Guild Wars 2

Jeffrey Vaughn”

Norn are kind of jerks. Yes, dredge are xenophobic and hostile to outsiders (at least the military ranks are openly hostile, dredge miners just want to work), but the norn delight in provoking other species (dredge, grawl, jotun, et al) and displaying their superiority.

You know I kind of did notice this. I noticed even more when most Reknown Hearts that require you to attack Dredge don’t go up when you kill the miners, only the Military.

At the risk of going a little off topic, I do however feel some clarification is in order on a minor point. We didn’t create a Lich. Vizier Kilhbron is suggested to have turned into an Undead Monstrosity along the same time he sank the city of Orr (however we never find out if the destruction of Orr was his intent or if he was genuinely trying to save the city from the Charr). This can in fact be seen in one of the early Kyrtan mission cinematic where the White Mantle have just discovered the Scepter of Orr and they reveal the Lich in all his ugliness.

What we did do was help the Lich unleash an army of shapechanging demons on the world that resulted in the near complete destruction of an entire race of sentient beings. So I think we should totally take some credit for the almost complete genocide of the Mursaat while simultaneously putting every major city on the Tyria Continent at risk.

To get back on the Shadow Behemoth target though, I’d say the theory about the problem at both Godslost Swamp and Lornars Pass are very likely due to our actions in the first game weakening the veil between the Mists and Tyria. Both areas have heavy Underworld presences and both being access points to the Underworld in the first game.

Hey, I’m currently backpacking out in Europe and had this exact same problem. If you’re running Windows 7, and you set your wifi connection to “Public” the OS actually prevents a full download from occurring. This is what was happening to me at least, and I found switching my connection to Business at a location I trusted (my hostel) allowed me to fully update my client.

Anathem.5760:

I’m just saying that there is nothing wrong about that the necro could wield greatsword

At the end of the day, it really comes down to our personal opinions on the matter, as well as Anets ultimate decision. I respect the fact that you think it could fit, I however think it really doesn’t have any thematic footing to be in a necros hands. I think we’ll both have to agree to disagree here. :P

The entire topic of ‘what weapons fit which classs’ is about as subjective as it gets I suppose. Not that it invalidates this entire discussion, I think I’m just cranky that this topic is getting another thread discussing it when the last one was made only 2 days ago and is on the front page still.

EDIT: Made the link word another so it read another another instead of another thread because I dun derped.

And Caladbolg has nothing even remotely Necromancer-esque about it. In fact, you could argue it’s more a Sylvari Race weapon than an sort of Class Weapon. So I’d hardly call it a valid argument for Necromancers getting Greatswords, because you may as well just say “Well Trehearne wields a Greatsword, so why can’t all Sylvari wield greatswords!” (Also please don’t say this… ;__;)

BrunoBRS.5178”

the story matches the charr’s vesion of the story.

Of course the storymode matches the Charr’s version. A Charr is the one who tells it.

I’d also like to point out that our only instants actually talking with Adelbern in the storymode of AC is with Rytlock being a jack kitten and antagonizing him. Of course Adelbern is pissed when we meet him, he think he just reunited with his long lost/dead son and it turns out to be some smack talking Charr. Further we have already seen the Foefire’s effect on the other ghosts of Ascalon’s mental state, who knows how much more damage it did to Adelberns less than stable mentality since then.

I still think that the most likely scenario is that both versions of the story have elements of truth to them.

DonQuack.9025:

iirc in AC dungeon the sword is seen in the ground. apparently unbroken* citation needed

Actually at the end of the Dungeon, Eir goes on to say that she knows a smith who can repair it with the intent of giving it to Logan Thackery. However we never hear about or see the sword there after. Although I agree, the sword appears relatively undamaged, as far as we’re told though it’s borked.

Oh… it’s THIS thread again. Still not having it.

People are getting way too hung up on these big blade things, and people on this board seem too adamantly refuse to accept the fact that we are not the sword wielding caster class. That is the domain of the Mesmer, and being a GW1 player, I thoroughly applaud Anet for taking that step with the class. This coming from a long time Necro player in GW1 as well. I like the themes on weapons that Anet has given to Necros. Do I like all the skills on them, nah, they’re not all my style of play but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the fluffy themes they got going (despite me being an apparent minority in this case). Is there room for new weapons? Definitely! I’m genuinely curious as to how Anet will move this class forward with expansions in weapon selection.

Also because sadly I got sucked into Bleach way back because it reminded me of Dragonball… only with Swords and stuff. Bankai is Bleach’s version of Super Saiyan. Only instead of bleaching their hair, their sword goes all awesome, usually giant poison spewing babies or bone cobras or on the rare occasion a cloud of cherry blossoms.

What Mafipulator is getting at is that this “need” for Greatswords seems to be more a need that everyone wants Twilight, Sunrise, or Eternity on their main, regardless of class because gosh darnit they’re cool looking enough that people don’t care if greatswords completely break the theme of the class that Anet is trying to create.

And on a separate point altogether…

Lukin.4051”

Interesting suggestion, but I would suggest stop your fantasies – necromancer is a forgotten class, with countless bugs, and adding your great sword would actually mean that more then conditionmancer is viable in pvp, and that is just not what devs planned for our profession.

Also these kinds of posts are getting more and more tiresome on this board. Especially after we had two very Dev heavy threads with back and forths from 3 different Devs. To continue spouting this rubbish is just a flagrant attempt to stir up yet more needless pessimism on these boards. What’s worse, I keep seeing the same offenders over and over again trying to shoot down every single new build that people try to get a theorycrafting discussion going with the same tired arguments. The worst part is these were the same people just last week saying “All we want is Communication from the Devs” who then turned around and said “NOPE! Don’t believe you” the minute they got the communication they craved. Please give it a rest until at LEAST the next patch, because I find my activity on the Necro forums to be a fraction of what it used to be. So for at least a week or something, can this comunity at least put the effort to be constructive and not “We suck, Devs hate us, blah blah blah”?[/tangent]

The inherent problem is not that I think Grenth cannot kill Dhuum, but I think it is more of a will not kill Dhuum.

The entire story of Dhuum, the Final Death, is just that. He is a merciless entity that kills. He does not just send you to the Underworld, you are dead. That is the end of your story. Their differences over ruling the Underworld are entirely philisophical. Without Grenth there’d be no Necromancy, no Resurrection, no Second Chances. However because he specifically allows these very things, I think it is why he refuses to kill Dhuum. S’way I look at it at the very least.

As for Menzies, I’m completely torn by the situation with Menzies. He’s obviously a complete foil to everything that Balthazar stands for. Balthazar believes in honorable battle, where Menzies plots from the Shadows. Fire is often a metaphor for light, and Menzies all that is insidious that lies in the Shadows. The only hint we’ve ever even been given on his location in the mists is somewhere in the impenetrable darkness of Ravenheart Gloom. Even then, I suspect that to even look for him would be a wild goose chase. If we ever do fight him, I expect a harrowing, nerve racking fight against something I can barely see. Though I’d dearly love to see how Anet envision him, I suspect that he’s a figure they’ve kept so tightly underwraps because it actually plays well with his character and what he stands for.

Anet has been very deliberate in how they’ve created the current story between Humans and Charr in that ever since they revealed that Charr would become a playable race they began to include their voice in the history of the world. Now the Humans and Charr have always been battling against one another, so two stories are always present when the discussion of Ascalon comes into play.

What you have in the book (haven’t read it myself unfortunately) are those two separate accounts of what caused the current situation. The Charr version of events is actually the most dominant one we encounter in the game, this is chiefly because our guide in the Story-Mode version of Ascalon Catacombs is Rytlock.

So it’s fairly important to remember that there are two very different sides to this coin. Similarly how the Charr have viewed Ascalon as their land and subsequently justified in their annahilation of an entire kingdom. However, people who were unfamiliar with GW1 lore often forget that the Charr not only destroyed an entire Kingdom but were well on their way to committing Genocide after the searing that devastated not only the Kingdom of Ascalon but reduced the landscape to a burnt wasteland. The Charr invasion spread past Ascalon and into Orr and Kryta, and were only stopped by the Cataclysm caused by Vizier Kilhbron and the Mursaat at the behest of Saul D’Alessio. A story they don’t really touch on much in GW2.

So, I think your interpretation is actually quite spot on. The story is divided because both sides have come to read their own interpretation of event but I think a combination of both stories is likely the most accurate one. We know for a fact that King Adelburn is an emotionally stable individual, and largely stubborn figure with deep racial hatreds. He did not even trust his neighbouring human Kingdom of Kryta after the events of the Guild Wars, and his hatred for the Charr was even worse. He refused to abandon flee his Kingdom to the Charr even after the Searing, and fought to the bitter end. However to think that he simply shattered the sword on his own seems to be very implausible. I suspect there was some magical effect when the Magdaer clashed with the Khan-Ur that caused the weapon to break. More interesting will be to find out the state of the Khan-Ur weapon to see if it is in a similar state, but I suspect we won’t get any word on that situation until later expansions that deal with the peace-treaty being forged between the Krytan Monarchy and the Iron Legions.

Humans I think are often portrayed, at least in this game, as the Wild Card race. It seems if we put effort towards it, we can become a force to be seriously reckoned with. This doesn’t just go for Magic Mind you, because it should be remembered that even Palawo Joko when he was on the brink of conquoring all of Elona for the first time was laid low by a mere mortal soldier named Turai Ossa. When pushed into Corners, humans seem capable of pulling off some of the most terrifying feats. This is seen with the Vizier Kilbron who upon seeing the Charr horde at the doors to Orr took it upon himself to read the forbidden scrolls to try and stop the assault.

So while I agree that human efforts seem to be on the surface underplayed, I think the fact that at the time of the story the Humans are fighting multiple wars on different fronts. From the Risen among other Dragonspawn (destroyers are afterall appearing in Human territory), to Centaurs, to having up until now also been holding back the Charr from taking Ebonhawke.

Also I’m not entirely sure if Magdaer and Sohothin are human crafted weapons. They are relics of the Ascalon Kingdom to be sure, but truth be to told they could have been found similarly to how Rytlock somehow managed to stumble upon Sohothin. I don’t think any lore has been released concerning the origins of those Fiery Dragon Swords.

Christmas and Newyear event is kind of merged into what became known as Wintersday.

In GW1 Wintersday is a human festival where the Gods Grenth and Dwayna battle it out like an epic Ground Hogs Day to see how long Winter Lasts. Grenth of course trying to prolong the length of Winter while Dwayna tries to make Spring come sooner. The whole event ending with a finale that awarded players with hats depending on the God of your server district.

There’s also technically a Canthan New Year celebration specific to Factions celebrated in time with the Chinese New Year. However without immediate access to Cantha, I wouldn’t expect to see this event until later Expansions take us to our southern cousins.

I think we’re all keeping four fingers crossed for a similarly epic Wintersday Festival for GW2. Halloween has definitely set the bar pretty high for Anet in my opinion. We may also get a ‘Mini’ festival for the American Thanksgiving, but not sure if that’ll be in the cards.

Have the Act 4 Finale’s started?

Having been a forum moderator on other sites, I will say right now that whenever people start toting to speak for the people I not only grow skeptical I just flat out brush them under the rug. Your voice is your own voice. Not mine, nor anybody else’s. As such, I just don’t like it when people start taking on the mantle as “fighting for the people” because frankly the number of people they fight for are usually far smaller than they’d like to believe.

HOWEVER! My innate skepticism aside, I would actually urge every single person who is not happy with the state of the Necromancer to mail their concern to the Anet offices. It is hands down the most constructive idea posted on this board. Not only that but again, I will iterate that posting call outs the devs is not allowed on the board. Probably because they are likely spending the majority of their time working on the game. Not reading forums. Companies usually frown on that. However their mailbox is there for a reason. You should all use it.

Actually the less likely it is. The more threads you make the more frequently mods will browse the forum sweeping it off. The rules of conduct even state:

Rules of Conduct”

Do not engage in staff call-outs. Using the words “ArenaNet” or any staff member’s name will not expedite the answer to your query.

So you are not doing anybody a favour, you’re just basically working your way towards a ban of some type by blatently ignoring the rules you agreed to when you initially signed into this forum. The very same terms of service agreement we all did.

Secondly as state, the mods on these forums are not devs. There is no correlation that they even communicate with the Devs when these issues arise. Their job is to maintain the codes of conducts listed on the rules page. That is it.

Finally I would very much appreciate it if you stopped using such grossly over generalized words such as “90% of the necros are fed up with it”. You do not speak for me, or for that matter the entire Necromancer community. I played the Necromancer for a full month before going off to Europe and would be playing it right now if my crappy little net book could handle it. Am I impressed with the bugs? Nope. Should the game have been released in its current state? Probably not, but I suspect that it was a Publishers decision more so than Anets.

Lastly, and I mean this to be as polite as possible, if you do not enjoy the class I would wholly endorse playing another one to see if you enjoy it. If you don’t, do what I’m doing and take a hiatus (albeit my hiatus is not exactly by choice), and come back in a few months. As has been mentioned, this game isn’t a subscription based game, I think we’re all obliged to go and do something while this class gets its bugs worked out.

And last but not least, can we PLEASE stop these Dev call out threads? They’re against the rules. That’s the gist of it. Make a support ticket if you don’t like it to see if they’ll change it. However continually making them isn’t going to do a thing. I didn’t even know you had made a 2.0 thread, and I highly doubt anybody in the Dev team knows either.

Agemnon.4608:

But what about the humans’ theology? I don’t know too much about the lore, but I’m pretty confident that no human has ever made direct contact with the gods and give them representations of different aspects of human life (love, war, luck, etc.) Eventually, Mystery Schools in real life theorized that all gods are different aspects of one, and Hinduism takes this position, as does Akhenaten’s version of ancient Egyptian religion, which was ahead of its time given that his stance was taken up by the Hellenistic Mystery Schools centuries later. Maybe the humans are going through the same evolution in Tyria behind the scenes?

It feels like you’re trying too hard to look at the religions of Tyria moving towards Monotheism.

You however are not wholly correct on the humans not actually meeting the Gods. The Gods had once dwelled in Orr, and it as 0AE (AE = After Exodus) that actually marked their physical departure from Tyria. The Statues you see depicting the Gods were created by Malchor, who is said to be the only human who who was able to look upon the Gods long enough to complete his project before allegedly he lost his sight.

The next time we ‘Witnessed’ a God would not be until we both fought and killed Abbadon before he broke his chains in the Domain of Anguish during the Nightfall Campaign of GW1, but also when we watch Kormir absorb his power and become a God in his place to prevent the unleashed power of a God from rending the Mists and probably Tyria asunder.

So there are 6 entities that live in the Mist that go by the names Balthazar, Dwayna, Melandru, Lyssa, Grenth, and Kormir. However what we do not understand is the nature of the power these entities, nor why they seem to favour different races at different times.

Is it possible for Monotheistic religions to grow in Tyria or for there to be any already in place? I would fully imagine so. Are there any at the moment? Not technically speaking, though the Quaggan worship of Melaggan could very well be seen as such. I would Argue that Koda is more a Buddha figure, who himself would not consider himself a God, but in fact a Teacher.

Except the Eternal Alchemy isn’t a deity. It’s a mix between Philosophic and Scientific Theory. The idea is that everything in Tyria is somehow not only linked but explainable. That even the Gods are not some intangible unknowable entity, but rather another cog that makes the Universe work. This theory encompases everything and everyone, and is slightly fatalistic in its approach.

So to answer you question I suppose, it’s not that the Eternal Alchemy and the Six are one in the same, but that the Asura wor to understand the Six’s place in the Eternal Alchemy as part of something greater.

Except Daggers are VERY much in flavour for the Darker Spell caster. Think of Blood is Power, do you think you just prick your finger to put 2 stacks of bleed on your character. The joke in GW1 was that Necros have so much health sacrifice that we cut our wrists more than your average emo kid. So yes, the Dagger is very much flavourfu, being a small weapon that allows quick and easy access to not only your own blood but that of your foes.

I think you’re restricting yourself when you try and limit the usage of melee as Necromancers. GW1 after all had ‘touching’ skills that required you to be in direct contact with an opponent to directly siphon off their health. Which is likely the inspiration for the Dagger being the main weapon effected by the Life Syphoning traits. So I’d argue that of all the spell casters, Necro is MUCH more dagger wielding worthy than say the Elementalist.

EDIT: I’d also like to add that, once more hailing back to GW1, of my favourite focus skins was in fact a bloody shiv of a dagger.

Upping Staff Damage to overpass the Daggers is not a solution. For one, the reason why Daggers have some of the highest damage output is because they’re our shortest ranged weapon. The balance in the game would have, even a double handed weapon like the staff, deal less damage to those weapons that are up close because otherwise you never use close combat weapons due to their increased risk for less damage. Higher risk, higher damage. This isn’t rocket science.

However, I will agree that the Staff either needs the spammable 1 re-worked to be faster, or just given a better homing because its speed is absolutely awful. For a Life Force generator, it can’t generate life force outside of PvE which severely limits its usefulness in PvP. However fiddling damage output is neither a good nor balance fix.

New weapons are also a silly request since they still have bugs to work out of the current weapons. The last thing they need is more bugs to fix.

Am I the only one expecting Thorn to be campaigning an rebellion against himself? That this unnamed “true heir to madness” is just Thorn having his court wail on each other for his personal amusement?

Enadeag.1265:

The human gods left Tyria (went silent?) in 0AE. During Guild Wars 1 (starting at 1070 AE) the gods were not present either. And yet we had the GvD battles. The gods would not work for other races either, only humans believe in them.

This is only half true. The Gods departed Tyria and returned to the Mists at 0AE. The Exodus was merely their physical presence on Tyria however they still had a large influence on the events of the game in GW1. We saw their Emissaries freqently and even helped them in their respective realms of the Mists (Fissure of Woe and the Underworld). The Silence implied by the Gods is that their Emmisaries no longer seem to answer our prayers and their realms appear shut off to our actions despite some of them seeping back into Tyria (Underworld beasts). However largely the Domains of Anguish, Fissure of Woe, and Underworld remain inaccessible, and it no word has been heard from the Gods for some time.

I agree with Strang, in that Halloween was carried on even without the Mad King’s influence for 250 years. The Holiday survived without the influence from the Mists and so I see much the same for Wintersday.

My prediction is that we’ll actually see maybe a strong influence by the Sons of Svanir on events, or just the minions of Jormag in general as opposed to Grenth. However at this point anything we say is purely speculation, but I can’t wait for December regardless of what happens!

It depends on what you’re fighting when using Necros. I usually go Wells and switch them around as I situations call for it. (Well of Darkness for Well of Corruption when fighting Dredge for Instance). You should also probably invest in Well of Suffering and go S/D with Staff Offhand and take the Greater Marks traits.

Scepter 2 and Dagger 5 along with just about all the Staff Skills save 1 will go a long way to helping you max out your AoE with wells offering nice combo areas. Before I went off to Europe I also started using Bone Minions, now and I know these things AI sucks and they do. But they are probably one of the more decent spamable damage utilities. The blast radius was often large enough to set off combo fields and their skill recharge was quick enough that I could usually get them back in short order though I’m sure everybody on here will call me silly for trying to use them due to their large tendency to well… stand still. I only got my Necro to lvl 60 though before started backpacking.

Hope that helps.

Archinos.8754:

no no no no no… A CHICKEN HEAD!!!!!

All of my yes. I would LOVE to have a Chicken Head focus. Especially if it ’BWOK’ed on skills.

Greatswords? No thanks. Not at all in theme to the Necromancer, and just because the Mesmer gets one is no reason to give it to the Necro because then you’d have to crowbar into the Elementalist as well.

The Axe on the other hand, the axe is a fit and I would love to see it expanded at some point into an off hand as well however I can wait until they fix bugs and traits before they get on to adding weapons to the game.

Now onto why the Axe is so much more thematic than the Greatsword. It’s my opinion that the Necro was implemented with the “Best Defense is a good Offense” mentality as seen by being a light armored mini-tank in game. All of our, at least in my opinion, best defensive options are actually rather offensive. We don’t remove debuffs, we send them back to the enemy and spread them or we just turn them into Buffs. We don’t block and deflect attacks, we blind and make opponents miss. The Axe similarly is a weapon with a long history of powered offensive in favour of defense. A wooden half with a crude blade for hewing logs turns into an instrument of dismemberment, well suited for hacking through bones and tearing through sinew. With no cross guard, your fingers are left open in favour of wide swings that effectively use the power of shoulders and back muscles to cleave through that sweet tender flesh in macabre displays.

Historically the Greatsword was never actually a weapon with a sharp blade. It was implemented most widely in a time when the most devastating troops wore thick plate mail with little in terms of means of pushing past all the armor. Instead they were rather similar to large metal clubs, used to break bones of light armored troops or to ring the metal helms of knights in hopes of knocking them unconscious. Oh yes, you could swing your way through some of the weaker points in armor, but the weight of greatswords rarely allowed for finesse in combat considering those using them were also being weighed down by all their armor.

Similarly, I do enjoy the feel of them on Mesmers. The Mesmer has a closer link to nobility and the duelist, those cunning rapier wielding swordsmen who duck in and out of combat inflicting stabs and cuts and outmaneuvering their opponent. The Greatsword is really just a staff for the Mesmer, however still fits into that theme of magic wielding swordsman in my opinion as they use it to channel their illusions.

What I would like to see as far as expansions to the Necromancers arsonal would definitely be the inclusion of an axe off hand or even a double handed axe or scythe. When I picture a double handed axe I just imagine those black hooded executioners of old dealing out death (Even if they missed a few times).

BUT, as I mentioned earlier they have enough work cut out for them with bugs and trait lines and those should be the first priority before any work is done to expand weapons on any of the professions. Just my 2 cents.

Still not fond of the Quaggan, even less fond of the Tengu. No idea why people are seemingl so interested in the birds.

To me, the birds are bland. They’re a typical stoic “warrior” race. The fact that they’ve pointed made clear that they really don’t care to talk to me makes me want to just avoid them for being so uptight.

Now the Skritt. The skritt are as diverse and arguably one of the most characterful ‘lesser’ races I’ve encountered. I think the key feature is I’m capable of empathizing with them. They’re very much an underdog, kicked to the curb time and time again but they not only come bounding back with this limitless enthusiasm but they keep at it despite all odds getting stacked against them. Yet despite Asuran, Charr, and even Human efforts to cull the rats, they continue to create settlements and they continue to flourish.

To a large degree, I also do enjoy both the Hylek and the Dredge, however the Dredge quickly turning into mirrors of their former xenophobic masters turns me off of them in similar ways that I find the Tengu to be utterly annoying.

So yeah. Skritt for next playable race!

I can actually see the all five races getting involved if only because LA is not strictly speaking a ‘human’ city. It’s got occupants from all five Races, and LA has historically been the center of Halloween and the Mad King’s antics. If the tradition of Halloween continued in Lion’s Arch I can definitely see all 5 races taking part.

The Charr have already demonstrated with Meatoberfest that they’re capable of throwing a party and the Norn I think set the for Party Hard. As mentioned above, the Asura will no doubt be trying to run tests on the Mad King even as the Sylvari just try to learn everything they can about it. It’ll actually be one of the few moments when they can see ‘Human legend’ unfold. Up until now the Jury’s been out on the Gods, but this could be a visual display of some of the Human Lore standing up to the test of time.

All around, I’m excited. It’s the Mad King, it’s a time to test your skill in Rock, Paper, Scissors and Simon Says!

I like to run a Wells build, so my personal leaning is towards Well of Blood. If you’re good with Bone Minions and a staff, you can actually set off quite a few blast combos within the well. Considering my PvE build has a ton of blind as well, it’s not hard for me to keep foes off my back during the wells time.

However as others have said, if you’re going into PvP Consume Condition really is the only option.

I’ve fond that Blood Minion is just all around a weak skill. It suffers the main crippling problem that the other Minions have and that is a low health pool. It simply dies too fast, resulting in 0 net gain in health. The paltry amount that it heals you for noming it doesn’t justify the ‘health gain’ that it’s siphoning does due to its incredibly short life span. And that’s assuming you nom it before it kicks the bucket.