Guild Wars 2

For PvP/WvW, Smokescale is by far and long, the best.

It reliably lands it’s attacks, it has good skill chains and it’s smoke field is near mandatory for 1vX.

Not only that, it has the stats of a canine but when running Beast Mastery or when the pet has been buffed with Might, it tends to hit significantly harder. So it has the durability of a canine and nearly the damage of a feline and it can be hard for players to shake them once they latch on to them.

Honestly as it stands, I feel that Smokescale is pretty untouchable compared to the other pets. It’s just so effective at sticking to people, knocking them down and being great for an escape tool.

DeceiverX.8361:

Now I don’t know how much things have obscured over the years since I don’t really pay that much attention to the organized scene anymore since my guild quit and what such people are talking about these days, but I do know over time the differentiation in the terms of ‘Roaming’ and ‘Havoc’ have blurred. If these definitions aren’t any longer accurate, feel free to clarify, but I find people use them interchangeably and you can never really tell what they’re trying to talk about.

A few years ago, ‘roaming’ was referred to as a small-scale crew dedicated to scouting territory far from the blob and killing other players in groups of 1-5 (depending on coordination/build) in any and all locations in the map. Most of this was done with 1-2 players. In roaming, objectives were not prioritized; the work of a roamer was to simply kill players and stay moving around the map to to report enemy activity. If there was a camp in the area, a solo roamer may elect to take it, but it wasn’t considered an utmost priority given the speed of solo clearance possibly warranting a response from other solo players or small groups. Roaming often consisted of thief/ranger/mesmer due to their otherwise lack of utility for the ZvZ fights.

‘Havoc’ traditionally was kind of the flipside; a small group usually of 3-8 players focused to work with deliberate synergy with the main zerg for the sake of PPT. Havoc squads had deliberate objectives in the best interest of PPT and cut down on as much excess bulk in their groups as possible to take virtually any structure desired at a reasonable pace. Denying supply via taking camps on cooldown, backdooring keeps, clearing T3 siege-laden towers for the blob to follow up with for an assault on the keeps. etc., or simply clearing out other small groups of roamers or havoc squads and being a general annoyance to divert attention or to keep spawns safe were some of the major goals for havoc groups.

Small-scale is mostly dead in GW2 because most of the existing profession design does not encourage fun or even skilled gameplay in small-scale. As OP mentions, it’s doubtful at best that these means of playing which have taken drastic cuts since HoT will ever be revived due to the changes which adversely affected the identities and efficacy of these players, particularly the Havoc scene, which quite frankly inadvertently housed a majority of the active and recognizable small-scale players, even if they didn’t use the label.

As the OP mentions, this is intended to be a fun way to play; the issue, and why so many people quit, was because those who fought in the mindset of havoc, which was intended to be useful, found themselves at huge deficits across virtually every aspect of the game, from the guild hall/buff level, tactivators, increases in un-fun and cheesy builds, nerfs to core, etc. Like the sPvP community, havoc groups were goal-oriented and focused on results. After HoT, a lot of the utility of the groups was removed, and in the context of profession design and balance, so was a lot of the fun.

What I find is mostly left of small-scale is gankers which is mostly the bile of the small-scale community that has no intention to really be productive except to take a larger number of players, typically with lots of stealth and FoTM builds, and focus down individuals or smaller groups, who flee at the first sight of a potentially-losing encounter. These are the guys who spawncamp and don’t move much around the map unless it’s to run away from being killed by a group of similar or slightly-larger size.

Agreed with much of what you’ve said.

Roaming has greatly diminished since HoT release because as far as I’m concerned, it has become a lot less enjoyable for most. I know I used to roam a lot more prior to HoT, so much so it was almost exclusively how I played. Ever since however, I’ve found too often that I’m losing to mechanics and not skill, be it build or objective design like being marked on the map.

It’s still fun in it’s own right and I don’t blame anyone for playing how they do, but the community has changed a great deal since it’s glory days. That’s why I’m always respectful of players I see roaming about by themselves. I won’t 1vX them if the fight starts a 1v1 and I will usually let them live if I happen to win. I want it to be enjoyable for those that still have the determination to keep on keeping on.

Who, what

Roaming is roughly defined as small scale capture and combat. Typically consisting of 1 – 2 players, though definitions vary.

Players who adventure by themselves or with a friend(s) are prepared for and often seeking fights. Their builds will be meta or custom to suit their needs, usually with mobility taking top priority.

These players will capture small objectives such as sentry and supply camps, kill dolyaks and contest objectives if necessary. Depending on the motivation of the player(s), they may also attempt larger objectives.

Why

• Some players are more independent than others and prefer to have greater control over their goals.

• Boredom, practice, recording combat videos or to support their main zerg by counter capturing and contesting to split up the enemy.

• For most – just because they can.

How

An effective roamer is a vigilant one. Strong map awareness and in a constant state of seek and destroy. To survive for extended periods of time, they must be skilled combatants by themselves or supported by players they are familiar with. Their limitations are clear and they are familiar with when to retreat and when to commit.

Build, communication, knowledge and practice keep them afloat while the desire for the surprises that every encounter holds spurs them on.

Roaming is as much a part of WvW as zerging but it was not/is not the purpose of the game.

There are many players who are passionate about small scale combat, most who are driven by the hopes that Anet will bring a near perfect balance to their passion. There is no God. Your balance won't happen.

While skill is a great deal of what keeps a good roamer alive, build and the build(s) they face have a near equal say in the outcome. A good player can achieve victory over almost anything, but due to the rock, paper, scissor design of combat, even the best can fall to mechanics. This can be remedied with co-op, however the drawbacks of doing so are significant; One players decisions are not as impactful, effort needed to defeat a single player is greatly reduced, more players will avoid you, and the more players you are with, the more chances of having your positions scouted and becoming overwhelmed.

Many players have become frustrated with roaming thanks to powercreep and design changes in objectives over the years. While there is still a breathing community of players that enjoy the small scale side of things, a lot of these players feel betrayed or forgotten due to the aforementioned.

I’m sure everyone already knows all of this, but I just wanted to bounce it back to you.

That’s why it’s important to remember that having fun should be the #1 priority, not being the best there ever was. Don’t worry about what builds are broken, whether Anet is listening to you or if you’re making a difference. Adapt to the meta and use what you can to your advantage – no one ever said fights had to be fair. If you’re expecting balance, if you’re expecting your elite knowledge of all the nuances of every mechanic, you’re wrong, everyone loses sometimes.

So please, continue to play what you like, how you like, and get out there. I can’t wait to see all the new faces once Path Of Fire drops but most of all, I can’t wait to see those who are passionate still enjoying themselves.

With all that said, what are some of your most memorable moments roaming? What was your favorite time in the meta? What does roaming mean to you? And anything else you want to discuss! (:

A few things

• CC will break gliding. If someone is trying to escape you on a cliff for example, a CC (though it will have to be ranged) will send them to the ground.

• You can still hit people in the air.

• Gliding in EBG will be very limited due to territories. If you were Red and owned SMC + only the red side of the map, you could glide from the top of SMC to the sentry near QL, for example. That’s not very far so at least in EBG, gameplay shouldn’t change very much.

• There are lots of cliffs and open fields in Alpine and Desert borderlands. There should be lots of use for gliding and few ways to “exploit” it.

• Fall damage traits might see some interesting use.

Though I am somewhat upset with this addition, I’m no where near angry. Territories make it reasonable and no one will be immune to damage while they’re in the air. To me, it just means I get to be 110% more annoying on my longbow Ranger pelting people in the skies. I can’t wait to Point Blank Shot people trying to glide towards me and watch them hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

So don’t freak out. People are probably imagining this to be worse than what it will.

There’s a minor trait that converts a percentage of condition damage to expertise. I believe it’s 10%.

Relax.

They’re doing this because the elite specs will be providing greater trade off buffs in their traits.

One of the Scourges traits for example converts a percentage of your condition damage in to expertise. You will have to choose this trait over other traits for that benefit instead of being able to use foods to fill every hole.

I think these are good changes but I hope there are more tweaks in the near future.

This is the one I’m the most hyped for, personally.

Engineer has: Pistol, Pistol, Shield, Rifle and Hammer. With Holosmith, it’s looking like each kit will be a weapon with it’s own skills. Think swapping to Toolkit for example, but it’s now a Mace with a full bar of skills.

Maybe I’ve misunderstood but that’s how I gathered it. And I’m very excited if this is the case.

TyPin.9860:

Turk.5460:

ThomasC.1056:

Considering any warrior (or whatever) running dire or soldier would have the same HP and same armor, then soldier gives “all the tankines in the game”, doesn’t it ? So soldier should be the zero risk and low reward ? I’m more into thinking that the risk exists because the damage output may not be enough, so we’re back to “power is underperforming”.

No, Soldier should be low-risk, low-reward. Which is its current state.

Dire should also be low-risk, low-reward. Which is not its current state. It is currently low-risk, high reward.

We can’t make this any simpler.

It’s far from that simple. This kind of simple thinking is actually part of the problem. Not saying there aren’t any issues with certain condi builds, but the main problem lies with people not knowing how to fight condi builds. Short of condi thief I personally prefer fighting condi builds any day on my power shatter mes. Because power dmg, once applied, “sticks” with you. Conditions can be cleansed (praise inspiration^^).

And who are you to dictate what Dire or Soldier should be. Both are just pieces of equipment with certain stats. What a player/build makes of that is something else entirely. Why people remain to think in such inadequate categories, is beyond me.

Most people are too one dimensional to see that Conditions are okay, but it is rather specific builds that are not. As well as being completely ignorant on how to fight Condition builds or how to counter them and instead just wanting them removed from the game.

To most people, Power is pure, fair and balanced, despite there being more Power builds that are overtuned than Condition.

Be all that as it may, WvW is not about small scale. It exists and it’s something many people are passionate about, but it is far more difficult to properly balance without breaking something elsewhere. Players need to accept that roaming/small group play is in a constant state of “unbalance” and the only way to survive is to adapt. Yes, there are lots of builds that are facerolly and OP but balancing those things won’t be a priority unless it effects the larger scale.

As is, condition builds underperform in organized fights. Against PUGs, it is relatively effective but not nearly enough to warrant any serious nerfs.

I can be blinded by my opinions just like anyone else but I see no solid evidence to change my thoughts on this matter. It’s always the same tired story of “tanky and can deal lots of damage”, “no possible way to cleanse it all” or “only needs one stat.”

I just hope that despite ANet’s iffy decisions in the past, they’re smart enough to understand that many of the people who complain about this issue aren’t being reasonable.

Still waiting, and praying, for 2sec Superspeed on Hunter’s Shot. Honestly this small change would be such a big deal.

Have never cared much for JP’s as I’ve always been rather mediocre as well as having little patience for failure.

This newest JP in Siren’s Landing however, I very much enjoyed. So much so I’ve redone it a second time and am thinking about pursuing all the other JP’s through out Tyria.

Although it wasn’t as intuitive as some of the other JP’s I’ve attempted, it was still very enjoyable and a real test of skill and patience. I believe I spent a good 30 minutes climbing it speaking with people along the way and having some laughs.

So I just wanted to say thanks, ANet. Although I’m really not much of a PvE player, that was probably the first time I’ve genuinely enjoyed myself outside of WvW/PvP.

KrHome.1920:

Current WvW state:

Marauder DH is broken because of huge discrepancy between block uptime and damage.

Marauder Warrior is broken because of huge discrepancy between damage negation and damage.

D/D Condi Thief is broken because of huge discrepancy between evade uptime and damage.

Dire Reaper is broken because of huge discrepancy between susatain and burst capability (a condi bunker that can burst like a full zerker (and spread that kitten to 5 other targets)).

Bunker Druid is broken because of huge discrepancy between mobility and damage (the pet is the problem).

Condi Mesmer (even full viper – I play one from time to time) is broken because of huge discrepancy between mobility, ridiculously low cooldowns (alacrity uptime) and design (dishes out conditions that punish movement and skill activation). Condi Rev shows how balancing should work as he overloads you with torment but is full melee and so can be fought (almost) standing still.

Most of these issues are fixed in sPvP (thief endurance gain nerfed hard, Deadly Chill works different, no tanky amulets, no Durability Rune, no burst sigils…).

Condis are not the problem. Condis are just a part of the bigger problem of PvE balancing in WvW.

Hey, someone’s not an idiot!

Ahka.6705:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

This is why I try not to respond to these kinds of threads. The people inside them are immune to reason. Have fun refusing to get better.

I’ll bet every character in your sig is running a condi spec…

Nope. Been vanilla condition Necromancer since day 1, 4 years ago. The other 3 are power.

My Warrior is full Berserker Rifle + Axe/Shield, my Ranger is vanilla pew pew Ranger, full Berserker, Scholar rune, LB + GS and my Engineer is hybrid Commander/Celestial mix Flamethrower build for zerging.

I’ve played various different builds on all of them but my Necromancer is the only one who has remained condition. Power is easier and more effective in most situations. I actually know how to fight most condition builds, unlike 95% of the people who come to these forums. And that’s not to say I’m a good player, because I’m not. I’m just not an idiot.

Rednik.3809:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

snip

You know, I’d like to live in that magical world too, where conditions are not spammable by literally pressing any button on keyboard, ain’t covered by the tons of trash ones above them, and on top of that condi user is built as tanky as he like, because he really needs only ONE stat to do the damage, or invest into trailblazer and start hitting like a truck while still keeping all these sweet tank stats. Oh, and even more funny, you can do a lot of this damage as ranged, and even ignore projectile reflects!
Please, go ahead and tell us that this requires same skill as playing glassy power builds.

This is why I try not to respond to these kinds of threads. The people inside them are immune to reason. Have fun refusing to get better.

anduriell.6280:

-snip-

You’re an idiot if you think you should be able to keep up with cleansing. That would be like expecting to have enough blocks/invuln/evades to avoid all physical damage. You’re going to take some hits. Choose which ones you can survive and which you can’t.

See that bright purple beam coming at you from Mesmer scepter? Might want to dodge that one. Or not attack them when they’re blocking with their scepter.

See that long cast time wind up with the frosty aura on a Necro? Should probably interrupt or dodge that or you’re going to get frozen and blasted.

Etc. etc.

Conditions aren’t magically applied. They have cast times, cooldowns and counters just like power attacks do. The issue is that people want to tank all of it and faceroll their keyboards like they do with their perma-blocking free-casting massive damage Dragonhunters or stance + high Adrenal Health uptime Berserkers.

There are a lot more power builds that are far more broken than most condition builds and are a lot easier to play. Being glassy doesn’t mean “risky” when the fight doesn’t last long enough for risk to come in to effect. Gunflame Warrior is a perfect example, it’s a gimmick but it works in most circumstances because you can 1 – 2 shot people. What are you risking if people are dead before they can retaliate? Not only that, toughness is pretty much irrelevant at this point in GW2’s life with how insanely high power damage is. My Necro has 3.3k armor and I still get slugged for 7 – 8k at times, usually by Thieves.

It only feels “unfair that they can do so much damage and be so tanky” because most people don’t take the time to understand what they should be dodging/interrupting and what they should be cleansing. Do you dodge an Eviscerate or heal it? Dodge. Do you dodge “Chilled To The Bone!” or heal it? Dodge.

Also, don’t waste your cleanses on 5 stacks of Bleed. It might hurt but more conditions will follow. Use your cleanses when you’ll get more bang for your buck, save it for removing multiple, which most cleanses do.

Tongku.5326:

them thieves like to run in pairs ….

Chasing Thieves be like

Weakness will negate Intelligence sigil which was applied to you just before you landed your Eviscerate.

Also, I think I did okay considering I’d been playing Thief for like a whole 24 hours when I fought you, if even that, lol. Blocked/evaded your bursts and baited stances with SB, got you pretty low but panicked when I failed my dodges.

I don’t understand why players like yourself have to act “bored” when someone plays smart. I’m pretty crappy but I’m not an idiot. I knew you were skilled enough that I should hard kite instead of over committing, especially when I was still learning the class (and still am).

Anyway, good video though. I always enjoy roaming montages when it’s solo and done with something other than condibunk Chrono or LB/Medi DH. Even better that you used good music.

Short answer is yes, long answer is not really.

People do still roam, but it’s uncommon to find solos or duos. Most players roll in groups of 3 – 6 depending on how frequently they’re moving around the map. Larger groups tend to linger in high traffic areas for easy kills while smaller ones will make a lot of passes at high traffic areas but won’t often stick around.

Due to the increased difficulty of capturing anything upgraded and the profession power creep, people tend to stick together for safety and efficiency. A lot of the skill involved in combat has been significantly watered down making it easier to pick up but more a matter rock, paper scissors than intelligent play. Which is why a lot of the pro level players (speaking in terms of PvP) have left the game.

So although you can still find players outside their zergs, it’s uncommon to find ones that do so solo or in “reasonable” numbers on a regular basis.

With that said, keep in mind that WvW isn’t a small scale game. ANet have shown time and again that they’re not concerned with that kind of balance. It doesn’t mean you can’t do it, but it does mean it’s a lot more likely you’ll find builds that are insanely overtuned that will stay that way for months at a time.

Tldr; Yes people still roam, mostly in larger groups rather than solo however. Balance has taken a turn for the worse, but that’s because WvW is about large scale and not small. HoT power creep has drastically reduced skilled combat. Zerg meta is at an all time high.

EDIT: I used to almost exclusively solo roam pre-HoT but stopped almost completely afterwards. I would still wander around from time to time but it didn’t feel nearly as enjoyable or rewarding as it used to.
In the last couple weeks however, I’ve been roaming a lot more frequently, but this time with a friend. Although I dislike 2v1ing random pugs, I’m at least enjoying myself more because there’s a much greater chance of success when I come across other roaming groups.
So although I’m not having as much fun as I once did, I am still finding pleasure in small scale despite it’s state. Sometimes all it takes is being stubborn and having a friend to chat with to keep doing what you enjoy.

Necro master class!

DeceiverX.8361:

The balance and class diversity on top of general gameplay were bar-none the best in the game of all formats, and any group of any size could be impactful.

I could take literally any build concept and make it work in WvW at one point, in any circumstance. Even in the days of tank hammertrain thieves and gank classes if played properly could single-handedly account for winning or losing a ZvZ/GvG.

The power creep and general poor profession design decisions from HoT, the guild upgrades and locking of +5 supply behind expensive guild halls, and un-fun mechanics like Watchtower and DBL keeping roamers from the game leading to the omniblob make the game substantially less fun for a majority of players.

All they had to do was make food free and siege blueprints no longer consumable to fix WvW rewards. That’s it. Boom, there’s the loot and profitability. Attention is just in all the wrong places, notably profession and gear balance.

Highlighted main points.

Agreed with all of this/have said something similar in the past.

WvW was best pre-HoT, of course with the exception of the upgrading system, which did need to be changed, albeit differently from what it got would have been better.

Thanks to powercreep and the huge imbalance between professions, it has become excruciatingly difficult to roam unless you’re one of 3 professions, and near impossible to havoc unless you’re 15 – 20 deep (which is a zerg anyway). Which leaves only the zerg meta that for some, becomes stale very quickly (I know that’s ironic coming from someone with my rank, but I rarely stick with a zerg for longer than an hour. I tend to float between roaming/scouting/zerging).

I still love GW2 and WvW but I’d be lying if I said it’s better now, or that I’m having as much/more fun now. I miss pre-HoT, I miss when I could roam freely, I miss 5-man havoc, I miss defeating groups triple our size with just a couple friends. But… Can’t live in the past forever, so, just looking forward to the next expansion now.

Can I get a show of hands from those who still played back in the day when you lost money in WvW instead of making it, by paying to upgrade objectives, repair armor and spending hours scouting objectives while they upgraded.

I’d still play WvW if it awarded nothing. It isn’t a job, I don’t do it to support something, I do it because I enjoy it, it’s stress relieving, it’s great for socializing.

Rewards are great and they should be there. It’s proper design to have all areas of the game giving adequate loot to sustain yourself. It’s more important for some people than others and that’s okay, everyone has fun in a different way. But for those who are more focused on the grind, remind yourself that when you reach your goal, you’ll probably leave WvW behind forever. Why should the devs cater to the people who are only there temporarily? The players who have stuck it out through thick and thin, or the new players who have discovered something they love, are the ones that deserve a long term goal and goodies on the journey for their troubles.

You deserve your cut as well even if you’re only there to suck the loot out of it. But don’t expect sympathy when that’s your only motivation. I’m not going to welcome someone to my party who’s only there for cake and beer.

Tail Swipe

We do, it just takes practice to use it properly.

-Slow clap for bait/satire-

Semi-unrelated; I made/played a Rev a couple weeks ago for the first time. Had a lot of fun but it took some getting used to. I wasn’t approaching fights properly at all because I was treating them like they needed to be over as fast as possible. Then I realized Rev is very much a damage avoidance profession, which was when things started to go a lot more smoothly.

Won a couple 1vX and had a nice long 1v1 with a solid D/P Thief. I wasn’t very good but I’m glad I gave it a try, it helped me to understand a few things I was unsure of and gave me a little more appreciation for the class.

Still not my bag though. I’m too in love with my main four to care much for anything else, lol.

Ralkuth.1456:

zalt.8937:

Damage modifiers, probably running BM and MM; moment of clarity (50% dmg increase on next attack upon interrupt.) and remorseless (25%dmg increase on gaining fury.) along with two-handed training (5% dmg increse and chance to proc fury.) and might stacks. Common combo is maul, hilt bash (resets maul cd.) Maul. The latter maul will hurt.
Highly telegraphed skill tho, easy to avoid. Outside of pulling that combo off, ranger GS is rather lackluster damage wise, good utility and sustain tho.
Bottom line; if you see a giant bear emerging from the ranger, and this is really easy to spot and avoid, dont get hit.

This basically. The Ranger will usually be full Zerk or very close to it, running Tiger, stacking might and vuln, taking all traits that give him modifiers. It can deal an extreme amount of damage (I’ve seen 10k, but I think it can go up to 12k?) but you need to setup and make an interrupt.

There’s also a giant bear with 0.75 second cast time on Maul, 0.5 second with quickness. With low ping, still dodgeable/blockable.

It can go up to 20k or higher in the right circumstances. On average though, between 4 and 10k.

My Ranger is spec’d for maximum damage (although it is not a greatsword build) and my Mauls average about 6 – 8k. The highest one I’ve hit on a player was 13k but I’m positive it could go much higher if it was a dedicated Maul build.

As for the OP, Maul is literally the most telegraphed skill in the game. Yes it hits hard but there are numerous skills from other professions that hit harder, faster and with less of a tell. The only advantage Maul has is it’s very low cooldown and the ability to change directions while casting it because of how delayed it is.

Kleptomaniac
Quick Pockets

Fight not going your way? Swap to SB → 555 a mile away. No one’s going to catch you.

Instant Reflexes
Hard To Catch
Upper Hand
Feline Grace
Endless Stamina

Having a hard time properly evading attacks? No problem. If you don’t have endurance left, you have weapon evades/full Initiative. Probably won’t run out of both. 1v1, gonna be real hard to get locked down even if you’re spamming.

Endurance Thief
Driven Fortitude

Hey look, more endurance.

I’m not going to argue with people here because I know no one wants to be constructive. I’m just going to say that Acro/Trickery/DD, usually with Staff and/or Shortbow, is absurdly OP.

I’ve got no qualms with condition Thief, staff, D/P, Shadow Arts, what ever else. Thief as a whole is powerful, especially in roaming, but not untouchable. All it takes is practice, as with most things.

Acro Thief however, way too many get out of jail free cards. You’re not going to drop them in to a danger zone because they’ll always have the endurance or initiative to make sure you don’t.

I don’t think Thief needs to be nerfed in to uselessness and I don’t think there’s a problem with them being the apex roaming class. I do think certain things need to be adjusted, though.

With all that said, I also don’t expect roaming to be balanced. WvW isn’t about small scale and it would be incredibly difficult to maintain balance between both large and small scale without over tuning or over nerfing something. So it is what it is but if you think the evade spam build Thief is balanced, you’re kidding yourself. I’d easily place it among the most broken things out there right now with how forgiving it is. I’m just glad I don’t see it all the time because most people want more damage.

ugrakarma.9416:

Trajan.4953:

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

This is a case of “Be careful what you wish for”.

A loud minority of people raised a massive stink about supposed “Outnumbered Abuse” that was never an issue as it only took place during off peak times. Well now that problem, as well as the AFK farm is solved.

im laughing hard too.
They got what they want, they shoulda be happy and celebrate.

I’m only laughing because I wouldn’t care if WvW didn’t have rewards at all. These changes mean nothing to me but I understand that it means a lot to other players.

Unfortunately when one person is satisfied, another might not be. This is why there are endless complaint threads and this is why every time there’s a major change, all those that share the same opinion come out of the wood work to voice it.

My two cents: Take what you get and be thankful you don’t have to pay to upgrade things or pay to repair your armor like it used to be. You can actually make money in WvW now instead of losing it. Suggest improvements if there are things you’d like to see changed instead of angrily criticising everything ANet tries to do.

With that said, I do very much agree – ANet doesn’t have much of an understanding how WvW works if that decay timer wasn’t an accident.

I live in WvW because I like freedom in my video games. I’m very picky with what I play because anything that tries to hold my hand or prevent me from exploring or experimenting with stats, etc., I automatically dislike.

I enjoy losing myself in adventure and combat, just wandering the land at my leisure and learning effective strategies for different encounters as I go.

WvW lets me go where the wind blows while also playing what ever I like and generally not feeling discouraged about it.

I may get frustrated with roaming, with lag, with certain builds or people, but WvW is the reason I play GW2. It gives me the freedom to do what ever feels most entertaining to me at any specific moment without ever feeling punished for it (unless I cared about loot, which I don’t).

K two more questions.

• Can I get an invite to [Wind]?

I tend to rotate my mains (4 characters) every couple months just because I gain a stronger interest in one of them every couple months. At the moment Ranger is my main but it will likely get rotated out eventually. Just letting you know that in case it’s not okay that I may stop playing it for a little while.

• Anyone here care to review this build?

I enjoy trying to min-max and I’m just curious if there’s anything I could do to further improve the damage here.
I have almost exactly 100% Precision with Hunter’s Tactics, Spotter and Fury. 2,821 Power after using a heal skill from the food. +10 damage above 90% health and 237% Ferocity with all Cruelty stacks.

Don’t worry, I’m 100% aware of the risks this kind of build has. Just curious if I’m missing anything that could further boost my damage, or if it would be more effective to go for different rune/food/sigil choices, etc.

Choppy.4183:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Berserker’s Power is better for full Berserker. Axe Mastery is better for you because you lack Ferocity with your stats. If you’re not using it already, you should get some Furious Sharpening Stones to increase your Ferocity further.

Why would present ferocity matter to relative damage between BP and AM?

I was responding to Elegie who said s/he uses Commander/Durability runes on a vanilla Warrior with a bit of Berserker.

That means Ferocity is probably around 180 – 190%, which isn’t very high, but Power and Precision are probably at a pretty good area. It would be more beneficial to add Ferocity because Power doesn’t mean much without the nasty criticals. It doesn’t matter if you have 3,000+ Power, you’re not going to hit very hard without Ferocity to back it. So it’s better to pad the stats you’re lacking rather than stacking the ones you aren’t in the case of a more defensive build.

Elegie.3620:

CrashTheGrey.1492:

Does anyone like running Armored Attacks over Defy Pain? Running Mace I feel a little starved for damage sometimes and I’ve been running that with Bloody Roar for some huge numbers and enjoying it.

When the update got out, I did want to try it in PvP, for the reasons you stated, but ended not having the courage to queue after some previous disastrous experiences (season 4’s nightmare). I’ve started playing WvW again recently though, and I’ve kept Defy Pain – unnerfed, I have found that it’s still good in the usual outnumbered fights.

As for damage, I play the vanilla flavor of the power warrior, not the berserker one. With the Strength line, damage is never an issue, and I don’t even run full zerk (commander armor with durability runes, zerk trinkets and weapons).

I did change Berserker’s Power to Axe Mastery (running GS/Axe/Shield), and found it definitely superior. The damage boost is noticeable, and the adrenaline generation allows for more frequent bursts, with the usual advantages: more fury with GS F1, regular 10k+ damage with Axe F1, faster stacking of Adrenal Health, better endurance regeneration with Stick and Move, thus more aggressiveness with Reckless Dodge…

The new Shield #4 gives me conniptions.

Berserker’s Power is better for full Berserker. Axe Mastery is better for you because you lack Ferocity with your stats. If you’re not using it already, you should get some Furious Sharpening Stones to increase your Ferocity further.

Choppy.4183:

Justine.6351:

Seriously, I don’t like thieves either but go play one.
Excellent ones are op,
All the rest get deleted,
There are so many bad thieves I could make a montage of me killing them with my hammer rev while solo roaming and even 1vX.

That’s but really true anymore. Daredevil provides opportunities for scrubs to punch above their weight, and you really only have to be competent to be op in many small scale fights.

That doesn’t mean thief isn’t without its problems, but it’s no longer the quick and the dead out there for them.

The OP is right about Bandit’s though, and general resistance to being locked down. A class with unparalleled mobility, great spoke damage, and control over initiating combat, it’s poor balance to also give that class great defense against being locked down.

I kind of agree with both of these comments.

Right now though, my major gripe with them is Acrobatics. Condition Thieves are irritating, but fine. Common power Thief is strong, but fine. Acro Thief is broken. Even bad ones are nearly impossible to lock down with that many evades and even a built in “evade all attacks” trait.

It’s true that it’s a punishing class to play and I absolutely respect good ones. Most players worth their salt know that a lot of the complaints about the class stem from inexperience but in this case, I hope people can agree that Acro is something that needs adjusting.

shadowpass.4236:

“Lastly, a question a bit different from the others, here’s my build. I tweaked it a little bit recently and I haven’t noticed much of a difference in performance. So I’m wondering if you could tell me: Do you think Bloodlust would be better than Cruelty? And do you think the first build is better than this one? Note that I try to reach 100% Precision with all buffs but I’m on the fence about it being worth the investment. All I know is that I enjoy guaranteed crits when people are trying to get away from me because Long Range Shot can go as high as 4k on squishys.”

• The first build has significantly higher damage than the second. I forget the exact number for the critical chance, but I believe at 2500 power and 50% critical chance, stacking critical damage is more beneficial than stacking power in terms of damage output.
• As for 100% critical chance, hitting that threshold is a ton of fun! There’s nothing more satisfying than every single hit critically hitting. While satisfying, digging around for min max values in terms of damage output would be your best bet if you are trying to max out your damage. 100% critical chance is great for consistency nonetheless.
• I personally used this build when I went glass cannon:
  http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRnUqA1Ci9CCOsActglFBD+pWV/qPRhi1Lb5yFAOalI9zA-TlSBQBA4BAgHdBJUllHcBAMjSwLcIAey+Dl7IAQJ1JuiyvNDDAnhZAmZmZakRGhUARszC-w

I appreciate the effort and detail put in to the responses. Things were learned and will be practiced, thank you!

Also glad to hear that my build is solid, ignoring the fact that it’s highly vulnerable, lol. But nothing wrong with being all in as long as you know how to play it, right.

It’s good that it’s that way, though. Excluding BG, everyone wins some and everyone loses some. You can’t expect to always be at the top unless you’re always manipulating the system.

I can understand when people get upset over losing objectives or having unfavorable match ups but the obsession with always being #1 is something I can’t understand. Sometimes being on the losing team can be fun, you get challenging fights and you don’t have to go far to find action because it’s always at your door step.

Start looking on the bright side.

I can’t say I’d be against unlinking servers but I just want to remind anyone who reads this to relax and to remember that score and rewards aren’t everything. Being passionate and competitive is one thing, but when it gets in the way of your enjoyment, you might need to remind yourself that there’s always next week.

Lahmia.2193:

On the plus side, Mag can’t tank in t2 because of this (it favours green side) so they’ll have to go back to T1.

Lol, we’re getting points for FA’s keep right now.

I’ve been playing Ranger for about 3 and 1/2 years by now so I don’t think I need advice. However, it’s always nice to see another players train of thought and it can’t hurt to have things echoed back to me for confirmation or even learning something new entirely.

Since you’ve done a lot of high level PvP, I’m sure you could tell me something I’d want to know. I’ve never bothered with being competitive in PvP and have never participated in the seasons. But I’ve done a ton of WvW and solo roaming, mostly (and still) with glass vanilla Ranger.

Speaking from a small scale WvW perspective, I’ll start by listing some problems I have and maybe you can help me out.

• What would you say the best way to deal with a Sword/Shield + Longbow, Medi-trap DH is? Can you give me any tricks I should know to turn these fights in my favor?

• Against tanky meta Druids, besides interrupting Rejuvenating Tides -> Rapid Fire before they leave CA, what are some important things I can do to gain the upper hand? I find these fights are often a battle against time which, with very little defence, I can’t win.

• Roaming Tempests, though rare, give me a lot of trouble. Besides trying to keep them Poisoned, sheathing my longbow when they’re reflecting and not wasting bursts while they’re in Water, can you give me any advice on how to win? Just in general to be honest because unless they’re glassy or I catch them before they catch me, I don’t know what to do against them at all really. I know nothing about Ele as it’s the class I’ve played the least of.

• Lastly, a question a bit different from the others, here’s my build. I tweaked it a little bit recently and I haven’t noticed much of a difference in performance. So I’m wondering if you could tell me: Do you think Bloodlust would be better than Cruelty? And do you think the first build is better than this one? Note that I try to reach 100% Precision with all buffs but I’m on the fence about it being worth the investment. All I know is that I enjoy guaranteed crits when people are trying to get away from me because Long Range Shot can go as high as 4k on squishys.

I think I know the answers to most of what I’ve asked but again, it can’t hurt to ask!

Sviel.7493:

^The cap is per server. You can’t prevent the enemy from building siege by spamming your own.

I remember one day some time like a year ago maybe, we made as many AC’s in Overlook keep as we could. They lined all the way around the walls in lords room and all the way down the ramp to the outer gate. Couldn’t place siege anywhere on the map after, lol. I was trying to throw siege in the middle of a field near Speldan and it wouldn’t even let me do it there, was pretty funny.

Fluffball.8307:

Shera.1450:

But like other lists it’s not for just “one” person. However, you could do one for “top commanders” but would be much more subjective.

There have been a kittenton of threads about this over the years and it always comes down to “NO ONE HAS HEARD OF YOUR COMMANDER OUTSIDE OF THE LIKE 50 PEOPLE THAT FOLLOW HIM IN HIS TIMEZONE AND POSSIBLY ABOUT 6 ENEMIES THAT READ THE UNOFFICIAL WVW FORUMS.”

No one knows enemy players on enemy servers because you can’t see their names, end of discussion.

I don’t know about that. I know the names of many, many players from other servers, commanders included.

It’s true that you don’t see their names but you often learn them through word of mouth or via dueling/teamspeak.

On topic, though. I think any kind of list that’s subjective would be a bad thing to have/something ANet wouldn’t do. It would be too easy for people to get in to serious disagreements about who they think is better or worse. Any kind of lists would have to be statistical facts for it to be something ANet would consider.

Shera.1450:

I mean your “individual” WvW rank, and not just server ranking. Like AP, PvP indiv rank, etc.

I’d be okay with this.

Although WvW rank is essentially meaningless I don’t see the harm in having a list to show where you stand.

Players who have accumulated the most Achievement Points have a list and, although a little more effort is required in some cases, it’s roughly similar to WvW rank. All most of it requires is play time. Heck, I’m at nearly 19k AP now and I’ve gained all of that casually. There has only been a handfull of times I’ve gone out of my way for something.

It’s not hard to figure out who the farmers are and who the veterans are so I don’t understand the controversy. Most of us are aware that WvW rank means very little and most of us are aware that high AP means very little.

If you want an unofficial list you can check out GW2Efficiency. Once you add your account and API, go to Account → Statistics → and select what you’d like to view in the drop down menu. In this case, WvW rank. From there, it will display your placement against those who have signed up on GW2Efficiency.

steppjoe.4386:

Spartacus.3192:

steppjoe.4386:

so guys there’s actually a nice viable build with LB in wvw?

Ive yet to meet a warrior in WvW thats using longbow.

I see..Loading said “gs/lb” so I thought it’s a viable one.
how do you play it in wvw?

Longbow + Hammer is really nice in zergs but I wouldn’t use it for roaming.

In zergs, Scorched Earth is great for tagging and bagging + does solid damage/can be blasted for Might. Rupturing Smash is great for locking people down + blast finisher + does a metric ton of damage if you’re glass.

If you’re not in a squad, you’ll need to be relatively skilled not to get killed due to low mobility and vulnerability to reflects when using Longbow. Otherwise, it provides some great utility and is easy to use, albeit punishing.

I sometimes use Longbow + Axe/Shield when roaming and I’ve seen someone else using a similar set up although they were vanilla Warrior and not Berserker. They played it better than I did (mind you I wasn’t on my Warrior when I fought them) and it can be a very powerful combination if you consistently get your bursts off.

Lock your target down with Pin Down to make it easier to land bursts on them, make sure to get use out of Smoldering Arrow for that Blind and of course spam Arcing Arrow for heaps of damage (I’ve literally pegged people for 12k+ with this skill). Also remember that Longbow bursts do not require hitting your target to gain Adrendal Health. Which means you can drop your bursts at your feet and maintain AH constantly which can be very powerful.

It’s true that LB is a bit underwhelming but don’t discredit it’s utility. Take care not to fire in to reflects and know when to begin kiting and it’s absolutely a more than viable weapon.

Side note: The build I use is relatively standard which can be seen here. I have high Precision because I usually use Rifle + Axe/Shield which both benefit a lot from it. Full Berserker would probably be better when using Longbow but I’m obviously not gonna change my gear for that since I don’t use LB when roaming very often.

Anyway if you want to use LB I think you should go for it.

Straegen.2938:

Server pride was always a bunch of horse kitten. Picking a server is mostly arbitrary and “wins” revolved around numbers and coverage 99% of the time. It remains one of the silliest concepts in an MMO. Pride in a system that only exists due to limitations in the gaming engine.

Guild pride in GvG was a thing for a while but ANet actively went out of their way for the longest time to run that style out of WvW. The guilds in WvW today are a watered down shadow of the guilds from 3 years ago.

Rivalries are fun when they’re done right. In GW2, I agree that it’s silly. In other games, I disagree.

Rivalry in DC Universe Online between Heroes and Villains was amazing. I loved the drive to kill the Hero players and how much I hated anyone who was a part of them. If a friend made a Hero I’d be like “ew, why?” good laughs. My time in DCUO was some of the fondest with any video game and the rivalries were a part of that.

Of course the “hate” wasn’t real but it was immersive and enjoyable. It made me feel more passionate about my choices and it’s something that I wouldn’t be against having in GW2.

I would like to see their siege damage and direct damage improved a very little bit. Otherwise I think they’re fine.

It can be buffed with boons (this means Quickness, Might, etc.)
It has an insanely massive leap ability that makes it easy to escape danger.
It can AOE stealth with it’s Smoke Field + Blast finisher combo for disengage.
And it has a pretty solid rate of fire + range.

It’s not weak but it could use a tiny buff in overall damage just to make it more worth the cooldown wait + purchase. If it were buffed too significantly it would outperform golems and other siege and would be too easy to murder multiple players with (which would obviously be broken).

Build here

I’ve been playing Engineer in WvW for quite some time and have adjusted my build to suit multiple roles.

It has high condition cleanse, perma-x2 Stability, perma-18 Might, high Fury and Quickness uptime, high Healing Power + x2 blast (Flamethrower #2 → HT blast = near full heal), high durability, very capable of frontline, high melee range damage, very strong Burn burst (4k+ per tick) and easy to play.

It functions nicely as a mid – frontliner in zergs and as a res/stompbot in small scale. Because of it’s perma-Stability and high durability, it is very easy to secure kills and save downed players as well as locking people down with CC’s and consistent damage.

Honestly my favorite part about it though is just that it’s very good at tagging and bagging in zergs. Retaliation can be a problem but not so much so that I’m constantly killing myself. I tend to hang back on the first push so the real frontliners can soften them up a bit and clear some of their defences. After that, I’ll push through and spam FT and get tons of bags.

The only major down sides of this build is that 1v1, it’s very easy to kite and it can be tricky to maintain damage on people if they’re constantly stepping out of your Flame Jet. It is more than capable of killing people quickly but it requires a bit of maneuvering.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t read it. But judging by the comments, here’s how I’m going to respond.

Point 1. Arena Net needs revenue.
One of the ways this is achieved is via transfer fees. Transfer fees will not be removed (as far as I’m concerned) because ANet needs money to support their game and to continue making content.

If near perfect balance were achieved in that each world is generally facing fightable numbers, transfers will decrease. I’m sure people would still continue to transfer for other reasons but regardless, it would put a significant dent in the income that transfer fees provide. This is because most players prefer to win/be on the winning server, as can be seen with bandwagoning.

Point 2. WvW = World versus World. It is by design, a large scale combat mode.
While it is true that many players do not enjoy the large scale aspect of WvW, that does not mean that they aren’t free to play it differently. There are many ways you can approach combat in WvW and you can see this with only a few minutes of exploring the maps.

Zerging is the most effective because it was designed to be. Objectives have become progressively more difficult to capture on a smaller scale because ANet wants to enforce that it should be a job for an army. This can be troublesome when the offending servers greatly outnumber you but that does not mean it is impossible. A little effort can go a long way, if you want something bad enough, all you need is planning and co-ordination.

Point 3. Everything you need, you have.
It’s easy to break up zergs and to make intelligent assaults with what we’re provided.
There’s siege, chokes, specific group compositions, squads, the ability to create multiple zergs with multiple objectives, etc. etc.

The heart of the problem is that most players don’t want to think. They want rewards and they want them fast. When rewards don’t come, they find some where else to go. Not everyone is like this, but a significant percentage are. And that’s why we often only see one giant blob with one simple mission: capture and kill.

Final point.
It’s great to make suggestions and to brainstorm ideas. There’s nothing wrong with that and perhaps ANet will consider the best ones. Still, it’s important to remember that not everything you want will come to you. What is important, is to enjoy what you have while you have it. Do you like WvW? Are you passionate about it? Great, keep doing that and keep having fun. Everyone finds entertainment differently. Respect that and it will be a lot easier to accept and understand why perfect balance, no matter how great or how small, is nothing more than a myth.

Fluffball.8307:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

This is a big part of why I don’t roam as much as I used to nor do I take losing as seriously as I used to.

I don’t know about everyone else but personally, I do not enjoy losing because of mechanics. I appreciate/recognize when someone is better than me or when I’ve made crucial mistakes but those kinds of fights are getting fewer and further between. Both with the people I fight and with myself as well, there are just so many times where either I win and I shouldn’t have or my opponent wins and they shouldn’t have because of mechanics.

And it works the reverse way too. I rarely feel like I’ve beaten someone, I just made a build that works and they die without me doing anything. It’s pretty hollow compared to when I used to roam on a core LB ranger before RF had its speed double, the arrows could be avoided by sidestepping, and signets only affected the pet.

I still roam on a vanilla longbow Ranger because I’m stubborn. This is when I blame myself if I die, though. Because I’m deliberately putting myself at a disadvantage and I’m not skilled enough to win the uphill fights against equally skilled players.

I do just fine the majority of the time because I know my class and my limits, but I also know when I would have won a fight if I were using something more “effective.” It’s depressing to say the least.

But absolutely I understand what you mean. I’ve recently been experimenting with builds on my Ranger actually and I couldn’t believe how easy meta Druid was. Didn’t enjoy it one bit, nothing that feels effectively autopilot is fun for me.

In my experience, Ranger and Thief are the two classes people get the most passionate about.

I know there are other reasons for them being commonly seen but I seriously think this is the route of it.

Fluffball.8307:

Small scale reaper gets annihilated IMO. I view them as free bags. They have no invulns, no blocks, no stealth, no evades, barely any stun breakers, their condi clear is amazing but really situational… they’re easy kills.

You’re a Druid, of course they’re easy kills. Immob from 1,500 range and unless they have Plague Signet up and quick thinking, it’s GG.

Helly.2597:

Justine.6351:

Lazeris.1725:

I mean despite the OP…..Condi Reaper is really crazy op right now. Not sure how anyone can actually defend that class right now.

Because they play reapers most likely. Helly is a prolific viper reaper player and he made vids about how obnoxious reaper is atm and people still tell him hes wrong/ reapers deserve this meta blahblahblah. Not even someone who is an expert on reaper can tell the masses that reaper is ridiculous in wvw.

What makes reaper so strong right now is the impact you can have while being a complete and total braindead player. Regardless of if this/the other thread conveyed this, a totally new player can have the largest impact in small scale and zerging fights by making a reaper getting reaper runes and full dire and just spamming abilities. It snowballs fights well, requires minimal thought behind skill usage, and doesn’t have diminishing returns based on how many reapers are around you.

The heart of the problem is the lack of diminishing returns for deathly chill. It doesn’t matter if its 1 necro or 20, they all are applying the 3 bleeds per chill application. This promotes the meta we’re seeing now with reapers being one of the most popular professions especially in zergs. This meta simply isn’t healthy for wvw imo whatever aspect of the gamemode you play.

These forums aren’t exactly full of logic and reason. As someone who has been using them regularly for years, I highly suggest the both of you don’t take anything people say here seriously. 90% of them have next to no clue what they actually want, what skill is or isn’t or even what balance is.

I agree with the both of you, Reaper is overtuned. But don’t expect to get many others to agree because most who play it think it’s weak when they realize they can’t run away with it.

We think a lot alike and I enjoy listening to your commentary. I prefer hearing the players process of thought over music and overused intros personally.

I also appreciate your descriptions of when and where you should be as a Necro during combat and your examples. Position is everything when you’re playing something that can’t rapidly change that position. I usually like to plant a Flesh Wurm somewhere when I’m poking at a larger group just so I can create range and pull who ever thinks they want to chase.

Anyway great stuff, I look forward to more!

ThomasC.1056:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

I appreciate/recognize when someone is better than me or when I’ve made crucial mistakes but those kinds of fights are getting fewer and further between. Both with the people I fight and with myself as well, there are just so many times where either I win and I shouldn’t have or my opponent wins and they shouldn’t have because of mechanics.

As someone who only plays small scale, I perfectly relate to that.
Depending on whom I’m playing at a given moment, I know there’re fights that I can engage and when I lose, I end up saying “should better’ve done that”. These are the exception.

Unfortunately, there also are encounters which I don’t even try. Because I know, just from the profession, some skills, food and utility, that I’ll be helpless. Not because of skill, but because of perma evades, perma invulns, or perma stuns. In a nutshell : mechanics that allow the opposite player to play as if my chair was empty and I was afk brewing some tea. Of course, the set of encounters varies upon the toon I’m playing, but as I can change toon on the fly…

That said, some may argue it’s mechanics, and it’s balance : you can’t kill anyone with every toon. Some encounters have to be harder than others, there’re natural enemies, etc. I agree with that. To me, issue is : natural enemies aren’t skilled players or smart tactics in that game. Natural enemies are mechanics favoring a one-sided fight, and eventually making me feel helpless.

To give a perfect example;

There was a time I was fighting a meta Berserker who was using Rousing Resilience, Dead Or Alive and GS + Mace/Shield with Durability runes (mind you I was also using Mace/Shield at this time) and I interrupted so many of his attacks. I’m talking countering his bursts and other heavy hitters constantly. This fight went on for a solid 8 minutes until I literally ran away because I couldn’t kill him even though I was massively outplaying him evading/interrupting/countering crucial skills.

But, I wasn’t running the meta traits and I wasn’t using Berserker Stance so in the end, had I stayed around, he would have won.

That’s what I hate. Losing to mechanics and not to the player. I wasn’t using some kind of in-effective slapped together build.

If I lose because a player is better than me, if I lose because I made a mistake/poor judgement call, if I lose because I’m using an off meta not-super-effective build, all of that is fine. It’s when I lose because my opponent is being carried by mechanics that I hate and those kinds of fights are becoming more and more common.

I don’t think a lot of these are “glitches” but I’d like to share them anyway.

A couple years ago when I was on IoJ there was an FA Thief that was hacking. Sometimes he was invisible (not stealthed, attacking while stealthed), sometimes he teleported, sometimes he had super speed, sometimes he was flying, etc. At one point I was laughing so hard I decided not to report him because he used a tonic to turn himself in to a bird and was flying around with it.

A speed hacking Ranger in EOTM that was darting through zergs like The Flash. This guy would blink in, attack people then hurry away. At one point he tried to attack me while I was on my Warrior and I block / reflected his Rapid Fire + subsequent attacks (because he was idiotic enough to keep attacking). He managed to kill himself with reflects and I kitten you not he whispered me and told me I was an @sshole.

When Necro’s Signet Of Vampirism could damage gates / When Guardians symbols could damage gates. People would just spam those things and get through the gates in .5 seconds.

During the golem event the golems got a special damage bonus that players learned how to exploit. Most people were running around with it and doing insane damage. I’ll admit I did do it as well at one point just to experience it (as I figured they wouldn’t ban everyone who was doing it because it was A LOT of people) and I was hitting people for 20k+ Life Blasts on my Necro. I think at one point I hit someone for 40k or something with Lich Form.

The very brief period where Smokescale was bugged and Smoke Assault did absurdly high damage. Had a lot of fun watching my pet 1vX.

During HoT beta when Berserker Gunflame hit twice. Oh god I remember 1 shotting so many people. If you didn’t experience it, just imagine getting hit by that attack twice at the same time and you can see why no one would survive it.

EDIT: Picture enclosed of the damage I was doing with the siege golem buff.

DeceiverX.8361:

Well, you’ve pretty much figured out now why most seriously competitive players have dropped GW2; A lot of the defense in this game is passive and requires little thought or little resource management.

This is a big part of why I don’t roam as much as I used to nor do I take losing as seriously as I used to.

I don’t know about everyone else but personally, I do not enjoy losing because of mechanics. I appreciate/recognize when someone is better than me or when I’ve made crucial mistakes but those kinds of fights are getting fewer and further between. Both with the people I fight and with myself as well, there are just so many times where either I win and I shouldn’t have or my opponent wins and they shouldn’t have because of mechanics.

With that said, WvW isn’t designed with small scale combat in mind. It’s a large scale semi-sandbox type environment and people shouldn’t go there expecting perfect balance (or any at all). It’s unfortunate that that’s the way it is but there’s still fun to be had despite the faults.

I enjoy all areas of WvW but I’d be lying if I said I enjoy it as much now as I did pre-HoT. I very much miss the glory days of roaming when it felt like your decisions and skill had a greater impact on the outcome of your fights. Now, it’s pretty much rock, paper, scissors and occasionally someone brings a bazooka.