Guild Wars 2

Neat info. It’s nice to know someone is researching builds other than d/d. And it seems to me that each build requires a particular talent to play properly. For d/d, it’s reflexes, fast thinking. For staff, apparently it’s situational awareness. I’m looking forward to someone figuring out scepter/focus.

For the lols? shrug

Or maybe it was a typo that they didn’t realize they put in, glossing over it while clicking in hundreds of transactions in a mechanical fashion.

I actually think single pieces would be more fun, from a thematic perspective. Most of the games/stories/stuff I have played/read/seen/whatever involved people wearing a full suit of the best conventional stuff available… except for one piece (often the helmet, sometimes the boots) which is something out of legend. I think it would make the pieces more special if, not only did the process not create an entire set, there WERE NO ENTIRE SETS.

SlimGenre.6417:

what if they only have 4 fingers?

I knew a girl like that once.

doublecup.5469:

Seriously, where is Virtual Reality? I’m tired of using a mouse and keyboard. I want to use my hands to swing my virtual sword!

Are you watching Sword Art Online? Be careful what you wish for.

Creslin.1758:

Tell you the honest truth, I do not find D/D that difficult to play. Now maybe this is just because I have been doing it for a long time…but it really seems like the “difficulty” of playing D/D is all wrapped up in learning your skills. Once you know where they are, it really isn’t that bad.

The difficulty with Elementalist is that the process of learning the skills takes time, and until you have done so, the elementalist feels incredibly underpowered. It’s a bit of a hurdle for the kids who, upon failing to pwn right out of the box, put it right back in and switch to something easier.

It also obviously took the community in general a while to figure out how to use the class. I started playing GW2 at the very tail end of the period where everyone was whining about how underpowered the class was, and was rather amused by the change I observed as a few innovative individuals popularized some very effective builds and tactics.

MarzAttakz.9608:

6v1 – screw it I’d rather fight using those cooldowns and then die. Why people so kitten afraid of losing. HTFU. Chances are good you’ll put any allies in a good position to take those 6 out by standing your ground.

Maybe. But if you can successfully get away easily, you can also lead them on a merry chase. That’s one guy tying down six others for however long they feel like chasing you.

I think that chaotic feel is an example of Working As Intended. Don’t think of the elementalist as a scholarly wizard. Think of him as a whirling maelstrom of elemental chaos. Also imagine the potential if you get to the point where you can CHANGE your button mashing mid-stream to react to what your opponent (most likely in PvP) does. There’s nothing quite like hitting Updraft at just the right moment.

I get the impression that, to play an elementalist to its full potential, one must have very quick reflexes.

Cool idea, Gondram.

I’d like to see elementalists gain bonuses to particular abilities the closer they are to their favored elements (based on how many points in a given trait). For instance, my Water 30 elementalist should get some kind of bonus near or IN water, while a 30 fire elementalist should be somehow stronger in the presence of large fires or lava or something.

Even better: With d/d, open with ring of fire, and then finish with Magnetic Grasp (leap finisher, gives a fire field), Earthquake (blast finisher, gives might), AND Churning Earth (second blast finisher, gives MORE might).

Look closely at your fields and finishers. Plan your element swapping to do as many combos as possible.

Yeah, keep pointing at our “broken” downed state. Maybe they’ll nerf that, and leave the real stuff alone.

First off, the stock Elementalist is very, very squishy. He can, however, be modded with earth and water (and vitality/toughness/healing raising abilities) to become nigh invincible, paired with good finger work. I have read of some staff elementalists focusing on DPS (lots of fire) and staying away from the enemy.

But I pretty much only use Dagger/Dagger. I use the same rotation regardless of whether I’m hitting one or many targets, primarily because my cooldowns and my combos require it. From a distance, I open with ride the lightning, spam the rest of my air attacks, switch to fire.

Fire leap back in. Breath of Fire (some people just use the first tick to get the burning going, but I like to use all four). During BoF, I strafe around a bit, trying to get as many enemies in the line of fire, and then Fire Grasp (#5), deals good damage when the opponent is already burning. Ring of fire, to lay down that field, and switch to Earth.

Now I triple combo. I haven’t decided whether to use Earthquake or Magnetic Grasp first yet, but I do them, and then channel Churning Earth. This gets me two stacks of might and a fire aura to protect me while I channel… and every time I crack a new “overkill” achievement, it’s at the conclusion of the Churning Earth.

Time to recover: switch to Water. Once again, strafe around while breathing ice (bring up ice armor during), quickly spam the remaining water abilities, and because I am water “themed” and specced very much for healing, this is where I drop an ice storm and summon my elemental.

Back into air, just keep swapping around as my cooldowns run down. If I find myself quickly running low on hitpoints, I either switch to Water and kite around while regenerating, or switch to Air and GTFO.

The price one player chooses to charge can’t affect the overall market price. The market price is the price at which the market clears. If someone charges below market price (or, in this instance, more than 15% below) someone will buy and re-list, or an end-user who otherwise wouldn’t have bought it will buy it. If someone charges above market price, you’ll be undercut.

Personally, while I’ll undercut by 1c if I’m just selling trash loot, I typically undercut by 10% if I’m taking profit on an investment. I want to make sure it sells SOON, rather than getting lost in all the undercutting that is likely to follow a high offer. I don’t know where the market price is going, so better safe than sitting on inventory and having to take an even bigger loss later.

Sort of a GW2 equivalent of UO’s “Siege Perilous.”

I am in the process of figuring this out, myself, but my guess would be that mats that can only be used in lower level items (the ones people make to level to 400) are usually more profitable to sell than to craft with (unless you need the skill points, of course). However, items that are useful for crafting top tier items (the ones that require 400 points to craft) can probably be used profitably.

lol, someone lists ONE legendary for a price well outside pretty much anyone’s price range, and suddenly they’re “not legendary”?

In fiction, the legendary weapon is pretty much never forged by the hero. It’s forged by a master craftsman, an individual who’s name is legend, but who does not go forth and do battle, himself. Breaking up the functions of making and using does not make them not legendary.

Yup. I wasn’t expecting this, since I had to buy all the other Gossamer recipies with karma.

I guess I’ll click one of these as an answer once I actually reach 400 skill.

I don’t know if this has ever been discussed here before (I don’t see anything on the first three pages, so I figure it’s fair game), but how do you feel about the fact that all characters access the same Trading Post account?

I can see how this can be convenient. But I would like to experiment with a character who never leaves his home city, does all his advancement through crafting and trading post activity, no access to outside resources (aside from the occasional run outside to grab just enough karma for recipes). But it is difficult to isolate his resources from my main’s considerable resources. I’d basically have to stop having my main use the TP for anything other than buy it now and sell it now.

I was just wondering what the community’s thoughts are on the fact that the BLTP account is account-wide, rather than per character.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I can’t seem to find this information anywhere. Where, exactly, does one get the recipe for Apothecary’s Intricate Gossamer Insignia? My local master tailor (Lion’s Arch) doesn’t seem to carry it.

I’ve thought it could be fun to have a group composed of four characters of some class that can do high damage at maximum range with a projectile finisher, and a d/d elementalist. The elementalist would burning speed a line in front of the shooters, and they would fire burning shots at a distant target (maybe a zerg they’re trying to disrupt). So I kind of like that you can lay down a line like that… but then again, one could achieve the same effect with Ring of Fire.

Also, it does feel like a leap finisher. So I see where you’re coming from.

And then, of course, there’s the d/d self-combo. Drop a ring of fire, swap to earth, earthquake (might!), magnetic grasp (fire field!), churning earth (more might!). And yeah, you could probably fit an arcane blast in the middle. Finish yourself four times.

I agree there’s a mixed signal there. I’ve avoided taking “in element x” traits precisely because I don’t want something that’s only effective 1/4 of the time. Mind you, it could still be great; I just haven’t tried it out.

But from a thematic perspective, I’d really like to see “single element” builds. Not because I don’t like attunement swapping (I love it), but from a purely thematic perspective. I love the maelstrom of elemental chaos theme. But there exist single-element themes in various fictions, and it would be nifty to be able to explore such themes here.

EDIT: Oh yeah, there was a topic. Put me among those for whom falling damage reduction feels most right for the air line… though I can see how any of the elements could accomplish that.

Air: Use air currents to slow fall.
Earth: Give the earth some “give” at the last second; earth “pillow”.
Water: Not sure. Perhaps the body itself could be made amorphous/fluid?
Fire: No idea. Heat based updraft?

lol

Personally, I think all the races work just fine for the elements, thematically speaking. Humans do everything everywhere every time, so human elementalists are obvious. Elementalism can be thought of as a “one with nature” kind of thing, so Sylvari elementalists make sense. Norn elementalists make sense in a similar fashion, just with a more shamanic theme.

Then again, if the elemental character of nature is an objective reality, I can easily see an Asura devoting his life to the study of that objective reality. And Charr Flame Legion shaman are easily imagined as fire focused elementalists. It isn’t hard to imagine other single-element shamanic Charr elementalists (Ice Legion, Stone Legion, Wind Legion).

I’ve dreamed of playable musical instruments in an MMO since the days of mastering the bard skills in Ultima Online.

tl;dr but all I got was “wah wah wah my overpriced goods won’t sell”.

Skill points have value. People do not sell “below cost”. They sell at whatever level satisfies, and it takes into account not only the value of the raw materials, but the value of the time and effort spent researching prices, the value of the skill points and experience points they get out of it, and quite possibly other factors we’re not considering.

If you’re shooting for max crafting skill, a few gold is a small price to pay. Mind you, I try to craft only things for which I can get both money and skill points… but that’s just because I actually enjoy taking the time to identifiy gluts and shortages. But even with that, were it all about the money, I wouldn’t be crafting at all. I’d just flip. Because no matter what you’re crafting, if it is a step on the ladder to max skill, there will be a price discount that reflects the value of the skill points.

tl;dr:

Cost = Materials + Labor + Tedium and Frustration
Revenue = Finished Product + Skill Points + Fun and Satisfaction

I was wondering why prices were so wonky in my niche. I’m seeing 300% spreads in certain silk armor items. It could be the result of people cashing in inventory for gold for gems for Wintersday shinies.

I was doing the bell choir (VERY nice touch, ANet), and suddenly noticed that all but one of us were of scholar professions, with approximately half of us elementalists, most of the remainder mesmers, maybe two or three necromancers… and, of course, a solitary ranger.

I just found it interesting. It felt like band.

Playing the market is more profitable at present because so many are so willing to craft at a monetary loss. I dispute the notion that this means this part of the market is “not efficient”. What it means to me is that the crafters who speed-level and dump things at a monetary loss simply value the experience points and the time taken acquiring them more than Daulnay does. :p

It is an error to suppose that one’s own valuations are objectively more valid than those of others.

Those of us who value the money more also win, as they provide us with materials and money in exchange for their points.

I’m actually really enjoying the crafting system. My Spreadsheet of Ultimate Domination is coming along nicely.

The problem is an attitude that equates “completion” with “fun”. ie. the game is not fun unless I can get items a through z. As a result, the prices for items q and x are ridiculously high purely from the demand shift factor I will call “completionism”, and financially marginal folks priced out yet still suffering from the disease I call “completionism” come here to kitten and moan about how they can’t have everything they ever wanted, and as a result the game sucks.

Seriously, just play the game.

I’d be really curious as to the exact process by which gems come into existence. My guess would be that they come into existence when people buy them with real money, then cease to exist when someone cashes them in to the gems store. But I get the impression this really isn’t how it works.

lol, ninja farmers.

tl;dr: If you tried this, you’d likely be out tens of thousands of dollars, the price of Ectos would spike, and people would intensively farm ectos until the supply equilibrium with other commodities was restored.

Even if every bit of it goes to NCSoft, ANet still benefits. My guess is that ANet is there to make the games, while NCSoft is there to make the money. If they’re getting money from ANet’s project, they will continue to support ANet. If they’re not, that’s when things start getting cancelled.

Unspecified.9142:

It actually looks to me like people are “cashing out” on a lot of different items right now. Perhaps they decided that the market has reached the peak it can bare and it’s time to get out.

Either way, everything seems to be crashing hard right now. Not a good time to be holding stuff.

Maybe this is the other side of the gems spike. People are dumping their stocks to get gold for gems for makeover kits.

As well they should. So far as I can tell, the gems market is their only way of getting funds, beyond initial game purchases. Everything on the gems market is extra—not required to play the game. You don’t like the price, you don’t have to buy.

Complaining about the high price of gems is like complaining about how much NPR charges for coffee mugs.

I also agree that gems are too cheap. One day I figured I’d throw a ten ANet’s way (just showing my appreciation and bending the market their way so they can continue making this game awesome) hoping to get massive quantities of gold from it. But it isn’t massive. It’s quite pathetic, really, compared to what I’ve seen in other games. (The price of PLEX?)

So I got some shades and a bank slot, instead.

Naw, I liked the circus story.

The impression I get is that the Centaur War isn’t really all that important. The Centaurs were previously just taking advantage of the fact that the Humans were busy with their war with the other playable races, but now that they’re at peace, the centaurs are being steadily driven back. They’re little more than a nuisance, frontier raiders whose time is past, and a distraction from the main war against Zaitan and his forces.

And yet, it still has more options than any other class.

First background. Second emblem. Death Reincarnated’s emblem is a good second choice for me.

Can a single finisher activate multiple overlapping fields? In other words, if I drop a fire field and a water field, and then send a blast through it, will it both buff and heal the people on the other side?

Properly built, elementalists hold up very well. The consensus is, if you are into finger dancing, Elementalist is your class.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Guild_emblem_094.png is the most symbolic of what we’re trying to do, obviously. The flame symbol is a bit too specific to a single element, IMO. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Guild_emblem_007.png is also cool, but it feels more like a mesmer thing than an elementalist thing. Finally, you’re right: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Guild_emblem_106.png IS cool, and somehow, it feels right, though I have no idea why.

Anyway, put the elementalist symbol against this background and you’ve got four points to go with the symbol.

We’ll just have to rely less on color and more on shape, then. How exactly are emblems made, anyway? I just threw my thing together in MS Paint.

I noticed that http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:Guild_emblem_094.png IS the Elementalist symbol.

Your combo is pretty much the same as mine, though I run around in water, mainly for thematic purposes. Open by summoning elementals, armor of ice. Switch to air, ride the lightning in, 2, 3, and 5 out of melee range. Switch to fire and immediately 3 back into melee range. Dump flame breath, 5, and ring of fire to set up a fire field. 4 then 5, and then 3 (to close if I need to, and to pick a new target if my old one is dead) and 2. Back into water, just dump them all. Often I’ll skip air from then out, going fire, earth, water, but I’ll go back into air if I’m still waiting for a recharge.

Incredibly rough draft. Purely conceptual.

ThiBash.5634:

Stickin to my own guild, but I can appreciate the concept. As for special event, why not try a ‘Elemental appreciation day’ where you invite all elementalists to LA and have them summon their elementals. :-)

Oh, this would be awesome. I wonder if this would lag the area if we all did it simultaneously?

I’m also going to put some thought into the emblum. A circle is the obvious choice… but will we go with an “oppositional” arrangement (Fire across from water, air across from earth, probably with air above, earth below, water to the left, fire to the right), or maybe the classic Greek arrangement, with Earth at the center, surrounded by Water, surrounded by Air, surrounded by Fire? I tend to prefer the oppositional, myself.

I’m working on something…

Actually, that’s a pretty neat idea. At the very least, it’d be neat to be able to gift gems, with a printable voucher providing access (and tangible evidence of Christmas). Or just an email. A bit like the way Amazon’s gift cards work.

It’d be kind of neat, and a first step toward having an MMO in which many traditionally “NPC” roles are performed by offline players, hitting buttons to feed that addiction in FarmVille style. :p

x * (n1 + n2) = x * n1 + x * n2