.5387:

Maybe guardians can stick to knight’s sometimes.

I’m actually gearing up my guardian in Knights armor now. I’ve had him in soldier’s gear with an AH build for almost two years, so I figure it’s time to change him up.

1. Greatsword is so much fun.
2. I have more damage, but the toughness protects what is now a low HP.
3. 10% of that toughness goes to Precision, so even more damage.
4. I didn’t think this at first, but meditations are a little better than shouts.

LONGA.1652:

Should have made the Original glowing mask dye-able in the first place.Otherwise people will refund buy the color they want over and over again.

You can get refunds on gem store items?

So… I found this.

How do I get them?

They’re basically just the gem store glow eyes, but blue.

SKATE.1394:

I know you’re not here complaining just because seeing “zerk only” in an lfg gets your b-hole all tight even though you still avoid joining such groups, the only reason you’d be starting yet another one of these threads for the thousandth time is if you’re “that guy”, and people are still noticing.

I have stated the point of this thread multiple times throughout my posts. I’d excuse you missing them if I did not also put a TL;DR right at the top of the OP.

Here are such posts:

InfernoHero.5687:

I absolutely DO NOT want a game without Bezerkers gear or builds.

Zerk gear, Damage builds, and the meta support a style of gameplay that appeals to many. Removing this would harm the game a lot, and no one should want to take away another person’s enjoyment.

InfernoHero.5687:

The meta was never the topic of this thread.

InfernoHero.5687:

I am fine with everyone doing whatever they like doing. As long as they are enjoying the game, I am perfectly happy.

My issue is when the meta build or ANY build is pushed onto someone.

InfernoHero.5687:

Izaya.2906:

As for your opening post, yea, its a no brainer that you can do whatever you want in this or any other game.

Only important thing is that you mustn’t forget to always respect other people’s preferences/play style when they communicate it clearly in the LFG description or party chat when you join if you want your playing experience to be smooth.

This. All of this.

You are awesome.

And this was in the OP:

This argument also falls apart when you realize that this new player isn’t joining any full zerker LFG listings.

I have constantly argued AGAINST non-zerkers joining zerk-only LFG listings.

EVERYONE deserves to have the game they want. I love the fact that speedrunning is a thing for those that enjoying that type of gameplay. My concern is when that style of gameplay is forced on others.

runeblade.7514:

To the OP, Getting a perfect world without zerks is going to be really hard and time consuming for the devs. Is ANet’s time worth it? It is also going to make the game harder for you too, that is the undeniable truth.

I absolutely DO NOT want a game without Bezerkers gear or builds.

Zerk gear, Damage builds, and the meta support a style of gameplay that appeals to many. Removing this would harm the game a lot, and no one should want to take away another person’s enjoyment.

NoTrigger.8396:

InfernoHero.5687:

My issue is

this is what i was waiting for.
it is your issue. but this issue has absolutely nothing to do with the game or the meta.
the same counts for every other non existent issue that other people brought up in this thread.

The meta was never the topic of this thread.