Excited to play the Druid this beta weekend:
One more Druid thought:
Staff 2 should do AoE damage. This would help the Druid tag multiple mobs for loot and credit.
Celestial Avatar 1 should also do low AoE damage in addition to the heal. Again this would help Druid tag mobs for credit.
Celestial Avatar 2. Perhaps in addition to healing/cleansing, it should poison enemies on the AoE?
A couple of quick thoughts on the druid:
Staff Skills
(1) looks kind of cool.
(2) I think this skill would have been a lot better as the inverse. I.e. target ally to provide wisps that circle. When ally is hit, one of the wisps explodes doing damage to enemies and healing the ally.
I mention this because the one thing I don’t really like about the druid reveal is that there are no targeted heals at all. I always found targeted healing to be more rewarding to play with than ground target or AoE. Helps the player feel like they are supporting their allies.
(3) Looks awesome, though I hope druids are immune during the travel time.
(4) really good looking skill. A little concerned the cast time is too long and could be clunky to use. Perhaps reduce some of the functionality in exchange for quicker animation.
(5) I like the idea. Remains to be seen if it will be better or worse than reflect.
Glyphs
Honestly, they all look kind of “meh” except for Tides which looks fun to use.
Celestial Form
Generally, not my favorite idea. I would have preferred something a little bit more creative (this seems like just another shroud).
As far as the skills go, I like some of them but generally think they should provide something more than JUST healing and condi cleanse. It would be nice if some of the functionality was adjusted toward boons and a little bit of damage.
I really don’t like (1) being a ground targeted ability with a cast time like that. It is going to make it very hard to remain mobile in celestial form. It just does not look very rewarding to use. Would have been a lot better IMO, to let you select an ally for healing and do a small AoE heal around that ally.
Overall, I am excited about the Druid, but I think it could benefit from some tweaking before release to make the abilities a little more multi-functional.
I am also a little worried about gearing, given that +healing does not seem to scale very well. Right now, I am thinking that Celestial armor might be the way to go for a druid.
Negatives
• No Open Word PvP or dueling
This is one my biggest regrets from GW2. I understand why there is no open world PvP, it would be hard to implement with how the game runs, but dueling is a huge huge huge omission. Some of the most fun I have had in MMOs are dueling with my friends. It gives you something to do while you wait in queue and helps you hone your skills. That there is no dueling even in the PvP waiting area is absurd. I very much hope that HoT will allow for some forms of dueling and turn WvW into even more of an open world PvP experience.
• Not a lot for Guilds to do (i.e. no group content)
Dungeons are kind of underwhelming in GW2 and most of the open world content is far too easy for an organized guild. This means, compared to most of its competitors, GW2 has surprisingly little for organized guilds to do.
• Separate Instanced PvP System
I, for one, am not a fan of the separated PvP system in GW2. I don’t like that I have to pay to unlock runes I already own. I don’t like that I cannot customize my gear and runes to the same extent as in PvE or WvW. I don’t like that I don’t get to use my ascended weapons and gear. I would be looking forward to Stronghold mode a lot more if I was not forced into the silly PvP mode.
• Not Enough Variation in Gear
Finally, the various tiers of gear are way to uniform for my liking. I would really appreciate more randomness in the stats of some of the gear so that finding a cool item feels more unique. I would also really like more creative stat distributions. How about giving some pieces of gear only 1 or 2 stats. It just feels like virtually everyone is running around with the same gear and in the same combinations (i.e. zerker everywhere).
This is one area I think ArenaNet could really improve with HoT. I just hope that the expansion contains some kinds of new gear.
• Poor Pet AI
The most frustrating thing about playing a ranger is the pet. The pet UI is really quite poor. Moreover, that I can’t name my pet (and have the name stay) drives me nuts. I gave up naming my pets long ago.
Conclusion
Overall I really like GW2 and will likely continue playing it into Heart of Thorns. I am anxious to see more released about the expansion and would definitely be more likely to play if some my negatives were addressed. I would recommend that anyone curious about the game give it a shot.
Guild Wars 2: A Review
First, a quick introduction. I am a 25 year old law student who has been playing MMOs for the last 10 years. I played WoW (through WoTLK), Rift (1 year), and EvE Online (still play occasionally, going on 6 years). I only gave GW2 a chance about six months ago because I noticed it on sale for ten dollars. I play a Ranger on Fort Aspenwood with a couple of friends.
Overall, I have been impressed by the game and find that as MMOs go, it suits my busy schedule better than most.
Positives
• Solid Combat Mechanics
I think a lot of MMOs fail right here. Most players will have come from playing WoW at some point and a combat system that feels clunky or unresponsive will be a huge negative. I really enjoy GW2’s combat and really like that it is different from other games in the genre. Rift was a WoW clone and felt clunky, SWTOR felt clunky, GW2 feels just right. GW2 has active evasion, self-healing, and a very high skill cap. I love the addition of the downed state as well. In all, GW2 has the best combat system of any MMORPG I have played.
• Fun Leveling Experience
At no time leveling my ranger to 80 did it feel like a grind. In fact, it was almost over too soon. The wealth of zones, events, quests, and exploration makes it pleasure to level.
• Good Market
The trading post functions pretty well overall. While I wish there was additional functionality (modifying orders, escrow, contracts, etc.), it works pretty well and has not generally been a negative.
• Beautiful World and Graphics
The graphics and art theme of GW2 is awesome. It is heads and shoulders above most of its competition that I have played. Not only are the worlds and cities beautiful, but the armor and equipment looks good too. The only downside is that there is not enough of it. Outfits are not my favorite.
• The Event System
Events are awesome. For the most part they work very well and are enjoyable to play even multiple times. I often relax from work by running a couple of events in cursed shore or SW. Scaling on events, however, often does not work well. A good example is cursed shore, where the events are in desperate need of additional scaling.
• WvW
Frankly, the main draw of the game for me. I am first and foremost a PvP player and WvW feels like the only real endgame content in GW2. I love that you can use your “real” build/spec, and that you play the mode in many different ways. I do wish there were better rewards from playing it and that it was a bit less zergy. However, WvW has given me many hours of fun and I look forward to what the future holds. I wish the WvW maps had more to do than just straight PvP however, it would be nice if there were more random dailies and events mixed in. That would make up somewhat for the lack of open-world PvP.
• Casual
The game is very casual friendly. The grinding is manageable, even ascended gear is fairly easy to get over time. I also liked that I am not penalized for periods of absence. With no subscription fee, it is very easy to take a few weeks off from the game when real life gets busy.
This is SO annoying. I cannot understand A-Net would possibly have this horrible naming system in the game. It drives me crazy and ruins the immersion when you have to rename your pets EVERY SINGLE TIME.
As an actual new player I feel exactly the opposite. I am loving the game and thought the new player experience has generally been good and positive.
I think its great. Good for the game, especially pre-expansion.
I understand that Arenanet does not want to introduce a “gear grind,” with this expansion, but will there be any new gear of similar/equal quality to current top level gear? Perhaps new stat distributions? Or Special effects?
I would love to see a slight shift toward the trinity. I think allowing for some dedicated tanking and a need for buffing and healing in combat could help make the PvE more rewarding and complex.
That said, Arenanet have to be careful not to stray too far from what makes their game special. Still, they need to find a way to make PvE content more challenging and complex.