Guild Wars 2

I was exceedingly skeptical, as I prefer our current system to several others I’ve experienced elsewhere. Nonetheless, you have convinced me; these changes sound very nice.

This seems like a combination of Warrior, Elementalist, Necromancer, and Guardian. Which seems awesome to me, if done correctly.

Hmm. I don’t like PvE grinding either. Personally, I would like some of the coming WvW overflow maps (layered option) to have gear similar to how PvP gear functions. In this way I could play+test builds/alts conveniently, in a WvW setting.

I think it’s rather likely. More a question of when. Perhaps a 50% chance within the next year.

FenrirSlakt.3692:

Am I the only one who thinks it’s extremely easy to decently gear up new characters?

Apparently.

Ascended Weapons do take a while, but if you craft your daily Mithrillium/Glob, you’ll have most of the mats down by the time you need to craft something.
When it comes to trinkets, two can be gotten from any 10+ FotM, and while the rest can take a while, the stat difference between Ascended and Exotic is so ephemeral, that it doesn’t affect you that much to have Exotic trinkets in the meantime.
Besides, a little treadmill doesn’t hurt anybody. If you had everything from the beginning, it would be most boring.

No, a little treadmill doesn’t hurt you. It does hurt people who want fully geared alts.
Ultimately, it’s a different perception about what matters in a game. For you, it’s about time-gated/grind-gated prestige. For me, it’s about playing content.
Let’s do a little math, shall we? Assuming 1 month per ascended weapon (extraordinarily quick, but let’s be generous.):

Warrior: 12
Guardian: 9
Ranger: 9
Mesmer: 8
Necromancer:7
Thief: 6
Elementalist: 5
Engineer: 4
17 types of weapons; (12+9+9+8+7+6+5+4)x17=1020 months=85 years.
I would need to play for 85 years before I had freedom of weapon and class choice. That is weapons alone. This is not alt friendly, and it’s ridiculous for anyone to pretend otherwise.

The good ol’ Burnfall. He’s still at it.

Go for it. if it’s a 1v1, the person on your side will back off, and you know to stop. If it isn’t, the person will continue, and you can continue on your merry murdering way.

I’d be interested in a viable PvP shatter build, if such a thing exists.

Qaelyn.7612:

Okay, I thought staff was for condition builds and sword/focus for direct damage, so now I’m oh-so-confused.

Staff is a generally awesome weapon. It can be used in DD builds for the shatter (clone production from PR) and condition builds. Its excellent mobility is good for all types of gameplay as well.

Nobody is trolling anyone. The amount of gold you make can vary hugely, depending on your magic find.
With 30% MF, I used to make 3g/hour.
With 200% MF (buffs/bonuses), I make 10g/hour.
With 250% MF (buffs/bonuses), I have guildmates who make 15g/hour.
It is entirely possible to make 100g a day. Incredibly tedious, but possible.

edit: these numbers are pre-nerf. I haven’t farmed since.

Levels do matter. Just not as much as in most games.

Bifur Bofur Bombur(?) Nori Ori Dori Noin Oin Gloin
hmm
Fili Kili
and Thorin Oakenshield.

The runes of the centaur do work with the mantra heal in the heal slot, but not the mantra heal that comes from recharging a mantra with traits. There is also an internal cooldown (10s) on those runes.
In terms of building & choosing gear, it is best to pick either condition damage or direct damage. Hybrid builds are typically subpar, as the skills/traits benefit one or the other and not both.
Hmm. Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but it is one of my favourite builds. Despite being old, it is a mesmer classic. It requires active play, with survivability coming from mobility and your damage coming from incredible burst. IIRC, it is 0/20/20/0/30, and is called the Shattercat Mist. It uses Staff + Sw/F

Anyway, some tips on the Sword/Focus weaponset.
The iWarden is fantastic, but in WvW (and some PvE) you need to combo for his attacks to hit.
One of my favourite combos is:
4 (curtain) -> 5 (warden)/>4 (curtain pull) -> 3(iLeap clone) -> 3 (iLeap immobilize)-> 2 (Blurred Frenzy).
The only difficult part is timing the curtain pull halfway through the warden summon. The pull is instant and won’t break the cast, but will knockdown your target, leaving them vulnerable to about 1/2 the warden’s attacks. The iLeap follow-up keeps your target there, finishing the warden cycle (about 5s) and allows you to add a blurred frenzy, and then, if you’re a shatter build, a shatter. If done properly in an average build, this is an unavoidable 10k damage, provided your foe doesn’t block, invuln, teleport, etc.

edit: This is how I typically open when I am going in for a burst/kill. However, in WvW especially, it is best to begin the fight with staff auto, 3 (Warlock), 2 (Phase Retreat), auto; etc., kiting all the while to get a feel for the opponent.

This looks excellent.

What’s this? Challenging content? God forbid!

balrog.1307:

Woah, 150g in 10 hours of farming? O_o
Count me in

With a healthy amount of MF. As in, omnoms(30) + birthday booster(100) + Luck(100) + Banner(10), et cetera. But yes, 15g per hour is typical at those levels. Happy farming.

balrog.1307:

Hello all,

My main has reached lvl 80, so now as i understand it i should focus on gearing it up. What are the available options(like farming, dungeon crawling, what locations should i focus on, etc). Any advice would be really helpful, because i’m not yet ready to start leveling alts.

You shall not gear!

Sorry, had to log in just to say that, Balrog, demon of the ancient world. This grind is beyond any of you.
Carry on.

*oh, about gear. Frostgorge champ farming is an excellent way to get the money for gear (10 hours will net you 50-150g, depending on your MF). WvW works too, as you can buy it for a reduced price w/ badges at the vendors there. There are also karma vendors in Orr (temple armor) which trade for exotics; however, as karma is rarer these days, this is option is less advisable.

Hmm?

Both ideas are excellent.

Vanthian.9267:

RaynStargaze.6510:

one of the best (duration+cd) and most reliable stability utilities in the game (balanced stance)

You truly have no clue as to other classes do you?

Who cares if the Warrior can get stability every 40 seconds for 8 seconds when a Guardian can give 5 people stability every 30 seconds for 5 seconds. Most of the other classes can get stability (only Thief and Mesmer have no direct access to it). Meanwhile, Rangers can get 20 seconds of stability on elite skill use.

8/40= 1/5th of time.
5/30=1/6th of time.
1/5>1/6

Thief- Dagger-storm.
Mesmer- Mantra of Concentration- AoE.

Vanthian.9267:

RaynStargaze.6510:

and also Berserker stance is one of the best – trololol they have 3 condi classes lets hard counter their setup – utility choices you can pick right before match

Even though Engineers have it on a trait that activities and stays active at 25% health (Automated Response). It is also, 8 seconds duration on a 60 second cool down. The way everyone here is presenting it is if the Warrior can spam this every 10 seconds for 9 seconds. If you can’t kite the Warrior for 8 seconds… again that is your problem.

If you think this is op why not complain about the Mesmers and their true invulnerable every 42 seconds for 4 seconds? They are also immune to conditions and direct damage while using that.

8/60=1/7.5s.
4/42=1/10.5 – if traited, with full illusions

None of these, frankly. Mesmer is my recommendation.
However, from your options, thief, then warrior, then engi. You need stealth when duoing with a thief, as otherwise you’re focus-fired immediately.

I do not bother fighting PU mesmers. They cannot die unless they mess up. Terribly. Many times.
That said, they’re weak in teamfights and cannot hold points. Nice for hotjoin though.

Gizuko.5734:

But them interrupts… You’ll need godly LoS skills or stealth/stab to pull that out vs a good player.

If only protected mantras made them 1sec cast or granted you stab… 400 toughness doesn’t protect kitten, tbh

If you’re using mantras, I recommend bringing the mantra for stability as well.

Hello there. This is quite awesome.
Here’s a mantra build. It’s purely WvW and hasn’t been tested. If you don’t like it, don’t bother to test it. I would, however, appreciate any thoughts.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAW7fl4zKqnRzgGb9IhpHB33A/UBoT6Rpf9qB-jECB4iCy0CwkIAECQZSFRjtsuIasKZER1qbYSBAx0I-w

incandescence.6784:

incognito.4019:

Entropy.4732:

Ignore these peons, Incandescence! I love this idea. Although It would forever be out of my grasp as even a legendary seems daunting. A few more ideas:

1. The super legendary would allow you to behead players in WvW and carry their heads around, dangling off the hilt of the weapon.

2. The super legendary would drain karma from defeated foes in WvW.

3. The super legendary would drop precursors for allies when you are downed.

4. The super legendary would gradually become sentient and start posting on the forums and speaking for you in guild chat.

5. The super legendary would cause all ambient animals on the map to start following you in awe.

And we shall call him…..Mythical.

Exactly, that’s what I am talking about. This new class of weapons should be called Mythical class, maybe the color scheme (something to stand atop the royal purple of “legendary”) can be gold with rainbow and bright flashy stuff, only the true elites would ever got to see that in their bag or (H) panel. Good idea, thank you. Mythical class of weapons, that is what we need!

You overdid it this time. Oh well, people will still respond, probably.

Names are personal things. No idea if you’ll like my suggestions, but here you go.
Dokki
Typical Asuran naming pattern. “Doctor”: Elementalist role, as well as your forum name.

Meddi.
Fixxo

Hmm. Perhaps it might be helpful if you said what type of name you want. Serious? Silly? Clever?

GrandmaFunk.3052:

What are you talking about exactly?

They changed the rune.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

So everyone knows its a nightmare for us, How do you protect yourself from them? I find it a bit annoying to say the least that we can only get access to removing them from traits or a Poor 45 second cool down skill that can be dodged and that only transfers 3 conditions or a terrible AoE which you can easily be knocked/feared out of with a 40 second cool down. This in a Meta where you can easily have 5+ instantly applied.

The moment i come up against a condition build i simply know that i will either be forced to run or die. Unless i actually TRAIT for them it seems very weak and no matter how you are looking at it you are making yourself weaker either by having to take certain traits or taking certain utilities.

Now i know that we cant be masters of everything, but what exactly do we get in return for this big target above us saying “lol kill me with conditions”

Meh. It’s possible to have nice condition removal. With mantra of resolve, you can instantly have 6 condi-removal every 22 seconds, with just one utility (and the appropriate traits).

Hmm. Questions. But first, a few notes:
The key difficulty for mantra builds is the charging time. During that time, you are exceedingly vulnerable. In my opinion, there are two main ways to compensate for this:
1) Kiting. The ability to CC the opponent, and the ability to move quickly in combat. You don’t have much of either. You have a)Phase Retreat and b)Mantra of Distraction. While nice, it won’t be sufficient for most classes.
2) Stealth. Recharge your mantras while invisible. For such a build, PU is inevitable.
Now, back to your build. A few questions:
1) Why the torch? Your build isn’t condition based; nor do you have PU. In contrast, the focus would give you a)swiftness and cc [ability to kite, and allow you to safely recharge mantras].
2) 30 in dueling is questionable to me. It doesn’t seem to match other potential benefits of other lines. I see 16% damage and DE for your shatters- yet for this you sacrifice a great deal of survivability.
In short, your numbers look nice. I’m just worried about the play mechanics of such a build. That said, I’d love for you to create a video and prove me wrong.

Here’s a mantra build I’ve tried, with WvW roaming specifically in mind:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAW7fl4zKqnRzgGb9IhpHB33A/UBoT6Rpf9qB-jECB4iCy0CwkIAECQZSFRjtsuIasKZER1qbYSBAx0I-w

Here, I chose stealth to support mantra casting time.

3 condi-removal every 11.5s from heal. 2 condi-removal every 24s from torch. Net:~20 condi/60s. If facing a condi-class, can switch out the signet for power cleanse; 6condi/22s; for a new total of ~38condi/60s. Which is quite nice, I must say.
Stun→ confusion+might stacks. 4 stuns/45s. Bountiful Interruption, in combination with PU, leads to nice boon generation.
1950 toughness, 1625 vitality, 2211 condi damage (w/ 5 might from BI + stacks), 70% condi duration.

+

No thanks.

Hello. I can’t sleep; thought I’d make a mantra build for kicks. Let me know what you think.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAW7fl4zKqnRzgGb9IhpHB33A/UBoT6Rpf9qB-jECB4iCy0CwkIAECQZSFRjtsuIasKZER1qbYSBAx0I-w

Conceptual basis: stealth is chosen to support the main weakness of mantras; i.e. casting time.

notes:
3 condi-removal every 11.5s from heal. 2 condi-removal every 24s from torch. Net:~20 condi/60s.
Stun-> confusion+might stacks. 4 stuns/45s. Bountiful Interruption, in combination with PU, leads to nice boon generation.
1950 toughness, 1625 vitality, 2211 condi damage (w/ 5 might from BI + stacks), 70% condi duration.

You can buy the adept training manual for ~6s on trading post for a portable respec. The convenience is well worth the price, imo.

It isn’t relatively terrible. To be honest, I’d rather have all downstates be weak than the alternative.

Arthur.1963:

- Are queues long for quick random sPvP matches?

There are two types of PvP: Hotjoin and queue. Hotjoin is instant, yet of lower quality. Queues can take between 2-5minutes.

- Are there a lot of people who still PvP?

Yes.

- Are there guilds who solely PvP in North America?

Not many that I know of, but I think there are a few. There are quite a few WvW guilds, however.

- Hypothetically, If I never PvE (outside of getting some weapons), can I participate in WvW and get my gear/stats bolstered to be on the same playing ground?

It will take some time; at least two weeks of about an hour a day in WvW to gear up to the max. Leveling to 80 will take 2-4. To get ascended, it takes about two weeks of daily PvE, which is about a 6-8% increase.
edit: in WvW, “up-levels” are at about a 30-40% stat disadvantage. Skill matters enough, however, for one to still be somewhat viable. I highly recommend grouping until you are level 80.

Is there anything else I should know?

There shouldn’t be any gear grind in the future for WvW. Ascended is promised to be the last tier.
And of course…
Welcome to GW2!

Direshadow.4319:

Nice. I wonder if they will ever just make it so that your clones take less damage from AoE.

Certain builds can do so (we have a trait + a signet for that, and we can also boost their toughness as they inherit our stats) yet I’ve never seen them as equally viable, because they have to sacrifice other things (more important things, imo).
Hmm.
I would recommend the following YouTube channels, just to give you a general idea of classes.
For gameplay:
-Osicat. A mesmer of the highest calibre, and a creator of many builds.
-Yishis. He currently plays Engineer, but also used to play thief.
-Intigo- He plays Elementalist.
For lore/living story/other:
-Dulfy
-Wooden Potatoes.

There’s also a Mesmer-only guild which is cross-server, and is specifically designed to teach people about the class (and create and test new builds, but that’s another part entirely). It’s called OMFG (Official Mesmer Forum Guild). Unfortunately I have not been personally active there recently, so I cannot speak to its current state, but last I heard it seemed alive.

But I’ve already written too much, I suppose. Let me know if you have any questions.

Direshadow.4319:

So I decided to take a break from WoW, even though i’m loving my monk.

Got Guild Wars 2 downloading in the background, and been watching videos of classes. Maybe it’s because I like the idea of chaotic, quick thinking pvp, much like the Monk in WoW, or maybe it was just because the class looked really cool, but I was drawn to it.

My question is, in PVP, how do Mesmer’s fair…

1)Are the viable in Small PVP (arena) and Big PVP (battleground settings)?

2)How are they in duels?

3)What is the general player opinion on them? (OP? Underpowered? Underated? Etc?)

Thanks a lot. Can’t wait to start playing.

Oh boy. You’re in for a treat. Anyway, Mesmers.
Mesmers are perhaps the best class for duels(2), as they have high single-target DPS. They have some group utility, and are still excellent for small group encounters(1) (3 or less). Above that, however, they are not as powerful (phantasms+clones [our core class mechanic] die to AoE).
I would recommend taking a look at the Osicat builds (stickied at the top of the Mesmer forums). The Condition Cat is currently one of the most popular.
Surprisingly, Mesmers are not considered (at least, from what I’ve heard recently) to be OP(3). We are currently in a “condition” and “stun” meta, and Mesmers are better renowned for their power/shatter capabilities (I’m sorry if this means nothing to you, there’s rather a lot of depth to go into to have a meaningful conversation). Suffice it to say, most people do not QQ about us. Rather, they QQ about 1. Stun-lock warriors 2. Thieves. 3. Necromancers.
Lastly, on behalf of GW2, may I welcome you to the game!

Ranger is easiest to play (in some builds). If you’re new, you might want to consider that. However, for excellent depth and complexity, pick Engi.

Engi or Ele.

Temporary content is good for several reasons:
1) People stop playing after a while. Simple enough. Typically, most players stop doing the new content after 2-4 weeks. After that, it becomes deserted, so the exceptions don’t want to do it anyway.
2) A sense of agency. If something is available only for a limited amount of time, I value it more. It’s basic psychology that is used in marketing all the time. That’s why there are “sales”, “limited time offers”, et cetera. As such, more people will do the content because of it.
3) Player density. There are two aspects to this: time density and spacial density.Time density: if you limit the amount of time people can do something, you’ll have more people available to do the content together. Spacial density: if you limit the area in which people can move, you’ll have higher population density. I.e. people will not be spread about over permanent, multiple events.
That said, there are certain types of content that should not be temporary. These are:
1) Personal content. The social aspects become irrelevant.
2) Core endgame. This is the center, where people continue to grow and mark progress. In GW2 terms, these would be PvE cosmetics, gear, PvP rank, WvW, Achievement Points… et cetera.

Just curious, which guild are you in? I play in GoM.

People have emigrated to “stacked” servers, of which JQ is one, for the WvW bonuses. Tough luck, mate.

It kitten isn’t!

http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/milton/pl_r.pdf

Agreed.

Which class do you play? I’d recommend severely different tactics based off that.

Meili Ying.3820:

Must…know…original comment X.x

I’m curious too. Anyone?

Pegy.7320:

So after won the first game of a Bo3, CC faked dc the next 2 games cause…wait what ?

Even they would lost the 2nd game (yeah cause in your 50 to 150 is lost) I still don’t understand the point to play volontary in 4V5 the third.

Can you explain to us this ?
CC doesn’t care about Bo3 ?
CC prefer to lose instead of…..euh losing cause they played the third game even in 4V5 ?
It’s a big plot of CC and the other team, they had a deal ?

I m sorry but I can’t find a good argument to do this :/ can you help us ?

As I understand it, from what I’ve heard and seen,

im so tired of this. Our s/d thief had 1s delay on the first and second map. super dced a few seconds after the first teamfight on foefire u can watch it again. After that we were hoping for super to come back in time. He told us he needs 10-20 min so we asked dave (r1 EU) to sub for us but he had to creat a new free trail acc and do the tutorial and we were unable to do all that in time so we decided to play 4v5. There was no rage quit or anything super dc’ed before they took our close. if u ever played against car crash u know that we can turn any game and we are not resigning even at 497:200
hate us as much as u want mlg was our last tn anyways have fun with your esports!
Lord Nag
GL SYNC!!!

they did indeed have a disconnect that they were unable to resolve in time. Yet I’ll let CC speak for themselves, if they want to.

Zoutsha.1093:

Issues.5789:

Requiem.8769:

Issues.5789:

Requiem.8769:

Issues.5789:

Requiem.8769:

Issues.5789:

Requiem.8769:

You don’t know what happened, so don’t pretend that you do. That said, we’ll see what happens in the future.

Nice paradox. You tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about but somehow you know you’re right. GG!

I never said I knew what happened, nor do I pretend to now. But, I am sure, neither do you.
The difference is that I made no condescending statements about their worthlessness.

Do you even English? “You don’t know what happened, so don’t pretend that you do”. That statement of yours is stating that you are sure I am wrong.. Do the math, or rather English..

I am stating universal ignorance except for those directly involved. It is quite a simple concept, which you have failed to grasp.

If someone says that you don’t know what happened you are 100% that I am wrong. It’s simple logic. Otherwise you would state that I am correct. Also don’t talks about ignorance when you don’t know the difference between know and now lol.

How, ah, interesting that you misunderstand the simplest of sentences. Not “know”, but “now”, “now” referring to that post, made at that moment.
On topic, you could talk about the the creation of the universe. You could state that Chuck Norris molded the universe from a giant pile of play-doh. But you weren’t there, and I know you weren’t there. Thus, I can make definitive statements about your ignorance.

Did you understand the difference between now and know? Also; how do you know I wasn’t there? There is a reason you cannot disprove the flying spaghetti monster doesn’t exist. There is something called relativity. You cannot have absolute truths based upon my experiences/perception, but you can keep trying!

1. ppl know that u werent there by watching the stream and not seeing ur name. stop this “im super smart and arguning like boss thing” it doesnt fit u

Don’t worry, we all know he has lost. His inability to admit it doesn’t change that.

Issues.5789:

Requiem.8769:

Issues.5789:

Requiem.8769:

Issues.5789:

Requiem.8769:

Issues.5789:

Requiem.8769:

You don’t know what happened, so don’t pretend that you do. That said, we’ll see what happens in the future.

Nice paradox. You tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about but somehow you know you’re right. GG!

I never said I knew what happened, nor do I pretend to now. But, I am sure, neither do you.
The difference is that I made no condescending statements about their worthlessness.

Do you even English? “You don’t know what happened, so don’t pretend that you do”. That statement of yours is stating that you are sure I am wrong.. Do the math, or rather English..

I am stating universal ignorance except for those directly involved. It is quite a simple concept, which you have failed to grasp.

If someone says that you don’t know what happened you are 100% that I am wrong. It’s simple logic. Otherwise you would state that I am correct. Also don’t talks about ignorance when you don’t know the difference between know and now lol.

How, ah, interesting that you misunderstand the simplest of sentences. Not “know”, but “now”, “now” referring to that post, made at that moment.
On topic, you could talk about the the creation of the universe. You could state that Chuck Norris molded the universe from a giant pile of play-doh. But you weren’t there, and I know you weren’t there. Thus, I can make definitive statements about your ignorance.

Did you understand the difference between now and know? Also; how do you know I wasn’t there? There is a reason you cannot disprove the flying spaghetti monster doesn’t exist. There is something called relativity. You cannot have absolute truths based upon my experiences/perception, but you can keep trying!

An argument is won when the other person calls upon the flying spaghetti monster as a witness.