Guild Wars 2

I’m hoping they work these in eventually. Dust Trap would be my favorite, especially if it had a smoke field. Alpha Strike is cool, and I do love the Balthazar dogs and Thieves Guild. I’d even like a “Scent Mark” skill that could function like the Thief Trap that…summons one Thief. It could summon a random wild animal to attack whoever tripped it for a few seconds.

Tracking is alright, I liked all those skills in WoW.

Lately, I’ve taken to taking Greatsword off of the chain, too. I like controlling when that Evade is going to come.

But considering Ranger’s Sword is most comparable to Thief’s Sword thanks to the cripple (and the Dagger’s reliable poison and endurance regen), I think it’d just be best if ANet would explain the design choices behind weapon skills.

I don’t believe Ranger’s Sword is exclusive with chain issues, as I see similar choices with Guardian Hammer and other moves. Those don’t root you, but they do seem to benefit from manual control over the auto-chain – Ranger has the leaping animation problem if you’re hugging your target, and Guardian’s have a pretty long cast time that requires some set up.

I admit I was jealous my Thief’s shortbow had ricocheting arrows, as a Green Arrow and Hawkeye fan. I wish our shortbow had some more jazzy powers.

I don’t have as much problem with longbow’s flavor, especially once I’ve learned how to use it in tandem with my GS (and especially after the patch’s tweaks). One thing I’d love to see on either bow is a move that I loved from LOTRO’s ranger: you could pointblank stab a foe, then retrieve the arrow and headshot them. Not sure what I’d trade for that, though.

I personally feel shortbow feels boring compared to longbow. Longbow I’m finding good uses for as a swappable weapon, and every action feels like it serves a purpose and synergizes with my GS or S/T. Shortbow just feels a little more unimaginative between the similar Thief evade, the poison volley, and crippling shot. They’re useful, but when it comes down to it I just feel like longbow requires less auto-pilot. Even the positional requirement doesn’t excite me.

Let Dodge take priority over the animations. That’s all I’d like. I think the chain is cool as is.

I’d like to hear ANet’s philosophy on the pet AI. I cut it slack in Beta, but four months in and I’m wondering if pets are really where they want them to be.

It feels shorter on both bows, but it might be SoH messing up my pacing.

I use them as such with Sword/GS.

I think they’re doing something to it… I keep getting the “Content is Disabled” message when I use mine.

I love Greatsword, but I have a hard time not using Sword/Torch/Horn after I figured out how to use it.

I know that it can be argued turning off Auto-Attack on the Sword chain is not a fix, but just in case it’s been overlooked (I know I used to):

The Kick and Pounce have a decent 400+ range to them, and the animation isn’t just a quick kick, it’s a flying kick and then a pounce. It helps you control the fight more than just spamming the chain. At this point, I have to imagine that’s ANet’s design for it.

Yes. I wanted to be a Ranger since Beta, but ended up a Thief at launch for various reasons. Signet of the Hunt’s boost is one of the best changes to my Ranger and have really impacted my performance. And I mention the Thief because I felt so sluggish when I’d jump between characters; now it’s a party.

nerva.7940:

after a few hours of testing, i can say that SoH, improved pet melee and increased SB projectile speed have fixed most of the ranger’s woes. these changes alone were huge. people need to understand that with increased projectile speed, the SB can now reliably stack bleeds because it misses less. less missing = more bleeds and more instant damage = more dps.

If we can get faster F2 skill reactions, I’d be set.

Well said. Hopefully they’re still tightening pets up, however that works.

Might be my honeymoon phase with Signet of the Hunt, but I’m loving all the changes so far. They’re subtle and not earth-shattering, but they can be game changing as far as your playstyle goes.

On my Thief I loved SoS not only for it’s mobility but it’s blind, and now that SoH has an equal speed boost, I feel more confident packing it for it’s pet damage increase. I’m noticing my pets are hitting a lot better than they used to, especially while kiting or chasing fleeing enemies.

Sic ’Em is alright, but I still think the CD is way too long for what we get.

Nature’s Protection is great. I think Moment of Clarity is in a better spot.

We’re getting there, across all classes. I hope to see more of this.

I’m hoping it’s like the way it works on Thieves. You still have the speed bonus in combat, but you do still slow down to a “combat speed”. I’m sure it’s already like that with Hunt’s 10% boost, but the 10% is hardly noticeable as is.

Great explanation and examples. I’m going to give Sword a go (I rarely use it just because I like GS thematically) with your outlook.

The root makes sense to me because it’s a kick, but it feels clunky,

And in a twist, in was Lich King that sort of burned me on undead.

I am fairly sure I’ve used Feedback and Wall of Reflection to reflect incoming fire, if the explosion of numbers on my screen was any indication.

I like the activation with the quick cooldown. I support buffing it to the Signet of Shadows 25%. I feel Thieves and Rangers should be pretty mobile and speedy, and in comparison to the Thief (mine is 80 and my main), while I see the condition and swiftness tradeoffs, the 10% with swiftness still doesn’t compete with 25% and teleports any way you spec.

I know with Thieves there’s a debate on if SoS is active in combat (still slowed, but faster than without), I’m not sure where SoH fell on that mechanic, but assuming the in-combat boost is a thing, it’d make dropping traps intro groups more fun.

I finally started my Ranger after the adjustment announcement. I played one all Beta and ended up a Thief, mainly because of the pet pathing and pets not attacking mobile targets at the time of BWE3.

I figured I’d start now just so I can compare and contrast the changes. I’ve lurked here, and it’s good to see that the changes should address some of the common complaints I’ve seen. Hang in there, guys.

I see what you’re saying, but the standard reply (this came up in Beta on GW2Guru) is that no profession is designed to be strictly melee or ranged. An argument could also be made about it’s 900 range being the trade off.

I’m in the camp that knows how valuable the SB is, but am also trying to break from considering it mandatory. I’m not sure that requires tweaks to that weapon as opposed to looking at others, or even just learning how everything works together.

The only change I’d take on a Shortbow is slightly faster travel time on Cluster Bomb. Sometimes it arcs sooooo long.

Then again, I look at the Shortbow as a shotgun (just like the Engineer’s rifle) in comparison to the Ranger and Warrior ranged options. Get in, pump what you need out, get out.

I’m curious what the high skill cap on the SB is. I don’t disagree it has one, I just like to learn tricks I may not be savvy to.

Guardian 101 question. I did try a search, but my Search-Fu was too vague.

SoR loses a condition. Purity loses a condition. Does that mean that by using both you lose 2 every 10 seconds?

I’m a SoS swapper. I use it get where I need to be, and depending on the situation I’ll tag it out. I’m like that with all my utilities and Traits, though – different situations need different tools.

That said, the SoS blind is really nice. It’s a ranged AoE, which a lot of people seem to forget.

ZLE.8293:

TeoH this sounds like an exploit or something?I mean you are supposed to take damage…I mean blocking,reflecting,redirecting,soaking trough high base HP and/or Toughness is normal,but (god forbid) avoiding trough Stealth? Cheezz

This is not a joke: In WvW the other night a player was complaining about Thieves and how OP they are because they are too survivable. The usual debate occurred until it became quite clear: this player (a fairly decked out Warrior) thought only Thieves could Dodge.

I am not making this up.

I’ve heard of this from other classes and races. So just to help get to the bottom of it, as a Human Female all my lines are precisely what they should be. I do love when she shouts Retreat or Save Yourselves. So inspiring!

When my Thief hit 80, Malchor’s Leap was the first Orr zone I 100%ed. I ended up with two Masterworks that were the exact upgrades I needed (being a fresh 80 still in 77 blues), and 40 Orichalum.

It was the best reward chest ever.

When you Transmute the hood, it will still say Soulbound. It is actually not.

akamon.2769:

scepter and staff is not NECESSARY in WvW. but it helps in the situations where it calles for it. for e.g. when defending a keep, you can dmg your invaders while on top of the wall or behind the gate using either or. though i’ve seen many choose to pop out of the gate, cause a little chaos and then roll back in. depends on how much risk you wanna take.

i personally run with hammer and scepter/focus or shield as my second set. i continually switch around sets too. the hammer is my only constant. sometimes i’ll run with staff as my back up, or scepter + or even GS. depends on the situation, depnds on your objective (taking a supply camp vs defending, etc), depends on how many people are in your group, or how many invaders are you going to be up against

Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who plans like that.

Ew, you squat down and groan?

My female human does this cool floating pose while ashes explode. It’s partly why I modeled her after Supergirl.

Ah, that’s a trip down memory lane. Especially since I was a Warlock when this came out.

Thank you for the suggestions, I’ll give them all a try!

I take hits with spear, but I run with Malice and Haste in the water. With careful 3 timing (it cleaves, doesn’t it?) I tear through mobs. Five is also useful since I can just spam it and even with no Initiative traits I’m topped up.

I have never been hit while using the evade, though.

Boloth.6879:

When Guild Wars 2 came out I wanted to play a thief in PvP.

- I wanted to turn enemies to stone with basilisk venom then use a smoke bomb to stealth my warrior friend so he can shatter them with a hammer sneak attack for an instant kill.

I do think you’re onto something with this. Not the venom combo, but the hammer sneak attack. That would be kind of cool if Thief Blinds could lay out special attacks for our allies who also stand in the Powder.

I enjoy my Thief.

Sometimes I do let some criticisms of the class get to me. The “low skill ceiling”, the “cheap gimmicks”, the “the class is OP, you’re not good” talk. Then I realize I see it on pretty much every other class forum in any MMO I’ve ever played that had PvP, and I press on.

I tried an Elementalist before my Thief hit 80. It seemed like it was a little more involved, and I enjoy it a lot. There’s a bit of a learning curve to them, but the class is awesome in all aspects I’ve played. I’ll definitely be working to a Legendary on my Elementalist.

I actually started on a Mesmer before the Thief, but I’d like the Shatter issue to be ironed out (and surprise, surprise, I get called skillless and OP on the mesmer, too). I’m currently focusing on my Guardian and an Engineer. The Engineer is entertaining and reminds me the most of the Thief’s active style, and the Guardian is very bland – I don’t get excited about Traits or utilities the way I do with the Thief or Engineer.

I want to get all that out there so that you know I’ve been where you are, and I still feel my Thief is my number one.

It sounds like your main woe isn’t with class comparison, but WvW. It’s true that you aren’t as impactful as the mesmer’s utility or the guardian or elementalist’s aoe tools, or even the banners of a warrior.

With PvP I like to use Sword/Dagger for the mobility and dazelocking in skirmishes, but I do find myself using the shortbow a lot. The on-demand finisher is great, and it’s great at pounding damage into a zerg.

You ask how to make it fun, so this how what I do for “fun” in WvW:

Smokescreen – it’s not a reflect, but it’s still great for blocking ranged assaults. I’ve held down Lord room defenses with this tool, and it can be traited for a snappy cooldown. It’s just useful all around if you play with it. The blind is a bonus – use it for the cheap wall.

Scorpion Wire – When I’m not on a siege weapon, I love to dart in and yank down the overzealous defenders from their wall. Your fellow attackers will enjoy this, and if you kill them before they get back inside, you can wage a war of attrition. Also, use it to be a jerk in the jumping puzzle. Hey, usually THEY started it!

Shadow Refuge – I drop it on/in front of a group of ranged during back line fights or anything like that. Whee, utility.

Dancing Dagger – Try it in a group during skirmishes. You’ll enjoy it.

Dagger Storm – Always cried about, and always handy to clean up unorganized zergs.

Traps – Traps do take work, and in the grand scheme of WvW combat sometimes don’t feel like much. But like smokescreen or the Guardian’s Wall of Reflection/Line of Warding, I like knowing that my stupid little tripwire or spike trap screwed up the zerg JUST ENOUGH to buy time when my friends come in. I usually enjoy this on the bridges during battles over supply camps.

For me, the Thief has always been fun because of Initiative and the varied traits and utilities. Yes, I do play with a Backstab build sometimes (I mix up my builds nightly), but I never thought that was the big trick to the profession. Damage is nice, and kills are frustrating, but since it’s a team game, I do love using all the little thief gimmicks (caltrops, traps, creative shadowstepping) to help the opposition fall to my teammates.

Let’s go play some tabletop or forum RP, then. I’m down.

Hi all!

I swore I’d stick to Thief and Engineer to break from my usual heavy armor/warrior types I gravitate to in fantasy games, but I couldn’t stay away. I’m really loving the Guardian (I had a Warrior all through Beta so I know enough of both that Guardian clicks with me more).

However, I recently stepped into WvW to break some of the questing monotony and I felt like I couldn’t do anything. Coming from my Thief (and having played a Warrior and Ranger and Ele), I know that not all classes are suited to the siege, but in defending a keep or assaulting a keep I felt like I was missing something. Especially defense; most of my spells wouldn’t target anything and aside from the reflect utility, I didn’t feel I was offering much.

I am packing a Staff as I hear that’s the WvW tool of choice, and I rock the Scepter/Focus in cases where Melee isn’t an option.

Any tips and tricks?

My guardian is based on Supergirl. Last of a noble Ascalonian house and all that.

I live in Toronto. I use Rogers high speed.

Server is Jade Quarry.

I’ve never had a problem with any lag, even at launch Overflow, until this past Monday onwards. The only change I can attribute is that the client went down for the patch late Sunday night – not saying that’s the cause, just the only thing different.

Since Monday I have terrible lag spikes while playing in the afternoon and late nights. It began with the usual “Hit a key, no reply”, although I could run around. It was so bad tonight that upon logging in (which is fast and fine), I couldn’t delete an item from my Inventory. It didn’t respond, although I could walk around and swing my weapon.

Suddenly the item vanished from my inventory (had the window open) and three players appeared on my screen. Then they vanished, and my auto-attack icon was flashing, but nothing happened. Then everything “unplugged” for a moment before the characters appeared on my screen again and vanished. I did log into an event (the Centaur camp attack in Queensdale), which makes me wonder if it’s the botting/packet thing mentioned above.

I can play games online through Steam with no issues, as well as upload and download large files, stream HD video, generally browse as normal; I’m inclined to think the hiccup is on Guild Wars 2’s end.

Icelandica.6320:

Are you talking about PvE or sPvP? I would think there is less swapping in PvE (Dungeons might be a different issue).

Both, whatever players’ experiences are. I find myself swapping as a Thief farming in Orr – there’s a lot of mobs running into you, so while I may prefer to farm with Dagger, I need to break out the Sword every now and again. I mainly swap in non-dungeon PvE just to get a handle on a situation or play around.

Staff wouldn’t help, no, but given the current situation wouldn’t you want to re-assess your weapon sets? Is staff the best compliment for a Greatsword, or do you run it purely because it’s defensive?

If it’s because it’s purely defensive, and you see how much time is spent on CD with Greatsword, maybe it’s not a good combo for the moment. I’m not saying that’s so, because I don’t know how it’s all working out or what ANet’s plan is. As it is now, though, it seems like Staff is handicapping yourself if you’re truly wanting an effective break from auto attack.

Thank you all so much for the insights and discussion!

I like the squeak on my Guardian; it works well with “Retreat!”.

My guardian is Kara Danvers. She’s pretty much an homage to Supergirl – last daughter of an Ascalonian noble line whose parents disappeared. With the Conqueror’s shoulders and ring mail, it looks like she’s got the red cape over her shoulders; the wings are golden as an artful attempt at the House of El logo, in Guild Wars terms.

Zeph.5927:

Except that now, GS play is even more dull and boring than it was before. Now it’s literally nothing but auto-attacks and WW. That’ s it. You only throw in SoW now when it’s appropriate and you only use LoF as a gap closer (because it’s a loss of DPS to use in the middle of a fight unless you REALLY need the blind for some reason). So yeah…you may have gotten use to the change, congrats….you can autoattack like a king now. rolls eyes

Do you not Weapon Swap?

Ever since Beta I’ve seen some players who have this hardline idea that if you’re a Dagger/Dagger Thief or a Greatsword Warrior or a Staff Mesmer that that’s your focus. I see it now with the discussion on Guardian Greatsword, Backstab builds, etc.

What I’m wondering is how many people actually look at their builds as more than focusing on a weapon set. Sure, I have a primary weapon set I prefer, but I actively swap in the middle of combat because sometimes the situations work for it. They don’t demand it, sure, but it opens up options. It can change an encounter.

As an example, I know the Shortbow for Thieves is upheld as a mandatory mobility tool, but I prefer to run with Sword/Pistol with my Dagger/Dagger. I’ll see comments that D/D doesn’t offer the utility of a Pistol…well, it does, if you use the Pistol in your second set. And I get my mobility and Dazes from the Sword. Or I’ll mix up other MH/OH combos. Recently on my Guardian I’m learning to love the Torch and Scepter with my Greatsword – Even with the GS changes I know have extra things to drop (Smite, the fire breath, setting myself on fire) in between the GS cooldowns, as opposed to just waiting on the attack chain.

Does anyone else operate like this, or do you prefer to just focus on one weapon set and only swap between pulls or situations?

jesterchaos.5907:

Even before official launch the Guardian was nerfed now its been nerfed again.

You’re destined to be disappointed with that outlook. It was Beta, nothing was finalized. Many classes took a hit. And even at launch, an MMO is a fluid system. I’ve played classes in other MMOs that changed radically throughout their lifetime. The game is barely out two months, Guild Wars lasted seven years and still going. Let’s give it some room to develop.

I changed to a Ret blood elf all through BC, and this resonates with me. I remember all the gimmick talk and disdain they took. I remember people moaned and tried to start drama whenever I’d be asked by friends to fill a spot in their raid runs as they were used to terrible Ret paladins.

I did the research and did what I could to make it work – and I ended up being much wanted and also showing them what a properly geared and played Ret could do (though to be fair, I was still gaming Seal of Casino – but hey, that’s the card they dealt us).

I went Prot eventually because my guild wanted a tank and AOE tanking was finally accepted. Anyway, the reason I state this is because I decided to really focus on the Guardian because of the patch. I can’t think of a better time to learn a class than when it’s going through it’s balancing and tuning – the game is so young. My main is a Thief and I treat that the same way. There will be those who throw a fit on the forums, and those who just play and learn how to work the new system that was dealt out. Be constructive, and who knows? I remember some of the biggest “nerfs” or changes ended up being game changers for making my class and playstyle even better.

I can see the “business” strategy in it, if you put it that way.

Still, I’m curious how the Basilisk change is really a problem in either event – In PvE mobs don’t break it, so the “downside” to the new half-second is nothing. In PvP I suppose the strategy would be to watch them burn their break on something else and then catching them with the venom. Or is that not how things work in high level play?

I’m not knocking ANet or the players with criticisms, I’m genuinely curious since ANet doesn’t seem to like explaining why they made changes. Really, of all the complaints I’ve heard in the game for PvE or PvP, I’d just like to see them explain “This is why” or “Here’s how we do this dungeon” just so we know where they’re coming from when the forum says a dungeon is too hard or Orr is too frustrating or PvP isn’t flowing right.

Again, not saying either side is mistaken, it’s just in my line of work an example and explanation goes a long way to satisfying customers with their own ideas.