Guild Wars 2

If you’ve purchased the expansion and have a character at level 80, you will be able to play HoT as soon as it releases. However, the story will probably be very confusing if you haven’t played the Living World story that comes after the Personal Story. You can read a summary of the LW on the wiki here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World
Season 1 is not replayable, but you can buy season 2 on the gem store.

Lost Maiden.8206:

I don’t know if there’s a solution to being un-stuck in a pvp map, but I’ve been hanging around in Forest of Niflhel for an hour. If there is a solution to this issue, help would be much appreciated.

Close the game, wait a while (30 min, maybe?), restart. It’s working for some people.

Try logging off the game for a while and getting back on. I went to eat lunch and now I’m unstuck. …and in the matchmaking queue. How did that happen?

Ray Patrick.7843:

I’ve cleared everyone who posted above this post. I will continue to monitor this thread throughout the day.

Also – please note: if you are stuck in a pvp map you can clear yourself by logging out of the game for for 10 mins.

There are a lot of people posting in the bugs section of the forum, too.

Yep, a couple new threads already. Quite a few maps right now.

Don’t know if this is the same match – both teams are stuck in Spirit Watch and can’t leave.

Pretty sure there’s a dye remover option near the top of the dyes panel.

You sound like that annoying thief that always kills me on Forest of Niflhel… :-)
I agree, chronomancer is going to be amazing, and you’ll probably really enjoy it. Revanent might be a good option, too. With 5 different legends to equip, it does have the potential to get caught in the balance loop that you mentioned, but it’s so new it’s hard to tell at this point. However, shiro sounds like it was designed for you.
Can’t speak for the scrapper since I don’t play engi, but I fought one in a PvP match this weekend. 2v1 and we couldn’t get his health bar even to 75%… In the right hands, the scrapper looks to be deadly.

I’ve got a few characters with Latin names, and often see others running around, but I was wondering if there’s anyone else who plays this game who actually has learned or is learning Latin. We’re a pretty tiny group, I’m sure, but it would be fun to find others.

Also, if you’d like something translated into Latin or have heard rumor that Rata Sum is Latin and would like to know what it means, here is a place to ask. (Yes, Google Translate exists. Sadly, its Latin is terrible…)

Habeo nonnullas personas nominibus Latinis, et video alios habere quoque, sed cogito num ulli ludores vero sciant an discant linguam Latinam. (A Latin version of the first sentence. Yep, I’m a language geek)

tl;dr — I speak Latin! Do you? Do you want a Latin translation of something?

Tried this jump about 8 times and kept getting shot over the platform and falling in the water. Even standing to the side and aiming manually my character didn’t stay on the platform but slid off the edge at the last minute. At least three people passed me and didn’t seem to have any problems. Finally made it with about 20 seconds of race time left. Not sure if this is really a big deal, but now there’s a thread if others are having this problem, too…

I don’t have the experience to compare GW2 to other games, but combat here can involve a lot of action, especially on thief. It doesn’t necessarily have to on other classes (or in PvE). Try necro, guard, or mesmer, perhaps. (Necro has a health shield of sorts, mesmer can distract npcs very easily, and guard’s just tough with some solid self-heals.) I get away with not dodging much, but I’m a pretty casual player.
Haven’t played charr — I don’t have strong opinions on other voice acting (except the humans can get a little annoying). My first characters were all asura. I liked the PS enough I made a few so that I could see all of the options.

This is a very kind thread. Thank you, generous players!
As for me, I have long admired the arcane outfit and the imperial outfit.

Well, I’m a pretty casual player and no expert on class subtleties, but oddly started in about the same spot. I leveled a mesmer first, then tried ranger and got bored fast. I’ve switched around a lot since, but right now I’m mostly on my thief.

Thief animations are pretty cool, though more acrobatic than magic-based. Skill 3 on double dagger is basically a back-flip over your enemy! Both melee and ranged are strong, and like mesmer you have a few teleports that can allow you to switch quickly. Thieves also have a good mix of fields and finishers for making combos. The disadvantage, for me, is that I can’t punch buttons fast enough to really survive on pvp – thieves have high damage but low health, and rely on stealth, evades, and speed to stay alive. If you know what you’re doing, though, they are one of the more deadly pvp classes.

Guardian has lots of blue fire magic, but doesn’t seem that versatile to me. Necro might fit what you are looking for, but I’ve not played one past lvl 20, so I can’t tell you much.

And…If you’re planning on doing HoT:
BWE1 I was playing around with Chronomancer traits and found a shatter build in which illusions don’t disappear the first time you shatter, and shattering creates a clone – really enjoyed shatter mechanics for the first time.
Revanent will be amazing. The coolest visuals I have yet seen on this game, and a lot of variety depending on which legends you slot.

Hope this helps!

I’m no expert on traits, but as for skills/weapons:
I stay away from staff on jumping puzzles because accidentally hitting #2 can push you backwards off an edge. I use greatsword/sword-focus. The unpredictability of SoI is annoying, so I just slot it when I want speed for some reason. I use the golem asura racial skill as an elite (pretty much everywhere, actually), because it’s a quick way to distract a sudden crowd of mobs. Lasts longer than illusions, and I can’t remember seeing one die. Especially nice if you are low health (from falling, maybe), and might be downed.

Yes, I realize it’s just sylvari – I was just hoping to hear it outside of the story instance. I’m excited to see where they go with this.

Oops, you’re right, I should have put this on the thief forum. I had HoT on the mind…
Yes, the real issue with a sniper thief would be preventing it from being too powerful. I’m picturing a long cast time (maybe watch your character bend down and adjust his sights) and probably a revealed effect during and a bit after to prevent you from just disappearing or suddenly attacking out of stealth. Range doesn’t have to be more than 1200. And not all the skills need to be ranged. It would be tricky to design, but a lot of fun if they ever figure something out.
I hadn’t heard the staff rumors – I’d been assuming it wasn’t a possibility since that was already a special weapon for the rangers – but now we see shield on both chronomancer and herald, so they’re obviously not using unique weapons for each class. I will be happy with a staff!

It’s probably way too late to bring this up – I’m sure anet is already working on whatever thief specialization we’re going to get. But, just for fun, I like the idea of a thief with a rifle. Skills would be long-ranged and powerful, but with a long cast time so they wouldn’t be too terrifying.

Classes

Revenant:
My main characters are mesmer, thief and elementalist, all classes with beautiful skill animations. The revenant outshines them all; it’s gorgeous. I especially like the visuals for the staff and hammer skills. Some things, like the dwarf road, might turn out to be a disadvantage in pvp, however.
I’m not someone who reads all the numbers and skill descriptions – just try a build and see how it fits. The revenant is very complex, and I don’t know if I played long enough to make a lot of solid comments. My impressions are that it’s highly versatile and has excellent potential as a strong healer (which will be very nice for dungeons). I used the Ventari stance a lot more than I thought I would. It’s nice to have a healing build with room for good dps at the same time. Shiro was disappointing. I was hoping for more focus on damage, but ended up with a focus on speed, which only equals more damage if I push buttons faster.
Also, I know there was going to be a little dialogue for the legends, but I hardly heard any. Sometimes I’d notice them say something as I switched, but I was hoping to hear more comments as I was fighting, or just running around Tyria. Maybe I simply need to adjust my volume settings.
Overall, the revenant looks like a lot of fun and incorporates elements of my favorite classes. I’m looking forward to having more time to figure it out.

Chronomancer:
I love it! I spent most of my beta time here. The #5 shield is a nice multiple target skill, a good addition to a lot of single-target options already available. #4 can seem long if I mainly want the illusion, but the defense comes in handy in verdant brink. I would prefer it a little shorter, since I can already use it twice if it’s actually blocking something. I spent a bit more time looking at traits and stumbled upon an illusions/inspiration/chronomancer build I like better than what I’m currently using. I had enough bonuses on shatter that I didn’t feel like I was sacrificing my defenses (I usually don’t touch the shatter skills and keep phantasms up as long as I can) and had a lot of fun with that f5 skill. It definitely felt different than a regular mesmer, and I see a lot of potential for finding clever timing for it.
I like the idea of the wells, but got the icons mixed up a little, and it was hard to keep track of all the different effects they were having. The elite is good though. The existing mesmer elites aren’t very useful in pve (I stick with a 7-series golem), and I’m looking forward to another option.

Dragonhunter:
Didn’t play much, but enjoyed what I did play. No complaints that I can recall!

Tempest:
Probably the most disappointing aspect of beta for me. It just wasn’t that interesting; very similar to the ele now, and the overloads had too long a cast time to be very practical. I like the idea of an ele with a warhorn, but, aside from the fire skills, it doesn’t match the staff or offhand dagger. Smaller AoEs and they don’t last very long. I would suggest tweaking cooldowns and damage to make the new skills more effective, and maybe adding boons that apply the longer you stay on an attunement. Right now the overload is the only reason to stay, and we already have good traits that encourage switching as much as possible. But maybe there are new traits that fix that – I didn’t experiment with my build much.

(Don’t play necro, so I didn’t try the reaper)

World

Map:
Verdant brink was a little confusing on entering. Lots of tough mobs, cliffs all over the place, and events that can change quickly. Excellent! Fits the mood of the destruction of the fleet, and engaging to play. Pocket Raptors are surprisingly tricky, especially playing mesmer, as illusions only stick around for one kill. I found night a bit more enjoyable, as it was very clear just what was available to do. The daytime event I participated in was scaled up massively due to a lot of participation, and seemed a bit complicated for such a large group. We were clearing a path for Laranthir by killing vinetenders, then their vines. First one seemed to take half of the day cycle, because not everyone realized we had to kill the vinetenders at the same time and they kept respawning. Once everyone cooperated it was a lot of fun, though – I think the event instructions just need to be more obvious or the event could get really frustrating (and easily trollable)

Masteries:
Took me longer to get gliding than I expected, but time was very reasonable when the mastery unlocks for all characters. After I got it I basically stopped trying to get the next tier and just had fun gliding around and discovering new areas. Endurance timing is good; provides mobility but keeps it challenging. I would love to see a jumping puzzle incorporating gliding.
Like I said, I didn’t take the time to earn more masteries, though I couldn’t figure out how to switch to the legendary track or I might have tried that. It’s nice to have something new to do at the level cap with a concrete way to see I’m accomplishing something even if I’ve stopped leveling.

Adventures:
I never found one that was active, or what I was supposed to do to activate them.

Defiance bar on bosses:
Yes, easier to see what is going on as a group of players adds conditions. Fun to watch it suddenly drop as I shatter my illusions.

Story:
I do like hearing my character talk, and the new style allows for more dynamic scenes between multiple characters. However, it’s not easily skippable like the cinematics are, and I missed seeing my characters face. I would like to see a mix of both styles, depending on the situation.
Mordremoth’s voice is great – could sylvari players hear it more, perhaps? It would be cool and a little creepy if every one in a while (not regularly enough to be annoying) he would start talking as you run around verdant brink, and npc sylvari might react, too.
I know keeping races cosmetic makes a lot of sense for pvp, but I’d like to see more differences in the story based on race. Right now race only has an effect on the very beginning of the personal story, and it’s a little sad that being an asura, for example, doesn’t make much of a difference anymore. Does they maybe have more technical solutions to problems than a sylvari? Does a human npc refuse to work with your charr character? How does this change the story? I’d like to maybe see some choices set up similarly to the racial sympathy storyline. There might be only 3 or 4 possibilities (instead of a full 5), but different races would see different combinations of them.

I haven’t had time to read a lot of others’ feedback, so I might be repeating some things, but I was very grateful to be able to participate in the beta weekend and wanted to do my part to contribute! Thanks for a great game, Anet.