Please note that we no longer allow Match-up threads on the Guild Wars 2 forum. You can read about our forum changes here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Wars-2-Forum-Moderation-Updates
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Upcoming-Forum-Changes-to-WvW-Match-ups-Sub-forum
The WvW Community has created a new space for Match-Ups and other off-topic discussion. You can find the Player Community-run site here:
http://www.GW2WvW.net
Sorry everybody, but the net neutrality ruling is off topic for these forums. There are plenty of places to discuss this ruling and the potential outcomes, but this isn’t one of them.
Because this thread has drifted completely off topic and people have resorted to insulting remarks, this thread is now closed.
We currently have no plans to display AP totals on forum profiles.
Please refrain from making new threads whose only purpose is linking to other threads.
Making and participating in threads that serve no purpose other than to shame a group of people (guild, server, party) for perceived behaviors is not conducive to constructive discourse. If you are being harassed by others in-game, please submit a report to the Customer Support team. Do not make a thread to call out this behavior.
Please note that we no longer allow Match-up threads on the Guild Wars 2 forum. You can read about our forum changes here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Wars-2-Forum-Moderation-Updates
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Upcoming-Forum-Changes-to-WvW-Match-ups-Sub-forum
The WvW Community has created a new space for Match-Ups and other off-topic discussion. You can find the Player Community-run site here:
http://www.GW2WvW.net
Please don’t do this. If you wish to make a post, please add the content first. Reserving a dozen posts for future use does not foster constructive discussion.
If you receive gold seller spam in game, please report it using the in-game tool or through Customer Support. If anybody spams you here on the forums, please report them using the forum report tools.
Greetings,
Please note that we do not allow Match-up threads on the Guild Wars 2 forum. You can read about our forum changes here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Wars-2-Forum-Moderation-Updates
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Upcoming-Forum-Changes-to-WvW-Match-ups-Sub-forum
The WvW Community has created a new space for Match-Ups and other off-topic discussion. You can find the Player Community-run site here:
http://www.GW2WvW.net
If you wish to report hackers, griefers, cheaters or anybody else violating the Rules of Conduct, please contact Customer Support directly and provide your proof to them. We do not allow accusations of hacking, cheating, etc. on the forums, as it fosters an unhealthy community of players accusing other players of cheating and hacking and does not leave room for healthy discussion to thrive.
Greetings,
Please note that we do not allow Match-up threads on the Guild Wars 2 forum. You can read about our forum changes here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Wars-2-Forum-Moderation-Updates
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Upcoming-Forum-Changes-to-WvW-Match-ups-Sub-forum
The WvW Community has created a new space for Match-Ups and other off-topic discussion. You can find the Player Community-run site here:
http://www.GW2WvW.net
Well, Fort Aspenwood, of course.
Please note that we do not allow Match-up threads on the Guild Wars 2 forum. You can read about our forum changes here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Wars-2-Forum-Moderation-Updates
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Upcoming-Forum-Changes-to-WvW-Match-ups-Sub-forum
The WvW Community has created a new space for Match-Ups and other off-topic discussion. You can find the Player Community-run site here:
http://www.GW2WvW.net
Greetings,
Please note that we do not allow Match-up threads on the Guild Wars 2 forum. You can read about our forum changes here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Wars-2-Forum-Moderation-Updates
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Upcoming-Forum-Changes-to-WvW-Match-ups-Sub-forum
The WvW Community has created a new space for Match-Ups and other off-topic discussion. You can find the Player Community-run site here:
http://www.GW2WvW.net
Greetings,
Please note that we do not allow Match-up threads on the Guild Wars 2 forum. You can read about our forum changes here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Guild-Wars-2-Forum-Moderation-Updates
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Upcoming-Forum-Changes-to-WvW-Match-ups-Sub-forum
The WvW Community has created a new space for Match-Ups and other off-topic discussion. You can find the Player Community-run site here:
http://www.GW2WvW.net
Please keep the this discussion relegated to the thread in the WvW discussion forum:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/WvW-matchup-forum-being-wiped
These threads are for matchups, not for discussing why the last matchup thread got closed.
Since people have started resorting to personal attacks in this thread, it is now locked.
Danicia has posted an important announcement regarding this sub-forum in the main WvW section. Please give it a read, as it directly impacts this sub-forum and matchup threads in general.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Upcoming-Forum-Changes-to-WvW-Match-ups-Sub-forum
The Community Team recognizes that many of you wish to have their feedback heard and acknowledged. While we cannot reply to every thread on the Guild Wars 2 forums, we felt it would be helpful both to you and us to supply this guide on how to give thoughtful, well-presented and constructive feedback. Feedback presented in accordance with these guidelines will allow the developers more insight into your thoughts and opinions. It helps keep your threads on-topic and more likely for the Development Teams to be involved. It is also important to note that when you create a feedback thread, you should take some ownership on helping keep it clean. You should report posts which are off-topic, derailing, or disruptive, so the Moderation Team can help keep it clean for you.
When writing feedback, keep these few considerations in mind at all times:
- Ask yourself: “How can I make this content *_better_?"*
- Consider: How have you seen this particular problem solved in other games?
- Consider: How do you think this particular element or aspect of the game could be improved?
- Tell us why: If we ask a specific question, don’t just answer it—tell us why you answered that way.
By considering these points, your feedback will always be focused on providing solutions to problems, not simply focusing on the problems that you find. This is the heart of what we’re looking for from your feedback, and what will best result in change to the game!
Additionally – and almost as important as what you are writing – it is important to recognize how you are delivering your feedback. Your strongest points will be lost if they are lost in the tone or delivery of the post. To help you along this process (and help you get your feedback noticed by the developers who can actually make the changes), we’ve provided a few helpful guidelines below for writing GOOD feedback and some warnings about what to avoid.
Using Feedback for Good
- Understand the topic.
If there’s a focus for the feedback, be sure you understand it before jumping into the content. This will allow you to look for answers to the questions being asked, and it will keep your replies on-topic. - Set the stage.
Good feedback lets the reader know what you were looking at, where you were, and what you did. Use common sense about how lengthy this needs to be, but always consider leading with something like, “I was playing <______> and I tried <______>.” - Provide details.
Make sure your feedback is exact and detailed (without being overly long). You don’t need to provide every detail about what you experienced and your idea for how to improve it, but you must provide more than, “Make this better,” or, “This was not fun.” - Include the positive.
Feedback about things that don’t work is often easier to understand in the context of things that do. This is not an encouragement to brown nose; when people are looking for constructive feedback, they will often skip over obvious toadyism. - Find the balance between logic and emotion.
Be logical, but not emotionless. Be passionate, but not so full of passion that you can’t hear a good counterargument. - Get to the root.
Whenever possible, try to locate the core issue. If a mechanic in the game is troubling, that can be good feedback, but if you can identify why the mechanic is troubling, that will be better. - Provide well thought-out suggestions.
If you can’t think of a suggestion, you can still submit the feedback; opinions are valuable. If you are including a suggestion, be certain you’ve given it more than just a passing thought. Often, suggestions are taken seriously and implemented just because we feel it would be awesome. Think first: is your suggestion awesome? - Provide alternatives.
Are there two or three good solutions to your issue? Feel free to include them all. Designers often appreciate a brainstorm from which to select their favorite ideas. - Give examples.
Where appropriate, give an example of what you’re suggesting. Don’t be afraid to cite another game, but avoid relying too heavily on other titles. We can like an idea or mechanic from another game, but we need to express how that idea would work within our systems. - Organize! Format! Spell check!
Put your thoughts in order. If you took a series of notes, reorder your notes so points on each topic are grouped together. Avoid delivering your feedback in one big blob. Consider grouping thoughts into paragraphs or the ever popular bulleted list. Finally: spell check. Feedback that’s easily read and understood is more likely to see action. - Be timely.
Please understand that suggestions are almost always welcome, but knowing the timeline for feedback allows you to give it at the best possible time. Feedback that’s too early may be forgotten before it’s appropriate, and feedback that comes too late may uselessly bounce off something that’s already locked down.
Steering Clear of the Dark Path
- Avoid abbreviating.
Short, unexplained opinions are not as useful as detailed responses.
NO: “Movement sucks.”
NO: “+1,” “/signed,” “Agreed,” “Seconded,” “Quoted for truth,” etc. - Turn down the negative tone.
There’s a difference between being critical and being negative. Learn this difference and avoid the latter. Select words that show you’ve thought about the effects of the problem rather than simply presenting your gut reaction.
NO: “I can’t see around that ridiculous ball of puke-colored light.”
YES: "The light around this character obstructs the view from most camera angles and is an unpleasant shade of yellow. - No one knows best.
Avoid taking an inflexible position or positioning yourself as the authority. Proposals should be accepted on their merits and practicality. Disagreements should be settled after careful consideration. Using forceful, pretentious language hurts your point. If your argument is “You need to do it my way because I know best,” then we probably won’t because it seems you don’t.
NO: “I’ve played games like this since I was ten. Trust me: you have to include polearms.”
YES: “In games I’ve played with polearms, I’ve enjoyed the variety they provided in attack speed and length. I think we could use that.” - Don’t speak from inexperience.
Avoid making suggestions for things you didn’t try or ask about. If you suggest there be an error when trying to equip a hat on your feet, and that error already exists, your suggestion will be taken as seriously as one from a person with a hat on their feet. - Avoid inaccuracies.
If your feedback includes information that is inaccurate, the recipient may discard it whole. If you mention how the character can equip only a sword when it’s also possible to equip an ax or bow, the reader may stop reading before getting to your awesome suggestion about new sword attacks. - Known issues are just that: already known.
There may be a time and place to discuss well-covered issues, but if it’s not explicitly pertinent to your feedback, avoid bringing up other known issues.
NO: “Then we crashed again. There was another crash. There certainly was a lot of crashing today. I think the game would be better if we had fewer crashes.”
Note: This is not to say that you can’t echo suggestions from other people, nor is it to say that you need to drop an issue once it’s been responded to. - Hyperbole is the worst possible thing in the whole world.
Use measured language, particularly when explaining your dislike for something. Conversely, if you love something, you can say so without excessive fanboyism. Whether positive or negative, if your feedback is overly hyperbolic, the recipient will quickly learn that you aren’t serious or can’t accurately gauge quality.
NO: “The art for that makes me want to gouge out my eyes.”
NO: “I’m so amazed by that model, I just want to quit my job and worship in the art department.” - Sarcasm in text is never sarcastic.
It doesn’t matter how many smileys you include or how many words are italicized, sarcasm doesn’t work for conveying feedback. It will either be misread or interpreted as an insult. Write down exactly what you mean, not the opposite.
NO: “The fire effect is super impressive. It’s the most amazing fire I’ve ever seen. Really.”
YES: “The fire effect could be more impressive if it was larger and if it shimmered more.” - Your words have your name on them.
Your behavior is your own. Echoing the bad behavior of others is not excusable.
NO: “I agree with Aquan, only morons enjoy this obviously broken underwater combat.” - This isn’t about “you.”
Insults and attacks have no place in your feedback. Your comments should always be about the work itself. People found to be openly antagonistic or rude in their feedback may receive infractions. Repeated offenses can negatively affect your forum account with punishments up to and including temporary suspensions or a permanent ban.
NO: “If you can’t see how this isn’t fun, then you’re stupid.”
NO: “Whoever designed this [particular feature] should be fired.” - This still isn’t about you.
There is no need to feel hurt about the reception of your feedback. Your feedback is given due consideration, but that doesn’t mean your proposals will always be accepted. The final call is ArenaNet’s, and if your idea doesn’t exactly mesh with the rest of the game, or if there just isn’t enough time, don’t let this discourage you from providing feedback in the future. If you receive a response to your feedback from other players that you consider rude or offensive, please use the report flag to alert the moderation team of the post.
(edited by Mark Katzbach.9084)
The purpose of this thread is to serve as a one-stop reference for current and past Collaborative Development threads. Threads are arranged in descending, chronological order, so you will find the most recent threads towards the top. The PvP and WvW forums have their own version of this sticky which are linked at the bottom of this post.
Previous CDI Threads
- CDI – Guild and Guild Halls
- CDI – Guilds – Logistics and QOL
- CDI – Fractal Evolution
- CDI – Format Proposal
- CDI – Process Evolution 2
- CDI – Character Progression – Horizontal
- CDI – Character Progression
- CDI – Process Evolution
- Collaborative Development Topic – Living World
- Collaborative Development – Request for Topics
- Collaborative Development
PvP Master Sticky
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Collaborative-Development-Master-Sticky
WvW Master Sticky
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Collaborative-Development-Master-Sticky
(edited by Moderator)
Bug Fixes:
- Updated the Tome of Knowledge item to once again be usable in WvW and dungeons, but it can no longer be used while defeated, downed, or in combat.
- Fixed a bug that caused the ranger trait Eagle Eye to grant fury on critical hits.
- Fixed a bug that would cause the Wintersday donation-drive dolyak to stall.
- The guardian trait Shattered Aegis will no longer interrupt the guardian when aegis is removed. Fixed a bug that caused all damage components of this trait to emanate from the guardian.
- Removed unintended instance redirector from Ascalonian Catacombs.
- Fixed an issue that prevented Ho-Ho-Tron and Marcello DiGiacomo from speaking after respawning.
- Fixed a bug that prevented player access to North Nolan Hatchery.
The stream was cut short due to technical issues and has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Dec 17 at noon Pacific time.
Since this thread has already started out with people attacking each other, it is now closed. In the future, please stay respectful to one another when creating and posting in these threads.
Since this thread has denigrated into accusations of cheating, it is now closed.
Because people seem to be unable to get along with each other in this thread, it is now closed.
We do not need two threads for the WvW season rewards topic.
Zelyhn, the fact of the matter is, you incited others to spam. It doesn’t matter where you incited to spam, be it our forums, our livestream, another player’s livestream or anywhere else on the internet. You told people on this forum to go to our livestream chat and spam, and for that you were punished and the punishment was well deserved.
You can argue subjectivity all you want. The only reason you weren’t infracted for similar actions is the past is simply because you didn’t get caught. The moderation team cannot read every single post on the forums. We rely heavily on user reports and what we are able to read in the course of the day. If you see an offending post and think “why didn’t he get infracted for that?” you should stop and report the post, not point out flaws in our moderation because you found a post that violates the code of conduct.
If you have to live in fear of being infracted over what you might post, you should take a good, hard look at your posting habits and what you consider acceptable. Then read over the Code of Conduct again and try and understand not just the letter of the law, but also the spirit of the law as well.
What you referred to as a subjective clause is the following:
Forum moderators have full discretion to address any behavior that they feel is inappropriate. Your membership and participation in these forums is a privilege and not a right. ArenaNet reserves the right to suspend or terminate your access to these forums and/or to the game itself at any time for reasons that include, but are not necessarily limited to, your failure to abide by this Code of Conduct.
This is in there precisely to allow us to take action against those in violation of the spirit of the Code of Conduct. We do not abuse this clause as an excuse to remove anything we want, we use it to keep the forums a respectful and constructive place for our players to interact with each other and our staff.
The unintended change has been reverted as of today’s hotfix. You can see it reflected in the patch notes here.
Bug-Fixes:
- The consumable Tome of Knowledge can no longer be used while in dungeons and WvW. Players can still use the Tome of Knowledge outside of these areas.
- Fixed an issue that would cause some players to have the Nightmare Ender achievement listed as complete without rewarding the appropriate credit toward the Nightmare Is Over meta-achievement.
- Unintentional changes to Grenth Hood items have been reverted.
- Resolved an issue that caused the Endless Toymaker’s Tonic to only turn players into festive dolyaks.
- Fixed a bug that caused Charged Quartz Crystals to drop instead of Quartz Crystals.
- Resolved an issue that would prevent Marcello DiGiacomo from returning to his starting point after failing his donation-drive event.
- Fixed a bug that prevented Endless Toy Tonic recipe items from unlocking their crafting recipes.
- Fixed some texture corruption on the sylvari face (12/0), which caused preview errors in the Total Makeover Kit.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the Shadow of Grenth back-slot item from being account bound as intended.
- Improved messaging and NPC map markers related to entering “The Nightmare Ends” story instance.
- Fixed Gem Store issues blocking some Mac users from purchasing gems.
- Updates for the event “Defeat the toxic wurm queen” in Kessex Hills:
- The event will now restart more frequently.
- The event will now scale for more participants.
- The Toxic Wurm Queen will now use the Impale skill more often.
- Increased the number of projectiles generated by the Impale skill at higher scaling.
Hey all, this was an unintended change. This will be reverted back to the way it used to be in a future hotfix (but not today, sorry).
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
As this is not a matchup thread, it has no place in the matchup subforum. Please keep all threads in the matchup subforum restricted to current matchups and indicate all three participating worlds in the title. Thank you.
As Devon said back in October,
Guild vs. Guild is a gametype that has a lot of potential and one that we would never do anything but the best possible version of. That version, if it comes, will have to wait until the resources are available to build it. This change is an attempt to provide a workable solution in a timely manner, one that will ease some of the conflict that we have seen arise on the forums and in the game.
What this means is that the team is not focused on making changes to this map at this time. If and when the resources are available to build GvG as a game mode, the team assigned to it will do the best they are able, but that time is not now. The Obsidian Sanctum was built to ease tensions between GvG players and the WvW community by allowing a place for players to GvG where it does not affect total map population and is not affected by the Bloodlust buff.
GvG, in its current form, is a player-organized and player-run gametype and for the time being, must be policed by players. Obviously if anybody is being abusive or obscene in chat, please report them. But, we cannot devote resources to preventing players not involved in organized battles from entering the arena.
Since you guys can’t interact in a civil manner in this thread, it is now locked.
Please report spammers either in-game or directly to customer support.
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday pushing things back further than anticipated, the page will go live tomorrow.
Sorry for the confusion.
As this isn’t a matchup thread, it is now closed.
If you feel that players have behaved in a manner that goes against the Guild Wars 2 Rules of Conduct, please contact Customer Support on the matter.
Creating a thread to bash on a server because you believe they may have behaved “dishonestly” is not the appropriate way to report violations of this type and only serves to breed further animosity between players.
If you wish to appeal your name change, please take it up with Customer Support directly.
Because this thread is off topic for the PvP forum, it is now closed.
Bug-Fixing
- Fixed an issue where players could not be resurrected after a party wipe in the Thaumanova Reactor story fractal.
- Fixed a bug that could prevent the Fractal Transit Query from appearing after completing the Molten Weapons Testing fractal.
- Preexisting Fractal weapons can be used again.
Thanks for the report. We’re looking into it right now.
LIVING WORLD
Fractured!
Five New Fractals
- Three standard fractals:
- Thaumanova Reactor: Embark on a brand-new historical adventure, and travel to the ill-fated power facility moments before it explodes. As the fractal scale increases, more potential outcomes will unlock.
- Molten Weapons Testing: Accompany Braham and Rox through this epic retelling of the Molten Facility dungeon.
- Aetherblade Retreat: Join Ellen Kiel as she fights off Aetherblade pirates in a fragment of the Aetherblade Retreat dungeon.
- Two boss-tier fractals:
- Molten Retribution: Battle the legendary bosses from the Molten Facility dungeon in this boss-tier fractal.
- Sky Pirates: Relive the challenge of Captain Mai Trin and First Mate Horrik.
Story
- As promised during her campaign run for the Captain’s Council seat, Ellen Kiel has begun her investigation of the Thaumanova Reactor disaster in the Mistlock Observatory.
- Players can complete the special story-mode version of this fractal when they enter the Fractals of the Mists for the first time during this release.
Mistlock Instabilities
- Tampering with the Mistlock Observatory to target specific moments in time has destabilized the Mistlock process. Consequently, unique Mistlock Instabilities will begin occurring on fractal level 31.
- Mistlock Instabilities are special modifiers that have various effects on players and their party’s journey through the fractals. These can be anything from simple conditions to insidious extra creature attacks.
Improvements to Agony Resistance/Infused Gear
- All infused ascended equipment now has a special infusion slot for Agony Resistance infusions.
- Agony Resistance infusions can be found in fractal reward chests.
- All existing, infused ascended equipment has a +5 Agony Resistance infusion in the Agony Resistance slot by default, in place of the natural +5 Agony Resistance.
- Agony Resistance infusions provide +1 or more Agony Resistance.
- Artificers can combine two identical Agony Resistance infusions with a Thermocatalytic Reagent to create a single, more powerful Agony Resistance infusion.
- Newly created or dropped infused ascended equipment will have empty Agony Resistance slots.
General Fractal Improvements
- Fractal selection is now based on the number of fractals the party has completed on the current run. Longer, more difficult fractals are less likely to be selected as the first fractal of the level.
- Every fractal level now ends with a boss-tier fractal. The Solid Ocean, Molten Retribution, and Sky Pirates fractals are all in this category.
- Unshakable creatures will no longer receive more than 5 stacks of the defiance boon in the fractals.
- The difficulty scaling for fractals has been adjusted. Enemy health, damage, and count now scale more gradually.
- Agony damage has also been reduced at several levels.
- Fractal level 50 is now possible, even with excessive agony damage. However, the fractals are temporarily capped at level 50. Additional levels will become available in the future.
- Fractal progress is now account-wide.
- Numerous bug fixes and balance changes have been made to previously available fractals.
Fractal Leaderboards
- With this release, players will be able to track their progress on a new leaderboard that displays their fractal rank.
- In the case of a tie, the first player to achieve that rank will be listed higher.
- The leaderboard will be posted on GuildWars2.com once they have been populated with enough data.
Rewards
- Daily coin rewards for fractal completion are now more consistent with other dungeons. There are now separate daily rewards per every ten levels of the fractals (1 – 10, 11 – 20, and so on).
- The Fractal weapons have been converted to weapon skins.
- Recipes for a new rune and a new sigil will now drop exclusively in the fractals:
- Superior Rune of Resistance grants bonus toughness, a reduction in condition duration, and aegis upon using a signet.
- Superior Sigil of Momentum grants a stacking toughness bonus on kills.
- Completing the Fractured! meta-achievement awards the player a bag of ascended crafting materials.
Achievements
- Completing a fractal will fulfill a daily achievement each day of the Fractured! release.
- Each unique fractal completed during the Fractured! release will fulfill a corresponding Living World achievement.
- The Fractured! meta-achievement requires players to complete a combination of 11 daily fractals and/or unique fractal achievements.
Exotic Drop
- The Endless Fractal Tonic is an endless transformation tonic that allows players to temporarily appear to be various creatures from the Fractals of the Mists dungeons. The tonic is more likely to drop at higher fractal levels.
The Nightmares Within
Rewards
- The Tri-key Chest has been updated to include more loot bags, more Dragonite Ore, and a chance at Scrolls of Knowledge and Tomes of Knowledge.
- The Toxic Hybrid will now drop a piece of the Tricolor Key every time he is defeated.
- Sergeant Walters, located in the base of the Tower of Nightmares, will now accept players’ Pristine Toxic Spore Samples for the Toxic Spore Sampler achievement. She will accept extra Pristine Toxic Spore Samples as trade for various new crafting recipes, Tricolor Key pieces, and the Antitoxin Spray healing skill.
NEW FEATURES AND CONTENT
World vs. World
- A new area has been added to the Obsidian Sanctum jumping puzzle!
- The Borderlands Bloodlust effect has been disabled in Obsidian Sanctum.
- Players can now enter Obsidian Sanctum directly from the drop-down menu of the WvW panel.
Items
- Additional recipes for ascended back-item pieces have been added to the Mystic Forge for players who don’t play the fractals.
- All of the ascended back-item pieces that required 1 vial of Condensed Mists Essence can now be forged with Bloodstone Dust instead.
- A total of eight recipes have been added.
BALANCE, BUG-FIXING, POLISH
General
- Sylvari cultural armor updates—light tier 1 (female only), light tier 3, medium tier 2, and medium tier 3: textures, specularity, and dye channels have been predominantly restored to the state before the last update, while balancing them to work with the glow material.
- For the medium tier 2 leggings, the dye-to-skin area was largely combined to a supporting channel to give full texture and glow-color control. The armor-glow shader has been tweaked to allow full saturation range of the glow color, as will be dictated by the saturation of the texture. This shader affects all plantlike sylvari armors that have glow: sylvari cultural, Nightmare Court, and sylvari town clothes.
Items
- Gathering tools can no longer be unequipped while gathering.
Profession Skills
Elementalist
- Fire Shield: The aura of this skill now applies to 5 targets when traited with Powerful Aura, up from 4.
- Shocking Aura: The aura of this skill now applies to 5 targets when traited with Powerful Aura, down from 6.
- Zephyr’s Speed: This trait now always grants movement speed while attuned to air and also functions with Lingering Elements.
- Stone Flesh: This trait now always grants toughness while attuned to earth and also functions with Lingering Elements.
- Signet of Air: The tooltip now displays the proper movement-speed increase of the boon when this skill has been activated while traited with Written in Stone.
- Stop, Drop, and Roll: This trait will now only go on cooldown when burning or chilled is removed.
- Soothing Mist: Updated the skill fact to indicate the correct rate at which Soothing Mist is applied.
- Healing Ripple: This trait now indicates the correct healing amount when in a PvP map.
- Ether Renewal: Adjusted the skill fact to better describe the functionality of this skill.
Engineer
- Tool Kit
- Throw Wrench: Removed the healing functionality from this skill. It now applies 2 stacks of vulnerability each time it hits an enemy.
- Smack: Added a turret-healing fact.
- Whack: Added a turret-healing fact.
- Thwack: Added a turret-healing fact.
- Power Wrench: Updated the description and skill fact to indicate the actual functionality of this skill.
- Poison Grenade: These grenades now display a red ring for enemies and a combo ring for allies.
- Grenade Barrage: This skill now launches 7 grenades when traited with Grenadier, instead of having a 50% chance to launch 6 or 8 grenades. These grenades now display a red ring for enemies and a white ring for allies.
- Autotool Installation: Updated the trait fact to indicate the correct amount of health restored to turrets.
- Automated Medical Response: This trait now recharges Antitoxin Spray, the human racial skill Prayer to Dwayna, and the sylvari racial skill Healing Seed.
- Rifled Turret Barrels: The range bonus has been increased to 50%. Several turret abilities have been modified to reflect this change.
- Rifle Turret: The range has been increased from 1400 to 1500 when traited with Rifled Turret Barrels.
- Automatic Fire: This skill is now affected by Rifled Turret Barrels.
- Harpoon Turret: The range has been increased from 1400 to 1500 when traited with Rifled Turret Barrels.
- Automatic Fire: This skill is now affected by Rifled Turret Barrels.
- Flame Turret: The base range has been increased from 450 to 500. The range has been increased from 600 to 750 when traited with Rifled Turret Barrels.
- Smoke Screen: This skill now functions with Rifled Turret Barrels, increasing its radius from 240 to 360.
- Net Turret—Electrified Net: This skill now functions with Rifled Turret Barrels, launching at foes up to a 900 range (previously 600) when traited.
- Rocket Turret: The base range has been lowered from 1200 to 1000. The range when traited with Rifled Turret Barrels remains at 1500.
- Explosive Rockets: This skill now functions with Rifled Turret Barrels, increasing its range from 1000 to 1500.
- Thumper Turret—Thump: This skill now functions with Rifled Turret Barrels, increasing its radius from 240 to 360.
Guardian
- Symbol of Protection: This symbol now has the appropriate duration increase when traited with Writ of Persistence.
- Purging Flames: Updated the skill fact to show the correct condition duration reduction (33%).
- “Stand Your Ground!”: Added a skill fact for number of targets.
- Binding Jeopardy: Facts from this trait will now show up on skills that immobilize.
- Ring of Warding: Added a skill fact for the light field generated by this skill.
Mesmer
- Phantasmal Warden: This phantasm will now properly try to enter the attack range of its target before using its skill.
- Imbued Diversion: Added a radius trait fact.
- Empowered Illusions: This trait now indicates a damage increase for phantasms.
- Illusionary Duelist: This skill no longer indicates a loss of damage when traited with Empowered Illusions.
- Vortex: Updated the range indicator to use the proper range. Added a radius skill fact. Added a skill fact for initial pull radius.
Necromancer
- Putrid Mark: Changed the description to match the actual functionality of this skill.
- Marks: Fixed an issue that caused staff marks to go on full cooldown when aborted/interrupted.
- Shadow Fiend—Haunt: Updated the blind skill fact to display the proper duration.
Ranger
- Kick: Adjusted the range fact on this skill to match the proper attack range.
- Frost Spirit: Decreased the hit-point value of the underwater version of this spirit to be consistent with the land version. Summoning the spirit will now put its activated skill on a 1-second cooldown; this will fix an issue that caused the skill to begin recharging without firing when activated immediately.
- Stone Spirit: Decreased the hit-point value of the underwater version of this spirit to be consistent with the land version. Summoning the spirit will now put its activated skill on a 1-second cooldown; this will fix an issue that caused the skill to begin recharging without firing when activated immediately.
- Storm Spirit: Decreased the hit-point value of the underwater version of this spirit to be consistent with the land version. Summoning the spirit will now put its activated skill on a 1-second cooldown; this will fix an issue that caused the skill to begin recharging without firing when activated immediately.
- Sun Spirit: Decreased the hit-point value of the underwater version of this spirit to be consistent with the land version. Summoning the spirit will now put its activated skill on a 1-second cooldown; this will fix an issue that caused the skill to begin recharging without firing when activated immediately.
- Spirit of Nature: Added radius and time-interval skill facts. Decreased the hit-point value of the underwater version of this spirit to be consistent with the land version. Summoning the spirit will now put its activated skill on a 1-second cooldown; this will fix an issue that caused the skill to begin recharging without firing when activated immediately.
- Signet of the Wild: Rangers will now be able to interact with objects when they use the active portion of the signet and have Signet of the Beastmaster traited.
- Mercy Shot: Fixed an issue with the trait fact that caused multiple damage facts of the same type to appear.
- Eagle Eye: This trait now indicates the damage increase in its facts.
- Sharpened Edges: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to display an incorrect chance on critical hit.
- Intimidation Training: Updated this trait to display on the activated abilities for the Jungle Spider and Black Widow pets.
- Hide in Plain Sight: Added a camouflage trait fact.
Thief
- Basilisk Venom: This stun will now apply after a strike, instead of on a strike, to prevent crowd-control attacks (like Headshot) from overriding the stun.
- Cluster Bomb: The bleeding skill fact now displays the proper bleed stack and duration. Added a radius skill fact.
- Fire Cluster Bomb: Added skill facts to describe the functionality of this skill.
- Smoke Bomb: Removed the old shadowstep fact.
- Fleet of Foot: The conditions will now be removed at the beginning of the dodge roll instead of at the end. This trait will now only go on cooldown when crippled or weakness is removed.
- Potent Poison: Updated the thief skills that caused poison to reflect the extended duration that this trait applies.
Warrior
- “Fear Me!”: Replaced the range fact with a radius fact.
- “For Great Justice!”: Replaced the range fact with a radius fact.
- “Shake It Off!”: Replaced the range fact with a radius fact. Added a skill fact for removed conditions.
- “On My Mark!”: This skill will now properly use a 1200 range.
- Vigorous Focus: Fixed a bug that was granting 8 seconds of vigor on stance use instead of the intended 6 seconds. Skills affected: Balanced Stance, Endure Pain, and Berserker’s Stance.
- Fast Hands: This trait will no longer trigger a 5-second recharge when swapping to or from bundles.
- Earthshaker: Fixed a bug where this skill would occasionally fail to consume adrenaline.
World vs. World
- Borderlands Bloodlust no longer applies to NPCs.
- Town clothes and toys have been disabled in WvW.
- Fixed a bug preventing some players from unlocking the WvW Dawn of the Season achievement.
Structured Player vs. Player
- The ratings for matchmaking and leaderboard standings in PvP have been reset.
BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions
- Flamekissed light-armor skins, Flamewalker medium-armor skins, and Flamewrath heavy-armor skins are now available in the Style category of the Gem Store. These fiery armor skins can be purchased for 800 gems each.
- WXP Boosters continue to be 10% off until the end of WvW season 1. WXP Boosters can be purchased from the Gem Store in the Boosts category for 135 gems each or 495 gems for a pack of 5.
BUG-FIXING AND BALANCE
Living World
- Fixed a bug that could prevent the Champion Spider Queen from eating players and cause players to be stuck inside the cocoon longer than intended.
- Fixed a skill-animation bug with the Toxic Hybrid.
- The Mini Toxic Hybrid is no longer account bound.
- Removed Halloween content from the open world.
Structured Player vs. Player
- Updated the Skyhammer map by reducing the number of breakable panels and adding guardrails in various locations in order to put an emphasis on positioning and skillful play.
BUG-FIXING
- Fixed several client crashes, including one that prevented some players from entering the game.
- Fixed a roster crash in sPvP.
LIVING WORLD
The Nightmares Within
The way is open. The bravest are entering the Tower of Nightmares and confronting scores of powerful enemies. Toxins in the air make the going rough, and players won’t know whether they’re encountering a hallucination or a living foe. No antitoxin can protect them from their inner demons, but someone has to bring this tower down before Kessex Hills is lost to the nightmare.
Story
- Thanks to the heroes of Tyria, Marjory Delaqua’s research has yielded a viable antitoxin that has allowed teams from the Seraph, the Durmand Priory, the Vigil, and the Order of Whispers to infiltrate the Tower of Nightmares in Kessex Hills.
- Air purifiers have been placed at key locations to counteract the toxic clouds around the base of the tower, allowing access to the interior. To destroy the heart of the nightmarish structure, brave squads have attempted to carry newly designed antitoxin injectors to the top of the tower, but they haven’t been heard from since. It’s now up to the heroes of Tyria to defeat the Toxic Alliance and destroy their tower.
- Players will receive in-game mail from Lady Kasmeer Meade informing them that the Tower of Nightmares is now open. Use the Show Me functionality in the mail to find the location of the Tower of Nightmares.
- Once inside the Tower of Nightmares, players will need to make their way up the tower, scaling three floors of horrifying dangers to reach the heart of the tower—a massive, noxious bloom pulsing with malevolent power. At the apex of the tower, players can enter the chamber protecting the tower’s heart and begin a story instance that can be completed solo or with a group of up to five players.
- Upon defeating the challenges of the story instance, players can finish what the scouting team could not: inject Marjory’s antitoxin directly into the heart of the tower!
- The story instance also has a repeatable mode so players can confront the challenges as many times as they like for additional rewards and accolades. Upon each completion, players will be able to inject another dose of antitoxin, weakening the tower that much more.
The Tower of Nightmares
- The interior of the Tower of Nightmares has been revealed, and it is as deadly as its name suggests. The Tower of Nightmares is an open-world map designed to challenge even the hardiest of groups. Fighting side by side, players will need to rely on each other to survive.
- Players will participate in a number of new open-world events throughout the structure and encounter the deadly hallucinations and lethal champions of the Toxic Alliance.
- Within the Tower of Nightmares, a mysterious chest was found at the top of the tower. The chest’s lock is an intricate mechanism that seems to require a three-pronged key. The pieces of the key for this Tri-key Chest can be found on creatures within the Tower of Nightmares, or they can be acquired through trade with Marjory’s Helper Dee back at the Thunder Ridge Camp in Kessex Hills. Players will also receive one complete set of keys in the initial mail from Kasmeer. Combine the keys to create a Tricolor Key.
- The Tower of Nightmares content will be available until the tower’s heart is destroyed. Watch the progress as more antitoxin is injected!
Nightmare Chambers
- Throughout the Tower of Nightmares, players will find smaller blossoms that resemble the tower’s heart. Within these chambers, players will experience their deepest fears and encounter twisted visions of their past.
- The Nightmare Chamber instances are designed for either solo or group play and are comprised of a number of random elements. Each time a player enters a chamber, there is a chance to see something, or someone, different. But is any of it real?
Open World
- The Toxic Alliance isn’t giving up on its plans for domination simply because their tower has been breached. Toxic Offshoots and Toxic Alliance events will continue to run throughout this release, giving players a chance to finish many of the achievements they may have missed in the last release.
- The Antitoxin Injected indicator is a representation of the amount of antitoxin that has been pumped into the heart of the tower by the heroes of Tyria and will update periodically.
Rewards
- Finishing the meta-achievement for The Nightmares Within rewards players with a Gas Mask Skin. This headgear skin has three dye channels and can be applied to head armor of any weight class. It’s just the thing for infiltrating a hostile and toxic environment like the Tower of Nightmares.
- Players will be awarded with a Mini Toxic Nimross miniature for completing the Tower Hybrid Master achievement.
- Tricolor Keys can be used to open the Tri-key Chest at the top of the third level of the Tower of Nightmares. Besides its guaranteed rewards, there’s a chance for players to receive unique items:
- Air-Filtration Device Skin—a headgear skin for all weight classes
- Toxic Spore Skin back-slot item
- New, exclusive miniature
Achievements
- The Nightmares Within meta-achievement will task players with combating their way through the interior of the Tower of Nightmares, conquering their fears in the Nightmare Chamber instances, defeating the Toxic Hybrid, and injecting antitoxin into the heart of the tower.
- Completing special Nightmares Within daily achievements during this release will contribute to the meta-achievement. These are earned by participating in specific Nightmares Within content each day.
NEW FEATURES AND CONTENT
Structured Player vs. Player
- Added a new Custom Arena option: Force Respawn. When enabled, players will automatically respawn at the end of their respawn timers, and defeated players will no longer be resurrectable.
- Solo Arena players will now be shuffled before joining a match to promote a more even and challenging game.
- The compass and map will now display enemy markers for enemies who are in combat and within line of sight of one of your teammates.
- Trick-or-Treat Bags have been reverted back to reward chests, and candy corn has been removed from Solo Arena and Team Arena. Until December 10, PvP will offer double reward chests for Solo Arena and Team Arena wins.
BALANCE, BUG-FIXING, POLISH
General
- Introduced further server-side optimizations, with significant improvements during heavy combat scenarios.
Structured Player vs. Player
- Fixed the Solo Arena UI to always have a Leave button instead of a Disband button.
- The PvP panel now remembers the last opened tab.
- The trebuchet in Battle of Kyhlo no longer awards personal scores for hitting minions.
- The PvP medal on the Character Select screen now directly represents the player’s rank.
- The Custom Arena configuration UI now disables the Play button when it’s expired.
BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions
- All permanent gathering tools will now be account bound rather than soulbound. For one week, account-bound versions of the Jack-in-the-Box Scythe and Bone Pick gathering tools will be available in the Services category of the Gem Store for 1000 gems each.
- Previously purchased permanent gathering tools can be upgraded to account-bound versions by unequipping them and bringing them to a Black Lion Weapons Specialist.
- Marjory’s Axe, Marjory’s Dagger, and Kasmeer’s Staff are now available as skins in the Style category of the Gem Store for 600 gems each.
- A pair of spirit wings rises from the player’s defeated foe. The new Permanent Sanctified Finisher is available in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 600 gems.
Improvements
- PvP Locker slots have been added for the Toxic hand and shoulder armors received from the Toxic Gloves Skin and the Toxic Mantle Skin, both available in the Style category of the Gem Store.
- Soulbound permanent gathering tools can be exchanged at a Black Lion Weapons Specialist for account-bound versions. Players must unequip the tool before exchanging it.
- All future permanent gathering tools from the Gem Store will be account bound and will cost slightly more than the soulbound versions.
Please keep matchup discussion in the existing matchup thread.
GvG topics will remain in the in-game events subforum, as they are not a part of the WvW gametype.
This note was inadvertently left out of the original notes
- Adjusted coin and bloodstone dust drop chances in champion bags.
BUGFIXES
- Fixed a bug that prevented some mouse-button key-bindings that use modifier keys from working properly.
- Fixed a bug that caused the Nightmare Within UI to appear when players were in the Mad King’s Labyrinth.
- Kessex Hills: Fixed a bug that prevented the difficulty of the Champion Toxic Hypnoss from scaling properly when fighting large groups of players.