Guild Wars 2

A Ranger winning a 1vX is very unlikely. I don’t play my Ranger nearly as much as I do my Necromancer but I can tell you that compared to other professions it’s extremely difficult to manage multiple targets with a Ranger regardless of weapon choice. If you’re good enough, I could see a Ranger winning a 1vX, but you would have to be exceptionally good to do so.
1v1, a Ranger shouldn’t be underestimated. I’ve come across only a handfull that knew what they were doing but the Rangers that know how to play their profession will demolish you. I still need a lot of practice on mine but I’ve either killed or made plenty of people run for the hills on my Ranger but as soon as someone else joins the fight I’m screwed. Besides traps, they’re just a very single target type of profession, which makes any thing other than a 1vs1 fight almost impossible to win unless everything goes perfectly smooth.

Line of sight abuse, like with the Mesmer, is what makes them a problem. Not high damage or stealthing. They’re constantly porting all over the place and it’s next to impossible to hit them or see what you need to dodge because they’re constantly coming at you from blind spots.

I think lengthening the stability granted by Well Of Power from 1second to 3seconds would be a reasonable enough change. As is, 30 points in to Soul Reaping for a few seconds of stability is ridiculous imho. I understand that as a Necromancer we’re the attrition profession, but stability is plain and simple something every profession needs access to. Not all of us are power builds and unless you want 0 duration as a conditionmancer you’re not going to spec 30 in to Soul Reaping.
So although I can understand the reasoning behind not giving us easy access to stability, it still doesn’t change the fact that the access we do have is in kind of a silly place.
So my suggestion would just be to increase the duration given by Well Of Power. Or maybe even it grants 1second per-pulse.

Before anyone says so, because there’s always that one guy who’s bothered by the fact that “this thread has been posted before ……………” I’m well aware people have brought this subject up before. But the more times it’s brought up the more likely it is ANet will do something about it.
Something is wrong with Corrupt Boon not connecting with it’s targets. Sometimes it will go on cooldown without even having any kind of effect on your opponent. It’s like it literally just craps out on you at random. It also, as others have said, seems to act like a very fast invisible projectile that can be obstructed by a pebble. If someone could look in to this it would be great, especially considering it has been a known issue for some time, and has only gotten more prevalent with the recent patch.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Eh, I guess if it not actually ‘mini’ it might be ok (down past the knees like you said). My concern is that they do make it really truly ‘mini’ (and you know they’d do it).

Have you seen the default skirt you’re given as a female light profession human, norn or sylvari? Thier buttcheeks are hanging out… And yet I’ve never seen anyone complain about this…

Lishtenbird.2814:

Capes? Yeap, not a problem.

Nearly topless Marvel heroes/Avatars? Sure, here you go.

Outfits of executioners with skulls and axes designed to chop off victim’s heads? Come on, that’s just a game!

School uniform? OHMYGAWDNO-WRONGMESSAGE-YOUPERVERTSGOTOJAIL!!!!111

/shrug

^ This.

Lmfao @ people saying it’s wrong. What’s wrong about it? There are plenty of revealing and over sexualized armors in this game, and this one isn’t either of those things.. I enjoy casual looking outfits and in GW2 in particular those kinds of outfits are few and far between. Everything is extremely exotic looking and it’s almost impossible to make your character look somewhat “normal.” Although that’s supposed to be the point, to have a fantasy outfit/character, etc. I still don’t always enjoy adhering to that standard.

Anyway… It’s only “wrong” if you’re in the state of mind to consider it so. It didn’t even cross my mind that it might be until multiple people here mentioned it… Which only leads me to believe the ones who have have a very dirty mind. Don’t project your perverted thoughts on to everyone else, some of us enjoy this outfit because it’s cute not because it can be seen as “wrong.”

That’s what makes roaming exciting to me though, lol. Zergs are like an environmental hazard, they can roll through at any time and if you’re not constantly aware of your surroundings you’re going to get rolled. Don’t roam on the roads, take shortcuts and back ally’s, don’t spend too long with anything you’re doing, the longer you stay in one place the more likely you’re going to get rolled. And lastly, always check your map for swords. You can scout for your server by calling out where enemies are (if you’ve seen them physically) or where you think they are (if you’ve seen swords on the map) and it gives you an idea of where you should probably avoid going unless you’re able to make a quick get away such as a Thief, Mesmer or a Warrior can accomplish.

Jong.5937:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

As for coming back with multiple people and still claiming you’ve won… Yeah if you want to play that way you’ve won the fight no doubt, but I can’t fathom how it must feel knowing that you need help to bring one person down. All that says is that you’re bad and instead of accepting a chance to get better you’ve brought people to fight your battle for you.

You clearly don’t understand the game mode you are in:

- WvW is a team game

- WvW, whether we like it or not, is LARGELY about organising bigger numbers in order to win. True, there are epic fights to be had where an organised group defeats a much larger blob, but with equal organisation, especially over the week, bigger numbers, well organised, win.

- to repeat myself, yet again, this is not 1v1 PVP. Many, many in WvW spec their builds for very different things than duelling. If you beat one of these guys as a zerker roamer you are fooling yourself if you think you are some 1v1 duelling god.

- to give but one example, if I duck out of a tower and hold off a pesky thief who I am self-aware enough to know I would NEVER kill, long enough to get a doly home, then dive back into my tower ready to scout/man siege, that is not cowardice. Dying and leaving the tower unprotected would be the shameful thing and letting the doly die would be cowardice.

- if a support guard (for example) holds that thief up long enough for others to come and “discourage” him from continuing to molest our dolys, again, good job done. No shame there.

So, PLEASE, think about the game when making these ridiculous comments. If you want to play others, spec’d equally well for 1v1, and glory in your victory if your superb skill wins out, choose a different game. WvW is not the place for you.

NB: I am not trashing the role of thieves in WvW. Harassing the supply lines (for example) is a good, honourable job. Just don’t take every victory as proof of your leet skills plz!

I have never stated anywhere that I think I’m “leet.” Infact I don’t think I’m anything above average. Although you are right WvW is a team environment, what I’m saying is that people who need to call for help when they’re being attacked just so they can jump on your corpse are pathetic… As I’ve already said, you can’t blame me, or anyone else for being spec’d for 1v1’s anymore than I can blame you for not being spec’d for a 1v1. If you want to run from a fight go ahead… But why would you engage in the first place if you know you can’t, or may not even have a chance, to win? I don’t get it… It’s like being a feeble old man who decides he wants to stop a raging bull. Why get in it’s way and try to stop it just so you can run off and blame the bull for charging at you?

I appreciate this post as well as the one in the link you shared. Although very true, I feel that what complete strangers say to you, or think of you, shouldn’t be something you let bother you. Sure, these people can provide helpful advice, but that should be the only thing you allow them to do. I suppose it’s all subjective, everything in life is, really. I feel that if someone has something negative to say, you can either take it personally or you can take it constructively. Why be hurt by something someone has said that you’ve never met, probably never will, and that often times has said something that has nothing to do with your question?
Again, it’s all subjective. This is simply how I feel about the matter.

Either way, people are able to say some very cruel things. Especially through the internet where the only thing that gives them any form of identity is their username. It’s an unfortunate realm our world has created but it’s not something we can readily change with the flick of a switch or even with years of hard work. Beginning with yourself is the best way to resolve this problem. So don’t let people hurt you that have no idea how to step outside their own shoes.

Also, as far as having people constantly harass you goes such as what was mentioned in the link you posted, that’s something famous, or borderline famous people have to deal with, not every day people. If someone is harassing you you can block them and that should hopefully be the end of that. When ever someone is being explicitly cruel to you you should never allow yourself to endure it, these people should be silenced (I’m not saying punished, although to a degree perhaps they should) and no longer allowed to communicate with you. You can’t reason with ignorance.

Anyway, I enjoyed this post although it will probably be deleted as it has nothing to do with the game. Take care and I’ll leave you with a quote of mine;

Life is about choice, and everything you do is a result of the decisions you’ve made. There are no wrong answers, there are no bad people, only actions and images which each person will interpret differently.

As someone who very much enjoys in game casual looking clothing, which this game has a serious lack of, I would really, reaaalllyyy love to see this in the gem store. I stumbled across it while looking up the witches outfit and apparently it’s already in the data files or something?
Anyway, pleeeaaaseeee!! Many gems would pay do want, TAKE MY MONEY.

Eye of the beholder.
Everything is subjective and although I would have to agree that female armor is far too revealing in most cases I also feel that it’s a video game. And it may not promote a realistic image but neither do hulking muscular males. The fact of the matter is that it’s a fantasy video game and the vast majority of us understand this. Only someone who is mentally disconnected projects their opinions of beauty from video games in to the real world.
Play what you enjoy and if someone has a problem with it they are as much entitled to their opinion as you.

Tom Gore.4035:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many cowards in this thread, lmfao. So many, omg.

You can try to justify your cowardice all you want, you’re still a sissy. There’s a difference between not engaging and avoiding a fight all together and attacking someone then running when things aren’t playing in your favor. It’s one thing to run off from a 1v1 but it’s a whole other to run from a duel where a /bow took place beforehand. Running from a 1v1 is a lot more acceptable but I still will never understand the logic behind it. As soon as you turn your back you’re incredibly vulnerable and basically giving your opponent free shots on you. Staying until the end is the best way to prevent dying because anything can happen in that last 10%< of your health. Your own zerg could run through, someone else could join to help you out, your enemy could make a critical mistake, you’ll never know if you’re always running off when things look bad.
If you’re not spec’d for 1v1’s, don’t engage. If you think WvW is unfair, why are you there? So you can run and claim WvW is unbalanced, or so you can win and claim your opponent was bad when for all you know they’re not spec’d for 1v1’s either…
There are always two sides to the story. Running does not = win, it means you forfeit and your opponent will very likely be a lot less kind to you if they see you a second time.

You can try to bring your own codes of honor and whatnot into WvW, but don’t expect your opponent to follow them.

An opponent that runs from you and comes back to kill you 3v1 still wins and you lose, end of story

I do agree that rules cannot, and should not, be forced upon someone. I haven’t stated that anyone abide by my terms of combat. I’m just stating that running from a fight means only that you’ve forfeit whether you want to accept that or not. Denying that you’ve thrown in the towel because you’re too scared to bruise your morale won’t stop the person you’ve fled from from thinking you’re a chicken.
As for coming back with multiple people and still claiming you’ve won… Yeah if you want to play that way you’ve won the fight no doubt, but I can’t fathom how it must feel knowing that you need help to bring one person down. All that says is that you’re bad and instead of accepting a chance to get better you’ve brought people to fight your battle for you.

Ision.3207:

I just adore these cartoon video game “gladiators” that always fight to the end, never flee and die “honorably”. ROFL

Trust me, it’s a load of crap.

Basically what you have are some classes that cannot as easily disengage and escape from a fight than other classes. This does not make these classes bad, as they may have many other very strong abilities that greatly outshine other classes in different game modes. However, if the player of these classes likes to solo roam in WvW, but is also one of these thin-skinned tantrum throwing types that demand that the world adjusts to their gameplay style, and everyone else be dammed – then you get these whiney QQ posts in the forums. And believe me, 9 out 10 of all these please nerf Thieves and Warriors thread starters could give a rats-behind about “balance”, the real issue is their wounded adolescent E-pride.

The bottom line is that WvW is an open PvP field that already has its rules of what you can, and cannot do. And sorry, but neither you nor I get to “invent” rules by which others must “behave/play” in WvW, no matter how many frustrated tantrums you throw when things don’t go your way. But you can at least take solace in one thing, you are not alone – because if you go visit the WvW forums of nearly every single MMO, you will notice the exact same whine/QQ tantrums being thrown as the ones on our forums. And the tantrums are being thrown by the exact same type of player: the terri-bad solo roamer that adores 1v1s, but unfortunately, they really suck at it, so they scream and whine for nerfs and game mechanics changes in hopes that mommy and daddy Anet will punishes their “bullies”.

While I do agree that people, sometimes myself as well, take the staying until the end of the fight a bit seriously, you make it sound as though running is something to be proud of. No one here has said anything about bullies, nerf this or that, only questioning why someone would run when they have nothing to gain but knowledge. If you want to run and emote from afar all the power to you. Just know that from the other end all we’re doing is face palming.

I’ve noticed this also and I hope it gets looked in to. The fear on down is incredibly irritating. It’s like it just goes straight to cooldown without casting.

I’ve been a Necromancer for a very long time. Although I often hop mains, I’ve always returned to my Necromancer as my primary character. Some time has passed since I started playing the game, and after making one of each profession and reaching 80, I can confidently say that Necromancer is, by a long shot, my favorite profession. I actually plan on making a second soon with a different race, who knows maybe even a third later on.
I love their versatility, their reputation, the overall feel of them in combat, Necromancer is just the profession I was meant to be. Everyone has that profession that suits them and this is mine without a doubt.

Share your love for the dark magic and any stories you have about player kills in PvP, WvW, epic dungeons groups or anything else Necromancy related ( :

Also for the heck of it here is the build I solo roam with in WvW.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fREQRArY7djc00Tb5NG3wfbCchaqnA6BIAi2o/gJIfB-TFTAABKcQAo4ACE9DAwr9Hk+EAMj2DxU+BwBCAJ1fIUHQ3HBg2UCGAABgZOzhOzhOzCBsYNA-w

I begin by collecting stacks with my scepter/focus. After I’ve collected all my stacks (from the environment or from other players) I switch to my scepter and dagger. Switching between the two while in a fight is a good way to stack torment + increase your condition damage/duration and/or remove boons with focus #5. When my opponent has a significant amount of conditions on them, torment being the most important, I hop in to Death Shroud, #5 for more torment, #3 to fear them, causing terror damage as well as increasing the damage from torment which causes more damage on moving targets, then I blast them with dhuumfire. This is a fairly common rotation but a lot of Necromancer’s prefer to use staff. Although very effective I just find it too slow in small scale battles. That and I’m just a huge fan of the scepter.

Anyway I look forward to hearing from my fellow evil doers ( :

Bhawb.7408:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

MM’s make me ashamed to be a Necromancer. Every time I run in to one in PvP I feel like asking them why they didn’t roll a Mesmer.

Because mesmer and MM only have superficial similarities. They function differently, with different focuses. The best thing you can say is that they are both good 1v1 and have things they summon.

I understand what you’re saying but I was relating it to the fact that MM’s and Mesmer’s are both very good at 1v1 but it’s the build, and in Mesmer’s case the profession, that makes them good not the player. MM’s make me ashamed because they take absolutely no skill to use. Sure you can practice a rotation to use with your minions such as immobilizing someone with bone fiend or blinding with shadow fiend, but you don’t even need to… All you need to do is learn when to interrupt someone with flesh golem and the minions will do the rest. A chimp could figure out how to stop someone from healing and that’s all you really need to know how to do to be an MM.

deepwinter.9015:

As someone who was greatly looking forward to EotM as “the roamer’s paradise,” I was greatly disappointed. As others here have pointed out, it turned into a karma-champ train akin to the old days of Orr or the current Frostgorge.

For a roamer or small group, its extremely difficult to achieve any meaningful impact on the map. With fully upgraded doors and tower champs with dungeon-like abilities, these small groups cannot reliably take objectives as easily as the zerg can – who just burn down champs in a matter of seconds.

EotM included new ways to kill your opponents, such as throwing them off the edge or collapsing the bridges under their feet. Unfortunately, breaking bridges is frowned upon by your own team because it “slows down the karma farm.”

Ultimately, EotM failed to deliver as an engaging map for folks looking for a fast-paced WvW experience while waiting for queues or otherwise. Unless you’re a roamer who enjoys killing veteran points or a zergling bursting down champions in a rotation, EotM will not satisfy.

+1
Solo roaming in EOTM is dangerous. The NPC enemies hit like a semi and a havoc group would struggle to take a tower with how strong those champs are. I’ve solo’d towers in EBG and the BL’s lots of times and it’s somewhat difficult but it’s do-able. Soloing a tower in EOTM is next to, if not impossible. It’s hard enough to take a generator quickly with how much health those guys have let alone trying to take on a champ that can one shot you + guards. Not only that anything you manage to capture will be flipped in a matter of minutes by the opposing servers. There’s no point in doing anything besides zerging in EOTM. That or trolling around for 1v1’s.

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many cowards in this thread, lmfao. So many, omg.

You can try to justify your cowardice all you want, you’re still a sissy. There’s a difference between not engaging and avoiding a fight all together and attacking someone then running when things aren’t playing in your favor. It’s one thing to run off from a 1v1 but it’s a whole other to run from a duel where a /bow took place beforehand. Running from a 1v1 is a lot more acceptable but I still will never understand the logic behind it. As soon as you turn your back you’re incredibly vulnerable and basically giving your opponent free shots on you. Staying until the end is the best way to prevent dying because anything can happen in that last 10%< of your health. Your own zerg could run through, someone else could join to help you out, your enemy could make a critical mistake, you’ll never know if you’re always running off when things look bad.
If you’re not spec’d for 1v1’s, don’t engage. If you think WvW is unfair, why are you there? So you can run and claim WvW is unbalanced, or so you can win and claim your opponent was bad when for all you know they’re not spec’d for 1v1’s either…
There are always two sides to the story. Running does not = win, it means you forfeit and your opponent will very likely be a lot less kind to you if they see you a second time.

Bhawb.7408:

MMs have never been successful in any coordinated high level play ever, let alone a finals like this, yet they’ve seen at least occasional nerfs. They also just recently nerfed dumbfire in PvE despite conditions still being subpar. You’re never safe, unless you’re a warrior.

MM’s make me ashamed to be a Necromancer. Every time I run in to one in PvP I feel like asking them why they didn’t roll a Mesmer.

I like to use a sigil of strength in my offhand personally. Stacking might means extra condition damage as well as extra power, so your physical damage and your condition damage will both increase over time. You’ll only ever get about 4 or 5 stacks but last I checked the return from that is more than a sigil of bursting offers. The tradeoff however is that bursting is all the time where as strength is only when you have enough stacks. Still, I enjoy it regardless.

Jong.5937:

Just a thought, but maybe you are the guy defending or rushing to defend a tower. You die, siege is not manned, tower falls. There are reasons other than cowardice.

I had already stated that. There’s nothing wrong with not engaging. If you’re scouting or running to defend a tower, that’s completely fine. Although the person attacking you may not know this, there’s nothing wrong with ignoring them to reach your objective. What I’m saying is that it’s pointless to run from a fight, not to ignore one. If you’re going to defend a tower and you’re attacked, you respond, but run and continue to the tower when you start to lose, that’s being a coward. Why would you engage anyway when you have somewhere to be? Because you were thinking you might get an easy win but when it turned out to be difficult you said “screw this.” God forbid someone faces any kind of challenge in a PvEvP environment, lol. (Ps. this is not directed at you, I’m just stating how I feel about someone doing this.)

Fhaeris.9237:

Wow at people in this thread desperately trying to justify their cowardice.
If you engage a 1v1 and then you run away, you’re a coward. Period. Fight and die like a man.
I recently had this warrior that saw me with like 30% hp left and decided to attack me, thinking I was an easy kill. After 30 seconds of battle I was back to full health, while he was dropped to like 20%, when he decided to flee. I /laughed so hard at him.

Ikr? How long does it really take you to get your stacks back… If you’re a zergling it can’t take you any longer than 5 minutes. I know because I participate in all roles of WvW, with roaming/scouting being my primary focus. If I die during a roaming encounter, I merge with the zerg for 5 minutes to get my stacks back and voila… Other than losing stacks what can possibly be the problem with losing a fight? Armor repairs cost nothing and failure is a great way to learn. Not only that, a lot can change in a fight even if you’re very low health. I’ve won fights with 10%< health many, many times that I otherwise (if I were even able to run, being that I roam as a Necro) wouldn’t have if I decided to flee. Turning your back and hauling kitten is literally the best way to get yourself killed unless you catch your opponent off guard with it. You’re better off either not engaging at all or staying until only one of you are standing.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with not engaging someone. If you’re scouting, trying to get back to your zerg, or something of that nature, you don’t need to fight. But initiating an attack or responding to an attack and running when things look bad is just an unwillingness to learn from your mistakes. Take every death as a way to improve yourself. If you’re not spec’d for 1v1’s, don’t blame your opponent for not knowing. Also, being in a fight where you are clearly at a disadvantage is a great way to get better. Because when you’re using a build that’s meant for small scale battles it’ll feel a whole lot easier.

Anyway, I agree Fhaeris… Read through a lot of these comments and it’s no wonder so many people run… God forbid their pixelized self dies and they have to make a 60 second journey across the map with absolutely no consequences from dying.

The more people have conditions inflicted upon them by you, the more healing you will get in return. In WvW for example, if there is a zerg clash, hopping in to Plague form and tagging as many people as absolutely possible (assuming you have lengthy condition duration) will give you a lot of return. I’m able to make my health go up faster than it goes down even when I have every condition in the game piled on top of me. It’s a great trait for large scale battles assuming you have good condition duration, but in small scale combat it rarely shines.

Omg that was amazing, lol. Was like a waterfall of people going over the edge.
I once did something similar in the Borderlands, actually. There was about 8 or 9 people on a cliff, below a cliff. It’s difficult to explain but… If you’ve been in the Borderlands enough times you probably know what I mean. Anyway these people were below me fighting 3 of my server mates, obviously outnumbered and losing health quickly I decided to drop a spectral wall and reaper’s mark and they all immediately ran off the edge to their death. Was frigging hilarious. Fears near high ledges = zerg wiping material if timed right.

Use Corruption abilities like Corrupt Boon, Corrosive Poison Cloud, Blood Is Power, then use Consume Conditions. CC heals you for a greater amount the more conditions you have on you, if you’re somewhat low on health, and your heal isn’t on cooldown, using Corruption skills is a good way to make CC give better return. I believe that was the intention when designing Corruption skills.

Logicx.5832:

Alex.9268:

Not engaging is fine of course, I’m talking about situations where both parties happily engage each other 1vs1 but then resort to fleeing or calling for help once they start losing.

When I see someone solo, I always engage.
This mainly because Ive only just gotten into roaming (and I need practice).
I accept my death/defeat. Though as I said above, I mostly get teamed (or even ran over by a zerg) if I lose.

Why should I care about dying? Honor? Lol…
Repair costs? Nu-uh free!

So I don’t see a point in running either, except the fact you might have to run all the way back lol.

^ You and I both on the accepting death thing. When roaming, you have to learn that it’s risky business. Zergs or havoc groups can roll through at any time and steamroll you. That’s what makes it exciting though. I don’t see what’s fun about running in massive blobs and either getting a few dozen kills or being just another casualty. I prefer to be that person a seasoned roamer recognizes because they’ve seen me many times, and maybe even call me out specifically in their /map when they see me headed somewhere. If it begins a 1v1 and more join, you can run or you can test your limits. No repair costs and maybe a slightly bruised morale if you lose, who cares.

Iluth.6875:

Depends if you’re talking about duels or 1v1s. As far as I understand it, there is no stomping in duels. Whoever is downed first loses.

As for 1v1, whoever runs away loses.

Agreed. In this context I’ve never personally had anyone run from an actual duel. One where a /bow took place before the fight. If someone ever ran from a fight like that… Lol, well I’d probably hunt them down until I could finish the job.

I roam as a Necromancer. People who run from me irritate me in ways words cannot explain. Fortunately they don’t usually get the chance to, but as far as my opinion goes on people running from duels I would have to say I think; all is fair in love and war. Although I personally find it extremely cowardly, there are also no rules prohibiting it. If someone runs from me and they escape, I just make a mental note of their guild tag, character and rank so that if I see them again I won’t be so gentle.
On the subject of running though.. I once had a Mesmer who decided to sit in among the NPC’s at a camp when outside of the camp it would have been just her and I. I was thinking to myself “you’re a Mesmer… Do you really need to make more targets for me?” Then she parties me and says “hi.” I ask why she won’t come and duel me and she says because she’s bad… I thought she was being sarcastic but… I ended up taking the camp as well as her by myself… She then unpartied me and WP’d, lol.
People amaze me sometimes…

I think Necro’s should have mainhand torches for ranged power weapons ( 8

Some kind of animation like blowing on the fire and it shoots physical projectiles that do not inflict burning except for maybe the #3 skill. It could be something like a spectral weapon that launches ghostly daggers at people. Idk, just a thought, lol.

I’m using a condition build at the moment and I absolutely love it. Having a bit of free space in my traits I decided to buff my pets damage by adding increased pet condition damage and duration to compliment my own, so I’ve been using devourers and I really enjoy them. The fact that they generally stay out of the way of my opponents and shower them with bleeds and poison from a distance, and occasionally burrow under ground to launch them is great.
Prior to using devourers however I always ran with salamander drake, which has always been a personal favorite. They’re just a very good happy medium, decent damage as well as great for tanking, and their F2 ability, even if it rarely hits someone for the full cast, can absolutely destroy. I do run wolf from time to time depending on where I am, but I spend the majority of my time in WvW, and although most people won’t focus on your pets, they can still die in the crossfire. Devourer’s being ranged attackers and having extremely high toughness to boot, just make them a great option. That, and the Lashtail Devourer’s F2 literally dumps stacks of bleeds on people to compliment my own already high use of bleed.

My best experience was when I was fighting a mace/shield and hammer Warrior who was going absolutely berserk with stuns, I decided to play his game and fear him to death and he says in say “bulls__t fears.” As though chain stunning someone to death is any different, lmfao.

Necromancer, Engineer, Mesmer, Ranger, Warrior, Thief, in that order. It obviously is open to debate but as someone who has played every profession, and spends most of their time solo roaming, as well as has always very much enjoyed conditions builds, I’d say this is fairly accurate.
Everyone knows Necromancers are nasty with conditions. A condition Engi can load you up pretty kitten fast and Mesmer’s can prevent you from cleansing with all their stuns, dazes, pulls etc. Ranger, you’d be surprised how effective a condition Ranger is, especially if they’re trapper. I’ve both been, and been hit by them, and they hit like a semi, which most people don’t expect. Warrior, bleeds for daaaaaaaaaays. Thief, same thing as Warrior basically. That and keeping them still for 2 seconds is next to impossible.

EOTM is a waiting room with pretty wall paper. People who take it seriously and actually try to defend things have a few screws loose.

Wow… Just, wow… I’ve been a Conditionmancer for a long time but have recently overhauled my Ranger to be full condition damage and I literally cannot wrap my head around how hard it hits. With the build I’m currently using, and although I’ve been told the numbers aren’t correct the attack still hits very hard, “Bonfire” reads as 13k burning damage. I’ve got a poison/burning build lined up and every time I kill someone I sit there for a second like “LOOOOOL.” Has condition Ranger always been this ridiculously strong or is it a result of some kind of recent buff?

Ps. This is speaking from a WvW perspective where I have access to a lot of buffs.

Renny.6571:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

BG has better coverage and off hours than TC or JQ. TC and JQ’s solution? Combine their strengths to eliminate their weaknesses… BG buy’s guilds, sends spies and pays off players to do their bidding, that’s their strategy, this is ours…

We think JQ is paying TC. You can make your baseless assumptions and I can make mine.

So in that case you’re saying you can buy people off but we can’t? BG logic never fails to entertain me.

Vanthian.9267:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

They are the 1v1 duelist profession and if used properly can provide a fair bit of group support.

Sigh… just no. Mesmer is the premier duelist class. Thief is second. Then Engineer. Then it would be Ranger. Ranger is no where near as proficient as the previously three stated professions at dueling. There is a very wide gap between tiers actually. Mesmer,Thief>>>Engineer>>>>>>>>>Ranger>Every other profession.

Really? Multiple immobs and tons of evades say hi. Nail down a Mesmer or Thief and they melt like butter. Sorry, stealth only saves you if you can move while in it.

BG has better coverage and off hours than TC or JQ. TC and JQ’s solution? Combine their strengths to eliminate their weaknesses… BG buy’s guilds, sends spies and pays off players to do their bidding, that’s their strategy, this is ours…

Nikkinella.8254:

^either way the fact remains that conditions are just way too prevalent in this game. Too many skills apply too many conditions. conditions should be few and far between, you should have to use them when they count and not just spam them mindlessly till you overwhelm your opponent with them. Condition burst is something that shouldn’t exist, yet it does. Those 2 words don’t belong together. Conditions are supposed to kill with attrition not blast someone down faster than most power builds can do. There are loads of videos of people proving this fact with everything from necros to even guardians melting people in 3 seconds or less with insane condition burst. It needs to be toned down A LOT.

… So basically you’re saying condition builds shouldn’t be viable? Let’s reduce the frequency and effectiveness of conditions so that they’re forced to be attrition… Against power based builds which, no matter how much sustain you have, will burst you down before you can be any sort of threat to said build, while condition builds would basically be free bags. And this would be fair to you?
Power builds dominate PvE because conditions are garbage there. If they reduced their effectiveness and/or frequency no one would use conditions builds anywhere… And I don’t know about you but I see no difference between bursting someone down with chained power attacks and bursting someone down with condition stacks. PvP in this game is bad because it’s designed for casuals… Get used to it or go play a game where there are more dynamics to combat than who can spam what faster.

New to Guardian and am approaching level 80. I’ve found myself enjoying Greatsword but would also like to use Sword and Shield.
I mainly WvW but also do dungeons from time to time. What I’d like to know is;

1. What is a good stat to be using for a build that is primarily offensive but still has a good amount of defense? To put it in to a percentage I’d say something like 65% offensive 35% defensive.

2. What is a good loadout for my utility bar? I spend the majority of my time solo roaming on a Necromancer and I prefer to have an absolute minimum of 1 stunbreaker at all times. I plan to continue the same roaming routines I do on my Necro with my Guard.

3. To be totally honest I want to use a Sword and Shield more for aesthetic reasons than functionality, but out of curiosity, would it be an effective weapon choice?

4. Lastly, what do you consider to be the best heal?

If you’re able to link a build you’ve made and are willing to share, please do so.
I’ve done a bit of tPvP and have enjoyed myself although I’m still definitely very unfamiliar with this profession, so any suggestions will help.

kitten it, conditions killed someone again didn’t they? For shame… I guess we should all roll power builds because no one complains about being killed by a power build.

#Sarcasm

Warrior’s high accessibility to stuns and knockdowns, Mesmer’s constant dazes, stuns, pulls, pushes and immobilizes, Elementalist’s knockdowns, Engineer launches… There are plenty of other professions that have high access to CC’s. Mace/Shielf and Hammer Warriors most notably… And Necromancers for some reason get shafted for having lots of fears? I don’t understand people sometimes… We have next to no stability and we can’t disengage from a fight. If we didn’t have fears we may as well be a Ranger.

phaeris.7604:

Also, the test ai mobs are hitting really hard since the patch. Their downed state throws hit for 2k!

Or was an increase in their damage meant to happen?

^
Those test mobs hit crazy hard. It’s kind of fun having to be extra careful around them but even if you manage to avoid 100% of their attacks they can kitten near kill you in downed state. Meaning executing a finisher is extremely risky. The Guard and Elementalist in particular are absurdly dangerous.

I had always rotated between my characters depending on my mood. But now with WXP being account bound, I enjoy roaming around on my Ranger slightly more than my other characters. I think it’s a bit more intimidating to see a Silver rank Ranger than it is a Silver rank Necromancer as high rank Rangers are a lot less common to see.

dashin.1025:

Name: Tatiana zu Heltzer
Approximate Age: 26
Affiliation: none
Race: Kurzick
Profession: Ranger

Tatiana’s family was originally from Cantha in the Echovald Forest. A direct decedent of Danika zu Heltzer, her family left Cantha during Emperor Usoku’s xenophobic military conquest that destroyed her culture. The zu Heltzer’s are known to worship their patron goddess, Dwayna. At birth, Tatiana was blessed by the goddess with blue eyes. With her pet black moa, a living artifact from the Echovald Forest, Tatiana seeks to follow the guidance of her goddess, where ever the wind may take her, maintain Kurzick history and traditions, and eventually return to the homeland of her people.

Appearance
Dressed in black and white, typical Kurzick colors. Tatiana wears tight fitted leathers, typical of assassins from Cantha.

History

Youth:
Tatiana’s parents recognized the goddess’s blessing on her from an early age and set her to hero training early on. Being Krytan nobility helped Tatiana acquire the best education available.

Early Life:
On her 10th birthday, Tatiana’s parents had her train in the Canthan martial arts; primarily in the art of assassination. Being born of Kurzick nobility, Tatiana’s parents wanted to make sure their heir would be able to protect herself and others of their Great House. By the age of 12, Tatiana had made her first kill. By 16, she had mastered the art of the silent kill from afar.

Current Status:
26 years old, Tatiana moves across Tyria, gathering information on Cantha, protecting her family, and removing threats to the remains of the Kurzick people. Tatiana’s family used to live in the Canthan Quarter in Divinity’s Reach before the sink hole, and eventual rebuilding into the Queen’s Pavilion. Her family has maintained households in the Krytan countryside; preferring the quiet lifestyle to practice their traditions and arts without the political eyes of the corrupt Krytan Ministers.

As the heir to the zu Heltzer house, Tatiana is trained both as a politician and assassin; both traits require a nimble mind, sharp wits, and killer’s instinct. Currently Tatiana trains herself in the art of assassination while her father maintains the house political ambitions within the Krytan Court.

Protecting her people, is Tatiana’s greatest aspiration… but recently there’s been words whispered on the winds… messages from the goddess that have been leading her away from Kryta and her people.

Affiliations

Guilds and Groups:
Tatiana, while traversing the world in search of the meanings behind the messages from Dwayna, resides within the Ardent Virtue Guild. Only the guild leader, a decedent of the Kurzicks as well, knows of Tatiana’s noble bloodline. She prefers to travel alone, but once in a while she’ll join to aid her friends in the search for information that can protect her family.

Both the Durmand Priory, and Order of Whispers have sought her out to gain her allegiance, but she’s refused for now as their goals would detract from the responsibility to the zu Heltzers.

Family and Friends:
Tatiana’s youngest sister joined the Seraph and went missing on a mission near centaur territory. Currently her goal is the safe return of her sibling, and the death of all those who were involved in her disappearance.

Tatiana’s assassin master is her only other closest friend. Known only to outsiders as, Shadow, he’s kept a close eye on his prized protege.

Personality

Temperament:
Tatiana is extremely charming. She is just as deadly with words, as she is with her bow… able to take a life without being seen. She’s no stranger to fear or death, but like all Canthan trained assassins, she knows that both are her closest companions and may take her one day.

Quirks
Tatiana has a tendency to be cold and sharp, traits she picked up out of necessity to protect herself and her family. She rarely manages to open up due to lack of trust; with good reason when the Ministry of Purity has sought out to remove every trace of her people from both the Canthan continent and Kryta.

If she ever manages to open up to someone and remove the assassin’s mask, Tatiana’s beauty is rumored to be second only to the goddess herself. She has a laugh soft as a breeze and a smile that is as intoxicating as a warm summer night.

Other:
Tatiana still searches for other Kurzicks hidden within Kyrtan society.

I loved all of this, omg! Very well written.

Name: Carmen Stacy
Age: 90
Affiliation: Elonian
Race: Human (I’d think that to be kind of obvious :P)

Profession: Necromancer ~ After a tragic incident in her youth which resulted in the death of her one true love, Carmen became obsessed and disturbed. Dipping her curiosities and desperation in to the practice of Necromancy, she quickly became a prodigy among the community of the dark arts.

Appearance: At a stature of 6 foot 2 inches, Carmen stands tall over her friends and foes alike. Dark ebon skin and a perpetual gaze of apathy have given rise to rumor that she can spot the dead among the living. With a lush set of lips, naturally trim figure and a voice so poetic it nearly sings, Carmen has always been a wishful mind’s desire.

Youth and Early Life: Born an only child to a king and queen, Carmen was the crown jewel of an empire for 20 long years.
Always curious and getting herself in to trouble it wasn’t long before she met her first and only love at the young age of 5. Of course at this time she had no idea what her feelings were or why she felt them but from the day she met her hearts one true desire she and him became deeply connected. Unfortunately for the young couple her mother and father would never approve of a romance not of royal blood, for this boy was a commoner and merely a pest to the local palace.
Growing their love in secrecy for many years the couple would often sneak in to the courtyard to enjoy themselves, sometimes wandering as far as the slums to engage in forbidden sorceries. One night the two decided to celebrate their 20th birthday together in the pond beneath the courtyard bridge. Not realizing how loud they had been, Carmen’s father the king spotted the two making love in the waters below the palace. Infuriated by the sight of this he immediately ordered the boy’s execution. Heart broken and unable to stop her father who had locked her in her own bedroom she threw herself from her bedroom window sixteen stories above the ground. After seeing to the boy’s execution her father returned to her bedroom to find of her suicide. Desperate and in tears the king rushed down the many flights of stairs and to the grounds outside to recover his daughter. Performing a ritual which he had sworn an oath to never do many years ago, he resurrected his daughter from the dead. Frightened, confused and no longer her once sweet and curious self, Carmen immediately proceeded to murder her own father. Removing her shoe and bludgeoning him in the face with the heel, she spent 5 long minutes with her assault. Painted in blood and gleaming a chocolate shade of red in the courtyard’s moonlight she burst in to tears before laughing uncontrollably. Since that day she has not been herself, becoming a temptress of lust and death, killing innocent people and performing rituals in a desperate attempt to bring her one true love back to life.
It has been 70 years since the day her love was sentenced to death and she, sentenced to live. Now an immortal, losing her sanity over the years but still maintaining a beautiful exterior through her ageless shell, Carmen has become all that is death, disease and desire.

Current Status: Now living in solitude far from civilization, Carmen spends her days practicing and perfecting her gifted connection to Necromancy. Abducting those who travel alone and keeping them alive in her clutches while she uses their living flesh to perform dark rituals and summon grotesque abominations.
Some have escaped but many have succumb to the horrible manifestations within her twisted home of horrors. The ones that have managed to survive have told stories of unimaginable stature, some that have bred the foundation for what other Necromancers try and fail to obtain; unending youth.

Temperament: Once known as a pleasure to be around, now a force of fear and apathy, Carmen’s victims have told tale of her being both sweet and insufferable. Some have said they were initially drawn in to her home by her striking appearance and soft voice. Calling to them from far yet sounding near, she has been said to have an aura of trust and content despite being a total stranger. Unfortunately for those who have been in her presence long enough to enter her home, this aura quickly became a demon of despair.

Other: Rumor has it Carmen engages in a mating ritual with some of her less fortunate victims in which she impregnates herself, eats the flesh of said victim and later sacrifices her newborn child as an offering to Grenth. Despite her innocent exterior, Carmen is nothing but an illusion of beauty. She has long since lost a stable connection with reality and seeks only to reunite herself with her once true love by any means necessary.

I solo roam on my Necromancer more than anything and I find it very easy to flip camps once you get the hang of it.
I don’t know about 30 seconds because as a Necromancer we have no way to disengage from a fight.. And everyone isn’t going to be the same as myself but I’m always very, very on edge when roaming (which is a part of what excites me and makes me love it so much) so I try not to rush anything while still keeping eyes on the back of my head.
Back to the point though; it usually takes me around 50 – 60seconds to flip a camp. I first pull and kill the Quarter Master since she’s always furthest and the easiest to kill. Then I aggro the entire camp, turn around and get some distance until the melee guards and the Supervisor de-aggro, and the pistol guards will stay aggro’d allowing you to DPS them down without having to worry about the heavy hitters. After that the other 3 are butter assuming you’re not letting them stun and immobilize you every time.
Overall I’d just say, do it as fast as you can without a) nearly killing yourself. Because if someone comes along to defend the camp you’re going to make yourself an easy kill and b) always be aware of your surroundings.
I understand that you can pull them all in to one area and DPS them all but I’ve never personally done this and have no trouble pulling and flipping the camp quickly as is so, I’d say which ever method you choose it’s really not hard to do once you now what you’re doing.

Rabid for roaming or havoc, Dire for zerging. Runes vary depending on what you want to be able to do. For Rabid I say Krait runes are your best option assuming you’re using Scepter as your primary weapon. Bleeds are abundant within the Necromancer’s weapon sets and trait lines so the more chance you have to apply bleeds, and the longer their duration, the better.
In your Dire set, as I’ve said, it really depends on what you want to be able to do. You can get a decent amount of damage out of a Dire set as well as having great survivability. But the second you choose a defensive rune, such as for example, Lich runes (not that they’d ever be a good idea to use anyway… But for the sake of example), you’re really going to feel that lack of DPS. So I’d suggest you go with something very offensive in your Dire set and let the armor’s stats take care of your defenses. I personally roll with Nightmare runes to give all my conditions a boost in duration and because the occasional fear that the runes will proc can be a life saver.

Basically though, Dire or Rabid, which ever you choose, you should be doing some pretty mean damage. Rabid will definitely give you more of an oomph, though. Also, don’t be too concerned with the lack of Vitality Rabid armor provides. As a Necromancer, you have plenty of Vitality anyway.

As for damage… I have two sets, one for roaming the other for zerging. Regardless of which I’m currently using I can lay down some pretty sweet numbers. Rabid though, whew, lol. Once you get a rotation down people will melt so fast they won’t know what hit them. I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten to the point I can DPS someone down about as quickly as a power build could do it.

Mogar.9216:

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Ranger is a powerful profession whether people want to admit it or not. They are the 1v1 duelist profession and if used properly can provide a fair bit of group support. Unfortunately being a duelist in WvW doesn’t get you much unless you like to solo roam, even then you’re not going to always be fighting just one person, and in a zerg and/or havoc any other profession can fill the bill better than a Ranger can. Ranger was formerly my main and I love the profession to death. If played properly they can be a huge asset, especially in PvE dungeon runs where they’re actually one of the most useful in a speed clearing group composition. But as for WvW, well… They’re squishy, their pets die fast, Spirits are basically out of the question in anything larger than 4v4 and the only real AOE they have is Barrage which, although if timed right can be pretty awesome for crippling mass amounts of people, does little to no damage unless you’re full zerk. In which case you’ll probably die within 30second of zerg contact.

Basically… If you’re a Ranger in WvW you can do what ever you like as you’re entitled to play the game the way you enjoy it most. But if you want to be in any way effective you’re better off solo roaming because 1v1 the Ranger is second to none. You just better hope you can either get the hell away or you’re a kitten good Ranger if anyone else decides to join the fight.

What? 1 v 1 duellist?!@$!# you got to be kidding. I roam 99.9% of the time, I have in the last 3 month meet a grand total of 1 ranger that beat me. The only reason he beat me was because he ran a very situational build once we started proper duelling it didn’t work any more. I don’t zerg so I can’t tell you if they are any good in large scale fights. But in 1 v 1 or 2 v 2 rangers are totally kitten. Pet AI is the problem with the whole class,

That’s because unless you’ve been living under a rock you should know that Ranger’s attract the worst community of players. They’re very difficult to play properly and 95% of the people that use the profession use it completely wrong. The one’s that have any kind of clue how to actually use it will wipe the floor with any other profession in the game in a 1v1 scenario. I am by no means what-so-ever an astounding Ranger, but I’m confident that I know how to use it better than the majority of players I come across. And I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that I have, and never will be, afraid to engage in a duel on my Ranger.
Also, as more than a few people have said in the past, a big part of the problem with the profession is that people use it assuming bows are going to be their primary weapon and force themselves to use LB even when they’re losing every skirmish they get in to. LB can be great if used properly but it’s really, really not meant for duels… I think a lot of people are thinking Archer and not Ranger.

The complete and absolute lack of any form of risk versus reward on a Thief is the problem with the profession. The end.

Stealthing should not provide so many benefits while having 0 drawbacks. A Necromancer has to pick and choose when to use Death Shroud because while in it Life Force will drain. If used improperly this can result in a swift death. Thief however can readily use stealth as he or she pleases getting nothing but return from doing so with the only thing they need to think about being “do I want to be revealed now or after I’ve ported half way across the map.”