This is not an official reply from ArenaNet on the concerns raised, but it is an official announcements of what will happen with guild content in the upcoming content update:
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/march-2013/
Relevant quote:
“New Guild Bounty Hunt Targets
More fugitives are on the run, and the Tyrian authorities need your guild to bring them in! Prepare yourself for a challenge, because these three new bounty targets are more elusive and menacing than ever. Bounty Hunt Training missions are perfect for a new or small guild looking to work their way up to bigger challenges.”
Could these “bounty hun training missions” be a solution for small guilds? We can only wait and see.
(also, I’m plugging this again:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Missions-merged/page/14#post1522077)
(edited by Jornophelanthas.1475)
There are very few guaranteed spots for gathering nodes, except a few that are guarded by veteran monsters. Most gathering nodes spawn in seemingly random places, and whenever servers reset, these places are swapped around.
It basically works the same as monster spawns: some are fixed, but most are random.
This is a very recent reply by Gaile Gray on name change:
I don’t share the OP’s concern, but there is one zone that irks me in a similar, but not entirely identical way.
In Kessex Hills (especially the northern and eastern parts), I get the feeling that there are just too many fortresses (both human and centaur) in too small a space.
Have you looked at the mesmer yet?
I guess with various threads about guild missions being merged into this one, the link to Matipzieu Kya’s brilliant post about the unintended consequences of the guild mission content, as well as constructive suggestions for overcoming them has been changed.
So as a sort of public service, I dug up that series of 4 posts, and give the new link:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Missions-merged/page/14#post1522077
(It is still on page 14 of this thread, but the old links don’t work anymore because the thread was renamed.)
If you haven’t read it already, I strongly recommend it, even though it’s a long read. It consists of 4 long posts in a row (with one short post by someone else in the middle).
(edited by Jornophelanthas.1475)
Sure they do. They’re just rare.
Don’t underestimate cooking. The food item boons give significant boosts to your stats, and speed up XP gain as well.
That would make the March 26th content update quite likely.
Although if it becomes a gemstore purchase, a game update is not even needed.
I don’t mind that it takes time. I do mind that it takes smaller guilds longer to unlock the missions than it would take larger guilds, even if they start at the same level of influence.
And I second that the missions themselves are unplayable in groups smaller than 10-15. My guild is composed of real-life friends and doesn’t even have that many members.
Intentional or not, ArenaNet’s new guild content reinforces the elitist opinion that small guilds are not “real” guilds by placing guild missions out of the reach of small guilds.
Just use the Versatile Simple Infusion if you want 5 AR. It costs 75 fractal relics and is sold by the vendor golem inside Fractals of the Mists.
Really, in my opinion it is the only worthwhile infusion apart from the Utility infusions available for amulets.
Hello, i did not read the full thread.
But i just want to tell the devs that the “guild missions” killed the guild i was part of.
We were active, and waiting for new activities, we had enough influence to unlock the very first mission, so we did.
The fact: this first mission is not designed for small guilds, most players of my guild were so dissappointed that a half of them stopped being “active”. As a result, the other half got stucked because of the lack of active players, and they did quit the guild for another one.
So, congratulations ….
I won’t have much time to check this thread in the future. But i just wanted to shared what happened.
Have a nice day
I’m sorry to hear about the death of your non-large guild.
But I can’t help but think that this may even be one of the intentions of the guild mission system. After all, if everyone can be a member of multiple guilds for free, then almost everyone will want have their own guild and save up for their guild storage, private emblem and the like. All this (and especially the guild influence tally and guild chat channel) creates extra guild data that requires server capacity to store and maintain.
By adding in new content that is not accessible for guilds that are too small, players are tempted to abandon these guilds in favor of larger ones. (Not all, but even a low percentage of a very large number is still a large number.) The abandoned small guilds can be deleted once the last member leaves, reducing the strain on the servers.
Of course, if this is true, what they fail to see is that what is “server clutter” to them is actually “playing with my friends” for many people, and the main reason they log in every day.
While I have no issue with mildly discouraging people from making their own private one-man-guilds, I feel that small groups of friends who do not want to join a collective are currently being left out in the cold.
It evolved, apparently.
Your sample size is too small and really nothing but anecdotal. The monster loot drops from one fractal run is absolutely insignificant, from a statistical point of view. Try comparing 100 runs with MF and 100 runs without MF, or even better, multiples of that.
Isn’t the fun of the game in, you know, playing it?
Given that everything gives XP, making it to level 80 is an inevitable consequence of playing, which hardly makes it an achievement.
And finally, Guild Wars 2 does not have any super-magical-fun content that can only be experienced by max-level/max-gear characters. The level 1-80 content is actually the core of the game.
So congratulations on skipping the entire game.
Reported Asura.4709 for thread necromancy and reposting the same rant over and over again all over the forum.
rant
Please do not vent your opinions as if they were absolute truth for everyone.
The elementalist is NOT a clone of the warcraft-mage, has never been intended as such and never will be. This class has its own thing going for it, and while there is room for improvement in terms of balance between the different weapon sets, bear in mind that each weapon has specific strengths:
- Dagger mainhand: melee-range damage, offense
- Dagger offhand: melee-range damage, offense
- Scepter: medium-range single-target damage, versatile
- Focus: defensive/utility skills aimed at medium range
- Staff: medium-long range area effects, support
If you insist on using a certain weapon in a playstyle that does not play to that weapon’s strengths, you will have a hard time. However, do not blame the elementalist profession or the weapon properties; blame your choice of weapons and try out different weapons, or (if you don’t want to adapt) blame your choice of professions because the elementalist is apparently not your cup of tea.
I know of two.
The first is Conjurer’s armor (which drops from level 60 zones and upwards, if I recall correctly).
Secondly, the personal story past level 70 awards armor pieces that I have not yet seen elsewhere. One of the chest armors (I believe it’s called “Commander’s Armor”) is sleeveless.
@Osculim:
Staff is a weapon most suited to group play. It has tons of support abilities (including lots and lots of combo fields), but relatively little in term self-defense. Still, it can be done if you learn to use Fire 4, Water 4, Air 2, 3 and 5, and Earth 3, 4 and 5 effectively as self-defense skills.
(I never have; I use defensive skills to keep monsters occupied with my groupmates if I use staff. I never use it when I solo.)
By the way, your belief that “a caster should have a staff” is arguably exactly the kind of “forcing into one playstyle”, if you refuse to use anything but a staff because of your belief.
I like daily achievements.
They give me a sense of accomplishments every time I complete them, and whenever I log in I have a reason to play.
If your support account is compromised, you SHOULD report this to ArenaNet. Because if ArenaNet doesn’t know this, the hacker is free to use your support account to steal your account again, for example by claiming that YOU are the account stealer.
@Baladir:
If your interpretation of the OP is true, then he/she will likely have trouble keeping any profession alive, because the playstyle “Use-all-my-skills-one-by—one-while-standing-in-one-place-while-the-enemy-tries-to-pound-me” never works.
In my opinion, a player who does not know how to dodge (and refuses to) will have a very hard time with only little enjoyment of the game.
While you are free to level to 80 over a single weekend, you should note that the game was made with the intent of enjoying the events and exploring the world as you level. Since everything (including gathering, crafting, reviving other players) gives XP, you will gradually level no matter what you do.
The only “super-secret super-fun for-hardcore-players-only” content that is not accessible before level 80 is the Ascended gear (as well as Legendary weapons), which need to be earned in various different ways.
However, every other aspect of the game is intended to be accessible to everyone relatively soon. If you make it to level 31, you will have access to everything the game has to offer in terms of game mechanics (dungeons and elite skills being the capstones). From there, you will gradually get more variety and more trait points, but the core of the game does not change.
So please, do not assume that “the game only starts at level 80”. In Guild Wars 2, it really is the journey that matters, not the destination.
Apparently, hardly anybody still remembers that a lot of the the bugged elementalist skills have been fixed, and are now actually usable and useful.
(e.g. Fire Grab, Tidal Wave, Ride the Lightning, Magnetic Grasp)
Also, the downed skills have greatly improved since launch.
You should check the following:
- Is your staff within a few levels of your actual level? A level 9 staff on a level 14 character will hardly deal any damage.
- Is your armor within a few levels of your actual level and better than white quality? Inferior armor is one of the major causes of getting hit so hard.
- Staff is not very forgiving for low-level elementalists. I would advise you to try scepter/dagger. Scepter deals decent damage to single targets at range (at least at lower levels), and dagger off-hand deals a lot of damage to enemies who are close by. (Scepter becomes a sub-par choice around level 50-60 or so, when you have enough survivability to switch either to dagger/dagger or staff.)
Also, note that the staff is the most support-oriented weapon the elementalist can choose from. Therefore, it is most suitable for party play, when you have allies who can prevent the monsters from closing you. At level 14 solo, you rarely have that ability.
- Having said that, I recommend the utility skill Glyph of Lesser Elementals. This will summon an elemental to fight by your side. The earth elemental is the sturdiest, although the ice elemental can be a decent replacement.
- I recommend Signet of Fire as a utility skill. Against low-level enemies, conditions hit really hard, and burning is the hardest-hitting one of them all. Plus, it passively boosts your precision when you don’t use it.
- Finally, when you fight, don’t just stand there spamming attacks while getting hit. That is the “classic” way of playing a wizard-type character in most fantasy RPGs, but it is NOT a viable way to play in Guild Wars 2 for any profession. Every character has access to a dodge-bar for a reason. When you see a monster charging an attack skill, make sure you’re not standing where the blow will land.
(edited by Jornophelanthas.1475)
You access the Hall of Monuments very early in the Eye of the North storyline. In fact, it is in the middle of the first explorable zone of the expansion. So if you acquire the Eye of the North expansion, all you will need is about 15 minutes to unlock the Hall of Monuments.
(You will need to finish the Eye of the North storyline in order to be able to fully upgrade the Hall of Monuments, but in its most basic form, you will still be able to dedicate all your maxed titles in the Monument to Honor.)
I stopped playing when Ascended gear kicked in
[…]
whats new?
Daily achievements have been revamped. Each day now offers a set of 9 achievements (which change every day), of which you need to complete 5 to get the daily reward. You get to choose which of the 9 you want to complete. The daily reward now also awards 1 laurel and 1 Jug of Karma (consumable for 4,500 karma).
You can earn laurels through daily and monthly achievements. Each daily achievement awards 1 laurel, each monthly awards 10 laurels. Laurels are a currency that does not use inventory, just like karma, and is displayed at the bottom of your inventory window, next to karma and gold. There is no other way to earn laurels than through dailies/monthlies, meaning their distribution is fixed. There has been talk that players will be given laurels based on their achievements (retroactively) at some unspecified future date.
There is now a laurel vendor to be found in each major city. The laurel vendor sells nearly all Ascended items, as well as Obsidian Shards, Unidentified Dyes, unique Miniatures, and much more.
Regarding Ascended items:
- There are now Ascended Rings, Back Items, Accessories and Amulets (all 6 Trinket slots).
- Rings can be earned through the Fractals of the Mists, as well as through the laurel vendor. The price difference is small, but it is slightly cheaper/easier to earn them through playing Fractals.
- Amulets can only be earned through the laurel vendor. They are relatively cheap, and may hold a special “utility infusion” (sold separately by the laurel vendor).
- Accessories can be earned through guild missions, as well as through the laurel vendor. The laurel vendor prices are quite extravagant; acquiring them through guild missions is recommended if you are a member of a mission-capable guild.
- Back Items can only be earned through Fractals of the Mists (with or without using the Mystic Forge). I see them as more of a novelty than anything else, really.
Guild missions were introduced two weeks ago. There have been some technical and balance issues that ArenaNet has not yet responded to. Some players complain that the (Influence) cost of unlocking them for a guild is prohibitive. Others are unhappy that the overflow mechanic can hinder the completion of a mission. It is likely that the guild mission system will be tweaked or expanded on in the future. Guild missions reward Guild Commendations (once per week per mission type), which are a currency that can be exchanged at the guild commendation vendor (in major cities).
Guild commendation vendors sell unique miniatures, Ascended Accessories, and various cosmetic items for Guild Commendations + gold.
The zones of Orr have been slightly rebalanced. Loot tables have been adjusted. Karma merchants (especially at Orrian Temples) have new expanded list of items. Perhaps most noteworthy is the Lost Orrian Jewelry Box (sold by all Orrian karma vendors), which costs 4,550 karma and has a chance of awarding Obsidian Shards and various Lodestones. It’s really a gambling system for trying to turn karma into valuable goods.
The bank has more collectible slots for all rare crafting materials, as well as Mystic Coins, Globs of Ectoplasm, Obsidian Shards and the like.
The Tradepost now has a preview option. The Gem Shop sells more cosmetic equipment (such as quaggan backpacks and plush charr backpacks).
There has been a change to the dungeons, where “graveyard zerg” rushing has been made impossible, and encounters are rebalanced to facilitate this. This is an ongoing process.
There is a “Living Story”; temporary, slowly evolving open-world content (currently slowly building up in Diessa Plateau and Wayfarer Foothills; nothing big yet). The major cities have Heralds standing near entrances who can tell you where to go.
Some major open world champion bosses have had their loot chests majorly improved. The Shadow Behemoth and Frozen Maw are among these.
When an enemy drops a rare (yellow) or better item, a small chest will spawn on top of the corpse for you. This is intended to make it easier for players to see that they have rare loot to pick up.
(Did I get it all, everyone?)
source: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Quest-Update-concerns-me/first#post1398267
The bold text is my own emphasis. Apparently, a blog post is coming. So it’s time to end the “this issue is being ignored” argument.
(I’ll repeat my prediction that this blog post will bear Chris Whiteside’s name.)Also, I’ll repeat that the post linked below (on page 14 of this thread) is well worth reading:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/New-guild-missions-opinions-concerns/page/14#post1522077You are aware that post was done a month ago, long before the guild missions were released and he was talking to a concerned player that predicted small guilds demises due to an unbalanced system?
Thank you. I have removed my original post to avoid any conclusion. Please disregard the times it has been quoted.
@Anthony Ordon:
I have taken the liberty of copying your post to the “official” thread about “New guild missions: opinions & concerns”, because people over there have discussed the guild content and raised many opinions and concerns, and have been clamoring for some official response (or at least acknowledgement that their posts are being read) for some time now.
This is the relevant link:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/New-guild-missions-opinions-concerns/page/40#post1608423
Finally, there is one set of 4 posts in that thread that I would specifically recommend for ArenaNet representatives to read, as it is an in-depth and professionally worded breakdown of the things that cause people concern:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/New-guild-missions-opinions-concerns/page/14#post1522077 (Really! Read this, please.)
(If you haven’t done so already, of course.)
(edited by Jornophelanthas.1475)
[REMOVED INCORRECT POST]
Also, I’ll repeat that the post linked below (on page 14 of this thread) is well worth reading:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/New-guild-missions-opinions-concerns/page/14#post1522077
EDIT: crossed out incorrect information
(edited by Jornophelanthas.1475)
Exactly. That’s my point. Uninformed people have this whole fantasy about how it would be soooo easy to get guild recommendations when in fact it takes a ton of organization as well as online time to be sure to even take advantage of the mechanic efficiently.
A single successful guild mission rewards slightly under 1/6th of what you need for an ascended earring through the guild commendations vendor. Performing 1 week of daily achievements + farming 7 ectoplasm accomplishes about the same progress towards an ascended earring through the laurel vendor.
If the success rate of guild missions is about one in seven, I would be inclined to agree that these two efforts could be equal. However, over time and with practice guilds will get better at guild missions, needing perhaps only 2 or 3 tries at most to gain the weekly reward. Meanwhile, the time to earn a laurel is not likely to be halved or quartered over time. For this reason, I still believe that non-small guilds are having the easier time here.
People also don’t realize that you need to pay influence each time per ATTEMPT on top of the cost of unlocking it in the first place, and alot of times those events are no joke.
I already addressed how trivial the cost of 200 influence for a mission attempt is. Quoting myself:
You assume that the guild would have enough INFLUENCE to trigger those missions on the exact intervals.
Ordering a guild mission costs 200 influence. Unless this is a guild that could not afford its MF, Karma and EXP banners (which each cost the same) before the February patch, I highly doubt this is an issue.
If the guild can afford to unlock guild missions for 10,000 influence, it will have the funds to pay 200 influence per week to order a mission. Logging in with 3 different representing characters on my acount every day already earns my guild 210 influence per week. Now imagine that even half the members will do that.
Being a part of a guild and doing guild events requires MORE time spent than just doing dailies, since you are also most likely doing dailies ON TOP of guild events.
Time spent is a cost.
If you are also working on your dailies while doing guild missions, you are earning laurels IN ADDITION TO guild commendations in the same amount of time. Even if you spend more time in the game this way, your rewards are also nearly doubled compared to someone who is NOT in a position to earn guild commendations.
(I say “nearly” doubled, because the laurel cost for ascended earrings is higher than the guild commendation cost, because the former also costs ectoplasm.)
Maximizing the yield from guild missions is going to impact your time spent — probably more than most people think. Peoples’ ability to maximize the yield of guild missions is going to be impacted by how organized or disorganized the guild is.
In disorganized guilds, you’d better be online a lot. When the mood strikes them, they’ll pop a mission and go. If you’re not on as often as the leadership, you risk being left out. Even in an organized guild, there’s no guarantee that a scheduled mission will fit your schedule.
I have two arguments against this.
First, if you’re in this situation, the worst case scenario is that you log in, wait around for a guild mission while earning your dailies (and perhaps farming some ectoplasm), finally start on a guild mission, which then fails (not earning you anything).
The slightly less bad scenario is that you log in, wait around for a guild mission while earning your dailies (and perhaps farming some ectoplasm), and then log out again without actually doing a guild mission.
The best case scenario is that you log in, wait around for a guild mission while earning your dailies (and perhaps farming some ectoplasm), and participate in a successful guild mission (earning guild commendations).
Again, we see that even if you spend time waiting for a guild mission to start, you still gain AT LEAST as much progress towards an ascended earring as someone who only does dailies.
(I am assuming here that if a guild mission starts before your dailies are completed, you will still finish the daily achievement before logging out if the guild mission was not successful.)
(Also, note that the “best case scenario” only needs to occure once per week per mission type you want to participate in.)
My second argument consists of asking you why you even choose to be dependent on such unreliable people? Wouldn’t it be better to just look for a better organized guild, with a schedule that suits you? Also, if these people are your friends, can’t you just ask them to suit your schedule or to announce their events more in advance? Does getting rewarded for doing something unfun (i.e. begging guild officers to start a mission, badgering your brother/roommate to come online and represent) make it fun in retrospect?
For some people, the answer is no. They find the cost of being aggravated by this dependency on a large group of (possibly inconsiderate) morons to be too high, and therefore choose not be a member of a large guild. This is a conscious playstyle decision. Should these people be discriminated against by paying more for their ascended gear?
Back in December, collectible bank slots were introduced for all rare crafting materials, including those that are exclusive to the seasonal events. Additionally, collectible bank slots were added for Passion Flowers, Passion Fruit and Karka Shells.
However, there are four rare crafting materials that have NOT been provided with a collectible bank slot. These are:
- Copper Doubloon
- Silver Doubloon
- Gold Doubloon
- Platinum Doubloon
In my opinion, it is simply inconsistent that these items are not collectible. Perhaps even an oversight?
Therefore, I am hoping that collectible bank slots may be added for the Doubloons soon. Either under “rare crafting materials” or “gemstones & jewels” wouls seem appropriate.
The big advantage of Cantrips is that all them are stunbreakers with no activation time. In my experience, this makes Cantrips far more valuable than Signets in WvW at least. Which is why I have a separate Cantrip-based build that I can swap to for WvW.
To be fair, since Ecto is becoming kind of easier to come by, a player who would do his/her daily and monthly will get his/her Ascended Earrings faster than the one who would get them through Guild missions, by your own numbers above (whether that’s fair or not, or which is more expensive, etc., is another issue.) Sure, it will cost more, but then again by the end of the two months he/she will probably have more than enough to get these Earrings (I am no power gold farmer, BTW-just talking casual in-game gold-making.)
At least we who won’t join a large Guild for its own sake have some way to get the Earrings, even “ahead of schedule”, as it were (though yes, they are pricey, and yes, I don’t really agree with the way Guild Missions were implemented)
Ectoplasm is readily available in the Trade Post, but at a cost of 30-35 silver each. It may also be salvaged from rare or better equipment pieces, but there is no guarantee of success.
Also, the post below makes a valid point.
The cost is absurd. I need ecto for sooo many other things.
Please make these and amulets available with fractal relics as well as with laurels.
And this also goes for laurels. A player saving laurels for ascended earrings cannot spend those laurels on ascended amulets. (Well, if he/she does, he/she won’t have the earrings.) This is not true of guild commendations, since the commendation vendor does not offer other ascended items.
And finally, a player who regularly participates in guild missions is free to also earn laurels. A player who is not in a large guild does not have the option to do guild missions in addition to his/her dailies.
Regarding the time required to acquire enough laurels/guild commendations:
1. The duration of 2 months of daily/monthly achievements is the absolute minimum. Laurels cannot be earned faster.
2. The duration of 12 weeks (3 months) of guild missions is NOT the absolute minimum. If your guild has access to Bounties, Treks, Rushes, Challenges and Puzzles, you can earn more than 2 bounties per week. Alternatively, you can run with Bounties for multiple guilds in the same week. Therefore, Guild Commendations can be earned significantly faster. Halving the duration by gaining double the amount of commendations can even be achieved by performing only one additional (type of) guild mission per week.
(And half the duration of 12 weeks is already shorter than the 2 months of laurel hunting.)
Commendation vendor cost for 2 ascended accessories:
2x (12 guild commendations + 5 gold) = 24 guild commendations + 10 gold
24 guild commendations are earned through performing 12 guild missions in 12 different weeks (each of which awards 2 guild commendations). This time period of 12 weeks can be halved or more if you have access to more than only Guild Bounties.
10 gold is earned partly through those same 12 guild missions (50s per guild mission x 12 guild missions = 6 gold). The remaining 4 gold must be earned in other ways.There, quantified enough?
You make a lot of assumptions here.
You assume that the player in question will make it to EACH and every guild mission without fail.
Guilds are free to start a guild mission multiple times during a week. Every participating member can only receive the full reward (with commendations) once per week. It is really not a stretch to assume that a guild can start each mission type 3 or 4 times per week (or even daily) in order to make sure that all their members who want to participate get to participate.
You assume that you earn gold through the mission.
The weekly reward for a Guild Bounty is 2 commendations, 50 silver and 2 rare (or better) items. My calculations include the 50 silver that accompany the commendations. I have even left out whatever the rares/exotics/precursors that ALSO accompany the commendations could fetch on the Tradepost.
You assume that the guild would have enough INFLUENCE to trigger those missions on the exact intervals.
Ordering a guild mission costs 200 influence. Unless this is a guild that could not afford its MF, Karma and EXP banners (which each cost the same) before the February patch, I highly doubt this is an issue.
If the guild can afford to unlock guild missions for 10,000 influence, it will have the funds to pay 200 influence per week to order a mission. Logging in with 3 different representing characters on my acount every day already earns my guild 210 influence per week. Now imagine that even half the members will do that.
Those requirement for your comparison to work is far more restrictive than simply doing dailies since you have a 24 hour timeframe every day to do it on your own terms whereas the guild bounties you must be on exactly when the guild is doing it and it must have sufficient influence to trigger them.
These requirements are very reasonable, as I have shown above. Repeating an argument does not make it stronger.
There’s also the time spent in actually doing those guild events, which is in itself a cost as well as the influence spent.
The most common guild missions – guild bounties – are capped at 15 minutes per mission. I have to be very lucky to complete a daily achievement in that same time. Even if you fail a guild mission 6 times before you succeed on the 7th try, completing 7 daily achievements will STILL take longer.
At the end of the comparison, your original statement of “far less” is still not substantiated by even your own numbers.
I have refuted your counterarguments (some of which were pathetic), and my point stands.
Now, if everyone will excuse me, I am done feeding the troll.
(edited by Jornophelanthas.1475)
You intentionally misinterpret silvermember.
What he/she is arguing is that the cost of attaining ascended earrings is unfair, because it is far lower for people who happen to be in large guilds than it is for people who don’t like to join large guilds.Show me where I misrepresented him?
You have no evidence to support your statements that the cost is “far lower” since you haven’t quantified what the exact costs are and compared them.
In answer to your question, let me quote myself quoting ArenaNet. (If the post seems familiar to you, it was on page 1 of this thread.) I have added the bolded line for your convenience.
I’m going to quote Isaiah Cartwright on the cost of ascended accessories:
These items are mainly earned through guild content, we included them on the laurels vendor to give players the opportunity to earn them if they are not in a guild but they are priced high to encourage players to try and accomplish them via the guild content.
Further quantification:
Laurel vendor cost for 2 ascended accessories:
2x (40 laurels + 50 ectoplasm) = 80 laurels + 100 ectoplasm
80 laurels are earned through performing 2 monthly achievements + 60 daily achievements.
100 ectoplasm are earned through spending approximately 100 * 35 silver = 35 gold on the trading post, slightly lessened by what you may salvage from yellow items or may still have in stock. Daily rewards do not include ectoplasm or yellow items.
Commendation vendor cost for 2 ascended accessories:
2x (12 guild commendations + 5 gold) = 24 guild commendations + 10 gold
24 guild commendations are earned through performing 12 guild missions in 12 different weeks (each of which awards 2 guild commendations). This time period of 12 weeks can be halved or more if you have access to more than only Guild Bounties.
10 gold is earned partly through those same 12 guild missions (50s per guild mission x 12 guild missions = 6 gold). The remaining 4 gold must be earned in other ways.
There, quantified enough?
they probably also partecipated guild missions
Not really. And even if he was ikittenerg guild, how will a level 20 player participate in a guild mission that sends him into Frostgorge Sound or Fireheart Rise ?
Edit: wth, since when is the three letters N A and Z censored and for what reason? XD
The question is WHY would a level 20 character be concern about Level 80 gear?
BTW I don’t agree with ARenanet stance on forcing players to join guilds to get gear, I wish the was another method to get rings, because I certainly WONT ever ever join a guild. Guilds change the way, I play games and I don’t want to be bound by anybody other than myself. And I wish I could craft them even if they require a lot of work or reasonable work.
For the 50th time, you are NOT forced to join guilds to get those items because you have the option to get those SAME items from the laurel vendor for laurels/ectos.
I do know that, but it cost me less laurels or time and stuff. I would rather they be other ways to achieve them that doesn’t screw over or at least push you into joining a guild, which is really my problem.
Wrong. It does not push you to joining a guild because you have an alternate way to get the item.
You are simply complaining because the alternate way is not kitten easy. It has nothing to do with guilds. You would be here complaining regardless even if the only way to get it was through laurels and ectos.
You intentionally misinterpret silvermember.
What he/she is arguing is that the cost of attaining ascended earrings is unfair, because it is far lower for people who happen to be in large guilds than it is for people who don’t like to join large guilds. And this is the case, because ArenaNet has admitted that the laurel vendor cost is intentionally higher than the guild commendation vendor cost.
It would be fair if the laurel vendor cost would be on par with guild commendatino vendor cost, so that people in large guilds and people not in large guilds would both need to spend the same amount of effort for the same ascended earrings.
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So please do not confuse a sense of justice for laziness.
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And please do not argue that participating in one Guild Mission per week for 12 weeks in a row plus earning 4 more gold is about the same amount of effort as completing your dailies AND monthlies for 2 months in a row plus earning 100 ectoplasm.
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And also do not argue that being a member of a large guild is hard work. Clicking “represent” once per character and logging in every day (whether you’re actually going to play or not) is not hard work.
(edited by Jornophelanthas.1475)
Which major traits are you using?
Which healing/utility/elite skills are you using? Are you attached to any of those?This information is needed for other people to give you meaningful advice.
Major trait is Fire.
“Glyph of Elemental Harmony” as Healing
Armor of Earth / Arcane Blast / Arcane Wave as Utilities.
Summon 7-series Golem as Elite.
By “major trait”, I meant the trait powers that you selected in each of your traitlines that you have 10 or more points in.
I apologize for the lack of information, my armor is indeed Rare, I crafted it myself using a recipe for Intricate Silk Insignia, all Carrion set of six.
My bad. I thought it could only be crafted in green. Still, exotic is a significant upgrade from rare, and quote attainable.
I didn’t know I could upgrade armor to exotic using transmutation stone, I guess I got a lot of homework to do, I do have some of those for later investigation on how to use them.
You misunderstand. By “upgrade to exotic”, I meant acquiring exotic armor and equipping it instead of your current armor.
What the Fine Transmutation Stones can be used for is to transfer the runes and/or the appearance of one piece of equipment onto a similar piece of equipment (destroying the equipment from which the rune is removed).
Everyone defines “good enough” or “decent” differently. Signets are good enough for me, and I like tweaking them for more effectiveness. Plus, they fit my Toughness-centric build.
Apparently, signets are not good enough for you. To each their own.
We shall see what is good enough for LordSlack (the threadstarter).
Condition Damage is not a very good idea. You’re better off using Berserker or similar with your Staff.
It would help if you also explained why focusing (exclusively) on Condition Damage is not a very good idea. For example:
- Conditions only use a percentage of the Condition Damage score to calculate increased damage (which differs per condition).
- The elementalist has a good number of condition skills, but is still hard-pressed to keep a given condition on an enemy at all times in high enough stacks.
- Condition stacks are currently limited on 25 per condition per enemy. If you are in a party with more than 2 people who use a lot of conditions, the condition damage dealt will reach its peak. Also, burning and poison only stack duration.
- Conditions can be removed. Direct damage (Power) can’t.
However, conditions do ignore the enemy’s Toughness and armor.
It would help if you also explained why Berserker or similar is a good idea. For example:
- Power, Precision and Critical Damage % have a synergy, because the extra damage added on a critical is a percentage of regular (Power-based) damage. Therefore, the higher your Power, the higher your critical damage. The higher your Precision, the more often you hit a critical. The higher your Critical Damage %, the higher your critical damage.
There is a downside to Berserker gear, however:
- If you have little to no bonus to Toughness, Vitality or Healing Power, you may go down very easily, sometimes in only 2-3 hits. Party members generally do not like to revive you over and over again.
- If a battle is short, you can outdamage an enemy and win. If a battle goes long, however, the enemy becomes likely to outlast you. If you cannot succeed at keeping battles short, you will have a real problem. Champion battles and dungeon boss battles, for example.
Here is some general advice:
1. Your current armor is green. You should be saving up to upgrade to Exotic (orange) armor eventually (either through crafting – you need Gossamer, Ectoplasm and at least 1 insignia recipes from the crafting vendor – or through collecting dungeon tokens for dungeon armor, or through collecting Karma to spend on one of the karma merchants at one of the Orrian temples). The difference in armor rating is huge.
(Also, you can consider upgrading to rare armor (yellow) as an intermediate step.)
2. Also, do not put any Superior Runes in your green armor, unless you are willing to use Fine Transmutation Stones or a Black Lion Salvage Kit to transfer them to the Exotic armor later. Superior Runes are quite expensive, and green level 80 armor is decent enough to start out with, but easily upgraded.
3. Carrion is a balanced stat combination. I agree with Intigo that you should not focus exclusively on Condition Damage, but if you also focus on Power, then I do not see the harm. Also, with a good Vitality boost, you will stay alive longer in battles that go long.
If I ran around with no armor on and still managed to beat the pve content, would that mean that my strat is viable, or reasonable?
That depends on whether you were enjoying this playstyle while doing that. If so, then yes. (Not that I believe you or anyone else could pull this off. PvE content includes dungeons.)
The main question in this thread is: “How can I make this Earth Magic build better?” Your advice comes down to: “Stop using Earth Magic.” Honestly, you’re missing the point. The OP wants to improve the Earth Magic build, not abandon it. The point is to work with what you have.
Apparently, you believe that the best way to become a better fencer is to learn how to fire a gun.
Which major traits are you using?
Which healing/utility/elite skills are you using? Are you attached to any of those?
This information is needed for other people to give you meaningful advice.
Some misconceptions I see in the posts above:
1. I do not exclusively use any specific weaponset (or attunement for that matter). I use my build on dagger/dagger, staff and (occasionally) scepter/dagger. I adjust my play style accordingly.
2. I don’t care about being “par” or “subpar”. I care about being able to beat the PvE content (including dungeons/fractals), which I am so far. I do not play sPvP or tPvP, and I adapt the build for WvW to a more Cantrip-focused one. This latter build has a reasonable resemblance to the omnipresent 0/10/0/30/30 D/D elementalist build.
3. I think the passive abilities of the signets outweigh the passive abilities of other skills. Because non-signet skills HAVE no passive abilities. Regarding active signet abilities, I find it quite useful to activating Signet of Water to gain regeneration, remove a condition, deal a little damage, chill an enemy and apply 3 stacks of vulnerability, on a short cooldown as well. Signet of Earth AND Water can both keep an enemy where you want it, which is useful against a number of fractal bosses as well as any creatures with stealth abilities. Signet of Fire works great against the Jade Maw’s tentacles (which is when I slot it). And Signet of Air has a passive ability that is so valuable in WvW that there is no need for an active ability at all.
4. 30 points in Earth are not wasted. 300 Toughness and 300 Condition Damage are hardly a waste. (Especially considering that the core of this build is to optimize Toughness.) Also, the 25-point minor trait “enduring damage” is nothing to sneeze at.
Having said all this, I welcome any buffs to the elementalist signets’ activated abilities. There is certainly room for improvement here, and it may invite more people to try out unorthodox builds.
After all, ArenaNet has stated that their intent on balancing and rebalancing skills and traits is for players to be able to field many different builds in all parts of the game, without having one specific build be superior to all the others.
Try posting here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist
Far more elementalist players to read it there.
I actually hardly use the elite skill in my build. I prefer Glyph of Elementals because of its flexibility, but tend to only activate it when I am struggling in an encounter, but not outmanned enough to give up and flee.
Condition removal is actually one of the strongest points in my build, as it has 5 ways to do so:
- Signet of Water passive effect
- Cleansing Wave (water 5 weapon skill)
- Entering water attunement with Cleansing Water (water XI) and Elemental Attunement (arcana V)
- Activating Signet of Water with Cleansing Water (water XI) and Soothing Wave (water X)
- Activating Mist Form with Cleansing Water (water XI) and Soothing Wave (water X)
(Additionally, my set of Melandru runes also reduces condition and stun durations by 25%.)
I’m actually a little worried I may be overdoing it.
Here is my build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEUQJArYlMGSOWbw3Ae+AA5RLwwy4BIhQSpwMA
It’s not too different from yours, but here is a rundown of significant differences:
- Signet of Restoration instead of Ether Renewal.
If you’re going to use Written in Stone (Earth XII), you might as well equip the signet in the heal slot. Use it as often as you like, the passive heal never stops.
- Mist Form instead of Signet of Air.
Mist Form is a defensive skill that can help you if you get in a tight spot. It has a synergy with a trait choice (see below) for condition removal, and it benefits from the Soothing Wave (Water X). Doubly so, because you also deal out vulnerability and damage while transformed. Also, it breaks stun.
Arcane Shield is also a potentially good skill in this slot, because it is an Arcane spell and benefits from the Shard of Ice (water II) trait and serves mostly the same purpose. Downsides are that it may end early and has a longer cooldown than Mist Form.
- 10 less trait points in Arcana, 10 more in Water Magic.
At the cost of 5 seconds attunement bonuses and Vigor on criticals, you get +2% damage per active boon, and the Cleansing Water (water XI) trait, which removes a condition whenever I gain Regeneration. Mist Form and Signet of Water each give me Regeneration thanks to the Soothing Wave (water X) trait.
I can play this setup with all weapon sets. Dagger/dagger has the benefit of fast-activating skills (synergy with Signet of Restoration), while Staff benefits from keeping enemies inside your AoE circles with Water and Earth signets.
For armor, I emphasize primarily on Power (to compensate for no traits in Fire Magic) and Toughness (to max out the advantage of the traitpoints), with secondary attention to Condition Damage and Healing Power (about 50/50 each). Any Precision or Critical Damage % is wasted, while any Vitality is a nice bonus.
In the end my gear is about 50% Cleric’s (power/toughness/healing power) and 50% Carrion (power/vitality/condition damage), and I use a full set of Melandru runes. Soldier’s stats (power/toughness/vitality) can fill in in a pinch if I don’t have suitable Cleric/Carrion gear.
One last benefit from this build is that I can very simply change to a Cantrip build (which I find better in WvW due to the many stunbreaks):
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEUQJAoYhMmkbxR3gjDAkHn4SJjHgECJlCzA
As you can see, all I changed was the skillbar and the Water Magic traits. (While I only equip 2 Cantrip skills, the trait Earth’s Embrace (earth III) will also cast Armor of Earth right around the time I would need it. Signet of Air is there primarily for the passive speed boost, but it can also be swapped out for a third Cantrip.
(Lightning Flash springs to mind, due to its synergy with Churning Earth.)
I’m guessing you have 6 equipped on your regular armor, and an additional 6 on your PvP armor. That is a display bug.
Only the armor that you are actually wearing will count for the rune set bonus. (If you want to get the #6 bonus under water, consider including a rune in your aquabreather as well.)
I only hope they dont delay March WvW patch and release some PvE patch with Guild Miussions update.
I want March to be WvW.
With the risk of going off-topic, ArenaNet has separate teams working on separate projects. Since Guild Missions and WvW have been worked on simultaneously over at least the past month and probably longer, I assume that delays or other issues in the one will have no effect on the other.
The WvW update was originally intended to be included in last week’s update, but was delayed for a month for whatever development reasons (e.g. balancing, polishing, bugfixing, more testing, etc.). Until they say otherwise, I’m assuming that the logistics of introducing the WvW upgrade will have no bearing at all on the logistics of introducing/improving Guild Missions.
Regarding Guild Missions, this is as good a place as any to repeat a link to page 14 in this thread, with the best analysis of what the concerns by many people in this thread are:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/New-guild-missions-opinions-concerns/page/14#post1522077