Guild Wars 2

I leveled my necro to 80 just in time for the patch, and now I’m completely lost in terms of what I should use for my zerg necro. What’s the favored build for zergs thus far?

Don’t preorder any game, for any reason, ever.

Half of the things you mentioned are included in upcoming updates. With those removed, we have:

- Elite Specializations
- New weapon for each class
- New post level 80 leveling system
- Rumored 5 new zones with 3 “sub-sections”
- 2 Zones dedicated to Guild Halls
- New Class
- New Confirmed Challenging Content

Let’s also consider that Anet’s previous expansion, EotN, was $40. The base game was $10 when on sale. Coincidence? Seems unlikely in my opinion.

Vayne.8563:

Stormbolt.7293:

Vayne.8563:

Stormbolt.7293:

Vayne.8563:

I think the OP needs to go get a law degree before making claims like this. This would never go to court. Anet is offering refunds to people, and a FAQ for an unreleased game wouldn’t be considered advertising anyway.

Even if it isn’t technically illegal, it doesn’t change what Anet did. Semantics aside, Anet engaged in highly deceptive advertising. As for the refunds, they’re being done manually and you’ll lose all progress. They aren’t going to compensate everyone who got burned.

Is it really so hard to believe it was overlooked in the rush to get everything done?

Yes, I do. Anet is a AAA game developer with many different people working on different things. It’s not like one team of 20 people is scrambling to finish everything. Anet has a department that’s in charge of the business aspect. They pushed the core game hard using HoT. It was the selling point of the core game for months. They also had to have had plans for how the bundles would work and how they were priced. We’re dealing with corporate entities here. Every detail is meticulously planned.

It only takes one guy to forget or not check. No matter how big the business. More people doesn’t mean better organization. A lot of times, more people means more confusion. It also depends on how much everyone is doing at the same time.

If you don’t see it as a possibility, then I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve been in too many situations in too many business where stuff that absolutely can’t be missed got missed.

Anet’s entire marketing strategy for about 4 months and the fact that they would have to subsidize the cost of the core game somewhere seem like pretty massive details to “miss”

Zero Day.2594:

Stormbolt.7293:

Yep. And if you get mad, they’ll call you “entitled!”

You sound entitled.

I think that advertising the core game using HoT for months, all while knowing that it would be bundled with the expansion is unethical and borderline illegal advertising, and I’m entitled? Anyone who purchased the game recently has every right to be mad.

Yep. And if you get mad, they’ll call you “entitled!”

Vayne.8563:

Stormbolt.7293:

Vayne.8563:

I think the OP needs to go get a law degree before making claims like this. This would never go to court. Anet is offering refunds to people, and a FAQ for an unreleased game wouldn’t be considered advertising anyway.

Even if it isn’t technically illegal, it doesn’t change what Anet did. Semantics aside, Anet engaged in highly deceptive advertising. As for the refunds, they’re being done manually and you’ll lose all progress. They aren’t going to compensate everyone who got burned.

Is it really so hard to believe it was overlooked in the rush to get everything done?

Yes, I do. Anet is a AAA game developer with many different people working on different things. It’s not like one team of 20 people is scrambling to finish everything. Anet has a department that’s in charge of the business aspect. They pushed the core game hard using HoT. It was the selling point of the core game for months. They also had to have had plans for how the bundles would work and how they were priced. We’re dealing with corporate entities here. Every detail is meticulously planned.

Anet is a business. They are going to make up for lost revenue from potential base game sales somewhere. HoT has an unusually high price tag for an expansion its size. There’s your $50 price tag.

Vayne.8563:

I think the OP needs to go get a law degree before making claims like this. This would never go to court. Anet is offering refunds to people, and a FAQ for an unreleased game wouldn’t be considered advertising anyway.

Even if it isn’t technically illegal, it doesn’t change what Anet did. Semantics aside, Anet engaged in highly deceptive advertising. As for the refunds, they’re being done manually and you’ll lose all progress. They aren’t going to compensate everyone who got burned.

What this is about is the fact that Anet engaged in potentially illegal false advertising. They sold god knows how many copies of the base game using HoT, while knowing that it would be included with HoT anyways. Illegal or not, it’s incredibly scummy. Also, the cost of the base game has to be covered somewhere, hence the price tag. Nothing is free in business. Anet is going to make up the difference from potential base game sales somewhere.

Thank you, been saying this since day one. While criticizing the price tag for being too high is a perfectly valid complaint, the primary issue is the fact that Anet engaged in false advertising. Since HoT was announced, they sold thousands upon thousands of copies of the base game using it, even having sales to promote it. Anet was basically saying “Hey, we have an expansion coming out soon. You should purchase the base game while it’s on sale!” They did this, knowing for at least the past month or two that HoT would include the base game, and that a standalone option at a reduced price would not be available. Anybody who bought the game in anticipation for HoT got screwed hard.

And to the people who hit the reply button and are typing out “but the base game is a bonus,” stop and think for a second. Do you really think a AAA game developer would sacrifice that much revenue? You are painfully naive if you really think that Anet isn’t going to subsidize the cost of the base game somewhere. That’s where your $50 price tag comes from.

They sold copies of the base game using HoT, knowing that HoT would include the base game.

MashMash.1645:

Combination NC.9813:

CureForLiving.5360:

Creativity.3816:

This is unbelievably scummy. Pretty unethical and unfair if you ask me.

Assuming they had always planned to do a bait and switch. Most likely they only recently decided to make this change.

But if they already knew, why keep the FAQ as it was? They only changed that today, and the contents of the FAQ as it looked before could very well have influenced people’s decision to by the base game, either for themselves or someone else.

Yeah. The have been lying basically. It’s not like the people who make these pricing / policy decisions woke up this morning and made this change today. They’ve effectively been profiting off of this situation since the announcement, and when the FAQ first went up.

Why didn’t they announce it then? Why do it and try to hide it?

The most telling part in my opinion is the fact that they sold copies of GW2 using the base game. They did this knowing that HoT would include the base game.

No matter how you feel about the price, this is highly unethical and I’d be willing to bet it’s outright illegal too. You can’t advertise that you need to make an additional purchase to access certain content, then bundle them together with no option of purchasing them individually and delete the evidence.

Seera.5916:

Stormbolt.7293:

JustTrogdor.7892:

Bought the Ultimate edition and will probably get it for my other accounts as well. I’m fine with it plus I get to participate in all the beta events from now until release. Please don’t tell me how to spend my money as I won’t tell you how to spend yours.

And what if it turns out that you don’t feel the expansion was worth it or up to par? You just got screwed out of 50+ bucks. I’m not trying to tell you that you can’t buy something, I’m telling you that buying something based off of carefully selected gameplay segments and demos is a bad idea.

And how will buying it today vs first day of release let him know whether it’s worth it or not?

How can you really tell if something is worth it or not without trying it? All we can do is use the information we have to guess if it is or is not worth it. And it appears it appears to be worth it to JustTrogdor.

It appears to be worth it to me as well. I’m debating Deluxe or Ultimate at the moment.

Information is the whole point here. Would you rather purchase something based off of limited and potentially biased information, or when you have the entire picture? At launch, people will have actually played through the content and will know if falls short of what was promised, is buggy, or fails to deliver in general. The cost is the same regardless. There is literally no reason to buy the game early. Make the dog perform the trick before you give it a treat.

Seera.5916:

Stormbolt.7293:

JustTrogdor.7892:

Bought the Ultimate edition and will probably get it for my other accounts as well. I’m fine with it plus I get to participate in all the beta events from now until release. Please don’t tell me how to spend my money as I won’t tell you how to spend yours.

And what if it turns out that you don’t feel the expansion was worth it or up to par? You just got screwed out of 50+ bucks. I’m not trying to tell you that you can’t buy something, I’m telling you that buying something based off of carefully selected gameplay segments and demos is a bad idea.

And how will buying it today vs first day of release let him know whether it’s worth it or not?

How can you really tell if something is worth it or not without trying it? All we can do is use the information we have to guess if it is or is not worth it. And it appears it appears to be worth it to JustTrogdor.

It appears to be worth it to me as well. I’m debating Deluxe or Ultimate at the moment.

You can never get a full impression of a game until it’s been released and people have actually been able to play through the content and review it with a full perspective. That would be like trying to accurately judge the quality of a movie based on trailers.

JustTrogdor.7892:

Bought the Ultimate edition and will probably get it for my other accounts as well. I’m fine with it plus I get to participate in all the beta events from now until release. Please don’t tell me how to spend my money as I won’t tell you how to spend yours.

And what if it turns out that you don’t feel the expansion was worth it or up to par? You just got screwed out of 50+ bucks. I’m not trying to tell you that you can’t buy something, I’m telling you that buying something based off of carefully selected gameplay segments and demos is a bad idea.

When you pre-order a game, you are paying a developer for doing nothing but putting together pretty trailers. Digital download games are available in unlimited quantities, meaning that scarcity will not be an issue. There is literally no reason to pre-purchase a digital product for any reason. To those of you typing replies that go along the lines of “but what about pre-order bonuses,” is a title worth rewarding a practice that’s inherently anti-consumer?

Whether you think $50 is fair or a slap in the face, don’t pay until release. A developer shouldn’t get a cent until they deliver a quality product, whether you’re suspicious of them or adore them.

The Rice Hat Samurai.5348:

Yojimaru.4980:

The Rice Hat Samurai.5348:

Guild Wars: Factions, $50, Guild Wars: Nightfall, $50. No. Look at EVERY expansion for World of Warcraft then come back.

Factions: Separate Campaign, added an entire continent, 2 new professions, multiple skills and armor sets, $50. Nightfall: Separate Campaign, added an entire continent, 2 new professions, multiple skills and armor sets, $50 bucks. WoW expansions, generally pretty kitten big.

HoT: Expansion, adds one profession, multiple skills and armor sets. As far as we know, the only areas added in PVE will be just to the west of Silverwastes and south into Magus Falls. I won’t be super pessimistic and say “lol only three maps!”, but such a small area doesn’t seem worth standard expansion price to me. Perhaps if they added the Maguuma Wastes all the way up to the coast of Janthir Bay and east into the Woodland Cascades, the current price would be more palatable.

I can agree with that. My issue is everyone screaming like they didn’t see this coming. Anyone with an iota of common sense saw this coming a mile away.

We wanted to believe that Anet was different from other MMO developers. After all, that’s what their entire image revolves around.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

To clarify: $50 is the price of the expansion. We included the core game as a free bonus to make it easier for new players to get into it.

You do realize that you’ve essentially screwed over anyone who’s purchased your game in the wake of the HoT hype, right?

I think Anet might have actually lost E3 this year. Everything else presented has been met with critical acclaim. Anet’s is the only announcement that has sparked outrage.

CrimsonDX.4821:

It is all idiotic bluster. All the free content we have received since launch easily covers the cost.

No it doesn’t. You don’t get to charge people for content that is already freely available. This is greed, plain and simple.

We may getting a lot of content with Heart of Thorns, but $50 just for an expansion seems very steep. This is the same price as the base game, but for less content.

I’m trying to come up with a roaming/zerg hybrid build. I’ll often roam with a zerg, break off for a bit and take camps or kill people, then meld back in. So far I’m thinking of running this with these traits , with Sword/Shield Staff or GS and Ether Feast/Well of Eternity, Well of Calamity, Well of Action, Mantra of Distraction, and Well of Gravity. I want a power interrupt build that can duel but also provide good AoE support.

Ansau.7326:

Interrupt Staff-S/Shield: http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgMBnAP0BrQ~
The future zerg meta.

What gear and utilities would you see yourself running with that build?

SirDrygan.1823:

I want to know is there a point in rebuilding Lion Arch, when the next thing you know it will be destroyed again. As with people have found young Karka hidden in the construction materials.
So, what was the point of rebuilding when the enemies are already IN LA. I think if the devs want LA to be in ruins, I guess there is no point in rebuilding, because the next thing you know, some enemies are going to destroy it again. And again, and again. It gets tiring when for the n.th time you “saved” LA, only to see it get destroyed again and again…etc.

There could be some Karka infestation event during construction. I don’t they’re going to destroy it again, at least not for a long time.

Chronomancer seems like one of the better WvW specs, and I’m amazed I haven’t really seen that much discussion about it in relation to WvW. Now that we have trait and skill details, what kinds of Chronomancer builds do you think we’ll see in WvW when HoT hits (roaming or zerg)? Will they become a larger part of the meta?

EremiteAngel.9765:

well like I said, don’t let me see you guys cry for necro nerfs when we meet in HoT

It feels like they got Reaper just right. Not worthless, not overpowered. It does what it’s supposed to do and has a reasonable number of counters.

NICENIKESHOE.7128:

Where does it says that only mesmer will get one-handed weapon? I kind of expect warrior to get a one-handed weapon, unless they get to play martial art staff like Gandalf. Having shortbow while already possess longbow is also kind of redundant for warrior, especially when the two weapons share the same skin in many sets.

Anyway back to mesmer in PvE. I love to play as mesmer, but mesmer really don’t have much options in high end PvE, because our class characteristic is bound to illusions, duelist etc. Perhaps slow can be a way to mitigate fractal damage past defiances but our AoE offense will always be limited.

Tempest has more or less been confirmed to be getting a sword. There are only so many two-handed weapons to go around, so each class getting a 2h is impossible. Unless Warriors are getting a scepter or pistol they’re getting an offhand.

We can easily kite you guys for 10 seconds, or better yet just interrupt you before you can even get stability. Null Field and Arcane Thievery make you guys cry. Shattered Concentration can rip stability too. Slow will make your already long cast times unbearable.

The trait changes will address a lot of your concerns. Keep in mind that Mesmer is not a raw DPS class. You are not going to deal as much damage as a warrior or thief, and that’s the way the class was designed. The Mesmer’s strength lies in its ability to confuse and mess with people. Your strength lies in your ability to control the flow of the battle.

Shatter is the least interesting build in my opinion because it really doesn’t use the Mesmer’s ability to the fullest. I’d suggest trying a PU condition or interrupt build.

We may only get one profession skill out of it, but it’s an incredibly powerful, borderline broken skill. Dragonhunter and Reaper skills do considerably less, and there’s a much higher opportunity cost in that you have to sacrifice your existing skills. The Chronomancer doesn’t have to sacrifice anything but one traitline, and has the lowest tradeoff of any spec we’ve seen so far.

Reaper and Dragonhunter got more skills, but we got more utility overall.

Sadrien.3470:

Anyone with builds that deviate from what chaos said? Come on be brave! Don’t continue to forum stalk!

I threw this one together based on some advice from my guildmates

Necrotize.2974:

This looks so beautiful, I just might cry.

As for the condition issue, what do you think of Runes of Lyssa? The precision obviously isn’t wasted, condition duration will lengthen slow, and since Gravity Well’s effects are delayed, you’ll get up to 5 boons as its ticking from the runes(depending on conditions), synergizing with Chaotic Persistence, giving slows applied during that time up to a 15% duration boost based on the conditions cleansed.

You’d be sacrificing the extra crit chance from fury, but it’s definitely a valid choice.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

The slow trait is an awesome alternative, and I’m fairly certain a chronomancer lockdown build can net more damage, but the tradeoff is steep. You lose either Dom, dueling, or chaos. You can go Dom, Chaos, Chrono for pure lockdown but..

I still think vanilla mesmer will have it on the lockdown front. You won’t even need to buy the expansion to have a monstrous lockdown build. I really like the chrono traits but I’m glad they made the other traits competitive enough that its an actual choice and not a requirement. Odd as it sounds, I’m glad Chronomancer doesn’t entirely outshine Mesmer in either shatter or lockdown.

Though… Dat gravity well..

I think you’re severely underestimating just how powerful slow will be on lockdown builds. Constant slows, 15 sec cooldowns on interrupt, and immobilization? Hell yes. Slow makes things more difficult for your opponent, and makes interrupts easier. Dueling is mostly a damage-oriented tree. It’s nice, but by no means mandatory for a post-HoT lockdown build.

I was discussing the new traits with the Official Mesmer Forum Guild, and we came up with something that can give you 100% crit chance or very close to it, constant slow, and all around pain.

Berserker gear, Pack runes
Sword/x with Sigil of Generosity and Sigil of Energy
Greatsword with Sigil of Air and Sigil of Fire

Ether Feast, Blink, Well of Action, Mantra of Distraction, Well of Gravity for utilities

Traits

The idea of this build is to keep slow up on your opponent all the time, which in turn makes it easier to interrupt them, which in keeps them slowed. With fury + Danger Time, you will be able to maintain 90%+ crit chance, which will slow them even more, which will sustain the crit chance. Pretty much any offhand can work, depends on personal preference. Sword gives the most raw damage, Pistol gives the most crit procs, focus gives the best support options, and shield gives the most defense. Condition pressure is the only downside I can think of, which can be alleviated with Sigil of Generosity or by replacing Well of Action with Null Field or Arcane Thievery.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

6/6/6/0/0/0 is going to be the best lockdown spec unless the interrupt trait new to the CHRONO tree is amazing

Interrupt trait new to the chrono tree confirmed to be amazing. Slow on interrupt, 30% crit chance on slowed enemies, and slow on every 3rd crit. With fury you can have nearly 100% crit chance, while keeping up near perma slow.

As somebody who will be playing a Domination/Dueling/Chronomancer lockdown build, Well of Action and Well of Gravity both interest me.

I can say with great certainty that you guys are the ones who are getting the defiance bar. It only makes sense. On classes with two hand weapons, the profession skills will be replaced. Instead of giving you 5 new skills, death shroud could grant a defiance bar. Or perhaps it won’t act as a secondary HP bar. Maybe throw in some immunity in death shroud to make up for years of abuse. Us Mesmers got spoiled rotten with Chronomancer, but that’s because we only got an offhand.

I’m optimistic for the necro specialization. You guys can only go up from here.

Mallas Elerviel, my Mesmer and my main. I wanted to go for a “nightmare” look for him. Not Nightmare Court necessarily, but something that represents the darker side of illusions and the mind. A twisted alternative the flashy, pretty Mesmers that look like they came out of an anime. Fanged Dread mask feels like something of a trademark of mine. I’ve yet to see anyone else use it.

Velimere.7685:

This is the story of how Mesmers willingly chose to keep themselves out of the PvP meta…

Mesmers: “Let’s all agree to nerf ourselves before we even know how effective we are in the scope of elite specializations of all classes!”

ArenaNet: “Okay… Cool. We like handing out nerfs anyway.”

Other Classes: “I can’t believe those kittens chose to nerf themselves while the rest of us are sitting here enjoying our massive power creeps.”

What we’re saying applies to all other classes too. There needs to be an opportunity cost for all specializations. Every class should have to give up some utilities.

Fay.2357:

Stormbolt.7293:

It makes sense that we don’t give up any shatters since we only get an offhand. Anet said that specializations getting an offhand would get “something extra.” As long as we do give up a few utilities for wells, I’m happy.

We don’t, that would be stupid.

The opportunity cost in speccing chrono is the lost traitline that you could have otherwise taken.

With the exception of a few builds, you just get so much more out of Chronomancer. There needs to be something you give up other than a traitline. Giving up one traitline for another traitline (that can at least partially substitute what you gave up) plus new skills, a new weapon, and a new shatter is a no-brainer. It’ll be fine if the wells replace other skills.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Stormbolt.7293:

AoE slows, alacrity, almost constant quickness, phantasms being instantly resummoned, and the new shatter. Couple that with the new and improved Power Block, and the fact that it’s not mutually exclusive with Furious Interruption, Confounding Suggestion, or Chaotic Interruption. Also, condition interrupt is a thing now. Interrupt has been buffed through the roof. Even if they tweak the numbers, there is no way to nerf this on a basic level.

But why would you want to?

The devs said they’re trying to create a high skill tier class for play. Interrupts is a base with which to build upon. It’s not like interrupt play is like a war or guard button spam play, that’ll get you nowhere fast.

Point is there’s no reason to nerf interrupts on a basic level. There needs to be more payoff for the skill involved, not to mention the investment to make the builds function. This is a good thing for Mesmers.

I’m more worried about other classes whining and moaning until we get nerfed. Chrono interrupt will be painful and annoying to play against, even if it isn’t actually that overpowered in practice

For me, it depends on how the utilities work. There needs to be an opportunity cost utility-wise when choosing Chronomancer.

If we got a two handed weapon we probably would’ve lost out on other goodies, like the new shatter not replacing something else, alacrity, etc.

Chance.2365:

They also said there will be interrupt traits in the Chrono line.

They did? When?

Krispera.5087:

Stormbolt.7293:

Domination: Confounding Suggestions, Furious Interruption, Power Block

Chaos: Master of Manipulation, Mirror of Anguish, Chaotic Interruption

Chrono with illusion traits

Ether feast, blink, arcane thievery, Well of Action

Sword/Shield + GS. 15 sec cooldowns, damage, stuns, and immobilization on interrupts.
Cripple and Slow from phantasms, almost constant alacrity on me. Attempting to use CC on me will also cause interrupts. You can’t play against this.

Was thinking the same build but with staff instead. AoE focused mesmer.

Domination : Confounding Suggestions, Furious Interruption, Power Block
Chaos : Master of Manipulation, Chaotic Dampening, Chaotic Interruption
Chrono : With wells/lockdown oriented traits.

Since Wells skills are ethereal, it means more Chaos Armor and faster staff cooldown reduction = more Chaos Storm.

Utilities : Well of Eternity (Maybe not), Blink, Well of Calamity, Mantra of Resolve.

Should’ve mentioned that I’m using this for WvW roaming. GS auto and cripple are amazing there.

It makes sense that we don’t give up any shatters since we only get an offhand. Anet said that specializations getting an offhand would get “something extra.” As long as we do give up a few utilities for wells, I’m happy.

AoE slows, alacrity, almost constant quickness, phantasms being instantly resummoned, and the new shatter. Couple that with the new and improved Power Block, and the fact that it’s not mutually exclusive with Furious Interruption, Confounding Suggestion, or Chaotic Interruption. Also, condition interrupt is a thing now. Interrupt has been buffed through the roof. Even if they tweak the numbers, there is no way to nerf this on a basic level.

FranzM.1298:

There was a part in the video where he opened up the utilities and everything was still there. So the answer is no, you don’t sacrifice any utilities to equip Chronomancer.

They could have all been available for development purposes