Guild Wars 2

I don’t understand why we don’t have access to it and I sorely miss it; there’re so many things in the game that I just want to look at but can’t get a good angle on b/c my character is in the way.

Temple’s timers are player reported and not accurate. GW2stuff uses the actual API and is always spot on.

The krait, as evidenced in the recent living story, are firmly entrenched as enemies. They won’t be playable anytime soon, if ever.

Tengu, however, already have a fully modeled capital city and spent the breadth of GW1 transitioning from enemies to allies. They’re the clear choice for the next race, and I can’t wait.

Smochi.5081:

- is there a way to avoid crashing by changing the game settings somehow?

Yes: turn your graphics down. I’m on a 32bit system so I’ve been dealing with crashes every night since launch; the game is simply too much for my processor. All minimum settings + cranking my case fans to max is the only way I make it through consecutive world bosses or zerg time in WvW.

The game doesn’t look as a nice as it could, but that’s a small price to pay for actually getting to play it.

Imperatora.7654:

buying dyes on the BLTC is a massive gold sink and helps counter inflation with absolutely zero impact on gameplay.

No way they would remove a sink that big without adding a bigger one it its place.

Bingo. If dyes were to go account bound, I’d have maybe two more to buy and then I’d never buy another dye again. As is I’ve sunk who knows how much gold down the TP fees buying all the good dyes for every character. Gold sinks, as much as we don’t like them, keep the value of gold from inflating like German banknotes in 1922. Why do you think the Wintersday donation events offer you a direct gold to AP conversion?

Ele has been my main since BWE1 (since GW1 launch really.) I love him to death. I’ve got a warrior and ranger at 80 and I play them occasionally, but it’s like staying over at a friends house; after a night or two I really just want to get home to my ele. The other classes just don’t resonate with me in the same way.

Also, we’ve got enough mesmer, guardian, warrior, and necro mains. Every time I see the Bifrost I get excited and then sigh because it’s a guardian. I’ve seen maybe three eles besides myself with ascended weapons, and twelve thousand warriors/guards with asc. greatswords. We need more ele mains.

Or, you know, just add more utility skills, which they’ve said are in the works. Three utility slots works fine and all a fourth will do is let people take one more skill that supports the builds they’re already using. One extra slot is nothing to make a new build about.

Yes, the build linked is a great guide. I’ve run both 0/10/0/30/30 and 0/0/10/30/30; I find the former better for PvE and the latter better for WvW. With the 10 in air you want to take quick glyphs, both elementals and glyph of storms if you feel like it. The elementals are wonderful in PvE and dungeons, but less useful in a zerg. The 10 in earth keeps me alive longer in WvW; I take the trait that puts up armor of earth at 50%hp and switch out the glyphs for cantrips. Extra toughness and the ability to cleanse and pop stability has saved my tail more than once.

As for your water and arcane traits, that guide does a good analysis of your options. I’d play around with them until you find what works best for you.

Greatsword / Hammer
0/20/20/0/30
PVT armor with Melandru runes
Knights/Zerk trinkets and weapons
All signets

Will do you just fine for roaming and whatever else you want to do.

Chopchop.6354:

can you please elaborate your playstyle got GS/Hammer? I’ve just started roaming with it recently and I have no clue what to do besides button mash!

GS is used for mobility; hammer is used for CC. Get close with GS 3/5, knock them around with hammer a bit, then use either burst or skill 5 to stun, switch back to GS and skill 2. Once they’re moving again, carve through them (and any aoes they set) with 3 and then dash back with 5. Rinse and repeat until invader has been thoroughly pulped. Use Dolyak Signet for stability when you need it. Use GS 4 and hammer 3 to cripple when foes are running.

Full celestial and classic bunker (0/0/10/30/30) works great for me. I’ve also won 1v1 duels with staff in WvW, and occasionally 2v1, but I wouldn’t say it’s the normal outcome.

We’ve better at clearing conditions off of ourselves (not that we needed it,) but our ability to clear them off allies has been nerfed. We can no longer take Aquamancer’s Alacrity and Cleansing Wave at the same time. Can clear two conditions on water swap or have faster healing rain, but we can’t have both anymore.

You can’t do Balthazar with one or two people either. These are the gods of death and war; they won’t relent so easily to a couple of mortals.

I don’t know what your server pop is, but surely there’re people in Lion’s Arch. Go there, tell people you’re going to start the event, and go start the event. People will start to show up as the preevents cycle through in the event timers. Having a commander tag helps, but is not required.

The price of dye would plummet. Not going to happen.

Season 1 was my first major delve into WvW. I have friends that play and I thought that this would be a good time to try it out. In short I have a lot of fun with WvW itself but I feel that Season 1 itself was detrimental to the game. Some impressions:

- The achievements need serious reworking. Some of them are very much grind: mercenary, sentries, dolyaks particularly. These led to a lot of people (myself included) running sentry/camp trains in circles around the maps instead of actually playing WvW. We need more achievements for defense as well. The achievements should encourage healthy and coordinated play, and I think that was the intent this time but the mark was missed.

- I’m one of many many PvE players that chose this time to immerse themselves in WvW, and it was a nightmare for us and the WvW vets as well. Most of us were running around clueless, especially in a zerg. The veteran players tried to help us, but WvW isn’t very intuitive, particularly when you’re achievement hunting, and we had a lot of miscommunication and white noise on both sides. By the final weeks the veterans were very frustrated with us and not afraid to show it, particularly on TeamSpeak. It was rough all around.

- I’m on FA and it’s pretty clear that our victory is the result of superior numbers and poor matchings. That final week against SBI is how it should have been the whole season; instead we did a lot of rolling over smaller servers.

- Meta reward needs to be culled. It should be a title, or at most only things useful to WvW like liquid xp. Part of the reason so many PvE players jumped in is because that key is a tease; if they know that all they’re getting is a couple vials and a title, they’ll be much less inclined to complete the thing.

In the end I’m glad for the experience, but I don’t think I’ll be back for Season 2. Or if I am, I’m making a coordinated effort to play properly. I and others did a lot of getting in the way of serious players this season, and I’m sorry for that. But I really do enjoy WvW, and I’m glad I gained an understanding of that side of the game and those players.

T3 is not top level armor; the stuff isn’t even exotic. It’s always been about the looks. If you’re willing to pay 110g for the skin, surely a little bit more for transmutation crystals won’t kill you. Buy some gems, support ANet, and transmute your T3 over a second time like I and everyone else is going to do.

Since you’re new to the class, I’d reccomend against going full DPS while lvling. Zerk on armor/trinkets/weapons, but I’d go bunkery with your traits (0/0/10/30/30 is mine) at least until you hit 80. We’ve got very low HP and armor and lvling can be a pain. We’ve also got a high learning curve. Dealing with that and being a rally bot is part of why people find ele frustrating.

Staff will do you just fine, btw. I’ve used it since day one and I very often use it while standing on top of the enemy (Arcane Wave ftw.) But I couldn’t do that while leveling. I didn’t have the traits, gear, or skill with the class. Be patient, experiment, and keep at it and you’ll do fine. Also read this forum; there’s plenty of great guides on ele worked throughout the threads here.

Also, dodging is something that I do a lot of with every class. It’s a core game mechanic and mastery of it will do wonders for you in the long run.

If you’re looking for a weapon to pair with GS but don’t like hammer, Mace / Shield is a good choice. You get a block, a counter, two stuns and a daze. As for a build, try 0, 20, 20, 0, 30 or 0, 10, 30, 0, 30 and all signets. Works great for me with PVT + Knights/Zerk.

I run a full celestial staff ele and have great success in WvW and everywhere else in the game. However I’d put those 10 in air into earth instead, grab signets of fire and earth and arcane wave, and change two of those runes out for water for the extra boon duration. Full zerk will give you more damage but I’ve found that a little survivability goes a long way.

You can also get that armor (or close enough to it) by getting the karma armor at the Temple of Melandru; that’s how I got mine.

You’ll definitely want more defense in WvW. Soldiers is good but I have a lot of success with knights. A mix works well too. In PvE zerk is recommended.

SB has always been the most disappointing world boss. He looks fantastic, but he only has a couple of “attacks.”

1) He happens to put his hands down on top of you. Hits about as hard as a moa fart.
2) Summons enemies through portals, even the elites of which go down in about six seconds.
3) Some AoEs after the portals? Hard to tell if they even do anything.

It’s a joke. Let’s get him slashing with those giant claws, or at least knocking us around like golem does. How about those portals just continually spawn thoughout the fight? Maybe some enviornmental hazards like golem and fire ele. An HP increase is needed but unless he really attacks us nothing will change.

Greatsword / Hammer / Spear
0, 20, 20, 0, 30
PVT armor with Melandru runes
Knights trinkets (some zerk for PvE) and weapons
All signets

Enjoy.

Spear is so good that I actually enjoy underwater combat with my warrior. Skill 2 is basically hundred blades and skill 5 is hundred blades + rush. Plus you get a block, a pull, and might stacking if you trait it. The weapon is amazing. Harpoon gun I touched once and never again.

Plus, compare the legendaries. Rainbow fish and pretty bubbles vs sharks and blood with more sharks. The choice is obvious.

zacharias.5437:

-How do you stay alive consistently, both when roaming, in small groups and in zergs?
-What is your usual attunement/skill pattern use when attacking another zerg? Small group?
-Would going s/d be better in WvW?
-How do you tag enemies and caravans/npcs in a zerg? The staff is so slow that everything is dead before my staff attacks reach anything.
-With the upcoming update, will anything improve?

I play staff with your trait setup and full celestial. The key to survival is understanding your CCs. You have about six different ways of stopping an enemy from chasing you or running away. Earth 5 is a dear friend, as is 4 if you’re good. Dropping Air 5 and pushing someone into it with 3 always gives me a laugh. Water 4 is a great snare, particularly with Earth 2. Remember that if you want to hit anyone properly, you’re going to have to keep them still.

Zerg vs. zerg is about keeping on the move and laying pressure with fields. Throw Water 2 and 5 at the front of your zerg to keep the frontline healthy. Drop CC fields at the front and sides of the enemy zerg. You want to halt their pushes and box them in. Be careful where you drop your meteor shower; see other posters above. Fire 2 and Arcane Wave are your best bets for tagging.

Roaming is hit or miss based on your skill and enemy skill/class. Earlier today I toasted a mesmer and engie 2v1. Ten minutes later a thief and a warrior found me and that was that. Often survival here means bolting; unless you’re unlucky or careless, you should have little trouble getting away. Victory in combat requires knowing your skills inside out; the best advice here is just to get experience doing it.

Two more of your duties in a zerg are clearing walls and healing. When assaulting a tower or keep, no one can pick people and siege off the walls like we can, particularly with blasting staff. This is where meteor shower really shines. If your assault force is under fire, you should stay in water and keep fields and Water 1 on the door.

Ele in WvW is about support, control, and pressure. A couple of good eles have more potential to turn the tide of a battle than any other class. However, it takes a lot of skill and experience to play successfully. Keep practicing and you’ll do fine.

Full celestial is the way to go.

Ele since Beta Weekend 1 here. I would pay money for this change. Astral summed it up properly; the GW1 system of “four weapon sets, only one (two for other profs) in combat” is the way to go. Frankly, I’d like to see this for armor and trinket sets as well. It’s only a logical convenience versus what we can already do by clicking around in our bags.

I guess it was Knee-Jerk Reaction Day for some of these folks ^

Like you’ve already realized, the point of towers is to flip them. There are too many of them and they don’t have enough strategic importance to bother defending most of the time. That’s what the keeps and castle are for.

Plus, I’m on a server that’s fairly dominant in WvW. We let the other servers take our towers so they feel like they’re accomplishing something and we have something to do. When we defend all the towers all the time and it results in demoralizing the enemy so badly that they take nothing and we have nothing to do. Also achievements.

Keep ’em the way they are.

Serv.6073:

I don’t know how more in depth I can make it.

Easily. You could say something like “I would like to see an unlockable secondary skillset for each weapon, perhaps tied to the Weapon Master achievements. These new skills would be more technical and advanced than the primary skillset; more difficult to use properly but more rewarding and allowing of nuanced play within each weapon. Players could switch between the skillsets, but only out of battle.”

As for new non-weapon skills, those are on the way.

If you’re looking for mobility, GS is the way to go. Skills 3 and 5 mean you won’t need Bull’s Charge. Lyssa removes all conditions every 48 sec with your traits, but Signet of Stamina does the same thing every 36 and gives you better endurance regeneration to boot. Similarly, Dolyak Signet does Balanced Stance’s job but better. Signet of Fury then adds 180 precision, covering the 165 you lose by swtiching to Scholar’s runes.

That would put you at base 45% crit chance and 71 on crit damage with 3k armor and 22k health. Sounds pretty good to me.

You’re too scattered in your gear, skill and trait choices. You need to focus and specialize. You’ve got all that zerker gear but only 30% crit chance; what’s the point? Better to put those 10 in Strength into Arms instead, put more signets on, and use Deep Strike. That plus Signet of Malice brings you up to about 50% crit chance, much more fitting of that much crit damage. Switch Vigorous Focus for Warrior’s Sprint or Signet Mastery on preference.

Why runes of Lyssa? The perks are not great. Try Melandru, or Scholar if you want more DPS. Axe / Sword is fine, but I would lose Sword / Shield in favor of Mace / Shield, Greatsword, or Hammer. Give it a try.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQJARSjkOBv9OGPMxBE0DNkL2iTBoQ9YOqj4A-j0BBYgCRUGCRZPFRjtMqIasalYaYER1mxFRrGA-w

This is my current build and I’m loving it. GS gives you tons of mobility (I’m always at the head of the zerg, which is exactly where I want to be,) and Hammer has lots of damage and CC to deal with roamers. You’ve got enough toughness to shrug off everything. I made this build to be an invincible knight on the front lines, and it does wonders for that. For your purposes, it’ll serve you very well.

You can switch Burst Mastery for Heightened Focus depending on playstyle; I use either a little of both. Signet Mastery is another option but I’ve found Warrior’s Sprint to be a better choice. Good luck.

Greatsword / Hammer / Spear
0, 20, 20, 0, 30
PVT armor with Melandru runes
Knights trinkets and weapons
All signets

Works great for me in PvE, dungeons, and WvW. In PvE I swap some of my trinkets for Berserkers because I don’t need the extra defense. In WvW that extra toughness makes all the difference. This trait setup also lets you spec for Rifle or Mace / Shield. Enjoy.

Consensus seems to be Timberline Falls, and I agree. It’s a frontier zone, so there are no major settlements and very little traffic; just beautiful, open wilderness. Also a great place to farm hard wood and platinum.

The most pleasant zone is Queensdale. I completely understand why people spend all day there, boss train aside. There’s plenty to do, the landscape is gorgeous, and the human architecture and activity are very comforting. I like Divinity’s for the same reason.

“Every zone” is also a good answer. Take a map of Tyria, close your eyes, and throw a dart. Where did it land? It doesn’t matter. There’s something beautiful and interesting there.

I like this idea. The tag would be a permission through guild ranks (like vault access etc,) and would only be visible on the map to members of that guild. +1

It took them years to add this feature to GW1. It always takes them years to add things that should have been in the inital release, and I’m getting tired of it.

I’m fine with the WvW portals being LA only because you can get to WvW from any map by pressing B. But there’s no reason every city shouldn’t have mystic forge access. Lion’s eats my processor alive; I’d rather not go anywhere near the place.

You can’t do it right now; Pandeh’s suggesting that that’s the option ANet is going to give us, and I agree.

Moira Shalaar.5620:

So either ANET needs to replace magic find with another attribute not represented in the 8 attributes in celestial armor (boon duration?) at a comparable ratio, or increase the statistics of each piece to compensate for the 12.5% loss of hacking off magic find.

It’s going to be one of these two options. My first instinct was that bumping up the other stats was the logical choice, but I like the idea of putting boon duration there.

We had a big thread about this the other day. Multiple people playing on one account violates the Terms and Conditions. They probably won’t ban you for it, but they’re not going to make your suggested changes either.

Hybarf Tics.2048:

There was the harvest tool issue but also the armors bought in store in the beginning you could buy a light armor and it would be useful for other light characters as well but now once you have chosen the wearer it’s soulbound. So what now Anet? Why should we have to buy 3 times the same armor for 3 characters? That’s what I mean by unfair treatment of the player base.

ANet is a company which needs money to run; there’s nothing unfair about them charging money for cosmetic/convenience items that they know will sell. You may have a problem with it, but there are plenty of people who will and have bought multiple harvesting tools for multiple characters. And when those tools become available again in the living story rotation? A lot of those same people will buy more tools for new characters, and a lot of the people who missed them the first time around will do the same. Repeat ad infinitum.

There’s simply to much money to be made. ANet would be fools to make those items account bound.

I should say that my experience and opinions are limited to PvE. I expect that a lot of the PvP criticisms are entirely valid.

Solkard.5136:

The issue is did you intend to do all that at the same time, or did most of that just happen as a side effect of you going through a rotation that a macro button on a gaming keyboard/mouse could have done?

Doing a bunch of a stuff is cool, but being able to do something when and where you actually need it, is better. In most instances, inflicting conditions is better than not inflicting conditions, but how many of those stuns, blinds, cripples were actually used at max potential and how many were tossed out “just because”?

If ever there was an encounter that required you to not inflict blindness, chill, or dropping a combo field, could you manage it without severely crippling your performance? The class has effective variety, it lacks controlled versatility.

This is a false dichotomy. “Using my skills with meaning and intent” and “using my skills because they’re available for me to use” are not mutually exclusive Sure, I could just mindlessly roll through attunements and drop everything without a care, but I get a lot more satisfaction (and success) out of being strategic with the choice and order of my spells.

Way to beg the question at the end too.

So this is a weapon that switches to a different weapon, with new skills I’m not traited for and don’t want, on its own whim? No thank you.

Won’t happen because the value of dye would plummet and everyone would have all the good ones. Dye would no longer be rare or special.

Nothing we excel at? In 15-20 seconds I can:

- Apply swiftness, might, protection, soothing mist, and regeneration to a large area and heal everyone up to full and remove all of their conditions.

- Inflict burning, bleeding, blindness, cripple, chill, immobilize, and stun to a large area with lots of DoT spells, which do plenty of damage I assure you.

- Manually burst any field I want.

- Create constant combos with other players.

I can do all of that at the same time. And you’re complaing about feeling ineffective? What?

Let me get this straight.

You took a sylvari all the way to 80, looked at the max armors and decided that you like human armors better, and now you want Anet to change the game because you’re too lazy to invest in a new character?

Final armor set is one of the first decisions I make before I roll a character. It’s not ANet’s fault that you didn’t plan ahead.

We still do it every night on FA, but the only way to know when is to stick with the boss-train all night or wait in Southsun for us to show up. Train starts at 8PM EST.

Nike.2631:

Its like after a year, they finally wanted to say ’I’m sorry" to all the casual solo players they’ve been kicking in the junk since launch. With a side order of shutting down a grotesquely abusable farm and putting a megaton more crafting materials into circulation so that you can actually gather some of them on your own instead of having to bow before the TP.

This.

Julie Yann.5379:

All the new ascended recipes that will be coming out soon should balance evreything out as I am sure it will be expensive to make.

And this. They’ve stated that the upcoming T7 mats will be made by combining lower tier mats. This will eat up a lot of T6 mats and increase the demand for them. I’ll bet the devs want to make sure we have a good pool to work with.

Wallet

There’s no longer a need to transfer gold between your characters because all of your characters now have access to all of your currencies at all times.

Human style

Avonath
Durgless
Talion
Lundgard
Wystermon
Ulrend
Talernass

Charr/Norn style
Starbinder
Icefall
Leadarm
Wurmsbane
Glademist

I could go on. You can also try “Kvothe of _” or “Kvothe the _”