Guild Wars 2

I’m curious though…why the Llama? What’s the inside joke or story behind it being a llama?

Purple Miku.7032:

Runescape had superior storytelling than GW2 does, and it’s a decade-old game… so that’s saying something.

Most older games have better storytelling than today’s games. It’s in part because storytelling had to be done through text rather than graphics, but also because the story was often their biggest selling point. Gameplay and especially graphics were a lot less the focus of those games.

Which is a shame, because in the end, a good story does more to a game than slightly better looks.

There have been numerous posts about having more custom lore for characters, based on their orders and race and whatnot. However, there’s a failry cheap and simple way to add more ‘custom’ to your character’s story.

Dialogue options.

For example, say your character is ambushed by the Inquest, and they say that the player must leave their territory to be attacked, you could have the following dialogue:

Inquest: “Leave at once!”
Player A: “Don’t tell me what I can or cannot do!”
Player B: “I am here to help the Zephyrites. Don’t you see they need help?”
Player C: “We’ll leave as soon as we can.”
Inquest: “It wasn’t a question. You’ve seen too much. Attack!”

It doesn’t require any new programming code, it doesn’t need expensive voice actors. There’s no need to track character background, order or pact-commander status. It can all be implemented using the current dialogue interface and it’ll add a sense of customization and character building without interrupting the story at all. This way, players can customize their character’s personality and reactions.

All it takes are 2 extra strings of text every now and then, and the lore/story lovers will be a lot happier.

Mikuchan.7261:

So then don’t do it.
All story is scripted and you know that beforehand.
If it’s not scripted it’s not a story, it’s running around randomly doing random things.
If you can’t accept that, then come up with your own story and toleplay it instead.
So if you don’t want your character to do the story, don’t do it.
Nobody is forcing you.

Oh, so now you are telling me what kind of criticism I can and cannot give too? Give me a break. My point is valid and you know it.

When there are 3 options to reply to an NPC, what’s the point in actually choosing if the replies are all the same? If the only reply to ‘what did you feel when you finished off Scarlet’ are variations on ‘killing is fun and a good, easy and fun way to solve your problems’ the writers have made a mistake. I’m just giving my feedback for the future that next time they add stuff like that, they vary the possible responses.

It’s fairly easy to add dialogue screens with multiple options that all result in the same generic response. It could add some customization to your character’s personality without affecting the overall story at all. There’s no need for fancy programming or expensive voice actors. All it takes is a short string of text. And I don’t get why that option isn’t used more frequently. Or that, when it is used, all the options are the same.

That’s a question I’ve been asking myself since launch. They’re so annoying and the game would be so much better without them.

The fact that ArenaNet makes decisions for my character rather than me, is actually the number one issue I have with this game.

I made the character. I created the background for her in my head. I’m role-playing it. So get your writer’s mittens off of my character and not force her to do things she shouldn’t. Killing Scarlet and being forced to say that she liked it was the single worst moment in a Living Story that includes Scarlet. So that’s saying something.

Wyrden.4713:

Effective Power = Power × [1 + Critical Chance × (Critical Multiplier – 1)] × Damage Multiplier

can u pls explain this again with a full example ? i am rly curious about it cause it will surely help me out picking out gears, if its too much dont let it bother u

It is basically the game’s damage formula without static variables like target armor and skill modifiers. It’s not an exact measurement, but if you compare values, you get a percentage difference between the dps of 2 stat combinations.

Example:
Say you have 1000 power, 20% critical chance, and 170% critical damage. Your effective power will then be:

1000 x [1+0,20 x (1,7-1)] = 1000 x [1,2 × 0,7] = 840

Now you add say, 5% critical chance. The new effective power will be:

1000 x [1+0,25 x (1,7-1)] = 1000 x [1,25 × 0,7] = 875

If you compare these values, you get your % dps increase:

875/840 × 100%=104,17%

This means that +5% critical chance will increase your dps by roughly 4,17%.

Note that the damage multiplier is used for traits that increase your damage by a certain percentage. If you have no traits, it’s equal to 100%. If you add a trait that adds +10% damage, it will be 110%, and so on. Since it doesn’t change if you keep the same traits, I’ve left it out of the formula for this example.

Thaddeus.4891:

Meteor Shower is a nice burst (especially on a wall), but it not your main source of dmg.

I was referring to thrash mob fights. Most groups will skip non-boss fights if they can of course, but if you don’t, the meteor shower usually lasts pretty much the entire encounter. For longer (boss) fights this is obviously not the case. But it does give staff an edge over scepter and dagger in addition to whatever else it does in terms of dps.

Wyrden.4713:

i mean, does anyone even use scepter 2?

I do in PvE sometimes. It’s a quick fire-and-forget ability, and in PvE stuff doesn’t move as much. I don’t remain in water to spam it, but casting it after a heal or something, while going back to another attunement, it’s okish.

It’s a matter of practice. After 2 years, I’ve pretty much got a timer in my head for when stuff will be ready. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice though. I can imagine something like a GUI element with 3 greyed out skill bars and 1 colored for the active element. Add the recharge numbers on that and you’d be set.

The main appeal for staff in PvE is Meteor Shower. It can deal humongeous damage to groups (and bosses) because of the large number of hits. And you get most of your cooldown while walking to the next group, resulting in greater MS uptime than you’d get on paper. Scepter and dagger don’t have anything that comes close.

Of course, when it comes to single target dps over longer fights, the story gets different.

There is a formula to calculate the effect of various stats on your dps.

Effective Power = Power × [1 + Critical Chance × (Critical Multiplier – 1)] × Damage Multiplier

First take your current stats without the 100 power or 21% critical damage. Then calculate it again, but add 100 power. Divide the first result by the second, and you’ll see how much % extra dps you get. Do the same for critical damage, and compare. The highest % will give you the most extra dps.

Thaddeus.4891:

Zerker will give you a better return.

That is your opinion. Repeating it does not make it a fact.

You prepare for fast dungeon clears and that’s fine. I prepare for the worst, because if it’s not the worst, the 10% extra damage I would deal doesn’t matter much. And if it does get worse, at least I have enough defense to solo the boss if needed. Zerker is all fine and dandy, but 75% zerker is plenty to keep up with the meta.

A zerker/celestial mix gives me a better return because it allows me to compensate better for the groups I’m usually playing with.

The number of skills that it affect is not relevant here. 1 Power will affect all my direct dmg skills like 1 Healing Power will affect all my healing skills.

It is very relevant. If you can only use one skill every 20 seconds, you’ll get less return compared to being able to use a skill every 5 seconds.

As far as I can see it, you have a few options when it comes to Air.

Air Training: use this to add a 10% boost to skills when you need. For example, you could cast a meteor shower, and switch to air while casting, or use Eruption→Ice Spike→Air Attunement to boost their damage when they land.

Arcane Lightning: if you have room for an Arcane skill in your build, you can use this to boost your critical damage when you need it (though it’s weaker than +10% damage).

Zephyr’s Boon: you can use this in combination with the Arcane Fury trait to get near-perma fury for yourself. It also works on blast finishers in Frozen Ground if you need it.

some other trait: extra damage isn’t neccesarily the only option. You could add some more Arcana and get Elemental Attunment, which ups your survivability a lot. Or try Lightning Rod to beef up your Static Field and Unsteady Ground. Or maybe some other useful utility. Glass cannon doesn’t neccesarily mean you have no defense at all. It’s as they say, a dead dpser doesn’t deal damage. But that’s up to you.

Pure Heart.1456:

Therefore, no one will ever know or care you have a house, or want to go and see it unless you tell and invite them to have a look, at which point (should they bother to visit) they will spend about 47 seconds inside before they leave the instance to go run some other content directly relevant to them.—Your hours of customizing and furnishing will amount to sweet F.A.

You’re making 2 mistakes in your reasoning here. The first is that all content should be used to brag to others. The second is that content is only relevant if you spend all of your time there.

Neither of those arguments apply to me. Content isn’t just relevant if you spend time there. Sometimes just knowing it’s there can do a lot too. For example, do you spend all your time in your race’s capital city? Probably not, but when you do visit on occasion, you get that ‘wow’ feeling, the ‘this is what I’m fighting for’ effect. It gives you a base, a home, a purpose. A home instance works the same way.

Not everything has to be a measure of skill, to measure your succes against others, or to show off your skill. Some things are just there to enjoy more casually, to admire when you get there. Maybe even for ‘gasp’ roleplaying. Who knows? There are tons of valid reasons, because MMO’s aren’t just for the endgame dungeon runners.

To me, a personal home that nobody sees and I vist just once a week adds more fun to the game than a world boss I run every hour.

I so wish this was fixed. It even looks stupid on Marjory herself, and that’s black on black. I didn’t even notice she wore a belt until I bought the outfit and ran into the coloring problems.

Mckeone.9804:

I’m also guessing that those unenlightened masses just use a single set anyways and don’t mix and match, so we may see more outfits going forward.

It’s not about mixing and matching. That I can live with. My main issue is that you cannot dye the individual parts. Just look at the wintersday outfit and you’ll see what I mean. Parts that should be totally different dye the same color and it ruins it.

Good point. I suppose it depends on how much extra might stacks you get from the rune, and on how many other players. If a might stack equals roughly 2% damage. then just 1 extra stack on your entire team should (theoretically) clear the gap. But it’s often not as simple as that. :-)

It’s a good thing that runes are a tough choice I suppose, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

Thaddeus.4891:

Zerker will give you a better return.

That depends on how much you value direct damage. :-)

Healing Power don’t boost much your basic healing capability

Not per skill maybe, but all those little bits add up with the huge number of aoe healing effects the ele has (both weapon and traits).

For condition it depend on your build, but for normal PvE build, that give you such a small return, that you really shouldn’t take any of that. Condition dmg is never a good idea on a direct dmg build.

True, but I can see a dedicated condition build work for eles. Or maybe a mix of damage and condition damage, to add pressure.

It could be tied into the Living Story. ;-)

All of this is based on the presumption that it’s in fact, a complex story that’s being told. So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Cygnus.6903:

Only a few long cooldown utilities to soak all of the damage that warriors, as opposed to many other classes, are forced to eat.

You’re joinking right? Between shield and endure pain (and the traits) warrior has as much damage avoid skills as any other profession. Not to mention they have as many dodges as the next one.

It’s a good change overall. Just sad that (again) it hits the ele harder than other professions. No profession is as might centric as a sigil of battle ele….

Elementalists aren’t a pet class. They get elementals because they can do a little of everything. They’re not the main focus, and are fairly good as they are now.

Chase.8415:

Adding 20 points to fire would increase your damage by roughly 21%, so having the water attunement just for extra damage is not necessary.

True, but water also gives you healing and hp alongside that extra damage.

To be fair, I always thought they were 5% anyway.

DarkSpirit.7046:

Another good part is that you can wear it over light, medium, or heavy armor.

There have been plenty of armor pieces that can be worn by any profession. Also, I’m not sure it’s such a nice thing to have heavy armored warriors run around in light clothes. But that’s your own choice I suppose.

The savings in transmutation stone is quite significant considering the number of pieces of armor. But this comes at a cost of customization.

Meaning ‘no customization’. As an example, I’d like to point out that the wintersday outfit was effectively ruined because of the weird way dyes work on it now (as opposed to when each piece could be dyed seperately).

Outfits are meant to be a cover for your armor, in case you get sick of your character’s look and want a change easily. You don’t have to buy another set of armor to change your appearance back and forth and you don’t need to waste transmutation charges over time.

None of that matters if you cannot make the outfit look good in the first place.

I don’t mind the gem store, nor that skins are available primarily through real life cash.

What I do mind, is that Anet skimps out on us by releasing outfits instead of actual armor sets, and still expects us to pay 7/8th of the price, even if we only get 10% of the customization options.

Im Mudbone.1437:

Do you have a link to this SUPPOSED promise for housing?

Not since Anet removed all the old articles they wrote before the release of the game.

Does anyone remember that comic about being able to pick up mugs in a bar? That sounded so cool way back then…

Eight O Eight.8257:

WE DO NOT NEED PLAYER HOUSING!

We don’t need new content either. That’s just different looks for the same type of content. Or new gear…or just anything really.

But we WANT housing. We want it ever since Anet promised to add it to the game, and then didn’t.

Player housing, guild halls and…GvG already!

It’s also odd fixing. There are now AoE skills with a 1 target limit. What’s the point of them being AoE in the first place, if they get a 1 target limit?

Several AoE skills, like Lightning Flash and Explosive Rockets, inadvertly got a target limit of 1 during the recent patch. It should probably be 3 for the rockets. Otherwise them being AoE makes no sense.

The patch notes say that some skills got a maximum number of targets of 1. In particular, this goes for Lightning Flash and Explosive Rockets.

Does anyone know wheter this has always been the case, and why they are limited to just 1?

The explosive rockets especially doesn’t make any sense.

They could replace the Sylvari by Tengu. That’d certainly improve the game.

If you’d ever want to get me back on the Anet fanboy train, it’d be if Guild Halls were introduced. Been waiting for that for ages.

Oh, and personal home instances the way they were promised way back…I’d pay 5000 gems for that if it were implemented.

Yes, it probably would. I was so disappointed when I learned it was an outfit. You can’t customize anything about it, and it dyes horribly.

And yet it’s still 700 gems…I’d have gladly paid 1000 for armor I can actually color properly.

LordByron.8369:

Good part about outfits is they don’t need trasmutation stones.

That’s also the only good thing about them. Why would you wear an outfit that only looks ecent if you use the exact dye combination that the developer intended?

Considering that for 800 gems, you get a fully customizable set of armor, 700 gems for an outfit is a ripoff.

It was all fun, until they released yet another super powered Sylvari as the antagonist. So sick of them by now…

I’m missing the “awesome-but-why-yet-another-Sylvari-villan-that-ruined-the-whole-thing” option.

It was all reasonably fun. Liked the whole Zelda-feel.

Then they introduced yet another overpowered Sylvari as the villan.

WHY ALWAYS WITH THE STUPID PLANTS?!

It’s a good change, I just wished it wouldn’t hit the elementalist harder than any other profession using it. I mean, it’s not like we’re not relying on Rune of Battle or something…

The female trickster legs item only has 3 dye options…and thus the belt changes color with the skirt…that’s such a huge letdown! Why not make the belt (and the lines in the skirt) have their own color set? That way, you could actually use the other 99% of the colors and not have them look utterly rediculous.

I would probably have bought both if they weren’t outfits. Outfits suck, only 10% of the customization of armor at almost 90% of the price.

What good is an outfit you cannot dye properly?

…that the new outfit is an outfit. The fact that you have only 10% of the customization options is enough for me not to bother with it.

If only each part was dyable separately, it’d make it a whole lot more attractive to buy outfits. But as they are now, they’re not worth the near-armor set gem price.

Is there any chance either the head banging could be removed from the game, or the camera could be positioned in a way that you can actually see you’re about to bang your head? It’s getting so annoying with jumping puzzles, and the whole bamboo-stakes-overhead is taking it to a whole new level. Well, the annoyance, not my character obviously…banging heads against non-existing objects is a lot of fun…

Soulblighter.4187:

mainly pve
i’ve always had a thing for lightning tho

Staff air isn’t bad, it’s just rather lackluster compared to the other weapon’s air skills, and the other staff attunements. The main reason to use it are Windborne Speed and Static Field, neither of which requires you to switch to air much.

As for the traits, they do look ok for dungeons. Fresh Air’s about the only one that doesn’t really seem to fit, so you may want to pick something else for that.

Also, I like how your build can switch to water during your meteor shower casts to really up the damage. :-)

The main thing about stats with ele is that due to the way the skills are setup, you’ll benefit from any stat. Be it extra raw damage, conditions, extra defense or healing, they’re all useful in some way. So while berserker is certainly good, other gear sets work for eles too. On my own ele, I run some celestial pieces, some berserker pieces, and a seeker staff. That’s mainly because I feel that in order to make the ele truly shine, you need to make use of all of their abilities including heals, or you’ll just have half a profession.

When my team is good, me not having full berserker slows them down just a little bit. When my team is less skilled, the extra heals and tanking sometimes allow me to finish fights that they cannot.

So it’s a matter of preference really.

That only allows you to see all items colored at the same time, so that doesn’t work for me.

This is the third time I’ve bought a gemstore skin only to find out it’s essentially useless because the item doesn’t dye properly. In this particular case, it’s the fact that trickster armor dyes the belt together with the skirt. This essentially ruins the whole look. Another thing that frequently happens is that certain shades of dye don’t color the same as they do on other pieces.

I’m fed up wasting my gems on items…please add dye preview features, or fix your armor skins so they dye normally.

Is it just me or does it no longer work with Healing Turret?