Guild Wars 2

Staff Ele
Staff Necro
Grenade Engineer
Hammer Warrior

The Engineer was arguably the best at raw targeted AE damage until the #1 skill damage was nerfed, but it’s still pretty good. The problem is, a Nade Engi doesn’t bring much else to the table in terms of utility besides the Vulnerability stacking that goes along with the grenade damage. Also, you have to spam target that damage, which can be rough on the fingers after awhile.

Staff Ele (which is what I’m currently playing) is pretty fun and useful in large group WvW. Lots of AE, lots of combo fields, good utility, and Mist Form for a decent “oh shoot” button. You won’t see massive damage numbers unless you go full glass cannon and die to a slight breeze, but the damage can be consistent and add up depending on the circumstances.

Necro. I never played one, but I understand their wells and epidemic are really good in WvW.

Hammer Warrior. This is the guy you leap into the fray with, smashing the ground and stunning those in the area, then doing damage with big sweeping strikes. Here’s a video of a guild that used Hammer Warrior trains with excellent results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53hxN-DOYbw I’ve never played one but it looks pretty fun. Again, no massive numbers here but very effective when played right.

Hydrophidian.4319:

This score update brought to you by: High Commander Gary Busey:

LOL! These score update images are getting funnier and funnier. Well done sir! Something tells me Anet is going to start drawing the line somewhere though.

Honestly, it’s not that bad once you get the hang of WvW. I always log out with more coin than I logged in with after repairs nowadays. It takes some time to get familiar with things but once you do it won’t seem so bad. Pinky promise!

MiasmicMist.1420:

Why do you guys keep feeding my idiots

LOL! You’re one of the good ones Miasmic.

Regarding the thread getting closed before the match starts, it’s happened before and it’s pretty funny when it does.

Shaojack.3871:

Haldunius.7864:

Yeah so, regarding T1 results, did BG improve that much over the last few weeks or did SoS deteriorate some?

Both, and JQ got even bigger which definitely did not work in SoS favor.

That and a few other factors. There was a small game of chess behind the scenes that played out over the past couple of days. I expect T1 scores to look more normal next week, although I still expect JQ to win the match convincingly.

Good luck to everyone in the match this week. I look forward to clashing with PINK again as well as the new FA. It’s been a long time and I enjoyed our match with FA so long ago. I’ll be out of town this weekend so I won’t be able to join the fun until Sunday night. Have fun!

Tallis.5607:

Blade.9317:

I may not completely understand the implications of the score reset, but after next week none of the servers currently in T1 may be there. Won’t tiers be determined by whatever number of points are gained by servers during the week? As in servers that blow out their current tier will be T1? As I said, I may have it completely wrong.

Indeed, that’s what is going to happen.

.

Expect ALOT of rating gaming in the next weeks.

SoR did it, admitted it on the forums and all, but they didn’t get punished for manipulating the rating.

Unless Anet punishes SoR somehow, Anet basically gives a free pass to all servers to game the rating system.

Meh cut them a break. They didn’t manipulate anything. They played the system to their advantage, which is just fine in my book if you have the coordination and communication to pull it off. It also ended up not mattering at all with the rating reset tomorrow, other than being the #2 server at the end of WvW season 1. All that rating SoR sucked off SBI goes POOF tomorrow.

Thobek.1730:

I wouldn’t mind at all if SoS dropped down to tier 2 for next weeks match. Let BG, SOR fight against JQ. I think Tier 1 would be better off having 3 servers hungry for a win. SoS would be better suited dropping down, regrouping, chilling out for a couple of weeks. This reset couldn’t of come at a better time.

I have no idea what the size of SoR is currently but it would be nice if another server could match the size of JQ zergs. It’s clearly obvious SoS and BG even if they teamed up still would struggle against JQ’s numbers.

I said it earlier, but you can’t use the performance this week as any gauge of either SoS or BG. Starting with tomorrow’s reset I think you’re going to see a completely different SoS than what you saw this week.

profitsports.5789:

SoR will go for revenge on SoS.
JQ will see that.
Blackgate is back in tier 1.
SoS goes to tier 2, Kaineng and Dragonbrand move up.

Too many tears of sorrows :*(

Hmmm. You do know that ratings are being reset on Friday right? It’ll be a little while before things are similar to how they are now.

Budchgon.2108:

Shame they retired (LOD) would have loved getting the hammer build from them.

There is a build link in the description of the bottom video I posted.

Budchgon.2108:

To be honest, if I did have a zerg guild, Warriors would be one of the last classes i’d have in them as they offer very little that other classes can do much better with far better survivability.

Hmmm, sounds like you never had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of [LoD] Lords of Death’s (retired guild that played on SBI) Hammer trains.

Here ya go …

Honestly, with Anet openly stating they’re looking at AE damage and at least appear to currently think it’s too strong (AE damage done to a single target seems to be their main beef), I wouldn’t roll a class solely for that purpose. Make sure the other aspects of the class appeal to you as well. That way you won’t be totally disappointed if a AE nerf comes.

Dontcare Aboutnames.9284:

We tried to catapult Durios from and we were wiped by a group of SoR atleast 3v1 and quite a few decided to do this because it was obviously a fair fight… I know not all of SoR is like this but I’ve seen it more and more often since the transfers a few days ago I was 1v1’ing a thief from CDS and I downed him a few times and he rallied off drakes nearby then I was killed by the zerg and he proceeded to message me saying how amazing he was and I should learn to 1v1… really?

I know what you wanted to display with that screenshot but the best part is your guild chat. “I’m afraid a banana from me must be earned”. LOL! Love you guys on TC. You definitely know how to have a good time!

I didn’t think it was a secret that some JQ guilds donated gold to help some transferring guilds rebuild their influence and upgrades. There was a thank you post right on their own community forums.

1,000 gold for one guild though? That’s pretty far fetched.

dwahvel.7356:

SoR NA isnt “stacked” for the past 3 months the NA crew has carried the server and thats because of 4 hardcore wvw guilds really (choo,tw,fear,cds) and we have gotten zero new NA guilds to come over.

During the 2 months BG faced SoR, it is my opinion that SoR had the strongest NA presence of all the other servers at the time, maybe only rivaled by SoS when PRX was still there. When I say strongest I mean the most numbers, who came out to WvW consistently and often playing well longer than one would consider “typical”, with a large degree of organization and skilled core guilds. I don’t like the word “stacked”, but SoR NA is/was always very strong compared to all potential competitors. Also, you did receive some more NA presence. Helioz, RMA and HIRE (who last I heard also has a good chunk of NA players) were all solid additions in the NA time slot. There was a reason why SoR leaders were cautious about any more NA guilds that were considering the server. A good chunk of the core NA players that transferred to SoR back in October did so to escape queues.

Aieo.2815:

It makes me feel all mushy inside to see people are tracking our progress. Don’t worry, we aren’t giving up on WvW. We are preparing for the unseen future of WvW. Mark my words, SoS will be back! (/ ºuº)/ ‡

I don’t believe anyone who pays attention thinks otherwise.

Barab.9016:

One thing to note almost all the servers have players that can fill coverage 24/7 it’s just for whatever reason the player base on said servers do not engage in WvW as consistently as the top tier servers do.

I think 24/7 is probably a big stretch. Certainly during NA prime time though. Players participate in WvW more consistently in the top tier servers because that’s where the players that love PvP have consolidated, causing those servers to rise in the tiers while the others fall. All of this is about players that are almost exclusively interested in PvP, and as with most PvX games, there aren’t enough of those players to go around, especially when they consolidate on a handful of servers.

Also, I wouldn’t put too much time into analyzing this week’s match. Everything changed when the rating rest was announced. SoS was within 9k points of BG and was closing the gap. Then the rating reset was announced and the very next day they were notching double digit PPT for a good chunk of it and BG’s lead jumped to about 16k. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it, but after the rating reset announcement SoS just stopped making an effort.

elkirin.8534:

Edit: 695 ppt , nice one JQ!

I assume you’re going off the millenium site. If so, it’s not accurate. Someone punched in a bad score. Right now it’s something along the lines of JQ 315, BG 300, SoS 80 PPT.

Minoru.1237:

It’s silly that they could drop even if they come in second. I’d like to hear what BG players think: Would you guys prefer to stay in T1 to fight SoR or would you rather drop to dominate T2 and thus get back to T1 faster?

Tough question. I don’t think you’ll get total agreement one way or another, although most players on BG like smashing faces and getting their faces smashed too much to consider an intentional drop to T2. I’m not certain yet but the same may not be true for SoS.

My take … if anyone on BG is a bit burnt out, this week is a good one to consider a break and relax and recharge a bit. But if you want to go out and bust some skulls this week then all the power to you. I personally wouldn’t mind a head start back towards T1, if it means not having to blow out lower tier servers in boring matches for the next few weeks, but let the cards fall where they may I say. We don’t even know exactly how things will change on Friday other than everyone’s rating being reset. They could announce anything between now and then such as 1 day matches or something.

All of this is silly. The scores will put both sides of the argument to rest over the next couple of months. Until then, there will be plenty of good fights against JQ no matter when I log on so I’ll always enjoy facing them.

Thresher.3049:

JQ: Boooooooooo!
SoS: Looooooooool!
BG: Whaaaaaaaat!
SoR: Waaaaaaaaah!

Everyone else:
“Whats wvw?”

:D

LOL! This is probably amazingly close to the emotions being felt right now.

Kajetan.3146:

CHIPS.6018:

Sorry Habib but this is the worst time for a server rating reset. Please hear me out.

Look at the predicted T1 to T3 right now. These will be the best matches we have for weeks.

Jade Quarry
Sanctum of Rall
Sea of Sorrows

Blackgate
Tarnished Coast
Fort Aspenwood

Kaineng
Maguuma
Dragonbrand

All 9 of these servers can wvw very well. Many people have waited weeks for epic battles like these.

If you guys reset the rating right now, you would be placing some of these top 9 teams with weak server. These weaker server will be overrun “again”. What we would get is more outcry. More trash talking. None of these are positive for the game.

I strongly recommend that you guys reconsider this decision.

starting next week so those matchups will still occur

Exactly. Guys, just because they’re resetting the ratings, it doesn’t mean they’re reshuffling the matches. These projected matchups will still happen. The difference however is each server’s expected performance will not be influenced by past performance. I think that’s what it means anyways.

The following is taken directly from Habib’s post on this update:

It is important to note, however, that while we believe this change is an improvement to the WvW experience it does not fully address the issues with culling and we are still working towards our goal of removing culling from WvW completely. This change is intended to give players an improved WvW experience while we continue work on our more comprehensive solution. While this update only contains a couple of visible changes to WvW it lays a lot of important groundwork for future updates. We have some exciting changes coming and this update is just the beginning!

I don’t know why people were expecting things to be magically better tonight. We had already seen the culling change during the test back in December, and I’d imagine a good majority of players have machines that don’t need fallback models anyways. But the fact is they’re working towards eliminating culling completely and this was the first step towards that goal.

They won’t tell you, because if they do and it’s not ready, people will get all huffy and puffy and need a time out (we call it “stop and think time” in my house).

They hinted at the February content update, so I’d go with that for now.

Bankzilla.2984:

Dunno if you’ve been reading everything, Australia had a long weekend where it’s pretty much I guess like 4th of July but for 3 days straight and on top of that one of there busiest citys has been flooded, the other half of australia is on fire. It’s like the apocalypse is happening there.

Love from a concerned Kiwi <3 hope to hear back from you again aussies

Don’t forget about the sea foam invasion that’s hitting Australia.

http://weather.aol.com/2013/01/28/watch-sea-foam-covers-australian-town

;)

Minoru.1237:

I’ll second that. Can we get a Feisty score update please.

She posted one an hour ago. Bottom of page 8.

Sorry, I’m a bit thick in the head, but what exactly did you call?

Pvp.2758:

Are you serious? Complaining about SoR spawn camping?

If there is nothing else to attack you SPAWN CAMP. Ever heard of a Breakout Event? That SoR zerg stopped one. Now stop complaining about tactics that are necessary to win.

Necessary to win? Wow. This is just…. wow.

Yeah it’s pretty low, yet it’s been happening in blow out matches since release. Sure there are other exits. Still doesn’t make it right. That kind of show of force in a match like this is just rubbing salt on a wound. I know Choo likes to have fun which is cool, but there’s fun and then there’s showing some class.

Although, this an online game and it’s PvP. So like it or not, it’s gonna happen.

Yeah it’s pretty dumb. Things should settle into some sense of normalcy in a few weeks though. Still, the idea that a server who has won 3 matches in 3 months could be the #2 ranked server on Friday is a bit mind boggling.

You guys understand the massive storm of complaints Anet would have been hit with if they didn’t pre announce? They’d have been accused of trying to make a quick buck by essentially forcing people to pay to transfer. They really put themselves in a tough spot and had no other choice.

@ Obsidian

Just an FYI … there are places where you can drop an arrow cart and hit that area inside a tower. I don’t want to be overly specific because I really don’t want it to become the norm in every day tower siege.

My personal view is, with the addition of paid server transfers, and due to the modified glicko rating system they use, Anet needs to strongly consider removing the WvW points from the map completion requirement.

Even on reset night, there are often no queues in the other server BLs. I logged on at 8pm server time last night (PST) and there was no que for the JQ BL. However, we had a good sized force on the map.

Everyone! Please let it go. Maybe what you witnessed was legit, maybe it wasn’t. Either way, this is not the venue to deal with it. Submit your reports and send in your footage and leave it at that.

Lets get on with the match.

Erp someone beat you to it. We already had a thread.

Cat Amiss.9463:

Did TC abandon their BL? We just haven’t encountered much resistance

Well, the voice from above that boomed “RESISTANCE IS FUTILE” at reset may have broken their spirits. It was pretty scary. Was that you Indo?

Good luck and have fun in your match all.

Pssst to TC and SBI … team up on SoR k?

Queues on every map on FA? STACKED!

I kid I kid. Yeah it’s reset night.

I’m actually more interested in this T3 match than any other match this week.

I guess that means [MERC] and [DiE] will be putting in some extra overtime, and should help SoS on Monday. Happy Day off Aussies!

Here’s to some great battles this week. Good luck everyone!

Sypsy.7318:

I understand this, but what you end up having is a LOT of well communicated mid-sized guilds moving around (it’s effective, don’t get me wrong.)
But there are people who who unguilded and can’t use TS (I have heard people site lag on their computers part) or won’t due to personal preferences. These people are more or less left in the dark.

I personally appreciate the feedback, and in fact, your post sparked a discussion on our forums on ways we may be able to improve our use of VOIP in a way that works better for the server. Much of what you experienced is very true, and I’d say there are pros and cons to both methods. But maybe we can find a balance that isn’t overly complex and actually hurt communication and effectiveness, but that also does a better job of involving and informing the solo players that are on a map.

SlasherX.5198:

Mance.5640:

Next week we fight for the soul of Fiesty Brat. If JQ wins, the Brat moves to JQ and posts OUR score updates!

Also Lotd moving to JQ to fix some of our NA coverage is going to be sweet!

Lotd of what server?

I’m quite sure he was joking. LotD ain’t going anywhere.

I bet Coron has a code name for the culling bomb, like he does for other tactics. I wonder what it is? I can’t remember most of these code names, but I do remember one being called “Jack in the Box”. What the heck is the Jack in the Box?

BG is still looking for active guilds and players interested in fun but competitive WvW. Feel free to contact any one of us for more information!

fenim.2395:

Tarnished Coast, we have priorities next match. SOR wants to make it into tier 1 then let them earn it. We must Tier block them for one more round and hopefully the looming threat of either MAGUUMA or FA will replace SBI and then further block SOR’s rise. Once SOR is stuck here, their numbers will decrease slowly.

We are the last defense of Tier 2 WE MUST HOLD OUT one match longer! Let them regret throwing a match.

I wish you luck SOR but our defense will hold strong.

I like how this guy thinks.

The simple fact is, JQ did it better than the rest of us (recruit), was in an attractive position in the rankings and in coverage spread, and had the benefit of a couple early high profile PvP guild transfers that enabled a greater “pile on” effect. It’s also clear that they won’t stop or say “okay we’re good, consider other servers now” until the 28th, so there’s no point in bickering about it or trying to illustrate alleged realities that probably won’t change anyone’s mind anyways.

It is what it is.

I’m personally looking forward to the 28th because I’m sick to death of everyone stumbling over themselves trying to strengthen their positions before the lock down. It’s bringing out the worst in people and it’s straight up getting me in a bad mood.

Slushey.8236:

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m fairly sure that SoR picked up several guilds from SBI as their server dropped out of tier 1 and started to die. If that’s the case, they’ve probably got the powerhouse guilds from SoR and SBI combined and that could make a huge blow into tier 1. I definitely agree that if/when they reach tier 1 they will surprise a lot of people.

Yes they did pick up a handful of SEA guilds from SBI, as well as [HIRE] formerly of IoJ/EB and Helioz from IoJ. There have probably been others as well that flew in under the radar. The big question will be numbers. Guild transfers can look great on paper but all that matters is how many numbers they bring out each night and more importantly, how those numbers will stack up against the competing servers.

As I said, we’ll know soon enough how all of this shakes out.

fivekiller.1432:

If you had posted a month ago BG would move to T1 and fight JQ with PRX, Redguard, SF, and others along with SOS with ND and the other new additions and asked for a score prediction the answers would have been almost comical.

LOL yeah probably so. But to be fair, until tonight, we still haven’t seen JQ at full transfer strength. I’d imagine with the mass server pop caps dropping tonight, JQ finished off its transfers, and we’ll see the real new JQ over the next couple of days and next week. Still, it was great seeing that BG was able to hang with SoS and JQ for the most part.

fivekiller.1432:

Still, when BG drops to T2 it will be because SOR is fighting a dead and gone server (SBI) and picking up a lot of rating. Much like when BG fought HOD and ET, only not as extreme as TC is still a solid server.

If SOR picks up enough rating next week BG will move down just in time for some tougher competition to arrive. I personally think SOR is going to get squashed a lot harder than BG is, but that won’t stop them from hanging in the tier for a lot longer than they should if that is truly how it shakes out.

I think SoR may surprise a lot of people. They definitely play hard, and they finally picked up some off hour coverage to at least not get fully PvDoored all night long. Still, I guess we’ll have our answers when the inevitable comes to pass.

BG won’t have a declining server to blow out and get a big rating jump from, but we didn’t this time around either. Still, it took a struggling SBI server to open the T1 door after 2 months in T2. I guess it really boils down to the coverage of whoever the new T2 servers are going to be, and of course how SoR scores in T1. By the looks of things, it’s going to be Maguuma and Kaineng.

fivekiller.1432:

If you had posted a month ago BG would move to T1 and fight JQ with PRX, Redguard, SF, and others along with SOS with ND and the other new additions and asked for a score prediction the answers would have been almost comical.

LOL yeah probably so.

fivekiller.1432:

Still, when BG drops to T2 it will be because SOR is fighting a dead and gone server (SBI) and picking up a lot of rating. Much like when BG fought HOD and ET, only not as extreme as TC is still a solid server.

If SOR picks up enough rating next week BG will move down just in time for some tougher competition to arrive. I personally think SOR is going to get squashed a lot harder than BG is, but that won’t stop them from hanging in the tier for a lot longer than they should if that is truly how it shakes out.

I think SoR may surprise a lot of people. They definitely play hard, and they finally picked up some off hour coverage to at least not get fully PvDoored all night long. Still, I guess we’ll have our answers when the inevitable comes to pass.

BG won’t have a declining server to blow out and get a big rating jump from, but we didn’t this time around either. Still, it took a struggling SBI server to open the T1 door after 2 months in T2. I guess it really boils down to the coverage of whoever the new T2 servers are going to be, and of course how SoR scores in T1. By the looks of things, it’s going to be Maguuma and Kaineng.

Another example of thinking about server populations only in terms of WvW. It just doesn’t work that way.

All servers are currently listed at High or Very High as of this posting. If you were considering bringing your guild to Blackgate for WvW, or are a solo player or small group looking to join an already established WvW guild, now is the time to transfer!

We’re still looking for more dedicated players across all time zones who are looking for a competitive and organized WvW experience at the top end of the bracket. We also have the best Thai and Filipino food around. You won’t be disappointed.