Guild Wars 2

Over the last couple of months we’ve all seen an increasing number of complaints….

“Ranger’s are so useless in wvw! OMG Rangers need to be totally rebuilt! Traps! Spirits! WvW! F2 skill! Axes!” We’ve all heard it. We know what the common complaints are….

This isn’t to say there aren’t problems, of course there are. But there are problems with every class.

So what I’m wondering….are there any other rangers out there who take pride in the fact that they are Rangers? Are there any other Rangers out there who dont just coast by in sPvP or WvW, but who feel they excel?

If you’re a Ranger’s who really does know your class and want you want to shout out “IM A RANGER AND LOVE IT!!!” Or if you’re new to the class and but still realize you picked the BEST class…..

This thread is for you

The game is buggy…..

But it’s not exclusive to rangers. Every class has its issue’s and Ranger’s are no exception. I’m honestly a bit tired of all the “longbow, entangle, sword skills are buggy and makeing rangers useless in wvw” tripe.

Play your class, acknowledge bugs. Let the dev’s figure them out

As a note, this isn’t a troll on the thread…just some of the people hijacking it. Anent knows bugs are a problem, so lets focus on non-bug problems with Rangers and get back to the real discussion!

I roll 20/30/10/10 with condition and a shortbow/longbow and traps.

Honestly though, find out what WORKS for you. Find out your playstyle and build character around that and you’ll be fantastic.

Would it be too egotistical and arrogant to say “Jade Quarry is the Melting Pot of W3?”

Just a thought….

Rising Dusk.2408:

I’m not a member of JQ, but I’ve got a lot of respect for them. We fought them for the longest of any server they’ve fought against, and I have a lot of good friends in a lot of the guilds listed in the OP that have proven themselves time and again as worthy adversaries and legitimate players. If I weren’t so loyal to SBI, despite our hard times, I’d probably have come and joined one of them. While it makes me sad to see so many once-SBI guilds on that list, I am glad that they’re in a place where they can feel competitive and like they’re constantly on the cutting edge of competitive WvW. That said, I think JQ is great, and I hope that they stay T1 for a very, very long time to come.

I like this kid….why did we want SBI gone again? hahaha

Yoooooo peoople……. I’ve been out of town and haven’t been able to play since the reset…..I’m sure you can all appreciate I’m having serious withdrawals.

I don’t care if you’re from SoS, or BG. I just want some other T1 kids to talk to! XP

There DOES seem to be a glitch with the URL so I’ve removed it from the post, thanks for bringing it to my attention.

As some have mentioned Entangle does NOT deal 20k points of straight damage, it is dealt through bleeding damage and as bleeding IS a condition, it IS effected by building condition damage. As the tooltip can be bugged, (as with virtually any skill of any mmo) it is true that your condition damage does not always convert correctly. HOWEVER this is not always true.

Clearly no elite is perfect, but if you’re running condition damage as a ranger Entangle really is one of your best options.

Lastly, there are a LOOOOT of trolls on this post! In all honesty, I’m happy to make changes to the guide when I find errors. But Lets keep the “you’re a bad player and your post sucks because I think mine is better” to a minimum.

I started writing a response….and it expanded into a new thread

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Fantastic-Trap-build/first#post1260556

THE EXECUTION

SO: Now that you know how to build a FANTASTIC trap-based ranger with a IMPRESSIVE health pool……I’ll toss out an example on how to use it.

EDIT: As there seem to be a lot of trolls already jumping on some of the mistakes this guide, let me just qualify this by saying this is A SINGULAR scenario of how you could go about using this build. This fight-sequence is NOT guaranteed to work everytime but I have found it to be decently effective. Obviously every fight is different, and you can’t possibly summarize each one. This is simply to give new players an idea of how to use their ranger.

IMPORTANT EDIT: This is NOT a comprehensive sequence of how you should enter every battle. I wrote this based off of 2 similar fights I encountered (a 4v1 near woodhaven in which I killed 2, downed one, and nearly downed the last and a 3v1 near lowlands supply that I won.) It essentially consolidates some of the tactics I use and skill sequences I use into one cohesive scenario fight. It obviously won’t work every time but ideally, readers will get a feel for different tactics they can use for a Ranger.

-Begin with a longbow and cripple the small group charging you with Barrage.
-Pop your hunters shot (vulnerability) and Rapid Fire on the target closest to you and as he gets close to you, use your Point Blank Shot.
-Immediately switch to Shortbow and you’ll notice….he’s been knocked to the back of the group and if you’re lucky, they are still crippled.
-Here I would immediately use a Poison Volley to negate their initial heals and drop whatever “slow” trap I have on hand (I always have one) as well as my fire trap (keep your poison trap handy.)
-At this point, they are damaged, crippled, on fire, crippled again, and scratching their heads a bit.
-Next evade backwards and begin to rain death on them with crossfire (since you still have the back one targeted, anyone in front of you is in jeopardy.) By now, they should each be surprised at how a ranger has done such significant damage in a matter of seconds but you will no doubt have taken damage.
-Depending on where you’re health is at and if you have any conditions (I’d say 50-60% health or less) drop your heal (I use Healing Spring.)
-At this point I would pick out their squishiest (and probably most dangerous) looking player and burn him down.
-Next its a GOOD idea to toss your poison trap into their midst, your poison volley will have just worn off and they will be reaching for their “6” for some heals. Your trap will easily help negate these.
-Leave the squishy downed and drop your remaining traps on him and evade again to gain distance.
-Finish them with whatever skills you feel appropriate and if necassary, use Entangle.

Again, this is a hypothetical scenario condensing tactics I use frequently into one fight. DO NOT assume this is a formula to “win” every time. It’s simply here to give an idea of tactics.

I hope this was helpful to some of you! Comment and let me know what you think and your own tweaked versions of this build!

Alright Kids, Ima give you the build I use for everything from Dungeons to sPvP, to commanding WvW.

Just in advance let me throw out that I’m pushing 30k morale, deal almost 20k damage with my elite (which also perma-roots in an AoE with 120s cooldown) and absolutely STACK on the damage.

EDIT: Let me also throw out that this guide isn’t perfect. There may be some stats that are slightly off, typos, and other minor issue’s with the post and I’ll gladly fix them if they’re pointed out. This is obviously not the first trap build out there, but honestly if someone out there gains something from this thread, it’s a success. So keep the trolling to a minimum. I’m just doin’ my best to create a guide

THE CREATION OF A CHAMPION

To start with, Im going to say STEER CLEAR of the “I need vitality so I’m going to trait in the Vitality line” trap —heheh. In all honesty this is a MASSIVE mistake regardless of the stat you are trying to get.

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS trait based on what traits work best for your playstyle. You can make up the difference with your gear very easily. You can see that I am by no means a crit-based ranger (see link), however I have 30 points in the Skirmishing/crit line. This is because some of the best traits for my playstyle are found in this line.

So. I’ll tell you everything you need to become a AWESOME ranger both in wvw and pve/dungeons but at the end of the day the most important thing is finding a build good for your playstyle.

QUICK SUMMARY OF DA BUILD:

This build is designed to give you an impressive health pool and a significant amount of damage (including condition damage)

Essentially it will give you +10% damage with full endurance, +10% damage when flanking. This is an extra 20% damage when flanking with full endurance.

As your endurance recharges 50% faster with the points in Wilderness Survival you would be surprised how often you have endurance at your disposal.

Your arrows also pierce targets which means they act like a ballista and shoot clean through your target and everything before and after it. This essentially turns every one of your bow skills into an AoE skill when youre attacking from the correct position…..ideally you target someone at the back of the group and everyone in between you gets caught in the crossfire…..quite literally when youre using a shortbow.

Additionally, your traps are 50% larger and are ground-targetable (you can choose where to put them.) This really opens up the opportunities for what you can do as far as crowd control.

The 10 points in Wilderness Survival also allow you to reduce your survival skills by 20%. This is FANTASTIC when using Entangle —EASILY one of your best skills.

Entangle is an AoE Root that cripples when (if) broken, and deals (with this build) somewhere in the ballpark of 20,000 points of bleeding damage. I’ve literally wiped squishy (and admittedly noobish) groups with this single skill. Traited, the cooldown is only 120 seconds (one of the lowest cooldowns for a ranger elite skill).

You can hopefully already see the potential this build has. Your maximum damage potential is when attacking from behind or the sides but you still have great damage from the front.

Since you’re built for mobility, high flanking damage, and crowd control, you should be able to stay well ahead of most enemies for the fight.

DETAILS:

Traits
Marksmen – 20: I, VIII
Skirmishing -30: II, VIII, X/XI (I switch these frequently)
Wilderness Survival -10: VI/I (I use VI 90% of the time)
Natural Magic -10: V

Pets: I personally use an Arctodus and Polar Bear. They are the most durable, tanky pets in game so I can rely on them in a long fight. The Arctodus skill is a potent bleed which is nice for finishing off squishy players, and the Polar Bears is an AoE chilling roar. Beautiful. Honestly though, use whatever pet suits you best!

Gear
I use the Carrion Gear for +Condition Damage, +Vitality and +Power..
Exotic Carrion Gear (Full Set):
+224 Vitality
+224 Power
+315 Condition Damage

Runes:
5 Superior Runes of Warrior
1 Superior Runes of the Elementalist
Totals:
+165 Vitality
+75 Power

Sigils:
Superior Sigil of Blood Lust: (10 power per kill, 25 max stacks, +250 potential power)
Superior Sigil of Flame: (30% chance of AoE Flame explosion around foe on crit -sick)
Superior Sigil of Corruption: (10 Condition Damage per kill, +250 max CD increase)
(These are my personal favs, but pick ones that work for YOU)
Not sure why some of these are underlined….can’t seem to fix it. Sorry!

Food:
Rare Veggie Pizza: 40% Cond Duration, +70 Cond Damage, +10 exp/kill
Plate of Fire Flank Steak: +100 Power, +70 Cond Damage, +10 exp/kill
Loaf of Omnomberry Bread: +100 Vit, +70 toughness, +10 exp/kill
Master Tuning Crystal: 6% Toughness given as bonus CD, 4% Vit given as bonus CD
Superior Sharpening Stone: 6% Toughness given as bonus Power, 4% Vit given as bonus CD

Depends on 1 million and one things. But in all honesty, you can build your Ranger to out-damage pretty much anything (depending on skill of course but potential is there!)

I currently run a trap based ranger and honestly have no problem doing anything from solo to commanding 50+ in wvw.

So the answer is the same I give to every class. Ranger’s are as good as the player behind the keyboard Find a class you love, and you’ll be good, force a class to work how you want, and you’ll be subpar.

Best of luck!

;) good luck with the recruitment guys

JJJJAAAAAAY QQQQQQQQQQUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

If any of you are tired of this sort of thing…..

Come check out Jade Quarry.

I know it almost seems counter-intuitive to think that a T1 server is anything BUT zurg on zurg action, but I can assure you, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Since I’ve started playing JQ in beta, I’ve watched one of the most phenomenal gaming communities I’ve ever seen form. One of the concepts our server is most passionate about is the idea that every player, regardless of experience, class, or “rank” could come up with the idea that revolutionizes gameplay. And in all honesty, some of our most impressive tactics and strategies have come from people many would consider “pugs.”

We do have large groups moving but I would rarely call it a “zurg” and without fail, there are almost always 1-3 small groups running around and helping in their own way.

I’m currently putting together a program to help train up these sort of small groups to be as effective as possible and know multiple other guilds have people who love this playstyle. The vast majority of our server is incredibly friendly and helpful (there’s an occasional troll but you’ll find these anywhere) and we would LOVE to have any of you who are interested.

Contact me or visit this thread for more information
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/wuvwuv/Jade-Quarry-A-24-7-WvW-Establishment/page/2#post1259529

See you soon!

So….coming from a longstanding T1 server, I’m pretty used to having pretty solid coverage at any given time as well as nearly limitless resources from multiple wvw-focused guilds funding….well everything.

I honestly dont have the faintist idea of what it’s like in lower tiers….anyone care to share what an average day is like?

Also @Deniara Devious, keep working with those 5 man crews! You might be astounded at what exactly you can pull off! You may not be able to win the war….at first but it can certainly get to that point. We’ve had 5 man strike teams take over fully fortified hill and bay keeps!

Yeah, no que’s really in JQ, but having a TON of fun working with some of these new guilds!

On a side note, have SoS or BG received any notable/awesome guilds? (now’s the time to give em a shout out!)

I personally love the ghosts…..Not because of any combat advantage but because running around with a gank group of half-ghosties is hilariously fun!

Seriously, eat something that makes yourself transparent and you feel like a 12 year old until it wears off xD

On a serious not I don’t feel like there is a major issue here, but I can understand the imbalance the lifesteal and precision boons can grant.

One of my now-best officers and confidants is formerly from SBI. To this day whenever we JQ’s start griping about you guys or trakittenalking (yeah….we gripe, yeahhhh, we trakittenalk ) she sticks up for you all saying you were one of the best servers she played on.

At any rate, props to all you who stuck to your guns even after your server fell. That’s a sort of loyalty worthy of anyone’s respect.

Hehehehe we got a funny bunch of kids tonight!

Jade Quarry.

Think of us as the melting pot of WvW.
We’ve been in T1 longer than any other server and are thrilled to invite new guilds into our community.

We honestly don’t have much of a problem with people “bandwagoning” as we’ve maintained our position for so long, in all honesty a good 70-80% of our community and guilds started here and we have a pretty low turnover rate.

We have a dedicated TS3 server for everyone on JQ to use and our guild-to-guild communication and cooperation is phenomenal.

We also have several other smaller sized guilds like yours that operate incredibly well on our server and we would looooove to have yours added to our ranks!

Message me via forums, in-game, or check out this thread for more information

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/wuvwuv/Jade-Quarry-A-24-7-WvW-Establishment/page/2#post1259529

*Edit: I also forgot to mention, If you are worried about JQ always being Full, don’t worry about it! We can schedule server-wide blackouts in which multiple guilds throughout our community all exit the game client at a given time to open the world up for transfers.

Last Friday we were able to open up the world for an estimated 350+ transfers for several guilds just prior to the reset.

Hey there everyone! First of all I wanted to throw out an AWESOME job to everyone who participated in our server-wide “blackout” event just prior to the WvW reset.

We had over 1000 estimated players all attempting to transfer (based off the active guild roster sizes of the guilds trying to switch and allowing some room for solo’s or small guilds taking advantage of the blackout) and we were able to get an estimated 350+ in prior to wvw reset last friday.

We will be hosting more large-scale blackouts soon so keep checking the forums and we’ll let you guys know when the next one is! (We will definitely be having one before the 28th)

See you all soon!

Am I the only EMP kid here who laughs whenever you hear people say “EMP is one of the strongest oceanic guilds?” 70%ish of our player base (myself included) are NA kids with no lives playing until 3am every morning……but its awesome you guys think we’re oceanic! xD

I have heard people suggest that the guild that claims a keep should be able to “issue” or “ration” supplies like this. This could be GREAT if someone from the guild is pretty much constantly monitoring the state of the tower/keep……

Or it could really suck if someone decided to troll, set the limit to “0” and then logged off.

As a trap based ranger and a greatstaff Elementalist I COULD get behind a revision to AOE if my damage was reduced in exchange for AT LEAST 10 maximum targets or my skills.

I also hope Anet (who has done an admirable job with the game thusfar) realizes, that the source of the incredible AOE damage we hear horror stories about are players like me —players who know their class cold and are SPECIFICALLY BUILT for this function.

I dont understand why Anet chose this “issue” to tackle when there are a host of other issues the community is concerned about.

This issue really kinda came out of the blue and I have to wonder why? I’m concerned because as far as I’m concerned, the ideal player finds a playstyle who suits him, builds his class to further suit those wants/needs, and develops a gear and traitset to augment his abilities. MY particular playstyle involves dishing massive amounts of AoE damage (albeit to no more than 5 players per skill) —BUT THIS COMES AT A COST. I have nowhere near the survivability of a bunker build guardian or even another Ele, I have nothing that’s even close to the hardcore, straight-up DPS of a well build Thief, and I wouldn’t dream of being able to manipulate a battle the way a talented, intelligent mesmer can.

So, why is AoE being revised? The problem with nerffing AoE (If this update really does amount to a “nerf”) is it upsets the balance not only of WvW, but of the way players build their classes.

If Arenanet is concerned with the fairness of builds, then why aren’t Perma-Stealth Thieves —the epitome of building your class for a specific roll-- being MASSIVELY revised?

Anyway, Arenanet, if any of you happen to read this, I hope you guys do a good job with your revisions. I really REALLY love this game, but I’ve seen great games crumble as developers try to “improve” what isn’t a problem. I’m confident (or blindly hopeful, we’ll find out which after the update) you guys will make the right choice here

My guardian and my Guildies never have problems with tags. Play a little frontline support and you’ll do great:)

Hilarious post btw. Couldn’t stop laughing!

I’m American…and for the most part, everyone thinks it’s funny that outside the us were perceived as arrogant. Sure some of us are, but there’s some of those from every country.

…or is it arrogant of me to assume that

Join us on jade quarry:) great community, 24/7 wvw coverage, power house guilds, serverwide reset parties and dedicated server ts3 server. PM me and we’ll schedule you a blackout so you guys can transfer:)

Player housing? Why not?

It’s honestly one of my biggest pet peeves to hear people say “its unnecessary so don’t add it.” Honestly the game as a whole is 100% unnecessary so why have it?

The key to a truly successful game is options. Get as many options for as many different people as you can and you will have an AMAZING game. Take the Elder Scrolls Series for example. Most people who play it LOVE it because it lets them do their thing (in fact, I’ve never met someone who doesnt like TES, particularly Skyrim).

I agree 100% with the idea of housing within a guild fortress etc. Now THAT would be awesome!!

I love this idea,

I’d also add the ability to “rename” you’re builds (so I could go through my list of “support ranger, glass cannon, AoE, tanky sigil build” and instantly pick which one I want)

As this would require different traits in different lines I would be 100% fine if you had to pay extra for it…. Maybe have the Trait vendor sell books that allow you to change into a different tree on the fly? They would be more expensive than “asking to retrait” but it would be worth the convenience of doing it on the go.

Essentially, make it so you can create trait builds for free, but you need the special books or tokens or whatever to switch between them.

This make sense to you guys? What you think?

I think this would actually balance a lot of things in WvW.

With AoE mechanics that have a maximum number of damagable targets (arrowcarts, many aoe skills, catapults, etc), It’s a pain to see a necromancer’s minions soak up all the damage thats supposed to be hitting the flame ram on your gates.

If pets/minions/illusions didn’t “count” as a target in AoE situations but still received damage, this could alleviate this problem.

It would also be nice if they didnt soak up the already sparse AoE heals we see.

How about this?

Release a dedicated update to Guild Stuff as a whole?

Stuff like Guild Halls, Structured GvG, Guild armor, Guild Commanders, Guild Tax (as an optional feature for guilds who take tributes/donations/dues from their members) etc?

I know this is a lot of stuff so I’ll just throw out my thoughts on Guild Armor But if any of you at Anet read this…remember the other stuff!

-Release Several new Guild Skins and Racial Guild Armor

-Create a “Guild Emblem” Vendor which allows you to buy a Guild Emblem and slap it on the front and back of any armor you have (like a sticker.)

-Create Guild Halls that are upgradable with tiered amounts of Influence and/or Gold
(with the biggest and baddest upgrades costing ridiculous amounts…..I’m talking 50,000 gold, 10 million influence etc. Stuff your guild really has to come together and strive for. Make it a HUGE achievement to have your guild hall “maxed out”.)

-Also make upgrades work like a cross between traits and guild research upgrades. For instance, you buy t1 of Guild Hall Awesomeness and then you can buy different elements within that tier and swap them out as you desire (for a fully customizable experience) kinda like you can swap out your traits when you’ve unlocked their tier. After all t1 things are bought t2 is eligible.

AAAahhhh! I’m off topic.

-Make Different armor for different ranks within guild (give some incentive to earn a promotion) That caps out at the top 3ish ranks (that way you dont have to be a leader to look the best. I’m a guild leader and would want my officers/vet members to have the same access to armor as me.)

-Make some Guild Armor that is purchasable via influence. That way leader’s/officers could reward their members with some sick looking gear if they do anything particularly awesome.

-Legendary Guild items? I dont know how, or what, or….how, or what. But it would be awesome to have something like a Legendary Guild Weapon to show you have some MAJOR guild pride!!

-I also LOVE the OP’s idea of letting the Guild Leaders create custome sets of Guild Armor!!! SO COOL!!!!
At any rate, Guild-ish stuff has a loooooot of potential, I would love to see more stuff for my Guild to have!

Centaurs would be cool, (and I am DEFINITELY pro mounts) but i think there would be a problem with the other races starting without mounts (and for now having no access to them) and then one race having “mounts” built into it.

Good idea though, if you could work out some stuff like runspeed, jumping puzzles etc. It would be awesome!

I felt the same way from 30-45….But right about 50 I realized how massively my traits changed my characters performance. After that I was dying to get all my traits to see what I could get my character to do.

Also, try out WvW. I got through 70/80 levels for my first character there and still spend 95% of my time there now. It never gets old for me as there is always something new and exciting going on.

As a Ranger, I can tell you 1,200 m is nice but really not great, especially for a “sniper” class.

As a archer IRL I can’t tell you how many times I’ve defended hills and thought “realistically with a longbow a company of archers could hold the enemy at either gate from the Lord’s room.” I can only imagine a sniper would feel the same way.

At any rate, my post was a joke so watch the video and laugh…but dont take it seriously

Arenanet has stated many times that WvW is one of the focuses for endgame.

So…maybe some new WvW maps? Don’t get me wrong, I love the maps we have and I’m still astounded at how meticulously they were created, but I would love to see several new maps of similar quality released. Maybe have 1 new map come out a week and cycle through it over a few months? This would be in addition to the maps we have now.

So 3 standard BG’s, Eternal, and 1 Random that is changed every week?

At any rate, I’m off topic. Anet wants WvW to be the end-game focus, so hop in and join the fray!

I never played GW1…

But I always imagined Jade Quarry (my home server) as a really beautiful, regal place with lots of high peaks and ruins of some sort of grey-green stone. Maybe sorta Jungly with water?

Like something out of KungFu Panda?

Elementalists already have significantly more skills than any other class in the game……
4 attunements, 2-5 skills per attunement per weapon?

If you want single target melee DPS with an Ele, they already have it, its called Dagger-Dagger

Engineers also have some of the most potential versatility in the game, albeit, at the cost of some utility slots. Still a great class though.

Commando kit please for any and all WvW Commanders Except first make Commander an Achievement

-Assault Rifle
-Flashbangs/Frag Grenades
-Sniper Rifle
-Nite Vision Goggles
-“Assassination” utility
-Summonable Apache Helicoptors
and of course,
-Patriot and/or Predator missiles for those enemy zurgs who “just don’t look riiight”

P.S. Anet, I know you already have them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR2Esy83MQ0

YES YES AND YES.

Have money sent to guild bank to fund siege weapons, fortifications, and eventually upgrades to Guild Halls.

Many PvE guilds don’t understand but its INCREDIBLY expensive to fund a permanent, successful, WvW presence (I easily burn anywhere between 2 and 20 gold a night on siege weapons, upgrades, etc depending on what’s happening).

Most of my Guildies are phenomenal and remember to pay their dues (and many pay extra) however some sort of “reminder” system or system to track who has payed weekly would be FANTASTIC.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ADD THIS!!!!!!

Why Not?

Whenever I hear people griping about “why mounts are pointless” I laugh and say “you’re complaining about elements of a video game being pointless….?” Don’t get me wrong, I love my games as much as the next guy (and probably significantly more) but I feel like it’s ridiculous to pick and choose what “has a point” in something built entirely for entertainment and personal satisfaction.

That being said, here are my thoughts….

After a lot of reading on what others say about mounts, the biggest complaint I’ve found is “we have waypoints…why do you want a mount?” followed closely by “mounts would make the world smaller.”

Now, I dont know if its just me, but it FEELS like these objections are counter-intuitive. To the first point, I dont’ like waypoints because NOTHING shrinks the world more than teleportation. To the second point I simply have to say “how do mounts shrink the world, while waypoints do not?”

The next biggest concern I’ve come across is from people saying “instituting mounts will turn GW2 into WoW.” If any of these people had actually played WoW they would know…..this simply is not the case. From everything from the trinity to the sheer difference in the number of skills GW2 and WoW are polar opposites. So lets get our panties out of a wad and move onto the next objection.

The next most voiced objection to mounts (and in my opinion, one of the only logical ones) is that people are concerned that mounts will enable players to “bypass” content by zooming through (or Balthazar-forbid) flying through an area. To answer this, players will bypass whatever they want. I’ve seen a level 12 in the Cursed Shore just to show he could make it. He died a lot, sure, but it’s possible. Arenanet has also already stated flying mounts will not be instituted. Ever. But any reference to there not being terrestrial or “hovering” mounts was only in relation to game launch or specific updates. If this doesn’t satisfy the general public…who is to say mounts need full, partial, or any speed buffs at all? Simply enable a cosmetic mount feature or reduce the speed boon mounts would grant and “area bypassing” isn’t an issue.

Lastly…..The last, and in my opinion, most irritating objection to mounts is that mounts are “simply a status icon and a money drain and only leetist’s would ever use a mount!” This objective makes me laugh, cringe, and angers me all at once. If these people THIS concerned with mounts being a “status icon” I dont know how they can sleep at night with the concept of LEGENDARY WEAPONS in their heads. Might I remind us all that legendary weapons….are identical to exotic weapons in stats….they simply look different and cost several hundred gold to create? Claiming mounts are a no-go because they’re for elitists simply is NOT a viable argument.

SUMMARY:

1.) Mounts dont shrink ANYTHING in a world where you can teleport across continents instantly

2.) Just because I can beam across the map doesn’t mean I want to. It also doesn’t mean I want to walk everywhere….Mounts area beautiful go-between.

3.) Mounts won’t turn GW2 into WoW. Seriously people. Go play WoW for a bit and try and honestly say, mounts are the only thing making the games different.

4.) Mounts won’t enable players to bypass content (with the exception of flying mounts, see #5), players can already bypass whatever they want. (Which is why you see the random level 12 in the cursed shore.) I personally have taken my level 15 elementalist to a level 60 area “just because.”

5.) Arenanet WON’T and CAN’T consider flying mounts. They’ve explained why in the GW2 collectors handbook when they talked about how Tyria’s land and water zones are different. (Land zones aren’t designed to be seen from every angle whereas underwater zones are. This is also one of the reasons underwater zones tend to be smaller then regular zones). In order to change this, the game would essentially need to be scrapped and rebuild from the ground up.

6.) You simply can’t argue that Mounts are a status symbol and GW2 needs to be free of those….when you have Legendary Weapons (the ULTIMATE status symbol) in place.

And Finally…..if you read all this and STILL think you have a reason why you hate mounts? Don’t buy one. Don’t ride one.

I personally don’t like RP, but it doesnt mean I’m going to gripe at the people who do.

So, Arenanet? Bring on the mounts!!

THRILLED to see another Greatstaff Ele out there! So many Ele’s hopped on the “ima be a glasscannon and nuke” bandwagon it almost makes me sad.

Also….you looking for a guild man? Hahahaah, we could use players like you and your friends xD

Nicely done, +Respect.

Thing about downed mechanic that people forget….

Is every time you’re downed within a period of time (something like 30 seconds which is more like an hour in ‘fight-time’) you revive with less and less health. After ~3 “downs” you revive with ~10-20% health and no longer have a downed state.

Quite simply put, if you can’t take down a downed player, you don’t deserve the kill. Mobility, 10+ skills, Utilities, Heals, and Elite > Immobile (essentially), 4 skills, no utility, no elite, crummy heals.

I don’t see what the issue is? Stomp him or take an extra 2 seconds of DPS.

I’m from JQ and think you would love what you find here!

We’ve been in T1 longer than any other server and we’ve learned a lot while we’ve been here. We may not have full queues on all the maps (in fact, we rarely do) but you will undoubtedly find plenty of sneaky things to do here.

Currently, I’m putting together a training program for my guild for anyone interested in learning these sort of tactics and I know many others who form “gank” groups and go roaming in the mists daily.

At any rate, JQ also has a fantastic community and you’ll be with some great people in everything from fractals, to legendary forging, to WvW.

Feel free to contact me via message, or in game with any further questions!

As a commander and guild leader I personally LOVE this idea. Having the ability to reward dedicated players with innovative strategy and leadership skills with a “guild” pin would be a BEAUTIFUL addition. I’ve also always been a fan of the idea of Commander pin’s being “Account Bound.”

Maybe, keep commander pin’s as they are but institute a more advanced, account-wide “Commander” achievement that is gained through WvW.

For example, the requirements could be
-1 character based commander pin on one of your characters
-100ish keep captures
-150ish tower captures
-200ish supply camp captures
-5k downed enemies
-5k supply used for repairs

Of course, these numbers are me just spitballing, but if something like this were instituted, it would make the “account” commander one of the most desirable achievements in wvw simply because of its difficulty to achieve.

Also, as it would be more difficult to gain, it would ensure that such commanders had a solid base in wvw and didnt simply farm (or buy) gold for their pin.

What do the rest of you think of “achieving” an account-wide “pin” possibly with more features than a standard pin?

I’m from JQ (longest standing T1 server), currently ranked #2.

Back at launch, que’s literally went for 7+ hours. You would log in in the morning, que, pve to your hearts content and hope you were on long enough to break que and get 1-2 hours of wvw in.

Now, its nothing like that. There tends to be a que in Eternal battlegrounds averaging about 15 minutes. There is normally at least 1 BG with a ~5 minute que with the other 2 having little to no que.

The exception to this is during reset on through late saturday night/early sunday morning (PST). Reset que’s normally are 1-2 hours, Saturday <1 and steadily declining from there.

So don’t let fear of que keep you out of T1! The horror stories are from a day long past

Rangers aren’t bad…

Bad players are bad.

I command with my Ranger and always feel like I can play an important roll. This is true whether I’m running Solo, in a Gank group, or leading Zurg on Zurg open field.

MY ADVICE: Find a class that youre COMFORTABLE with, dont force a sparkly class to work for you and you will be GREAT.

But to directly answer your question, a well played Ranger can be absolutely LETHAL.

Blackout is NOW UP! EMP numbers are dropping rapidly, AOS, GODS, HzH and a many other guilds are dropping as I type, if you are wanting to transfer to JQ, do it now!

Primary roll of thief is “stealth, mobility, high single target damage….”

Now, I think that its reasonable for this to mean a thief can get in, take out a target, and have a reasonable chance to get away.

As it is now I frequently see thieves taking on groups of 5 or more. This IMHO isn’t what they were built for.

MY suggestion?

1) UP thief DPS at cost of initiative

2) UP or ADD initiative cost for stealth skills
and/or
3) Slightly decrease the rate initiative is gained back.

This will put thieves in GREAT position to take out 1 or 2 targets but make it much more difficult to permastealth or popcorn stealth through a prolonged fight.

ON BEHALF OF ME, ME GUILD, AND JADE QUARRY……..

We are INCREDIBLY excited to have you guys here! I have some great memories of fights with you guys in the past and am DEFINITELY looking forward to next week.

Props on the climb back up that ladder,

We’ll be seeing you soon!