Guild Wars 2

Might mean Indonesian players. That’s the first thing coming to mind. A guard is usually required for reflect uptime.

As for how this farm is done, similar to other SE 1 speedclears. At least 2 elementalists are needed for fiery greatsword on the first and second golems.

For pugging, definitely Guardian. Brings reflects, condition removal, stability, blinds etc. Properly played, you can provide almost everything that pickups tend to lack.

There are a lot of things that can be done to improve dungeons in this game, but I don’t see what homogenizing the kill time for groups accomplishes.

Veckna.9621:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

Veckna.9621:

I’m not very easily annoyed but here’s a few things that grind my gears when I have to pug:
3. Thieves that camp D/D when we’ve stacked in a corner, thieves that don’t know when or how to stealth people to speed up a run, thieves that don’t realize they got smoke screen to block projectiles and thieves that don’t help blasting fields;

If you don’t have a bundle weapon and are in a corner isn’t the dagger auto chain the thief’s highest DPS option?

Sword/pistol becomes more effective unless you’re in a situation where you can position yourself behind the target, with comparable DPS simply in AA chain and permanent weakness and blinds helping mitigate incoming damage to your group.

Weakness/blind matter a lot less vs most bosses, and dagger still has heartseeker.

Veckna.9621:

I’m not very easily annoyed but here’s a few things that grind my gears when I have to pug:
3. Thieves that camp D/D when we’ve stacked in a corner, thieves that don’t know when or how to stealth people to speed up a run, thieves that don’t realize they got smoke screen to block projectiles and thieves that don’t help blasting fields;

If you don’t have a bundle weapon and are in a corner isn’t the dagger auto chain the thief’s highest DPS option?

Just a thought, very few people come into League of Legends ranked games with the mentality of “I will play how I want.” That usually gets reported for trolling, if it’s significantly off meta.

Anyway, I’m expecting this thread to get locked soon. Welp.

maha.7902:

People pulling mobs on to me while I solo a boss to pop a waypoint, people who get angry at other party members for failing a skip when all four of them are dead on the floor, people pressuring others to run meta when I create groups with no requirements. Having a Mesmer call 3 other people in the group casual for not knowing how Brie works despite admitting they were new was honestly just sad. The guy was being smug despite being a GS Mesmer and having to use the boat skip because chaining stealth is too hard apparently.

Yeah, the attitudes of some players bugs me. As for stealth and mesmers it’s pretty easy for them to do most trash skips now with the ability to trait PU on the fly.

I don’t understand why people stack and LOS at the left side of the door in CoE. It’s faster to just go in and pull the trash together into a wall and LOS them in the hallway than for them to wait and come to you.

When people don’t LOS the flame legion igniters at the start of CoF 2 it makes them a lot harder to kill. When you pack them together and cleave them down they are easy, but spread out they can wreck a party.

Wannabe zerker elitists who make “LF pros to melee lupi” groups and they wipe at phase 2.

What else comes to mind?

Where do you get the % health addon?

You can try looking on ebay if you want to purchase it.

The soundtrack is also free on the web… if you know where to look.

Aetherpath seems to be that one dungeon nobody has been bothered to set a record for.

haviz.1340:

We killed him with 7 people relatively easy.

Neat. If you recorded it that would be awesome. Doesn’t have have an attack that counts down and insta kills you?

Dub.1273:

The only hard thing about grawl shaman is the bugged aoe attack that tends to hit you in dodges. As for a 5 man group, I’m not really sure if there is a ‘hard’ boss in this game. My vote probably goes to the legendary priest with eternity in front of arah.

Have you tried 5-manning the Legendary Risen Priest of Balthazar?

Excluding bosses that can infinitely scale in Fractals, what boss encounter do you think is the most difficult for a 5 man group to handle? Does this change if we include open world encounters?

For this, boss shall not include enemies like the shatterer or Tequatl.

Most people who run dungeons will not kick you if you die after a boss (kitten happens) but there are a few kittenes who do.

Iris Ng.9845:

Overall, a nice discussion. I have learnt a lot from all the sources. My opinion with the stealth skipping build is overkill. This is what I was instructed to use in Arah p2-Spider room with much success:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQRAsd8fl0npMtFrxRNcrNyqhcqlokSfJSAA-ThwMwAnV/Bw+DAA-e

Place Portal, swap Portal out for Decoy. After the skip, swap Decoy for Portal and use the Exeunt.

The similar build was used for the skip to Brie, but this time I would swap Veil out for Mantra of Concentration, or keep Veil if there is another mesmer :p

Regarding to Phantasm Haste, I find it excellent against the first Subject Alpha when the group has no FGS.

Prismatic Understanding works pretty well for some of the longer runs seen in Arah path 1.

Concerning the max reflect build, I would like to point out that its purpose is as a max reflect build and not simply a fight alphard build. It could be used in any projectile-heavy dungeon like SE or Arah where a mesmer is the only source of reflects (often the case in pugs) and maintaining high reflect uptime is useful.

Sanderinoa.8065:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

Speaking of warden bugs, I’ve noticed the thing that causes them to bug out has to do with blasting combo fields, but I’m not entirely sure how to reproduce it.

Firstly, which bug? Secondly, are you accusing me of using a torch when soloing?! the issue with them not spinning seems to have to do with targetting mostly. I conclude this from the fact that wardens have a 100% spin chance at the golems at the uncategorized fractal, ONLY when said wardens end up being in melee range of the raving Asura himself.

The bug I’m talking about involves all 3 of your phantasms resetting their animations so they act on the same timer. This is most noticeable in fights against Alphard where blasting some combo fields will cause all your wardens to sync up and spin at the same time, instead of having a rotation.

Speaking of warden bugs, I’ve noticed the thing that causes them to bug out has to do with blasting combo fields, but I’m not entirely sure how to reproduce it.

Sanderinoa.8065:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

If you need to destroy unblockable projectiles, do not trait warden’s feedback and take extended glamour duration instead. You can use scholar or ranger runes for this.

I don’t think this makes a whole lot of sense, if there are unblockable projectiles present feedback isn’t likely to do anything that’s super relevant, so keeping 25 in the inspiration traitline seems like a complete waste. I believe you wrote this with alphard in mind, but in tthis scenario it’s often better to just try to get wardens to spawn close to each other, and not use feedback at all.

So in that case I’d say go 6/4/0/0/4, which by the way is what I use as a max non reflect phantasm build, e.g. for the abomination in p2 arah when soloing.

In the case of alphard the feedback is helpful for killing the adds that shoot at you from the outside.

frifox.5283:

Nearly same builds I suggested for my guild too, looking good so far. One question though, what’s the justification for taking Signet Mastery instead of Empowered Illusions for 2/3/0/5/4?

That was a mistake, fixed it.

Berserker gear and trinkets are assumed. Runes may vary depending on situation.

Max DPS build: 6 / 6 / 0 / 0 / 2

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQRAsc8dnsISRa2qGWpB1aGR1YQVXkOgEio0ls9AA-e

Use when reflects are only needed for short durations or high burst damage. Scholar runes are ideal. Deceptive evasion and Phantasmal fury can be switched depending on the encounter. Signet recharge and signet of the ether can be switched for other traits + mantra of recovery.

*Phantasm max reflect build: 2 / 3 / 0 / 5 / 4 or 2 / 4 / 0 / 4 / 4 *

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQRAsc8dnsISpa2qGGpB1aIR1QObxhosbaSFocdA-e

Use when you need to maximize reflects. If you need to destroy unblockable projectiles, do not trait warden’s feedback and take extended glamour duration instead. You can also switch 1 point in inspiration to dueling for blade training. You can use scholar or ranger runes for this.

Stealth running build: 0 / 4 / 6 / 4 / 0

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQRAsd8fl0npMtNqxYNcrNysxY6RGejTOTNl8gAA-ThwMwAnV/Bw+DAA-e

Used for trash skips. Any 25% movespeed rune or armor stat can be used but I prefer centaur runes for the group swiftness and reduced cripple duration. The important traits are prismatic understanding and increased range on manipulations; everything else is up to preference but the ones I listed will give the best chances of survival if something goes wrong while running. Veil can be replaced with portal entre if you are transporting a group instead of running them.

The “Alphard” build: 6 / 4 / 0 / 0 / 4

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQRAsc8dnsISNaWlGGpB1aGR1QQZ30kOQiIlsTJA

This is used to maximize damage while destroying unblockable projectiles. A mantra can be swapped out for feedback as a matter of preference.

Further contributions are appreciated. I have been thinking of an “all purpose” build for people who don’t really want to switch out too many traits, but have yet to come up with something satisfactory. I am not sure if going 30 deep into domination for more damage is worth losing utility from other trait lines, as mesmers already have low base damage without phantasms.

I sent you an invite. Any of the experienced players will be happy to explain the dungeon.

Skipping content happens when:

1. Killing the trash/completing optional encounters is mostly unrewarding
2. Killing the trash/completing optional encounters is mostly unfun.

This is largely the case in GW2. Dungeons spam elites at you which are nothing more than bags of HP with damaging attacks that don’t give loot worth your time. I’d consider doing full clears of dungeons if that were encouraged in any way by their design (e.g. vanquishing/master’s rewards in GW1) but that simply doesn’t exist.

These builds have different purposes, so I think it’s silly to outright say one is better than the other. The axe warrior build may be better when you do not need the defensive utility from the greatsword and want a relatively simple playstyle, but I think 30/25 is a superior build for solo content and encounters where the extra evade or repositioning from GS 3/5 are beneficial.

I just sent you an invite. It has been a while since I last received a request to help someone but we are always happy to do it.

CoF 3 isn’t too bad but the bomb roll can be very frustrating.

Jerus.4350:

Rest in Peace In Peace…. huh? =b had to point it out.

rip in pepperonies

Pyroathiest.4168:

Sanderinoa.8065:

Honestly it was still pretty overpowered in pve :x daze mantra takes practically no skill to use to completely disable a boss through defiant

Honestly, power block just highlighted how bad GW2 bosses are. You disable 1 or 2 attacks and they just stand around like fools. That’s not an overpowered disable, that’s kitten boss design.

Wow much truth very insight

Awesome, useful information.

It’s probably fine since it retains the original item identity (i.e. the weapon is still called Dusk). The way transmuted items are handled was overhauled.

I’d be interested in your guild if it weren’t for the Fractal requirement.

At various levels of crit chance? Assume that the amount of critical damage is at full Berserker levels.

I think PvPers would care too, but so would hardcore dungeon folks.

You’re right that Fortifying Bond and Vigorous Spirits are very important, and I use them almost all the time. However, if if you are solo and moving around a lot or facing enemies that will quickly destroy your spirits/pets, some other traits are better options.

I switch my traits up all the time depending on the situation, but in general I think the important traits for Rangers in PvE to keep in mind are spotter, fury on weapon swap, Fortifying Bond/Vigorous Spirits and offhand training for when its needed.

People actually watch GW2 PvE streams?

I’d much rather watch something like League of Legends on Twitch, which is miles more entertaining.

There are a variety of builds, but almost all of the good PvE ones will use berserker gear and aim for % damage increases in all lines except Beastmastery. How you choose to distribute those points depends on your situation.

6/5/0/3/0
4/5/5/0/0
6/3/0/5/0

etc. are all examples of trait setups that are viable and have different uses.

Sword mainhand offers the highest DPS, but it locks you to your target so unless you are very good at controlling the animation it is not ideal to use in situations where precise dodging is required. Warhorn offhand is good in all situations, and whether you take offhand dagger, torch, or axe depends on the type of enemy you are facing and what kind of utility you want. Dagger provides an extra evade, torch gives a nice fire field, axe gives a pull and reflect.

Greatsword is good for perma fury with 3 points in skirmishing and 4 points in nature magic. It also provides a lot of defense, with one of the best blocks in the game (3 second block on 15/12s cd) but its DPS is on the lower side, comparable to shortbow. Longbow, under ideal circumstances, has equal DPS to sword, but is better suited to content outside of dungeons where it is almost never ideal to engage enemies at max range away from your party (and by extension, boon support).

I usually go sword/warhorn + gs.

Hammerguard.9834:

ANET, please give us access to this armor! I don’t care how you do it I just need to be able to get it. It has the best light armor pieces in the game by far in my opinion. Maybe you could simply allow this lady (http://i.imgur.com/QhJCl5M.jpg) to sell them?

That’s the PVP Tribal armor and as of now there is no way to obtain it in game if you did not have it previously unlocked (since PVP crafting has been disabled).

You cannot daze, stun, or fear Lupicus.

slsharpshooter.5631:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

slsharpshooter.5631:

Purple Miku.7032:

Selling paths is fine if you don’t cheat in the path or kick players from your party in a group so that you can sell the slots instead.

Having the legendary boss at 1% and staying in combat until you find 4 other people is done without cheating?

Yes, if you are skilled enough. There are videos of people soloing dungeon paths if you’re interested.

Hmm, if it’s more efficient than doing a dungeon properly than yes please.

This is was done by the player who currently holds several records for solo killing Lupicus. Properly set up, he can solo Arah paths faster than PUG groups can finish them.

Gyler.8150:

God this is so getting nerfed to the ground. Was similar to necro through defiant fear, except for the not doing anything for a few minutes. Would love to see a 5 mesmer powerblock lupi run though!

Lupi is immune to control effects.

slsharpshooter.5631:

Purple Miku.7032:

Selling paths is fine if you don’t cheat in the path or kick players from your party in a group so that you can sell the slots instead.

Having the legendary boss at 1% and staying in combat until you find 4 other people is done without cheating?

Yes, if you are skilled enough. There are videos of people soloing dungeon paths if you’re interested.

Wanze.8410:

TheKillerAngel.3596:

Wanze.8410:

Tseikk.9032:

Yes. Would fix this kittened linen price and make ppl that dont play 8 hours a day able to obtain ascended armor before they have a white beard…

It would do absolutely nothing to the linen price because silk is not cheap enough.

You’d have a whole lot of gossamer to burn through and this would shift prices down a bit.

IF the demotion formula was th same as the promotion formula, you would get more silk buy selling your gossamer and buying silk.

Then the demotion formula just wouldn’t be the same? It’s that simple.

Wanze.8410:

Tseikk.9032:

Yes. Would fix this kittened linen price and make ppl that dont play 8 hours a day able to obtain ascended armor before they have a white beard…

It would do absolutely nothing to the linen price because silk is not cheap enough.

You’d have a whole lot of gossamer to burn through and this would shift prices down a bit.

Anyone interested in seeing this? It would be useful to convert some high supply, low-demand high tier materials (T6 leather, cloth) into lower tier materials that are in greater demand.

I don’t really care.

If you were on last night you could have gotten a slot from me. Are you NA or EU?

Off the top of my head it uses Dire stats (Condi/Vit/Tough) which are craftable. Just search for crafted armor with the Dire prefix.

Guardian, no question. Balance changes to them are very minor at this point.

Spoj The Second.7680:

Well no matter what they do, boss loot in gw2 is the worst ive ever seen in any game.

Yeah, it’s pretty bad. But I think they wanted to shift the reward schedule in Gw2. Most MMOs have instanced content with variable ratio reinforcement schedules. Bosses have really epic loot, but they may or may not drop it, and you need to keep running that content to have a chance at getting rewards.

GW2 dungeons have fixed ratio reinforcement; barring diminishing returns the reward is largely the same, but guaranteed. Reward packets (tokens and gold) come in smaller doses but they are consistent every time you act.

I would support purchases of higher end equipment from dungeons vendors, or at least something more. Right now tokens don’t feel particularly valuable right now.

Killing most enemies in dungeons is unfun, hence they are skipped
Solutions:

- Reduce the number of elites in dungeons. When nearly every “trash” enemy in a dungeon is elite, it devalues the meaning of elite.

- If the numbers of elites remain the same, reduce their hit points and damage.

- Alternatively, make elites “worth killing.” There are many systems to make trash in dungeons “worth killing” – at the most basic level it means buffing their loot tables.

- Other methods of incentivizing different methods of play include rewards for full completion of a dungeon, along with fast completion of a dungeon. If you can complete a dungeon within ABC minutes, you quality for one track of rewards. If you can complete XYZ objectives/kills of a dungeon, you quality for a second track. Can you complete both? Even better. This reward system is similar to mission rewards in GW1, where you can aim for standard, expert, and master’s rewards in either normal or hard mode.

Boss fights are uninteresting or too susceptible to gimmicky tactics
Solutions:

- Reduce the amount of hit points bosses have. Many bosses in this game substitute interesting mechanics for wads of HP.

- Increase the number of skills bosses have, especially defensive/utility abilities. Bosses should aim to have the same number of abilities as players – 10, with a similar distribution. 5 offensive abilities, 1 healing/defensive ability, 3 defensive/utility abilities, 1 elite/high threat ability. This will reduce bosses’ reliance on large, telegraphed skills while still maintaining a high threat level.

- Improve enemy intelligence such that they react to players as opposed to being bricks that endlessly rotate skills. This means enemies should learn to “stay out of the fire” and need better mobility.