Guild Wars 2

Knyx.5926:

Well I suggested in a thread of mine in the spvp forums. Just add an F2 ability of Shadow return, that is greyed out and unusable till steal has been activated.

I agree 100%.

If i’m fighting at range & use Steal, i usually just swap to my melee weps. Inefficient if you ask me.

39 Ranger 8/10 – love the class & gameplay. need lots more abilities and it’ll be 10/10.

souldonkey.9534:

Seras.5702:

I understand gold sinks. But re-traiting shouldn’t be one of them. GW1 originally had a sort of XP currency to re-spec attributes, but Anet eventually realized that this was counter to the theme of the game: creating strategic & unique builds not gear grinding. So they got rid of it. GW2 is the same way. i think eventually retraiting will be free, but not until Anet adds more skills and improves upon the existing trait system. As it is, traits don’t add the flair that GW1 had with its buils system. When it does, and people are retraiting more often, they’ll make it free.

We covered this on the first page. In case you missed it:

“This. Is. Not. Guild. Wars. One.”

And yet GW2’s design is similar enough to GW1 to mention. Both games are designed around the premise that gear isn’t the important thing, the build is. If creating strategic builds and changing it up to support the situation is what’s important, then playersr should have the ability to freely do that. After all, there is no holy trinity here, so each player can spec very differently to support, deal dmg, etc depending on the situation. No monk rocking a straight heal build anymore that can be used in all groups. Now we can bring a support ranger or a condition ranger or a sniper ranger…all of which require retraiting.

I actually see a lot of mesmers Matthew. Necros and engineers aren’t that common on my server. Lotsa low level engineers with turret armies, but none at higher levels. Most seen: warriors, guardians, mesmers, rangers (in that order)

I understand gold sinks. But re-traiting shouldn’t be one of them. GW1 originally had a sort of XP currency to re-spec attributes, but Anet eventually realized that this was counter to the theme of the game: creating strategic & unique builds not gear grinding. So they got rid of it. GW2 is the same way. i think eventually retraiting will be free, but not until Anet adds more skills and improves upon the existing trait system. As it is, traits don’t add the flair that GW1 had with its buils system. When it does, and people are retraiting more often, they’ll make it free.

I agree with the OP. The Mists is between worlds, and not part of the World Map. I don’t think it should be a part of the completion. As Untouch said, precious PvP slots are being taken up with people just shooting for map completion. I know I’ve been in just to tame a wolf (anyone know where else I can get one other than Eternal Battlegrounds?).

When I played my first GW2 BWE I was overwhelmed by how many skills the elementalist had. Of course, it was a brand new game and I’d put in a grand total of 5 hours playtime with the ele, so of course I wouldn’t have all the skills down.

Fast forward a month. My main is a Ranger and it’s such a great profession. But I’m only lvl 40 and I’m getting bored with the limited number of abilities I have access to. I find myself constantly swapping weapon sets just for variety. I’m chasing down tameable pets just so I have access to more utilities. I want to buy all of my unlockable skills (even if I won’t use them) just so I have more options.

There is no other class that I prefer over the Ranger. However, I think I’m going to reroll a Guardian for variety’s sake.

In summary: I need more abilities. Give each weapon a pool of abilities from which you can choose the 2, 3, or 5 to equip. Add at least 10 more utility skills per profession. Make traits a bit stronger and more impactful on the gameplay. +10%dmg to Greatsword isn’t gamebreaking…it’s less than you’d get in GW1 from “customizing” the weapon. Not to mention that traiting to add dmg to a particular weapon is odd considering the focus Anet has put on wep swapping. And elites need some love. Most of the time they’re just thrown in at the end of a build, rather than a part of it.

When I played my first GW2 BWE I was overwhelmed by how many skills the elementalist had. Of course, it was a brand new game and I’d put in a grand total of 5 hours playtime with the ele, so of course I wouldn’t have all the skills down.
Fast forward a month. My main is a Ranger and it’s such a great profession. But I’m only lvl 40 and I’m getting bored with the limited number of abilities I have access to. I find myself constantly swapping weapon sets just for variety. I’m chasing down tameable pets just so I have access to more utilities. I want to buy all of my unlockable skills (even if I won’t use them) just so I have more options.
There is no other class that I prefer over the Ranger. However, I think I’m going to reroll a Guardian for variety’s sake.
In summary: I need more abilities. Give each weapon a pool of abilities from which you can choose the 2, 3, or 5 to equip. Add at least 10 more utility skills per profession. Make traits a bit stronger and more impactful on the gameplay. +10%dmg to Greatsword isn’t gamebreaking…it’s less than you’d get in GW1 from “customizing” the weapon. Not to mention that traiting to add dmg to a particular weapon is odd considering the focus Anet has put on wep swapping. And elites need some love. Most of the time they’re just thrown in at the end of a build.

I’ve posted on a similar thread about this topic but I want to add that I am really happy with GW2 as a whole. When I was still playing GW1 and heard that the follow-up would be a departure from the style of the original I was a bit annoyed but also curious. The graphics are amazing, the engine is awesome, the character personalization is involved, the storyline is personal. BUT…gone are the countless ways to build your character, gone are library of elites around which to build a clever design. We are stuck with a small selection of stock skills that allow (for instance) Rangers to only have about 3-4 design iterations. We all look so beautifully unique, with an array of pets at our sides, and dye palettes galore…but our skill sets are limited. Some great things in GW2, but the best part of GW1 was the never-ending array of builds I could create and test and run in FOW or PVP.

As an aside, I like the idea of each weapon having a pool of available skills from which to choose 2,3,5. For instance, for Axe/Torch, Axe could have 6-7 available skills to choose your 1-3, and Torch would have 4-5 options from which to choose slots 4-5. Weapons like Greatsword could have 10 possible skills from which you choose your 1-5. A 4th utility slot would be pretty clutch too.

@LanceHavenBay, et al -

well said Lance. The customization in GW2 is supposed to be coming from the traits, and there are a lot of them with the nice ability to swap them out when out of combat. BUT, they don’t offer nearly the flavor and variety that the extensive library of skills in GW1 did, let alone the attribute point system (which was very simple and mainly just affected the strength/duration of skills).

I am really hoping Anet adds many more skill options for weapons and utilities, as well as the rather limited elites. More options = more build variety.

Yes, GW1 was groundbreaking. Yes, I wish there were a little more of GW1 in GW2. I loved the massive library of skills you could pull from to create unique builds. I miss dual profession, but I can see why they didn’t do it in GW2.

However…

I think GW2 is beautifully done. I love how real the world feels. I love that I don’t have to spend an hour running on the back of my warbear to get somewhere just to do a measly quest. I love how I’m constantly immersed in the events of the area, rather than running to and from questgivers and mobs with poor drop rates on skinned hides. I love how I can complete a quest in any number of ways.

I think, after some time goes by and the balancing & bugs are handled, we will see more utility skill options, perhaps ways to augment our weapon skills further, and more awareness of how it’s the trait system now that gives us build variety.

…and remember, you don’t have to use waypoints. You’re quite free to run from place to place. I don’t miss mounts at all. Don’t cry about how GW2 differs from GW1 and then beg for mounts.

I try to have an even split, for variety’s sake. 2 Sylvari, 1 female 1 male. 2 Norn, 1 female 1 male. 2 Asura, 1 female 1 male….you get the idea.

I generally make caster classes females because they look better in light-robe armor. Giant male Norn mesmer in purple robes?? No thank you.

I’ve gotten thru 2 of the achievement jumping puzzles. Let me tell you, the Caledon Forest was annoying at first but not to bad. But the Pirate thing in LA….that dark room was my bane!!!!!!!! No problems until thatkittenroom. And then I watched player after player try to guide me, get impatient, and move on. Have fun with it. bring a torch offhand..or an ele buddy.

LOLOLOLOLOL – seriously? You’ve played all available content in 1 month? Map exploration, best gear, all DEs, all 8 professions (or at least 2-3)?? I doubt it. This game has so much to do it’s intimidating at low levels and still enjoyable at 80. Remember, areas scale down, so, if you missed it the 1st time around, you can have just as much fun playing through Kessex Hills at 80 as you could have at 20. People keep saying how much fun leveling is but there’s no endgame content. Isn’t the whole of Tyria potentially enjoyable because of down-scaling? I mean, sure, no leet drops, but fun just the same.
Content patch a month into launch…..I’m pretty sure Anet put in enough content for more than a month of playing, even for hardcore fanboyz.

The OP posted his take on how enjoyable the game is to him, how even after 350 hours he’s not bored….and he gets ripped on. A positive post meant to inspire those QQers that whine about nothing to do in GW2 and he gets torn up for having no life and being a liar. He posted a screenshot. It even says he played that current character for 25 hours over 2 days.

I for one wish I had more time to play GW2, but am not concerned with not being 80 yet. This is a game to enjoy the scenery along the way and I’m doing just that. Trying multiple professions out, exploring for map completion, experimenting with various builds, etc. Have fun with it.

I have to say that I too miss the GW1 style elites. In other games that I’ve played in the past, there’re always those few skills that are OP but are balanced by a ridiculously long CD. That’s what they did in GW2 with elites and that’s fine. But I liked the idea behind elites in GW1 better. Not necessarily that they were so strong, but that they were so unique and build-defining. However, it seems Anet is doing that now with traits, something we didn’t have in GW1. Create a build that synergizes traits, weapons, and utilities…and then pick your favorite elite for “face-crushing-time” or “o-no-we’re-all-gonna-die-time.”

Hmm…some good inspiration here. I’m thinking Greatsword +Sword/Horn. Use the Fire Trap + Swoop combo.
Or…birds, drop traps, CotW, swap (quickness), Greatsword Swoop, then just pummel.

I recommend using a pet from the porcine family with a full melee build. The Foraged item can be really clutch (knockdown, combo fields, heals, etc) and since you and your pet will be next to each other, picking up the item will be easy.

Frosty and Frosty Law Firm.4981:

Jaguars also have a bunch of unlisted abilities and buffs to damage while stealthed.

And you know this how? Don’t get me wrong, that would be great. I’ve been wondering why I would use the Jaguar for a while now.

Nice guide. Really puts the Guardian traits into perspective and offers nice ideas for weapon/trait synergy. Thanks. Kinda makes me want to put down my Ranger and give my Guardian another go.

To OP:
I agree with you completely with regard to Longbow. It needs an aoe/combo field generator.

Disagree with you about the Torch. I love it and use it when questing. The #5 skill is a nice combo field generator (leap out, swap to shortbow or leap out & back in for fire aura). Sword+Torch = poison & burning plus quick attacks and multiple evades.

Dagger and Ax offhand need to be re-worked. As it is, nobody uses them. They just don’t have anything that would make them preferable to Horn or Torch.

This does get annoying. I know dogs can run faster than people (even Sylvari) so I’m not sure if this is intended to make the animals more realistic. Ya know, I start running, dog chases after me, I stop, it goes “huh?” and then grinds to a halt 10 feet past me. Either way, it needs to stop.

I want to start by saying I love the 1h sword. I use it all the time w/ the Horn and the Torch. At very low levels I wasn’t super pleased with having to leap out just to leap in as a gap closer. But as I level I realize how important it is having 2 evasion skills independent of the actual “dodge.” This is especially true because the sword #1 attack chain tends to root you in place (not a fan). Against mobs like Ettins with their quite spammable knockdown, multiple evasion skills is clutch for a med armor class. Taking away our ability to decide when to use Serpent Strike is a bad idea. I will say though that the #1 attack chain feels lacking, maybe just visually now that there’s no kick-back.

Honestly, I’m a little jealous of a Thief’s shortbow abilities. If we could have something like that for our longbows I’d be happier. Unless we trap (or use 1 of 2 specific pets) we can’t lay our own combo fields with our bows. And trap-fields are only useful if traited into ground-targeted traps. I’d rather our longbow’s #2 skill was something more aoe driven, like laying down a fiery combo field or something.

I want to be able to wield a longbow mainhand & shortbow offhand. then i’d be super-ranged-sniper-leet. <sigh> seriously, a rifle??

If we need another ranged weapon, I’d be more open to ranged dagger skills for mainhand. But that kind of seems a lot like our ranged axe throws so…..I dunno. I’m happy with Rangers where they are now.

My…
Pink Moa – Sherbert
Carrion Devourer – Lenny (he just looks like one)
River Drake – Ka Chewey Chomp
Brown Bear – Nom Nom Nom
Pig – Kevin Bacon
Murrelow – Fugly (cuz he so is)
Shark – Jaws (not original but totally appropriate)
Jellyfish – Squishy (and he shall be mine)

@MeGaZlo – pet’s do not have 4 low damage abilities. Their damage is clearly not small, otherwise you woudn’t be upset about having to rely on them for dps.

1st: some pets have skills that can CC and buff parties, some can self-heal, drop threat, cleanse conditions, etc.
2nd: if pet dies, swap to 2nd pet & gain quickness
3rd: ranger has just as much dps as any other class.

I actually like the TP over P2P trading. Mainly because it avoids the main gathering point city where everyone stands around, doesn’t play the game, and spams trade chat for hours. How utterly tedious. In WoW, if you weren’t in SW or Ogr, cities were ghost towns. GW1 had LA district 1 (which moved as expacs came out). It’s quite nice to be out questing, get a cool drop that I can’t use, and immediately list it. Or, level up, realize my boots are low level and quickly browse for new wares. Beats having to port to THE major city to spam trade for “WTB lvl 60 leather boots.”
Yes, COD mail would be a good scam-proof way to work around no P2P trading. But I think that’s the point, Anet doesn’t want direct sales because it will create economic trade centers which detracts from their gameplay ideals.

I’d love to see more pet options with the next major content patch/expac. But I’m not sure we will, only because pets are our core profession mechanic. If we get more pet options with more utility variety, Anet would have to add to every other profession’s core mechanic. We wouldn’t want reskins, we’d want brand new pets right? With new skill sets? I know I would. And then what? Guardians get a 4th virtue? Thieves double-steal? 4 tier burst for Warrior? I dunno guys, I’d love to see more pets as much as the next Ranger-lover.

I’ll be honest. In GW1 I wished I didn’t have to waste a skill slot just to bring a pet along. Want to heal it too? That’s another skill slot. Oh, you want it to do something snazzy? That’s another skill slot. Heal yourself too? Well of course, another skill slot. Now I have only half of my bar left for my attacks. In GW1 you generally had to spec for BM or your pet was just along for the ride, taking up skillbar space.

I like how in GW2 I get to have my pet all the time without having to sacrifice. On top of that, the pet adds awesome utility and a body shield. Why wouldn’t you want it? You don’t have to spec into your pets. Let them die and don’t bother with them. But they do quite a bit of damage.

If you truly hate the pet, go Thief. They’re another medium-armor class with a nice mix of range/melee attacks and good burst. But I’ll be honest….Rangers are better.

I have this nasty problem of wanting to use the best pet for the situation, but hating the look of some of them. I really dislike the look of the devourers, but as ranged pets (and especially for bosses) they’re great. The Murrelow is fugly, but I begrudgingly use him because he’s amazing. Still trying to get the hang of utilizing the porcine family’s Forage skill fluidly in combat. But I agree with Kasama, you get the Thief mechanic for free. Sweet deal. I’ll have to try using them when in melee more.

Also, I love my Crimson Moa or Jungle Stalker for the party-wide howl buff. Sweet when CotW is on CD. Fern Hound is my go-to for when I know I’m going to need some self-healing and my build is weak in defense. Again, another howl that helps the whole party too.

Next time I play I’m going to really focus on those pets I keep locked away and try to find a place for them. There’s not one pet that doesn’t have a purpose and they make us extremely versatile as a profession.

I thought the 20% chance only applied to multi-target shots. Single arrows should apply regen 100% right?

I thought Pig, Warthog, Siamoth, and Boar all have the same skills. They all have Forage as their F2 skill. Unless they each forage different unique items? I’ve noticed Pig usually forages that snazzy blue-tree-seed-that-regens. What combo field do I get from Warthog? From one of his foraged items?

If you want a little flavor try sword+torch. I don’t like the aesthetic of axe much and being able to swap from my bow to melee with conditions and evades is fun. Use a tanking pet and use skills to apply burning, poison, ring of fire, leap out to evade, back in for a combo finisher, and sword is an aoe weapon, striking everything around you.

I think pets do this to avoid the annoyance some games have had with pets standing on top of players. Still, I’d rather have unaesthetic pet/player meld than accidently aggro the world.
I’ve also noticed that my pet will run right past a target when initiating combat so that when I bow-attack and the target runs after me, my pet is 3 steps behind and unable to regain threat.

It’s not aquatic, it’s amphibious. So you’ll find it in both sets of pet boxes. And it’s there, but the thumbnail picture of the polar bear looks like a large rat with a skin sloughing disease. It’s on the right side, middle-ish if I recall. Just hover over all of your pets, you’ll find it.

I know that some combo fields can work with enemy projectiles (ie – smoke field) so maybe enemy projectiles going thru a water field will apply regen to us? I dunno, just a thought.
And if the mechanic works the way Shiren explained, then it’s going to be a rare occurence to get a little arrow to travel thru an ally how I want. Especially with so much mobility in this game. I hope the regen area is forgiving, like any allies within x yds of my target get regen. That’d be good.

If you send your pet in to attack before you do, you’ll be in combat and then you can swap & barrage.

I dunno. But the Ranger certainly is.

The greatsword damage is quite low compared to all of its other weapon choices. If it is to be used for tanking though, I think it needs more functionality to warrant the lower damage output. Perhaps a combo initiator and an improved block. I’m ok with a lower damage weapon, as long as it has gains somewhere else, and I just don’t see it right now. 1h sword offers more evasion and condition damage, plus i’m pretty sure it buffs my pet. And horn or torch OH offer a dot (4 skill) and either a party buff or combo field (5 skill). A clear choice imo.
As for the gap closer, if the target is outside of the sword leap distance I would just swap to my trusty bow to finish.

<The Tainted Brotherhood> is a brand new guild on Yak’s Bend server. We’re all about PvE, casual gaming, leveling together, etc. Non-leet. All levels welcome!

<The Tainted Brotherhood> is a brand new guild on Yaks’ Bend server. All about friendly, non-leetness, and PVE.

Make sure you have 100% map completion of Queensdale & Divinity’s Reach. Good XP and some rewards. Also, go thru the Asura gate to Lion’s Arch and check out the other race’s starting zones. Each has a few quick, close skill point challenges that offer XP just getting there in further exploration, plus dynamic events and gathering. At your low level, getting more skill points is clutch, as it will allow you to unlock more utility skills in deeper tiers earlier.
With my ranger, for instance, I went skill point chasing/pet-taming. Leveled from probably 8-15 that way, exploring new areas, doing DEs, hearts here & there, and killing & gathering. By the time I got back to my story, I was way ahead level-wise and could progress nicely a few chunks at a time. Made the story feel more fluid too.

burning doesn’t -33% healing. that’s poison.

I played a Necro in GW1 and loved it. But Necro now feels very awkward. The core mechanic, DS seems like nothing more than an “o crap i’m about to die” button. And the ramp up time for damage makes soloing slow. I’m sure Necro is a great PvP with a party kind of profession.
Am I missing something? I only played Necro a bit and probably didn’t give it a fair shot to win me over, mostly because it’s so different from my expectations. Tell me why I should play a Necro. I want to know what’s awesome about it.

I had a similar case as the OP. Rolled a Guardian, thinking he’d be a boon to a party providing support while being a powerhouse. Unfortunately, in large groups the lack of ranged attacks is frustrating, to the point that I took to using a staff for all large group dynamic events. Ranger….is fantastic. The dps is unmatched against single targets and they’re viable ranged or melee. Yes, pet are a big buggy right now, but I think Anet is working on that. The utility they bring is fantastic, anything from party-wide boons, to CC skills, to combo fields. And the variety gives Rangers more choice than most other professions get from their unique mechanic. As for group support, Call of the Wild, pet howls, combo fields, CCs, traps…no shortage. I’m loving my Ranger.

I saw it. Spent a long time getting it just right. And she never glows. It’s so unnoticeable it’s sad. Even in those conversation cutscenes…nothing. A bit disappointed.

The items the pig pet digs up are generally quite good. Good self or aoe heals, etc. But I’m having a hard time using them in the heat of battle, especially when I’m rocking a ranged weapon (so usually). Ideas? Can anyone pick up the item to use or is it just for me?

The healing seed vs. healing spring is the most obvious and lackluster comparison. The racial skill doesn’t even come close.

My Ranger is Ailyn Bramblethorn.
I love that GW2 allows for multiple words in names so all of my characters have a 1st & last name.

They’re original. Not the typical elf/dwarf/human/ogre race. It’s why I played dranei in WoW, and the Sylvari are even better. So beautiful. Not to mention the starting area is probably the most visually appealing out of them all. And the Grove is mad easy to navigate. The other cities are sprawling and impressive, but from a purely functional standpoint, I prefer the Grove.

And Bioluminescence is awesome.