Guild Wars 2

The question is about the vendors that sold you weapons (skins), boxes, recipes etc.. Are they gone?

I haven’t found any vendors. The pavillion seems closed off. Would be lame if the vendors weren’t accessible anymore.

Are they somewhere else, Anet?

Yeah, I agree. Churning Earth is really neat. Not easy to pull off against skilled opponents, but with strategy and planning, it works wonders. One of the more entertaining skills to be sure.

Fishbait.6723:

Oddly, one of the devs has played an Ele, he stated on a stream that he died lots & usually just rolled his warrior/guaradian to faceroll the fights.
If that didn`t show how bad things are, nothing does.

Now that Grouch is employed by anet, although I don`t know in what role, hopefully they`ll listen to him as he clearly knows more about the game then the devs lol

From what I have seen on SOTG, Grouch won’t be doing eles any favors. On the contrary. Watch previous SOTG episodes and see how he responds to ele changes and the class in general. He mains an engineer, by the way.

Just saying he is far from objective, if a person can ever be that.

Lordrosicky.5813:

Zanthrax.6538:

Lordrosicky.5813:

….The mesmer and ele dps is way too high. Once you remove the sword thief (ele/mesmer cant win this) and necro/ranger dominance then you will have another broken and lame meta where mesmer and ele damage is way too high for all the extra things they can provide….

@Devs I highlighted the part that I feel you need to reconsider….you mentioned ele and mesmer are in a good spot once we tone down the condi damage which counters them so, however from our experience as a PvP Playerbase we know that the moment condi damage is reduced and the specs that counter these 2 professions get toned down these 2 professions of Mesmer and Ele will become the new brokenly OP profession in the meta because of their burst capabilities.

With all due respect, if you do intend to JUST nerf condi damage etc please be ready and I sincerely mean this, be ready to roll out quick fixes of tiny changes to mesmer and ele prior to the sept 17th patch, simple tweaks like this need to happen frequently in large disparity meta games. To give an example with the Elementalist. When specs that counter them get toned down they are now in a position to run their usual fresh air s/d or s/f burst builds, the issue with said burst setup majority of it is off the global cooldown so chainable quite quickly together, and above that the cooldown for fresh air and similar burst capabilities is quite low which I don’t have a problem with but its burst damage is too high for its low cooldown and off the global cooldown capabilities.

I hope you take this advice under consideration and if you don’t I would sincerely appreciate perhaps chatting to us on SOTG why you feel ele and mesmer’s burst isn’t too much given the apparent condi nerfs etc. Thank you for your time.

Wow someone else gets it :O Not to mention ele damage on downed players is the best there is by a mile.

While I see what you mean, I do think that you need to take into consideration that the ele has no means of a surprise attack like that of a thief or mesmer. They will focus everything on a combo. If that fails (which is likely in TPvP), using utility skills on burst, there is little they can do and will be mincemeat.

I get the feeling that you aren’t taking their vulnerabilities into account. The burst can be high (in a combo), yes, but you can’t reset such like a thief. The thief will likely be a better option in that regard.

If/when conditions are toned down, I don’t see the ele as a burster will take over the place of anyone else. At best, be able to have a spot in a party as a burster. Your fears seem a bit misplaced, tbh.

Correct me if I am wrong.

I ran a nearly identical build, except with 30 air and 10 arcane, with scholar runes and S/D. It was fun doing more damage when downed. A problem is that people can stomp you easily from outside the Lava Font, which ruins its awesomeness. It still makes for fun hotjoin suicide missions.

It’s hard to take someone who wishes for an elemental magic-user to wield a modern mechanical weapon seriously, tbh.

In the end, the sword, warhorn and spear might be the most appropriate weapons for the profession. Keyword being “might”.

The torch is cool, but fire-related only. It would be odd using it outside fire attunement, in my opinion.

It looks good on mesmers because of their role? I’m confused about the looks vs. roles thing, because you can dress a mesmer exactly like an elementalist. What the role of your profession is doesn’t change the appearance of two 100% identical looking characters. What they do has nothing to do with appearance.

Not sure what you are trying to say with “ritual daggers” category etc. GW lore I am not aware of?

However, I do agree with you that launchers (rifles and pistols) are hideous and abominations that shouldn’t be in the hands of an ele. Longbow sounds cool (D&D arcane archer), but would perhaps be a bit strange for the profession. Rifle and pistol.. no thanks!

kirito.4138:

Possible solution: boot everyone back into queue if not all 10 players have entered the map before the count down timer and penalize the AFK player with dishonor.

QFE.

@Winds: That is subjective. Obviously others don’t think the way you do, hence this post. Sword/greatsword looks good on mesmer, a light armored caster class. It will look good on an elementalist too. Conjure greatsword, axe or whatever and have a look.

Daggers doesn’t fall under the category of “magical tools”. I would argue that if you can channel magical energy through an item, it automatically becomes a magical tool, therefore any weapon can become such.

I would love to have a greatsword.. or spear, or longbow. GS and spear would fit it the best, though.

Celestialist - Hybrid PvP build
0/0/30/10/30

Whenever feeling the need to just utilize everything, instead of focusing on pure burst or bunker, I dust off this fun build.

The point of the build is to keep your foes burning (and preferrably bleeding too), while still being able to create pressure with decent burst damage and stacking might whenever possible. E.A. compliments this build in particular, making the appliance of AoE conditions when you are pressured easy.

The defensive aspect of the focus allows you to manage tough opponents as well. The experience of having a balance between the two types of damage and having to manage conditions as well as burst creates a VERY enjoyable playstyle.

• Scepter/focus
  http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQJArdhMmYbux5wjDAkCmMeASHkUeMTO2A-ToAAyCnIqRVjrGTNyas1M+YWB

• Staff (yes, a staff version too!)
  http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQFAWhMmYbux4wjDAkCvMeAyIkUeMzO2A-TkAAyCnIqRVjrGTNyas1M+A

My pro oppinion is EEEWW!. Personally I dislike guns and such in this fantasy game, and would not use it, even if we got one. It is THAT silly I think. Therefore I oppose the idea.

Give us a spear instead!

I like the idea of 15 or 20 vs. 20 sort of a Braveheart type battle, meeting in a valley to duke it out. Unfortunately what I have seen so far, is a bunch of people on top of each other, stacking buffs and what not. A clusterpuppy.

It’s better in theory, sadly.

You can rent an arena and make a 10 vs 10 match?

I used Tornado.. it worked somehow.

I have had several experiences with earth auto attack not auto casting lately. This occured in PvE.

It was scaled down by 17% last time it was nerfed. The passive healing only triggering when attacking and actually hitting someone.

The warrior signet grants you twice the passive amount, AND it is a regeneration.

Somehow it feels like the two might have been swapped. Warriors are more likely to be the one in your face, but nevermind..

I never understood the nerf of the signet. It’s almost like a bonus nerf wave to make sure the bunker was held down. Again they nerfed things that had an effect on non-bunker builds. Probably my main gripe with the change back then, because it interfered with build diversity a bit.

I agree that attunement recharge rate is a grand problem for build diversity. I would love not being dependant on its traits and intelligence.

An idea..

Imagine if they would increase the effect of Healing Ripple, Sun Spot etc. the less arcane (intelligence) you have, to make non-arcane builds have more appeal and so you wouldn’t be in need of often swapping into water every 9 secs for EA and/or Healing Ripple.

The less points invested in arcane (and more invested in the elements) the more powerful your minor master traits become. Basically Sun Spot, Electric Discharge, Earthen Blast and Healing Ripple would become stronger, perhaps with additional effects to the end of making new builds viable (especially in PvP, as there isn’t much of an issue in PvE).

An example (don’t take it too seriously. Just brainstorming here).

• 30 points in arcane (Approx. 9 secs attunement swap):
  Sunspot: X AoE damage.
  Electric Discharge: X single target damage.
  Earthen Blast: X AoE damage with 3 seconds cripple.
  Healing Ripple: X AoE healing.

• 0 points in arcane (15 secs attunement swap):
  Sunspot: X AoE damage, +X% added damage, + burning.
  Electric Discharge: X single target damage, +X% added damage.
  Earthen Blast: X AoE damage, + X bleeding, with 6 seconds cripple.
  Healing Ripple: X AoE healing, +X% added healing, + condition cleanse.

This is just a random idea, I can see making it more interesting for non-arcane builds. A problem would still be that there are mandatory traits in arcane, such as Blasting Staff for staff users (subjective oppinion) and you would probably argue Elemental Attunement, Renewing Stamina and EA.

A spear. Less focused on support, more on ranged single target dps and defenses.

It is boring only having scepter, dagger and focus (to some extent) being viable in SPvP. One more weapon wouldn’t hurt.

Anet, could you redo Flamewall somehow? It is beyond repair. If you can run across without triggering it, a buff to damage would do little.

Get a mic and do the same. If you won’t go to the same lengths to achieve coordination, you are the one to blame. This is rather silly to complain about and sounds childish.

If you were missing your right thumb (assuming you are right-handed), I bet you would want everyone else to cut off their thumbs, because you believe the game has to revolve around you solely.

Others don’t have an advantage over you. The reason that you are at a disadvantage is your problem, not Anet’s.

Bad connection? Whose fault might that be?

No speakers and mic? It’s considered very normal to possess these items nowdays. If you can’t afford them, I wonder how you could afford GW2 and a computer to begin with.

OP is either a troll, or a very desperate and young individual that needs a scapegoat other than him/herself, where the original problem lies.

Magnetic Wave probably wasn’t supposed to be unblockable, so they fixed it. I never even noticed..

Batmang.5421:

Malcastus.6240:

I believe they can revert Cleansing Water for starters, so it won’t have the randomness about it which players hate. If you use utilities and skills you don’t want uncertainty.

Anyway, as the meta settles you begin to see how little build diversity there actually is.

What’s random about cleansing wave?

Not Cleansing Wave. Water. There is no debuff icon or anything, making it rather random in the heat of the moment, thereby lessening its usefulness as a grandmaster trait. It isn’t often you see people using builds that go beyond 20 in water anymore, even though condition cleansing would be something you want to achieve.

It isn’t a good thing that you are dependent on EA. I wonder if there will ever be a time where people can make a good PvP build without going into arcana. I don’t approve of mandatory traits and traitlines is what I’m saying..

If it would become a frozen burst instead of cleansing wave, the ele needs healing ripple and signet of restoration restored to their former state to compensate – that’s for sure.

It seriously needs to be altered or changed completely.

One of the problems with it besides it being a thin line that I have watched people run through without taking damage, not even wasting a dodge on, is that the damage is horrible as many have already mentioned, and the cast time is rather high.

If they upped the damage, it still will only be a tiny AoE field that is cumbersome to create combos on. I have the feeling that they initially thought that we should have a fire field and created the skill with other players in mind. A ranger shooting through it to get burning arrows. But in reality it sucks, sadly.

I believe the best course of action would be to change it completely. Histerico’s suggestion is very neat.

While at it, I have a few ideas as well.

Fire Trail
Create a trail of fire in your wake that burns targets that pass through it while granting you swiftness.

Damage: ?
Burning: ? sec.
Swiftness: ? sec.
Duration: ? sec.
Combo Field: Fire.

and..

Searing Ash
Create a cloud of searing ashes that burns and blinds foes.

Damage: ?
Burning: ? sec.
Blindness: ? sec.
Duration: ? sec.
Combo Field: Fire.

A shame that Anet not only overnerfed the bunker in the past (it was needed, but they overdid it), but also put a stopper for certain build possibilities by their way of nerfing. They actually did quite a lot of damage to our options.

I believe they can revert Cleansing Water for starters, so it won’t have the randomness about it which players hate. If you use utilities and skills you don’t want uncertainty.

Anyway, as the meta settles you begin to see how little build diversity there actually is.

As the topic says. Do they stack? And do Superior Sigil of Force stack? (PvE)

Runes of Lyssa needs an increased ICD. 100+ seconds.

TGSlasher.1458:

@Malcastus
If you are crazy enough, you can change out the arcane shied for arcane wave or blast to apply another 1 second imob, for 2 seconds of leeway, or a backup for condition cleanse

Yup. I just put Arcane Shield in there for a stunbreak and a wee bit of defense.

@Solo: It doesn’t. Only damage skills trigger the effect.

I wish that Elemental Surge would work like GoEP does. Currently if you want the immobilize, you need to be in earth. Rockbarrier → Hurl would be interesting in keeping one from dodging Churning Earth.

My bad, I wasn’t clear. I meant “.. a waste from the perspective of a GC”.

I just prefer saving LF for a Earthquake combo, or a ranged Fire Grab combo. Scepter auto, then Fire Grab delivered with LF while changing into air for +10% damage, several bursts and Updraft etc.

If desperate I use LF + Updraft (in case of interrupting something), but generally I prefer to deliver hard hitting combos instead of giving someone the time to notice my intentions by sending them flying, with time to realize that something painful is on the doorstep. Being GC also makes me hesitant about using two good escape mechanisms in one go without getting a high damage combo out of it.

But yeah, you can make good use of LF + Updraft. I just believe that people are aware when being flung back and have more time to counter you, compared to other approaches.

To each their own.

Apparently it is a waste (referring to the above post about FGS), since immobilize replace each other too fast to be of real use.

However, a few interesting tricks using Elemental Surge + Arcane Power.

Churning Earth anti-dodge

Step 1: Activate Arcane Power.
Step 2: Cast Churning Earth.
Step 3: Activate Arcane Shield to avoid blinds (just a precaution).
Step 4: Lightning Flash onto your opponent one second before it goes off.
Step 4: Your opponent becomes immobilized and can’t dodge in the last second before it detonates.

A nice way of making sure your opponent has to use special means in order to escape, or take the blast.

This is another version of OP’s Lava Font trick. Let’s call it..

Lava Bath

Step 1: Activate Arcane Power.
Step 2: Cast Lava Font so your opponent gets the first tick.
Step 3: Shift to earth attunement immediately and cast Eruption.
Step 4: Cast Shockwave.
Step 4: Insert next action..

If you manage to make your opponent being hit the first time the Lava Font ticks, the opponent will remain immobilized for the entire duration of Lava Font, taking its full damage (all will be crits) plus Eruption, with an additional immobilize from Shockwave for a continuation of the combo. Total immobilization time: 7 seconds.

The interesting thing about the combo is this; if you merely condition cleanse to get out of the initial Lava Font + immobilize, it has the benefit of re-applying immobilize once per second for five seconds (Lava Font = 4 secs. Eruption = 1 sec) not adding the Shockwave that will be easier to land, which would make it tricky to escape the predicament. Aiming for high damage you can easily expect 5000-8000 damage (depending on opponent) from the Lava Font alone, another 1000 from Eruption (not counting the stacks of bleed) and then add your next course of action to that damage… if lucky.

garethh.3518:

Malcastus.6240:

I
I can understand why thieves especially would love this thing, as it makes you nigh invincible for 5+ seconds. It is ridiculously over the top for the thief profession, and who knows, perhaps the warrior will be OP with this in the future.

Lastly ask yourself: “Would I want to use another set of runes instead of the complete Lyssa set?”. If your answer is “no”, it is too strong.

If you want to QQ about overused…
Most pro dps/roamer run runes of the scholar.

You do have to remember, that it is on a 1->1.5s cast, all elite skills that is.

I am stating the obvious really. Show me ten other 6th set abilities that are as strong as Lyssa’s.

How much does 1 second cast time mean when you can cast it from stealth?

This is about the insane 6th ability that by no means is in the same league as other runes, which I find amazing – not in a good way, mind you.

AND regarding your last post, garethh.
I did suggest that all the offensive boons be stripped of this rune set, so that warriors and thieves would have access to condition cleansing, which is what you are saying is missing from thieves.

Do you not agree that taking the insane component away from the Lyssa set, which would be every boon (which grants you 5+ secs of near god status) would make it properly balanced?

garethh.3518:

Emapudapus.1307:

garethh.3518:

runes of Lyssa are the only thing holding a number of builds together.

That alone makes those runes too strong compared to others.

The end goal of balance is better gameplay, right?
Destroying builds doesn’t create better gameplay.

If Anet was good at balancing and was actively working out kinks in cleansing so barebones amounts of condi removal was avaiblible to specs that needed it… then we could talk about nerfing Lyssa… but since Anet sucks at balancing and tweaking… all nerfing Lyssa would do is cut specs out of existance.

So you are saying that several builds only work because of Lyssa. That in itself tells me how grossly overpowered the sets 6th ability is, if it can remedy an entire build. Runes are there to compliment a build, not be the sole reason of its success.

It definitely needs adjustment. ICD 90-120 seconds and some toning down, or have it remove all conditions only with the ICD it has, which should be 50 seconds according to what I read on the wiki* and other forums. That would help warriors and thieves with condition cleansing and not grant you near immortality on top.

I can understand why thieves especially would love this thing, as it makes you nigh invincible for 5+ seconds. It is ridiculously over the top for the thief profession, and who knows, perhaps the warrior will be OP with this in the future.

A little overview of what you gain every 50 secs on command.

• Aegis: Block the next attack.
• Fury: 20% critical chance increase.
• Might – 35 power and condition damage increase.
• Protection – 33% damage reduction.
• Regeneration – Regenerates X health per second.
• Retaliation – Reflects incoming damage back to its source each time they hit you.
• Swiftness – 33% movement speed increase.
• Vigor – Faster endurance regeneration
• Stability – Cannot be knocked down, pushed back, launched, stunned, dazed, floated, sunk, or feared.

.. AND it removes ALL conditions. Compare it to other rune sets 6th effect and you will notice how absurdly strong this one is. Even with a 90 ICD it would overshadow other sets.

Lastly ask yourself: “Would I want to use another set of runes instead of the complete Lyssa set?”. If your answer is “no”, it is too strong.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E7J2Ju7q4Q (found a little video too)

I think professions should only be able to perform one attack per second. That and making stealthed characters move half the speed they do now. Easy to hear someone running around in a leather suit next to you, eh? EH?

The topic is derailing I’m afraid.

Hmm, makes me think. Wielding the FGS in earth attunement, with Elemental Surge and Arcane Power. You can catch someone with the whirl, then precisely Fiery Rush them Lightning Flash style.. could be saucy!

I would say LF + Updraft is a waste of LF when you have RTL to bring you closer. The CD will be short if you hit anyways. But sure, it is doable.

What about the tactical aspect of the game? You have to do something in order to win. Working around other peoples strengths and so on. I think it’s fine.

If someone has perma retaliation I would agree that it’s too much (obviously) – If only briefly and occasionally you just have to adapt and learn to use fast hitting abilities when there is a window and who better suited than a thief?

You can disengage at your leisure most of the time and wait for the retaliation boon to vanish in order to strike. That is what thieves are about to some degree, right? Striking at the opportune moment. What about stealing the boon? S/D and P/P?

The thief is easy enough to play as it is. No need to make the profession lobotomy-proof.
And engineers? A VERY strong profession. No way they need special treatment.

You are right, but personally I do not like sacrificing runes and find the 10 points in fire to be alright if you focus on damage. I would prefer putting the 10 points elsewhere, though.

Step 1: Earthquake.
Step 2: Conjure Fiery Greatsword on opponent.
Step 3: Signet of Earth to hold said person.
Step 4: Un-target the opponent and use Fiery Rush (4) while standing close.
Step 5: Lightning Flash back to apply two layers of the fire trail on your opponent.
Step 6: Arcane Wave + Electric Discharge + Fiery Whirl.

Can be hard to pull off, especially if the opponent has a stunbreak ready. Before trying this combo, you can use Updraft and try landing a DT + Phoenix to make the person use a stunbreak, increasing your chance of success. It really hurts.

I did wonder if two-handed weapons could ever have between 100-150% the value of the sigil, depending on its initial strength and use. Might be too hard to implement though.

If you put 10 points in fire and use a Signet of Earth, you can immobilize someone long enough for the DT to hit. However I do believe that making the animation time shorter might make the burst build a tad too wild, although I believe it could be lowered a tad to work with updraft/gale/EQ.

I went with human, because charr and norn animations are odd. Besides, norn have club feet and a strange body if you pick a male character. If female, everything is fine.

Asura rats are hideous to behold and sort of annoy me. Treebeardians are fine. Sylvari then..

Not sure about this, but wouldn’t making the hit box or the area surrounding players equal in size help in terms of PvP fairplay, not being able to target someone tiny? Only for SPvP mind you..

What I mean is that it would be easier to target the smallest of characters, not giving you a special advantage.

Of course it wouldn’t help with viewing pleasure.

Instead of ruining it for all classes, specific over-the-top professions should be addressed. Not like guardian, elementalists, or warriors condi specs are OP in any way. If you nerf burning in order to take down necros and engineers a notch (if that is your desire), you need to balance all the other classes that has access to it as well. A complete overhaul, making it rather cumbersome.

The classes with access to burning being..
Ranger
Guardian
Engineer
Elementalist
Warrior
Necromancer
Mesmer

What I think the staff needs (in SPvP), is better ways of creating gaps, basically.

A few ideas for the (dev) staff..

• Unsteady Ground
  Replaced by a burrowing skill that allows you to travel from A to B underground, with a launch effect on surfacing. A tad damage and/or bleed on pop-up wouldn’t be bad.

Reasoning:
The staff is reliant on CC, keeping people slowed and at bay. While this works in PvE, it doesn’t to the same extent in PvP, as everyone can close gaps rather easily. A skill for creating distance to your opponent or a CC opener, in order to get an offensive skill off as the staff skills are fairly slow.

• Lightning Surge
  Lowering cast time.

Reasoning:
Slightly better damage output to provide a way to create pressure. The current cast time is very high and too predictable IMHO.

• Gust
  An AoE knockback in a ring around you with shorter range (240-360), or a wider AoE knockback with slightly shorter range (600-900). Lowering the CD slightly.

Reasoning:
The thin focused line in which it travels makes it difficult to land and therefore has a slim chance of pushing anyone away from you. The reasoning is basically the same as with the burrow suggestion. Means of creating distance that has a better chance of success.

The above suggestions of reshaping existing skills that I feel are hindering the staff in certain elements of the game, mainly SPvP, are necessary in order to give the staff a breathing chance in combat. Unsteady Ground and Gust are “risky” ways of keeping distance, as they are unreliable in their effect.

I don’t see these suggestions having an negative impact on PvE or WvW. Gust with shorter range, a burrow skill that can create a gap, or make you a suicide mole. And Lightning Surge, which is in dire need of a shorter cast time.

IF a new weapon will ever be added (which I doubt), it would be awesome with a SPEAR! Imagine.. staff with a pointy end, symbolizing a spiky single target weapon. Awe-some!