Guild Wars 2

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Hmm, that seems like a bug. It was intended that you could interrupt the howl that caused the rocks to fall. I’ll send that over to our QA and get it verified.

Can you please work with the design team on adding some kind of debuff or visual cue for when mobs are easily interrupted? Players have a very poor understanding of the Unshakable/Defiant system in the first place, and unexplained exceptions to the rules only make this problem worse.

I recently wrote a lengthy blog post about how Defiant works that was frontpaged on /r/guildwars2 over the weekend without my personal involvement. Clearly, the community is hungry for more information on how to effectively crowd control bosses.
http://maleficincantations.com/2013/02/21/defying-explanation/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/195cxl/defying_explanation_how_defiant_and_unshakeable/

I’m confused that Shadow Behemoth chest would have a daily limit but Claw of Jormag wouldn’t. I’ve definitely opened two Claw of Jormag chests in the space of 20 minutes thanks to guesting.

Dahkeus.8243:

Here’s an idea:
Make the area a gauntlet and give everyone a weapon that they can pick up which allows them to block. This could be something similar to the weapon that knocks back rockets in Caudecus’ Manor Explorable (don’t remember the path number).

Ooh, this idea is awesome!

I used to hate this fractal, but now that I’ve learned all the places to jump over the walls I’ve completely changed my tune. This is now my favorite fractal by far—a challenging non-combat encounter that can be completed very quickly by a skilled group. Mossman is a jerk, though.

Sorry I keep replying to myself. I’ve been monitoring my COF path 1 runs more closely and I’ve pinpointed that my camera will always bug out after the cutscene right before the Legendary Searing Effigy end boss. As described previously, I won’t be able to zoom in as far as normal, and the only way to fix it is to restart my client.

Bobby: Do you run COF path 1? If so, do you notice the bug immediately after the cutscene I described? If not, can you pinpoint any particular content you run regularly that causes it?

The spawns are bugged in such a way that you can end up fighting two spawns at once, and yes it’s very very difficult. A few workarounds are discussed in this thread: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/AC-Ghost-Eater-ridiculous-spawns/first#post1323271

I like killing them because the Irukandji can drop Powerful Venom Sacs and the Jades can drop Onyx, especially if I still have an Omnomberry bar up from a previous fractal.

I’ve only skipped these mobs once, when it was 20 minutes before the daily reset and we wanted to make sure we finished quickly!

I think it’s good that it’s difficult. It helps set expectations for what you can expect from future dungeons.

I think Personal Reward Level itself should be removed from the game. You should be rewarded based on beating the content, not based on how many times you’ve played it previously.

Saulius.8430:

Mr eX.3420:

You definitely can’t dodge-roll from one platform to another—you will fall straight down. If you think it’s possible, post a video to prove it. Equating “find the right places to stand” with working around red circles not appearing is just ridiculous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWJNLIvfU-U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeOO8aBexAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIHZtVZTaEk

sorry for terrible quality both video and audio, my first attempt after all. but it proves that you can dodge between some platforms.

EDIT: turns out you can choose video quality on youtube. on 1920×1200 looks fine :}

EDIT2: can someone please pm me some nub-friendly video editing tool names, so that i can avoid uploading crap on youtube in future.

Well how ‘bout that. Thanks for showing! To be fair though, I don’t think the average player will ever become aware this is possible, let alone be able to do it.

Rainzar.6905:

wonder if they are workin on when scavs dive at you, you dodge it and they proceed to munch on the ground where as if you walk into them as they continue to do this animation for 8-10 seconds you either get knocked down and/or start taking damage as if they had pounced on you.

these things are ‘new player killers’ alot of new players i take into dungeons just get devoured by these guys, yes i know l2dodge but srsly, no mob before 30 teaches them this as quickly as this guy does.

Yeah, l2dodge is one thing, but that animation really doesn’t adequately warn the player that they will be repeatedly knocked down. It’s a buggy attack with poor visual cues.

Me too. “Run bug!” has become a very common phrase shouted on my guild’s vent in frustration.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/AC-Graveling-Scavenger-leap-attack-bug/first#post431725

I reported on this a long time ago but it got buried—based on the screenshot the leap attack extends in a cone of about range 600 out from the Scavenger’s original position. In the screenshot in my link the scavenger was immobilized, but the attack hit and defeated me anyway.

Ever since the Jan 28th patch the “Claw of Jorlag” event has performed very poorly on Jade Quarry. Everyone in my guild and in /map chat complains of traditional lag symptoms – skills not activating when expected, effects like conditions and transformations are lasting longer than they’re supposed to, not going down when at zero health, etc. I imagine this has to do with JQ being a popular server and having many people guest to join their friends and do the event. The event has been pretty much unplayable, succeeding only because so many people are overpowering it.

Saulius.8430:

1. false. yes you can. some adjacent platforms are big enough to dodge roll from one to another. a.k.a. find right places to stand
2. false. if standing on edge of a platform you will see red circle on the next platform. so you can see it if you want. a.k.a. find right places to stand

You definitely can’t dodge-roll from one platform to another—you will fall straight down. If you think it’s possible, post a video to prove it. Equating “find the right places to stand” with working around red circles not appearing is just ridiculous.

Yeah those things help as a necro, but like the other types of skills I mentioned, Spectral Walk will end up on cooldown for 48-60 seconds at a time and your life force will be completely drained after the first fall. You either need to wait for SW to recharge or just bash your head against the harpies and hope to avoid falling.

The issue isn’t that it’s hard to get past them—see the part where I said “I have no problem completing this fractal”? The issue is that it’s tedious due to mechanics and certain class comps.

This is the first dungeon I mastered all 3 paths of. Yeah it’s tough, but I think that’s okay. It’s possible to do with only level 45 gear and traits if you know it well—just because it’s a level 45 dungeon doesn’t mean you’re entitled to an easy dungeon as soon as you ding 45.

mosspit.8936:

OP should compare the old Magg Bomb Room with the new one

Agreed. The old version of the encounter where the infinte spawn was all silver veterans was pretty absurd. I like the current version a lot.

I have no problem completing this fractal (the mid and end-bosses are some of my favorites because the mechanics are unique and interesting) but I wanted to mention how annoying the harpies’ knockback attack at level 10+ is. I think it’s a case of “false difficulty”—I don’t think it makes the fractal more challenging, just tedious, requiring patience instead of skill.

Here’s a list of the individual frustrations:
1. You cannot dodge-roll to avoid the attack because you will fall off the platform, period. The game mechanic all players are supposed to use to avoid attacks is not viable on those tiny platforms.

2. The AoE red circle is bigger than most of the platforms, making it very difficult or outright impossible to see depending on where you are standing.

3. Not all professions can give themselves or the party sufficient evasion, stability, aegis, or reflection/absorption to negate all the attacks. For instance, necros can do none of those things except for self-stability which is tied to a grandmaster trait or elite transformations—try doing a jumping puzzle in Lich Form sometime (hint: you don’t have feet.) Furthermore, the attack is so frequent that eventually even a guardian will have all skills on cooldown.

4. The reduced movement speed you have in combat makes jumping to the next/previous platform to avoid the attack more difficult. This is exacerbated by the fact the harpies have a cripple attack and seem to like hitting you with it while you’re in mid-air. I love jumping puzzles (completed Mad King’s Clocktower 8 times) and I still find this tricky—I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be to jump puzzle haters.

5. The punishment for falling is simply a time-penalty (Bandage out of downed state, run back,) which I believe Robert has said he does not like and is not something he intentionally designs for.

From a mechanics perspective, the jumping sections do not work well within the existing combat system because of #1 and #2. From a balance perspective, it’s not fair that specific boons and defensive skills are pretty much required to get through these sections in a reasonable amount of time.

I think the encounters could be fixed by any one of the following:

• Remove the knockback attack entirely. (Don’t see this happening though)
• Redesign the terrain of the jumping sections so the platforms are big enough to allow dodging and for the red circles to be more visible.
• Reduce the knockback attack’s AoE radius so it’s fully visible on the existing small platforms.
• (hat tip to Dahkeus) Add an Environmental Weapon that allows the harpy attacks to be blocked or reflected, similar to the Air Rifles that reflect missiles in Caudecus’s Manor path 3.

John Smith.4610:

Tallis.5607:

Lenneth.1372:

I really think they need to adjust lodestone drops.

Then the prices of lodestones would drop

In a virtually economy like this one, that isn’t necessarily true. Because of the ease of entry, it’s not uncommon to see an item become more common, more players receive the item naturally and enter the market, creating more demand and increasing prices instead of decreasing prices.

I had the same observation as Vol about Powerful Blood. Very interesting.

Out of curiosity, if you did want to lower the market price of an item in the game, how would you do it?

ColinJohanson.2394:

[snip]

… we’re trying to offset some of that random chance by implementing systems like our new laurel system (and other additions down the road) to help give players more opportunities to earn specific rewards as well over time. This gives the capacity for those exciting “jackpot” moments of getting a big reward, while also helping provide a more clear long term timeline when you can earn the same reward for those who don’t hit the moment-to-moment jackpot since for those who are extremely unlucky, it can be very frustrating.

Can the loot tables be made a bit better across the board? For instance, from it’s pretty disheartening to open a dungeon chest, Claw of Jormag chest, etc. and get no weapons or armor above Fine (blue) rarity, especially if people in your party get rares or exotics. Could items from chests at least be guaranteed to be Masterwork (green) or above?

I’ve seen this on Jade Quarry several times. Bamm seems to like getting stuck if he is defeated by the second group of Ice Elementals the event spawns. After being revived he will not move.

My friends can’t reproduce the issue so it must not be intentional/widespread. I’m away from my client right now but I encountered this during/after the fight with the Legendary Searing Effigy in Citadel of Flame Path 1. This encounter regularly produces a couple of movement/control bugs for me and my regular groupmates.

Here is a sequence of what happened to me last night:
1. Began fight with the Effigy.

2. Encountered a bug where it’s not possible to switch weapons without entering a transformation or unequipping/re-equipping weapons.

• When this is happening, the weapon swap icon appears as if it is being held down but does not respond to its keybind or mouse clicks.
• This is a common complaint during this fight, usually affecting at least one person per run.

3. I Entered Lich Form.

• Note: Lich Form forces your camera to zoom out.
• When I exited Lich Form, I was able to switch weapons again.

4. Encountered a bug where my character was completely unable to move or turn.

• WASD, dodge commands, etc. are totally unresponsive when this happens.
• The only way to get out of this bug is to be crowd controlled, use a waypoint, or otherwise exit the map (log out/character select/etc.)

5. Defeated the Effigy and completed the dungeon path.

Since I hit a couple of different bugs within a single 5-minute encounter, I think it’s likely my client got into a bad state where my camera zoom thresholds did not go back to normal after exiting Lich Form. What’s particularly odd (and why I didn’t originally make the connection to the Effigy fight) was that the restricted minimum zoom distance persisted even after I switched characters several times.

Sorry for my vague initial post, I hope this is more helpful.

Fractals and Dungeons have been separate in the monthly rotation in the past (I think one month we had both at once,) so this is nothing new. Considering that Fractal Frequenter has been in the rotation 3 months in a row, I think it’s fair that they don’t count this month.

I used to be able to zoom my camera right up to my character’s face/bust; but now at maximum zoom I can still see my character’s feet! I hope this is not intentional.

Show me a pug that shuns professions based on their armor class alone and I’ll show you a terrible group.

Rising Dusk.2408:

Does this death damage your armor?

I can confirm it doesn’t.

LinseyMurdock.4165:

Cloud.7613:

Revert changes for the dreamer too maybe? Thanks <3

Those, however, were intentional.

Maybe create a Mystic Forge recipe that lets you turn your Dreamer into a “Vintage Dreamer” with the old animations? I don’t have a legendary of my own (yet!) but I definitely have sympathy for anyone who made a legendary before the patch and prefers the old animations.

You can no longer grind your head against the ceiling to hide from the Raving Asura’s agony attack in the Uncategorized Fractal. The lightning orbs now travel in a straight line instead of in an arc.

Now that it’s business hours on the west coast, it looks like we have an answer. Thanks very much for sharing your workarounds!

skullmount.1758:

Not sure if this is related, but we kind had something similar on the Frozen/cold fractal (fractals level 10, also happened to be the first of the three fractals) last night. The frostbite or whatever it was stayed (stayed on the same level though, was frostbit lvl9 for me) on me and a couple of the others after we killed the elemental thing. It went away once we became defeated (downed didn’t stop it). If this is intended, you can ignore this.

You can still light a fire and stand near it to remove Frostbite after the elemental is dead.

Shiren.9532:

I don’t think he said anything about resing Detha. Honestly, I’ve seen this happen a couple times and it had nothing to do with Detha dieing, in fact she was alive when it happened. If she runs to the third trap before the second one is cleared, she spawns more mobs. She can run to the third trap as soon as the second one is finished, even if the party is still fighting (and eventually wiping).

When I read the patch notes I thought this was fixed, apparently not.

This makes a lot of sense. I have often noticed that dungeon NPC allies do not get any aggro unless the party is in combat, but I’m not entirely sure how that works. It’s possible that when we wiped and broke combat she was still alive and finished the second trap successfully. Then she would have walked off and started the third trap, spawning the third wave of enemies which killed her because she was the only target available.

DancingPenguins.9875:

You ressed Detha triggering another pack of ghost to spawn. That is why you ALWAYS kill everything before bringing her up if you wipe.

We did not revive Detha—all 5 of us went down simultaneously.

Sequence of events:
1. Party wipe during the building of second trap
2. Party revives at Foefire’s Heart and runs back.
3. Detha is dead at the third trap as described above.

Tonight I ran this path and ran into a situation where we wiped in the “protect detha and her traps” event, and ran back to a group of 8-10 ghosts camping Detha’s corpse. It looked like Detha somehow ran to the third trap (we wiped while she was building the second trap) and triggered the third wave of ghosts which includes Monks. The group was a perfect storm of Monks, Rangers, Necros, Eles, and Warriors. We gave up on it after 2-3 more wipes—this was a surprising outcome because we are all very familiar with that path.

I don’t know if it’s related to the patch, but the patch does “adjust” the spawn rates of this event. On the other hand, my friends say they have run into this situation before, though perhaps not to this extent.

Can we please get more details about what was changed? Are large groups like the one we gave up on the intended experience?

That’s good that they aren’t supposed to. If I ever run this story step again and see them despawn, I’ll try and reproduce + report it.

I’d like to be able to share PvE builds more easily. Several good build calculators come up on google, but they all seem to be sPvP focused (can only choose PvP amulets to determine your gear stats.) What’s worse, some of the calculators don’t have up-to-date traits or trait descriptions. PvE folks, what’s your favorite build calculator?

Jeff, one thing I’d like to point out: If all your NPC’s get wiped out by the champion, many of them can despawn before you can run back and start reviving them. This makes the rest of the step very difficult, usually requiring a restart. I’m all for leaving the champ in there as-is, but your dead allies shouldn’t despawn.

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

How annoying would it be if the player who created the guild switched servers and took the guild’s upgrades (incl. the bank) and influence with them?

Actually, it would be nice if there was some way to do this. My guild would have considered moving to a lower-pop server (we are on JQ, always high or full) but since there is no way to move guild upgrades between servers, we chose to stay put.

RedStar.4218:

Mr eX.3420:

Is the Greater Nightmare Vine encounter in TA being reworked with the res rush change in mind? All the red circles make it impossible to revive someone after they’ve defeated.

You noticed all those blossoms ? Kill them when you are down.

I’m well aware of this. That doesn’t help your allies revive you when you defeat, which is what my question is about.

haviz.1340:

Mr eX.3420:

Is the Greater Nightmare Vine encounter in TA being reworked with the res rush change in mind? All the red circles make it impossible to revive someone after they’ve defeated.

Maybe the point is to not die at all? This boss isn’t even legendary.

I don’t have a problem beating this encounter, but people die and they have to run back. It doesn’t seem very fair or fun.

As much as I love being told I suck (which happens every time I post here,) I would also appreciate being taken seriously.

Is the Greater Nightmare Vine encounter in TA being reworked with the res rush change in mind? All the red circles make it impossible to revive someone after they’ve defeated.

On Jade Quarry, the shield was not bugged the very first time it came up during the very first run of the event after today’s maintenance patch/server reset. It was bugged the other two times it came up. Hope that helps.

This is a good eaxmple of a legacy problem created by the post-launch introduction of Ascended items. Items like the Triforge Pendant, Volcanus, Infinite Light, etc. are extremely expensive to craft, but will (inevitably) not have max stats as Ascendeds are rolled out. Due to their expense, I feel like some of these items would have been Ascended if the Ascended rarity was in the game at launch. I hope it’ll be possible to Mystic Forge these items to upgrade their stats.

I can confirm this has been fixed on the actual website now as well. Many thanks to Mark and the web team for a quick turnaround!

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/january-2013/

When I mouse over the wallpaper thumbnail, I see a pop-up appear over it where I would expect to pick a resolution, only no download links appear! Would love this to be fixed so I can download the wallpaper.

Tested this in Chrome (win7, release channel, latest version) and IE9.

Xaaz.8472:

[snip]

Looks like I made a mistake by arguing with you because you didn’t read my post. I said I was for random color assignment.

Xaaz.8472:

I’m on your server and you completely contradict yourself. You are against rotating colors, however, the ONLY reason you finished was because your team switched colors? /boggle

As I said, it’s just like the Orr temples. Some I got lucky, some I had to work for. It’s not contradictory.

Death Reincarnated.3570:

Mr eX.3420:

The real solution here is to make team color assignment random, so that each week you have a chance of getting to the mapping points near the team spawns without relying on your team dominating the map.

No! Not random -> ROTATION!

I agree that this should not be part of the map completion process (unless rotation is added).

Have to disagree. It took me a month to do my WvW mapping, popping in on a near-daily basis to snag PoI’s and Vistas I was missing. I was able to snag some of the keeps and towers that were right outside of hostile spawn points without switching servers. My last couple were earned at the start of a matchup when my team switched colors.

WvW mapping is not terribly different from the Legendary Priests camping the temples in Orr, making it impossible to commune the skill points without help. Maybe you’ll get lucky and the temples will be uncontested at the right moment, but if not, you should participate and earn your keep. That’s why I think random color assignment is the best solution.

How would this rotation work anyway? There are matchup changes every week, so it’s not clear to me how they would rotate the colors in a way that’s fair to everyone.

Great news Colin. Thanks!

I’d be very interested to hear your views on the kill credit issue I mentioned in the OP and how it factors into making the open world as strong, fun, and rewarding as possible.