Guild Wars 2

How’s this for scary?

Why the sudden calls to gut mesmer? Do you want to remove it’s one viable build from competitive play completely because Helseth posted a video?

Again… Signet of Humility has a huge tell, can be blocked and evaded, only hits targets in front of the mesmer, and a very long cool down.

A mesmer cannot move while using Blurred Frenzy, so just don’t stand in front of them.

You can block or dodge the phantasm proc of shield 4.

Shaogin.2679:

Ithilwen.1529:

I got cast into bronze with a series of losing streaks. The last one was 10 straight slaughtered games.

The matchmaking was so nice early in the season, but I think the population is too low and match quality is being sacrificed to queue time.

It’s a real shame it feels like S2 all over again. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Pretty sure you were misplaced at the start and have just been settling into the rating you belong in. Matchmaking has its issues in the way it divides teams, but overall the system is working pretty good and personally I’m not seeing a change in match quality from the start of the season.

My match quality has actually really improved the last few weeks which made it possible for me to get out of bronze.

I’m always elated when it’s me and several warriors and/or DHs because I know that the likelihood of a win is much higher ????

It does seem to last a bit long. I agree that it may have to do with condi on the lord.

I just wanted to put this out there to try and encourage other players who may be in a similar situation.

I’m not a great player, but I am certainly better now than when I started playing PvP, which was in the middle of Season 4. I went 4 and 6 in my placement matches this season and got placed in low bronze. Yesterday I made it to Silver with 70 wins and 51 losses (58% win ratio). 90% of my matches were played as a Chronomancer.

The matches have gotten more consistent as the season has progressed. Looking forward to Gold.

SMH. I main a mesmer. Are we even playing the same game?

It has one viable build.

“Only class that can carry”… because one of the best players in the world posted a video using a mesmer to carry one game where his opponents consistently attacked through confusion?!

How many times do you see teams of 3+ mesmers in ranked PvP right now?

It’s practically hard countered by DH and stalemates at best with engis and druids and eles (assuming the players have some skill). The only good match ups are vs. necro and rev.

If you can’t spot the real mesmer among their illusions you need to pay more attention. Clones already have very low hp and deal almost no damage. If it wasn’t for traiting superspeed they would never make it through AoE. Plus, you can dodge the shatters. You can also block or dodge the phantasm procs.

If you take away Moa from mesmers, which has practically been done in a series of nerfs, the latest of which makes it only hit opponents in front of the mesmer and gave it a hugely obvious tell during casting, you need to take it from Engineers too. Signet of Humility can be blocked or dodged and has a 180 second cool down.

Shield 4 was just nerfed last patched by increasing cool down.

Sword 2, aka Blurred Frenzy, is a good skill, but the mesmer CANNOT MOVE while it is in use. They can’t even turn around. It doesn’t make them invuln either.

This would be very beneficial.

Also, which top stats we got in each match.

We are getting close to half way through the PvP season. The devs had mentioned in earlier threads that some of the initial skill balances would be reassessed mid season. I was just wondering if there are any updates on that?

Original post for reference:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/pvp/Upcoming-Changes-to-Skills/first

- Salt and Light
- Student
- PVP
- Sanctum of Rall (NA, EST)

I think entry level for ranked should be raised, to what I’m not sure. Set it to high and the requirements for ranked play might turn away potential players.

A tutorial should be mandatory. Just basic things such as:

• press ‘B’ to see team compositions before a match
• how to reroll
• it only takes one person to cap a point
• suggest turning team chat on prior to matches

Aside from that, it’s the communities job to mentor and teach the new players who want to learn. If players invest in each other it will go a long way to making the environment less salty and toxic.

Hi folks, I main mesmer in SPvP but have recently started trying out ele and I really like it so far. I am not here to steal your secrets to fight against you.

Right now I am using the D/F tempest default build for support and sustain.

Are there any good guides out there or any tips you can provide to ensure I am filling the role and using the class to its potential?

I know I should try to stay in team fights and provide AoE swiftness out of the gate. Earth 5 is my invuln and air overload is highest damage.

When should I be using Rebound?

What attunement should I be entering battles with?

Don’t you still have to be pvp rank 20 before you can join the ranked season?

Zamfir.8462:

Can you explain the use of the portal in detail? I see it in a lot of builds but I’ve never actually seen anyone use it.

When do you put down entre? When do you complete the portal? With only a short time to keep entre open and a shorter time to use the complete portal, how do you make this effective?

Great question! Others with more experience please correct me if I am wrong… but this is what I do.

My initial role is to take home. After I cap it, I step off the circle a few paces and cast Portal Entre on my way to mid. I don’t drop it within the capture radius because there it is easier for the opponent to trap it or wait until I appear and spike. I always try to hide it slightly off the beaten path on the way to mid but still near home. If there is an object nearby like a pillar, rock, tree, etc. I try to drop the portal behind it on the side away from the capture point so I can’t be ranged when I portal back from my opponent who is on the point.

Then while at mid I assist my team and wait as long as I can to cast Portal Exeunt. Sometimes I don’t need to do. But if I see home contested I almost always cast it and portal back to defend home. Sometimes if you are lucky and your team has won mid then some of your teammates may even follow you, just leaving one to cap mid. If you defend home fast enough, you or your teammates can then even portal back to mid using the same ones.

That is an optimal scenario. The truth is you can’t make your teammates use your portals. I have seen countless teammates run right passed mine only to end up at the same place moments later.

Later in matches, if home is clear and we have won the mid fight, I will drop a portal mid and go far. And then depending on the situation I will either portal exeunt immediately to give my teammates at mid (who may have been capping it while I was moving) direct access to far or wait as long as I can to cast portal exeunt and rejoin the fight if I get outnumbered or am losing the fight at far.

If I do not have a portal entre at home and it becomes contested, I will leave what I am doing and drop a portal entre near mid en route to home. In this instance, I may try to hide it or I may put it in an obvious place for my teammates depending on the situation. Whether or not to portal exeunt when you get to home depends on the scenario. If you need help and your team won mid, then cast it upon arrival. If it’s a match up you are sure you can win in timely fashion, wait until you have recapped the point and then cast it and portal back to mid and help your team.

TIP: Try to avoid casting Portal Exeunt on top of downed enemies, as it makes it very difficult to stomp them.

I am sure there are many more uses than these, and I am anxious to see what others have to say on this topic.

Exciton.8942:

Your No.1 job is to roam with portal. Don’t be afraid to take any 1v1 except for DH. Try not to 2v2 with a support. Your solo damage is not enough to win the fight. Your biggest presence in teamfight comes from moa, chaos storm, well of eternity, F3 aoe daze, F4 aoe distort. Make the best use of these tools for your team in the teamfight.

Spot on.

F3 AoE daze is great for interrupting enemy stomps.

F4 AoE invuln is great for giving your teammates safe stomps.

Never stop moving.

It has a range of 6000, so that is going to be one big dome. I would rather see the color of the Portal Exeunt skill icon turn a dull gray or something when you are out of range.

You are pretty much safe portaling between home and mid or mid and far on most maps.

This is something you have to learn from experience on each map, almost like where you can Blink and Phase Retreat to.

PS – allowing opponents to use your portal is a horrible idea. Get your own mesmer.

Abelisk.4527:

As a proud bunker elementalist, I can run through the traps and heal my health points. I can follow that up by running back into the traps and wasting them, only to heal again. And again.

And again.

But can you do enough damage to kill the DH in the process? Because otherwise you are just wasting your time.

Now that RI scales with healing power, has anyone tried using Chaos with Master of Manipulation and Bountiful Disillusionment for a support build? Swap Moa out for Mass Invisibility and run magi amulet and a healing rune? I’m just curious…

I play condi chrono with staff/sword+shield. My role is to take home as fast as I can. Then drop a portal there and head to mid to plus my team.

DH seems to me to be a hard counter to condi chrono. You can use your clones to trigger traps from a distance and use distortion if you get pulled in, but their sustain and blocks (hard to Moa or proc phantasms from shield 4) make this is a very tough matchup, since most of your damage comes from your clones that the traps just destroyed.

Scrapper is at best a stalemate for me and the same goes for Druids/Rangers. I give them the edge. If there is an engi on point I call for backup and/or move on because it is a waste of time for me to 1v1 them. The immobilization and focused range fire from rangers is often more than my blocks and invuln can handle, but maybe that is an l2p issue for me as others have commented it should be a favorable matchup.

An exceptional thief is very dangerous, especially if they catch you while your blocks and invuln are on cooldown. Otherwise it is a pretty fair fight with edge to the mesmer.

I haven’t had much problem with eles yet.

Necro is my easiest matchup. I pressure with staff, wait for them to shroud and then Moa. Minion masters are a little harder but very doable.

I hear that mesmer hard counters Rev but honestly I have little experience 1v1ing revs. I just don’t see them that much.

DH and Warrior are the best “carrying” professions for lower tier ranked play.

Yes, conquest is a team fight, but you can’t group with more than one person and there is no voice chat. Most of the time people aren’t even listening to the team chat before a match starts, so there is typically very minimal coordination.

Therefore it is only logical that professions which require less team coordination and have a stronger affect on the outcome when acting solo are more represented.

Being pulled into stacks of traps, possibly set on fire and/or stunned all in the blink of an eye isn’t much fun for anyone, especially those new to PvP who aren’t expecting it. Saving your invulns and avoiding them are important lessons to learn early. You have to choose your battles and make the decision if it is worth your time and in your teams best interest to contest the point or go somewhere else. Making the right decision only comes with experience.

That said, I am always elated to have warriors and DHs on my team because I know that means we automatically have a higher chance of winning.

Since it is the beginning of a new season and there are a lot of new players joining the fight, I thought this might be worth a bump.

While I’m at it, I’d like to add a few points:

• Please monitor /team at least before the match starts. Most likely you are 5 strangers who have 60 seconds to form some semblance of a strategy, even if it is just for the opening. without voice communication.

You can turn off team chat during the match if you want, but at least try to communicate using the different pings available on the mini map.

It is a team game mode, and often the team that communicates the best will be the victors.

It should only count if you win.

As far as games played are concerned, I think it would be fair to say that the majority of players are more skilled in their last 100 matches than say their first 100?

NovaanVerdiano.6174:

To be fair, weekends are known to be kitten when it comes to matchmaking because everyone and their mother is playing. Also, no one expects you to carry every game, sometimes it is just uncarryable if you placed that low. However, the majority of games won’t be that, as you noticed yourself. So if you truly are above the players in your division, you will get out, even if that means you have to make changes to your build, play style or even swap to another class.

I think the key phrase here is swap to another build or class.

I know I am not a great player, but some classes just don’t carry as well as others. I main chrono (I can drop portals between home and mid but I can’t make my teammates use them) and enjoy it, but I am considering learning another class to get out of the lower tiers. I just don’t have the damage or sustain in a team fight to carry.

Thanks for the info! I understand that and agree that should certainly be a factor. However, a player is only 20% of a team and their rating is therefore 80% dependent on the ability of their teammates.

Enokitake.1742:

I’m having a similar experience. The problem with W/L “skill meter” is that even IF you repeatedly get top stats on your team, and even if you HIGHLY contribute on a match by match basis, you only get up-ranked if the other 3-4 RNG’d members of your team are also good at sPVP. Otherwise you just head toward the 50/50% long term W/L average faster while watching teammates run to a mid with 4 enemy players on it instead of taking the sides. x.o

Its not really your skill that means anything, its your RNG team’s total skill/composition versus the other teams same things.

If it was actually based off your contribution/percentage of team stats, which we know is measured because its shown directly to us every match as a percentage, then it’d be skill based.

^ This.

As I understand it, players can only earn effectiveness points when their team wins, and they are deducted when their team loses. My best guess is your stats during the match influence the amount gained or lost.

But I ask you, why can’t an individual be “effective” even though their team loses or ineffective when their teams win?

Thank you for devoting time and resources to improving sPvP. I’m really looking forward to the new season.

I am a little apprehensive about the Mesmer nerfs, but before I complain I am going to see how it goes.

Seriously, it’s a good thing mesmers have CS or they would only successfully hit a decent opponent with Moa about 10% if the time. With CS it’s more like 25% on the second attempt.

Usually, you have to bait your opponent into Moa or stun them first. It has a very obvious and long animation, can be blocked or evaded, and only hits opponents in front of the mesmer. Plus it has a 180 sec cool down.

Condi Chrono is not over powered. It can 1v1 and has good mobility, but cannot survive in sustained team fights.

It is hard countered by DH and at best stalemates with Engi and Druid.

Signet of Illusions and Signet of Humility both have a long cast and easily identifiable animation.

Moa is probably one of the easiest skills to avoid in PvP.

Also, you can dodge the phantasm generated by Shield 4.

50/50 is a myth

MithranArkanere.8957:

Courtyard is perfectly fine.

The problem is that Courtyard is a Team Deathmatch map with Kill Count rules that has been put together with Conquest maps in the same queue.

It is not a Conquest map, and it cannot be in the Conquest list. It must be filtered separately like Stronghold.

And since people will stack more in this mode, and we have several balance problems involving builds that work too well when players just stack and spam stuff almost mindlessly, it can’t be put on ranked until that’s fixed. But in unranked it’s not only welcomed, it’s needed.

More Team Deathmatch and Stronghold maps would also be nice, with their own unique map design or map mechanical quirks. But Courtyard is fine at it is.

It doesn’t need map mechanics, it doesn’t need redesigns, It needs its own separate queue filter like stronghold. That’s all.

This.

After the last balancing patch, Signet of Humility was changed to only hit targets in front of the caster and the animation was changed to start earlier.

This is in addition to the fact that it can already be blocked.

Maybe I haven’t adjusted to this yet, but I might only land Moa about 33% of the time now. It’s a good thing I have access to Continuum Shift, because 7/10 times I need the second try.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

I like this idea

Miniature Spooky Trio

As a Chronomancer playing Condi Shatter:

• Guardian (DH) – Very Hard
• Ranger – Hard
• Engineer – Hard
• Warrior – Medium
• Thief – Medium/Easy
• Ele – Medium/Easy
• Revenant – Easy
• Necro – Very Easy

I like it.

I just wished they would have also decreased the duration in which your downed skills are initially disabled.

ResJudicator.7916:

I assume OP is talking about the meta condi chrono build that is actually used in PvP tournaments. Not the roaming WvW stealth-camping build that doesn’t exist in any moderate-high level of PvP.

The current meta chrono build was nerfed slightly this patch in two great ways: (1) the signet animation for moa now appears as soon as the mesmer starts casting — this is a gigantic icon above the mesmer’s head; (2) the mesmer now has to face the target when casting moa. These two changes make the moa cast super easy to spot in the midst of combat and easy to dodge, which is really important.

Otherwise, the build is relatively balanced compared to all the other powercreeped meta builds.
- Hardcounters rev and necro.
- Effectively stalemates vs a decent scrapper/druid.
- Beats most warrior builds eventually, but will have to give up the point due to the warrior’s resistance uptime.
- Loses to DH.
- Gets hard-countered by a good +1ing thief, but beats thief in a straight up 1v1 (inc. staff thief once you learn the vault animation).

^ This is spot on.

Chrono is fine. Condi Chrono does not have any stealth. They are good at 1v1, not so much in a team battle. They are mobile but not as much as a thief, and they can pressure but not as well as a Necro.

DH hard counters Chrono Condi. Druid, and to a lesser extent Scrapper, are tough match ups.

Chrono counters Necro and Rev and has a good matchup vs. Warrior.

Thief can go either way.

Moa did get a minor nerf as now it only hits in front of the caster.

Mystic Forge Stone
Tenebrous Crystal
Shimmering Crystal
Feldspar Core
Ascalonian Lumber Core
Palm Lumber Core
Alpine Lumber Core
Arid Lumber Core
Krytan Lumber Core
Coastal Lumber Core
Feldspar Core
Bloodstone Shard
Amalgamated Gemstone
Vision Crystal
Lesser Vision Crystal
Milling Basin
Brick of Clay

I would love to be able to mix and match head pieces on outfits with other skins.

• Witch’s Outfit
• Bat Wing Glider
• Electromagnetic Ascender
• Llama Finisher

Signet of Humility now only works on targets in front of you. Interesting choice of nerf for PvP.

White Gold
Shadow Purple
Enameled Reign

I would like to see team chat forced while waiting for the game to begin, so ppl at least know who is going home, far, etc.

During the match they can turn it off if they want.

I find you can use the mini map functions to communicate pretty well, which is quicker than typing imho.

In addition to the standard ping, Shift + Left Click also gives you the following:
Green Check Mark – to let your team know you got it under control
Red X – Mark places to avoid, like mid when there is a Zerg

You also have a caution and treasure mark indicator too.

Then there is drawing on map with Shift + Right Click

EDIT: A nice feature to have would be “/home”, “/mid” and
“/far” commands which would display a message in chat to those in your team that read “<Character Name> is going far.” etc.

People have been complaining about power creep since HoT elite specs. Things get nerfed, ppl complain. Things get buffed, ppl complain.

I think limiting ranked to two of each profession max, but still allowing class swap before the match starts would solve most of the issues with class stacking.

Jourdelune.7456:

Sarrs.4831:

No team-based ranked mode seems like a bizarre choice.

I think having both a solo/duo and 5man team queue options, which are eligible for ranking (possibly on separate tracks) could be interesting. Whether that is viable in terms of playerbase though I am not sure.

Push some GEMS each month with special in-game “auto” tourney (bring back Paid Tourney) that are 100% full premade. This will make the Q full of teams like it was at released.

Yes! Organized, regularly scheduled tournaments which require 5 member premades would be a great solution to solo/duo queue only.

Teams need a place to compete at a high level that carries some prestige and rewards, because at its core, Conquest is really most importantly about teamwork.

EDIT:
PS – Regarding class stacking, I think limiting professions to a max of two per team should be implemented for ranked only. This eliminates those 4 DH and 1 Druid compositions, etc. Team composition in unranked should be unfettered.

I really like how a lot of these suggestions use so much of the original GW1 mesmer flavor in their skills and traits.

Correct me if I am wrong here, but the current matchmaking system already tries to pair solos v. solos and groups v. groups as best it can.

The problem is that most people don’t group for whatever reason, and the matchmaking system must work within the bounds of the population available at the time the match is created, all the while attempting to manage queue times.

It sounds great in theory to split the queues into solo/duo and team queues and have it as a selectable preference, but I imagine the queue time for teams would be so long it would be unplayable.

EDIT: If team queues are dropped. There needs to be some sort of organized team play on a regular basis.

Scepter does have its upsides in matchups, especially against DH, and it is much better overall now. It also allows you to stay at range and generate more clones. If in unranked when I press B and see multiple guards then I go scepter/shield + staff. Otherwise I still prefer sword/shield + staff. Boon stripping, evasion, immobilization, and the ability to strike multiple targets is hard to pass up. It does take a lot of practice to get comfortable though.

Speaking of practice… one trick with sword 2 is to stow it (not bound to any key by default) quickly before you deal damage. You get ~0.5 (probably less) of evasion and then it goes on a shorter 3 sec cool down.