The #1 skill on the Battle Standard should be an AoE.
The #1 skill is generally lacklustre on the Banners, but that is understandable since it is an improvised, environmental weapon.
However, the Battle Standard is an elite, a step up, and it’s #1 should reflect the elite status. A simple AoE attack would do that.
I asked this in an advice forum thread, but the answer might be more useful to others here.
For the purposes of Warrior’s Sprint (+10% speed while carrying a melee weapon), does a Banner count as one?
It is after all technically a weapon (environmental) and used at melee distance.
With the Warrior-trait “Warrior’s Sprint” (Run 10% faster while wielding melee weapons)
you can definitly run faster then 33%.
Does melee weapons apply to Banners?
(They are environmental weapons after all).
No, but that’s primarily because Master of Terror is only a 50% increase, so the 1 second fear would only become 1.5 seconds.
I don’t know for sure if it does apply to racial elites or not. I would assume so.
Okay, I will assume it will. It is a difficult thing to verify, because you can’t equip racial elites in the Mists. Thanks for the info.
Thank you for the information. I’ll assume then that it is still blocking pulls. I tend to use Hallowed Ground with my Consecration build.
The wiki says Stability does not clock Pulls, and that this is a bug that has been in the game since October.
Can anyone confirm that this is the case, and that unblocked Pulls are bugs, and not WAI?
The Coast will rise again!
The Norn racial elite Become the Wolf has a 1s Fear. Would the Master of Terror trait apply to this as well, and double its duration to 2s?
From just observing pets in WvW, it looked to me like they go down pretty fast in the AoE. I though maxing out the Beastmastery trait would be necessary to give them some toughness.
Is there any other way to make your pet more survivable in WvW? (Having a near-useless Major trait seems to preclude putting points into the Beastmastery tree).
I am going with the Wolf and the Alpine wolf for my Ranger in WvW. This is mostly for the crowd control effects.
However, the Major trait for canines in the Beastmastey tree adds a 4 second cripple to the F2 skill. This fine for the Alpine Wolf, but I’m worried that it will cause problems with the Wolf.
One of the primary uses of Fear in WvW is to move people out of choke points, and even knock them off ledges. However, if a cripple is added to Fear, it kind of defeats the purpose of moving people away from a location.
Will cripple “override” Fear in this case, or is it not something to worry about?
Personally I don’t want a bow or rifle for the Guardian. It doesn’t fit the theme of magical spirit hero.
Something like a javelin though would be great. It was used by the ancient Greek heroes, which fits the lore of our class.
Great news. I wouldn’t wish culling on my worst enemy (except maybe that d/d Ele who ganked my warrior alt today, just him).
I play on Jade Quarry, but I’m not against transferring if I can find a big, active, friendly, organized PvX guild that wasn’t so hellbent on WvW.
Being on Jade Quarry definitely explains the situation.
JQ was one of the earliest destination servers for committed WvW’ers (I believe most of the ex-DAoC’ers went there). They are also probably one of the only original big WvW servers to maintain their position at the top. Other servers fall apart under the pressure, but JQ sticking around is probably down to the maturity and quality of their WvW guilds.
Definitely look at moving to a mid-tier server on the WvW rankings list before free transfer end. Maybe advertise in the guild recruiting forum here what you are looking for, and I’m sure a suitable PvE guild will snap you up and ease the move.
It is already almost impossible to hide in terrain in WvW because of the prominence of Nameplates. They are like a giant billboard (with flashing lights) yelling “Hit Me.”
Once culling is fixed, people will be able to spot Nameplates a mile away. This will even further reduce the possibility in WvW of “wily movement”. Something will need to be done.
I really hope once culling is fixed ArenaNet reduces the visibility of Nameplates (though without putting “bigger races” at a disadvantage).
I meant paltry, but being able to throw chickens around sounds more interesting.
Adding launchable fowl can only be an improvement to the staff.
What server are you on? Some are more WvW-focused than others.
If you are in one of the top tier servers, you may want to move somewhere else with a higher proportion of PvE’ers. Check out the weekly rankings in the WvW forums and pick a new server in the middle (before paid transfers start).
Most of the guild perks applicable to WvW revolve around claiming a tower, keep or camp. This really limits what guilds can offer to their server, as there are only so many objectives to go around. This is especially the case on the weekend of reset, when competition is fiercest and people really defend their keeps.
What is needed is more buffs along the lines of the Road Marker. Ones that are portable and shorter.
There would be some issues as to portable buffs like these being OP if planted in a battle. But I think if the available buffs were chosen judiciously, they would be a real asset to the game.
Ah gotcha. I was on my Ranger with a pet, and the mob was attacking the pet. That is why it didn’t work.
Thanks for clearing that up!
Such a blatant lack of understanding of this game’s mechanics does not give much credibility to this thread.
It’s even more sad coming from a GW1 player where each class used to use maximum 20 skills in Vanilla, where attributes had no influence at all on the gameplay, and where you could not swap skills on the fly. On a single Fractal run I may use up to 30 different skills with my Mesmer, depending on the ennemies, my group needs, and the situation.
This game’s mechanics are much, much deeper than GW1, so complex in fact that it’s hard to really understand them all.
This is so completely true.
There is an entire other layer underneath the surface appearance of the combat skills. I probably take months of play to understand them all.
I was testing the combo of Fire Field and Leap Finisher with two mobs. I would create the fire armor on the first mob inside the field, and then move to a second mob outside the field.
When I was attacking the 2nd mob, however, it didn’t appear that any of the burning condition was inflicted at all. Even though I was landing melee attacks.
Am I doing something wrong, or does Fire Armor just not work?
Fun in SBI BL.
I think it would have been more fun if Choo stuck to one map, CDS another and Fear the last. When you guys combined it gave the appearance of Choo calling for help after a number of wipes. Not much 100v30 needed out there lol.
Choo has 10-15 members online tonight in WvW. The rest are playing the sleep game.
As for saying 100 v 30, you really shouldn’t speak about being out numbered unless you know what was going on at the time. If you really want to know whisper Jedbacca. Rather keep the drama off these forums.
<3
What is this thing called sleep?
Many thanks for these pointers.
I switched out my pets for the Krytan Drakehound and the Wolf, for the knockbacks and cripples. I also changed out axe/warhorn for shortbow.
So far it’s made a great difference. It’s not a straight gap-closer, but it’s a lot more fun. I can usually approach people with a combination of SB pressure and slows and knocks. The SB helps escape when things go wrong in melee range.
It’s been a blast in WvW.
I am currently playing sword/dagger in WvW and finding it a blast. To my mind it is like a thief or rogue, without the cheesiness of stealth.
However, it appears that the Ranger has exactly one gap-closer: the #3 skill on the Greatsword. Consequently I find it very difficult to get close enough to ranged classes to actually use the s/d.
I also have axe/warhorn equipped, which helps with swiftness. I am also using Survival mostly for utilities. But this doesn’t seem to be enough to close the gap.
Any advice on how to get close to ranged classes while using s/d as the main combo?
Add them to the breakout event!
It would be easily done, and not gamebreaking.
And it would look cool too.
Before anyone gets in a huff, the point is this:
The WvW maps require a very high level of play to be consistently enjoyable. In our server and tier (Tarnished Coast, tier 2) this only occurs on reset night, and to a lesser extent, the day afterwards.
On reset night, there is great communication across the server, all our guilds are out in force, people are conscientious about placing siege, upgrading keeps and so forth. But towards the end of the week, play mostly becomes PUG skirmishes and keep flips. This is still fun at a certain level, but it is nowhere near the heights reached on reset night.
My proposition would be this: Keep two “hard” maps. This would be Eternal Battlegrounds for those who like static defensive play, and a Borderland for those who prefer offensive and run and gun.
Make the other two maps “easier” i.e. they would not require large organization for satisfying play. I would defer to those who have more map awareness on how to do this. But the overall scale of the maps should probably be shrunk, including objectives. This doesn’t need to be permanent, but perhaps could be tied to the mid-week population.
I’d end by saying this is a serious issue. Population drops mid-week in part because the play just isn’t very satisfying at the “mass” level (the raise d’etre of WvW). It can seem a waste of time to run around looking for the same level of play you experienced on reset night. As a result, many people play other PvP games mid-week (or RP/PvE) until Friday comes around again.
(edited by Thrumdi.9216)
Healing needs to be buffed.
Before the 5-man limit, support healing made a difference (at least in WvW on my Guardian). Now healing others is basically useless.
This is a flaw in the game. No one is asking for a return of the trinity, but ArenaNet has to satisfy those who want to play some level of effective healing support.
+1 from me.
I love the Ettins, they’re just soooo dumb.
(Though if they did implement it, it would probably be a cash-shop or karma vendor item).
It can be a good idea to get to level 10 or 11 in PvE before going to WvW. Then you get weapon swap and 2 utility skills.
It only takes a few hours in PvE and is worth it for your survivability.
My guess is might duration was extended Nov. 15 to compensate to the 5-man limit on the Heal, which was a drastic nerf.
But if that extension has been canceled, them the staff should be buffed in some other way to make up for the nerf.
Absolutely great!
Breakouts will breath life back into the Bordelands.
Just bring back the orbs (without snow-balling buffs), and the BL’s will be great again.
NO.
What is with all these “i want to be a healer” threads popping up? There’s only about EVERY SINGLE OTHER MMO out there there that has a dedicated healer, we do not need this and I can only pray this is one promise of Anets that they stick to (though I don’t subscribe [yet] that ascended armour has broken any).
These threads are popping up because ArenaNet nerfed support builds with the 5-man heal limit.
When there was no limit, dedicated healing mechanics were not needed. You could heal the allies who needed it no problem. Now you can’t. Instead of healing the dying guy, you heal the man standing next to him, or his pet.
ArenaNet launched GW2 with support builds who could heal others effectively. They clearly intended it to be part of the game. If they are still to be part of the game, they have to make them effective again.
If the 5-man limit remains, that means dedicated (or targeted) heals of some kind.
Otherwise, just admit you can no longer support heal in this game.
(edited by Thrumdi.9216)
Check out TCGW2 and sign up for the War Council, where I believe most of the leaders communicate.
We saw BIF playing on Friday, and definitely remarked on your skill and commitment. Our leader, Kendrick Duskomen, would more then happy to get you up to speed, if needed.
My attitude is if, or rather when, the ascended/infused gear becomes crucial for content outside of FotM (and ignoring PvP in my case since that’s not my thing) then they will inevitably introduce other means of acquiring it. I can see the issues that will cause already, “wahhh I did nothing but grind FotM for months and now some noob is getting equivalent gear from world boss chests waaahhh”, but that’s a whole other story.
In other words, I’ll just wait it out. That’s the beauty of not paying a sub.
I’m just waiting for the phrase “Welfare Ascendeds” to be introduced.
Any bets on when that will happen?
It will be interesting to see what happens.
When Lord of the Rings Online introduced Legendary Weapons, it destroyed some crafting professions over night (like Weaponsmith). These became useless at level cap.
If that happens, only professions that craft consumables will be viable.
Score update brought to you by:
RAMMALOT BRAND YAK-JERKY.
it puts the hair on you
Looks like more of a Rammhenge to me.
Suitable music from Rammstein.
I’ve played a healer in every single mmo and loved it.
I miss targeted heals in all of them and would love it in gw2.
However, the game advertised itself as a trinity-breaker, and I think it’d be unfair to many players who bought the game to go back on that. As much as I miss targeted healing, I came into gw2 knowing we wouldn’t have them so I can’t bring myself to hope they change it.
Also I must add that there are many ways to heal and protect teammates In the game. It may not be targeted heals but I think many of the games methods promote a higher level of awareness, which is good.
But no one is arguing for the return of the trinity.
Healing other people does not equal the trinity. Just as blocking damage intended for an ally does not equal tanking.
ArenaNet launched with the ability for some classes to spec more into a support role, including healing others. They even told people if you like the Monk in GW1, you should play the Guardian. However, the new 5-man limit has broken group healing.
Now, either they can be clear that they don’t want anyone to effectively heal others in the game. Or, they can make so you can again effectively heal others. The best way to do this is probably to up the 5-man limit. If that’s not possible, the only other solution is target heals.
Like if you have a mindless melee ball getting in the way of healing your ram operators, get them away from the gate. It’s not like they’re doing much there anyway, and they’d make better scouts.
So, the net result is consistent healing where it’s needed (siege operators) and a considerably smaller chance of being rushed.
“Other protection skills are now also limited to 5 men.”
Yes… indeed. I mean this in the nicest possible way; there isn’t another button to press, players need to get out of this mentality. Adjust your strategies, as ultimately, these changes were made as a result of the strategy you’re clinging to (i.e. spam healing a stack of players without thought).
Nope, it’s nothing to do with spam healing.
It’s just trying to heal the guy standing right next to me.
A game is broken if you can’t heal the guy standing right beside you.
Broken?
No. Targeted healing would break this game in lots of subtle, odd ways.
Did you even consider any of the reasons why this change was made, and what you could change to counter it?
You’re not a healer. You’re a support class that can spike out emergency healing if needed, but you’re going to have to work for it. Again the point remains; if you want to heal the ram guys, get your mindless door beaters away from them and heal the ram guys. Co-ordiante better. That’s the difference between a zerg and a great team.
But this is ludicrous.
To heal one specific person, you have to ask everyone else to move away from that person so they can be isolated. Only then can you reliably heal that one person.
Do you have any idea how dumb that is? That a game would make you do that is a sign it’s broken.
Targeted heal is not the best solution, but it’s definitely better than something that dumb.
Like if you have a mindless melee ball getting in the way of healing your ram operators, get them away from the gate. It’s not like they’re doing much there anyway, and they’d make better scouts.
So, the net result is consistent healing where it’s needed (siege operators) and a considerably smaller chance of being rushed.
“Other protection skills are now also limited to 5 men.”
Yes… indeed. I mean this in the nicest possible way; there isn’t another button to press, players need to get out of this mentality. Adjust your strategies, as ultimately, these changes were made as a result of the strategy you’re clinging to (i.e. spam healing a stack of players without thought).
Nope, it’s nothing to do with spam healing.
It’s just trying to heal the guy standing right next to me.
A game is broken if you can’t heal the guy standing right beside you.
Disagree personally.
There are many, many drawbacks to introducing targeted healing into this combat system. You could keep guild claiming NPCs up indefinitely, etc etc.
It’s a limitation; adapt to it. There are things a co-ordianted group can do to mitigate this stuff.
Like what?
Other protection skills are now also limited to 5 men.
The 5-man Healing limit nerf has basically trashed any sort of group healing in WvW. The only reliable heal now is on yourself.
I was trying to protect a ram operator at a siege on my Guardian, by using my staff skills (Empower and the Orb of Light) and my Heal on Dodge. However, no matter, what I did I could not seem to heal the guy. The heals would always go to someone else. It was incredibly frustrating.
If ArenaNet is not going to reverse the 5-man heal nerf, then targeted heals have to be introduced. Otherwise, group healing is no longer viable in their game.
Trebuchet of shame!
Check out this thread from GW2RP. They keep track of population levels on TC, and help you judge when you might be able to get on.
Also, you can create your character on a low-pop server, and then transfer when it is possible.
Allowing us to buy equivalent gear with badges or karma would alleviate the anger wvw players are currently building up. Ima blow i tell ya!! :O
That’s what I’d like to see.
I don’t mind if people who spend a lot of time doing PvE come into WvW with their best gear….. as long as I have a way to earn equivalent gear doing WvW.
If it is badges only for Ascended WvW gear, I guarantee there will be a hue and cry.
Some classes, especially those with more team-oriented builds, just don’t get the same amount of drops (looking at you Guardian).
Without a change in the badge drop rate, that means more PvE (jumping puzzles) or changing to a selfish build.
You aren’t wrong for doing so. There isn’t any way around thinking that way because it’s the truth. If players skill is equal than obviously the person with the full exotics is going to have an edge, however small. Also, just because how the game works the person with the exotics is most likely more experiences than the person without. It shows that they have at least spent more time playing the game.
Plus, the faster you can get things done, the more rewards there will be for you. The faster you can get geared up, the faster you’ll be able to complete fractals and that’s more rewards for you to enjoy the game. If you don’t keep up, soon you will be outpaced by everyone since inflation will price you out of the market.
I remember WoW back when BC came out. I rerolled a Blood Elf Paly and by the time I actually hit max level I couldn’t find any groups on my server. Everyone had already moved on to raids. They were raiding and my gear was not good enough for them.
I was stuck. I could not find groups for basic instances to gear up and I could not get into raids due to my gear. That’s when I decided to quit WoW the first time.
I’m honestly worried that by the time I get around to leveling up my Warrior she really won’t be able to do the instance because everyone will only be running max level or be too busy running the next infusion base instance.
Take this advice as you will, but I don’t know if it is healthy to have that kind of worry about a video game.
I know this is a hobby we all love, and try to be as good as we can at.
But at the end of the day that sort of worry should be reserved for true priorities such as family, loved ones, careers, your neighbours and so on.
Many of us thought GW2 would be the game that could fit into that kind of life balance. It might still be, but it is an open question now. Can GW2 escape the curse of the genre? The answer will be interesting to see.
This is indeed an excellent point.
The Lost Shores event has just invalidated the excuse for no action on night-capping in WvW. As quoted above, the excuse was everyone’s time is valuable.
But clearly, for the Lost Shores event, Oceanic player’s time was far less valuable than others’. It was almost impossible for them to be online for this event.
Since the principle was broken for PvE, why not break it for WvW and accommodate, as they did for Lost Shores, the time zones in which the bulk of the players live?
A one-time PvE event was just run (Lost Shores) at a time when it was almost impossible for Oceanic players to be online.
So clearly, the principle of all players being equally “valuable” is one that can be broken when required.
Since it was broken for PvE, why not break it for WvW? Like the one-time PvE events, start slanting WvW design towards time zones in which the bulk of GW2 players reside.
If anyone objects, two words: Lost Shores.
I think this point has to be made.
The rewards of the Lost Shores event were so great they are going to make future PvE one-time events mandatory for WvW.
From what I’ve heard, the odds of getting a precursor from this event were far greater than from any other source. If you are a serious WvW player who contributes siege during battles, you know how short money can be. The opportunity to spend a few hours with a heightened chance to get a weapon that sells for 50 gp+ on the TP will be too much to pass up.
My fear is in the future WvW guilds are going to need their entire rosters running these things. If even one person drops a precursor, that will be a few weeks of seige blueprints.
ArenaNet needs to hold to the vision that you can play the entire game in WvW, and not need to visit PvE.
It’s best to get to around level 11 in PvE for your weapon swap and a couple of utility skills before going WvW full time. This doesn’t take long though.
After that, you can definitely level to 80 in WvW. That’s what I did. The only time I left was to farm a bit in Orr and buy my exotics for Karma at Orr Temple Vendors. (Depending on your class, it can be tough to get the badge drops needed for WvW exotic gear).
About the only thing you might be short of in WvW is skill points. You get them for leveling, and I think there are maybe 3 or 4 per WvW map. But that’s usually not enough, especially if you are experimenting with builds. So, you might have to make quick runs though PvE to pick up skill challenges.
Other than that, just play WvW and the karma and xp falls like rain. It’s also a blast.
Elementalists are both viable as melee or ranged DPS.
The dagger/dagger build currently owns in 1v1 because of DPS, CC and escape skills. Ranged DPS is probably more valuable to your team though in WvW.