Guild Wars 2

It doesnt float anymore :\

That was probably my favorite part about it, haha. I even had the mini air elemental so I could have it out all the time!

I think the damage is perfectly acceptable, personally. Especially when taking into account the other advantages of the skill, namely mobility.

So, I see it making it more unbalanced honestly.

EnRohbi.2187:

I never said either of those things,

I never said you did Thats why all of those “ifs” were in there. Because there are people who love the way it is.

You are making very strong (And very false) assumptions by assuming otherwise.

Never made any assumptions, which is the whole deal with the “if” thing. Again, there are people who love it the way it is. And if thats the case, then any proposed solutions would be discarded by “you” since there is no problem to be solved.

But adjusting stats is not the way to go.

Removing the AoE target cap would go a lot longer way into breaking up zergs than improving the stats on small groups would.

It would, and as I said before, removing the AoE cap and dynamic stat adjustment are the two most viable options I see. The biggest difference is that if Anet could design such a dynamic balancing system, it could be marketed whereas the AoE cap would just have an effect on this sole game. It would be a better business decision to go with a dynamic balance system, which is mostly already in place with how stats already are adjusted, and how dynamic events scale. If they could package it, and make it work right, they could make money off of it. And in the end, its not like the users/players would really know the difference of what actually took place to get the right balance of zergs and small groups.

edit: regardless, I have thrown the idea out there. It will be ignored like so many others, lol. This current conversation is certainly going no where productive though. C’est la vie!

edit2: Just because I am curious, do you agree with the decision on stat adjustment for upleveling non level capped characters in WvW?

EnRohbi.2187:

No amount of being “programmed and mitigated with variables” is going to stop guild groups from telling pugs to “Get the kitten away from me because you’re lowering my stats”

As soon as you tell the wvw community that they get weaker the more people are around them, they start getting hostile to people around them

Who said anything about debuffing the group with larger numbers? That would just make it more complicated than it needs to be anyway.

Like I said, if you are completely against making smaller groups more viable, then we wont see eye to eye at all and you will just look for anything to confirm your bias on it. Working towards how to make it work, instead of discarding it completely because your individual vision of its implementation is flawed, is not exactly the most productive way to go about things.

Of course, if you think that things are perfect the way they are, then that is your stance. Obviously, any solution brought up, no matter how viable, will be thrown out the window due to bias. You want it to stay the way it is, so that IS the best solution for you. Others have other ideas though..

EnRohbi.2187:

I really don’t think giving people higher stats is the same as showcasing higher skill.

This wouldn’t discourage zerging so much as it’d discourage PUGs

It’d take about a week before the organized guilds realized that the random PUGs in wvw would be doing nothing for them except making their characters weaker, and that would lead to animosity and wvw being less welcoming for new players.

There are ways to discourage zergs, but changing stats has already proven in the past (Orbs) to be a bad approach to wvw in general.

Everything you bring up are things that can be programmed and mitigated with variables. Of course, it it was done right, there would be balance. It wouldnt mean that the larger zerg would be weaker, obviously, since they have the numbers. It also wouldnt mean giving people higher stats would showcase skill. What it would do is allow those with said skill to be able to compete against a larger force without as much skill. Right now, the only way it will happen is if the larger force has little to no skill and the smaller force is well practiced and knowledgeable about the game. The idea is to reduce that disparity. Of course, balanced and tested like anything should be done in a video game!

I am not interested in discouraging zergs. Nor am I interested in giving map-wide buffs like orbs. What I am interested in seeing is in seeing smaller group play encouraged, very specifically WITHOUT discouraging zergs. You may have zero interest in that though, so we would disagree on a fundamental level making it difficult to see eye to eye. I see some issues with the system, but there are issues with the current system as well. I also do not see anything you brought up to be too detrimental, as it all would depend on exactly the type of variables and “buffing” that occurred.

Do I necessarily trust Anet to do this properly? Well, lets just say I have my doubts. I would be interested in hearing more criticism about it though, just maybe from a standpoint of the “ideal” situation rather than if Anet implemented it in the worst way they possibly could imagine. Its usually better to work towards an ideal than negate any action through possible, yet avoidable, failure.

Expanding on my original post here, describing what I feel is a super awesome idea ( ) ;

Anet continues to make changes like this:

Event Scaling

A new test version of our advanced event scaling algorithm has been applied to four high-level, regularly played events to help us monitor the feasibility of this system in the live environment. This new scaling algorithm dynamically increases the difficulty of events by using the current system of increasing the difficulty of existing creatures, while also adding a new system that substitutes creatures of lower difficulty with different creatures as the event scales up. If successful, this system will be slowly extended to other events across the game during 2013.

Using this same system, it could potentially be applied to engagements in WvW. Where each battle in a given radius would be viewed as a “DE.” It would scale stats in proportion to set variables. It seems the groundwork is there (with uplevelling and the algorithms being created for DEs), I think this would solve a lot of issues with WvW in regards to numbers being superior to skill in almost every situation.

Leamas.5803:

If the RNG is implemented properly, which I openly question and completely doubt, what you’re saying is the same thing. Again, if the RNG is implemented properly, over time “a 42% chance to evade each and every attack” will essentially be the same as “You WILL be evading 42% of attacks”. That said, with RNG you also have a chance of doing better than 42% as well as a chance of doing worse. Over time it will average.

With a random number generator, over time, it has a chance to average. Doesnt mean that it will! Just that it is statistically probable, but it is certainly not assured.

Of course, by removing a randomly generated number, you no longer have an RNG based system. While the results have the same aesthetic appearance, the cogs and gears are different. In such a system, with a 50% evade rating you will evade every other attack. There will not be a situation where you wont dodge a single attack 10 times in a row, then dodge every single attack 10 times in a row.

It allows for a more controlled and predictable system, inherently. Even if the outside user appearance amounts to roughly the same experience, it gives the opportunity for more direct balancing methods in any area where it is utilized with less variability.

So for the user, if both systems are implemented properly (which we agree that Anet has not done this), the front-end is indistinguishable. However, from the devs perspective, it is a different animal entirely. One that, imo, would allow for better balancing with less anomalies along with enabling the ability to make some items truly, truly scarce. Instead of the anomaly of a hundred people getting lucky and somehow obtaining it beyond the objective of the scarcity attempted by the RNG.

Israel.7056:

The RTL nerf is lame but not entirely unexpected.

I feel exactly the same way. Though, I assume there will still be a trait that is available for cooldown reduction (dont think they said anything about changing that), so it should come closer to equaling out if specifically traited for it. Maybe they will actually fix the tool tip now!

I no longer use daggers at all, but it was certainly one of my go-to skills almost specifically because of the low cooldown. I remain unsure as to if it will actually make a meaningful difference for those facing it though. Might just end up annoying eles more than anything else.

greenslab.9425:

Flame Aura: In addition to the burning condition, this aura now grants 10 seconds of might each time the player is struck. This aura can activate only once per second. This change affects all flame auras.

Comet: This ability’s strike now occurs faster upon casting.

WOOOOHOOOO!!!

:D

I use comet quite a bit, but it can be so hard to land. Should be interesting to see if the changes make it more effective.

That, and making flame auras.. relevant.. is a good thing. Before, I used to see it as wasting calories to even press the button.

I can see reducing healing regen on an arcana build, though I am not entirely sure they are making an effective change in that regard. Time will tell.

Polybiased.9604:

(I think you mean arcane blast, but I know what you mean )…. hmm, good point. I may have to play around with arcane a little in that sort of set up.

The other thing with S/F is it has pretty decent defensive abilities, so you can glass cannon a bit more in other areas. Arcane is a good place to do that. I might work on something like you have when I get bored of the signet based build

And thank you too!

For the life of me, I cant keep the two straight, haha. And.. you did ask at one point about how I use Dragons Tooth effectively, no? I swore it was there, but when I went to quote, it was gone.

I also noticed that you can go a bit more offensive because of the defensive capabilities of the weapon set. I actually went for more crit damage as an update to my s/f build because of this. I lost ~150 toughness, but gained almost 10% critical damage and a bit of power.

One of the other reasons I love the arcane skills is because using both blast and wave, I have access to reliable projectile and blast finishers separate from any attunement.

I look forward to seeing what you do from your end! Make sure to post it. :P Always fun to see how two different minds work on the same solution!

edit: Soo, yeah OP, there are definitely some of us who feel other weapon sets are quite effective. I think we still have a lot to explore with the class, and that is exciting. As Ive said before, there was a time when everyone unanimously claimed the ele to be underpowered in every single way.

I swore there was something there about dropping the tooth effectively…

I actually tend to use it in some unique ways. If there are a large amount of people, I will target the person that is in the “most likely area of retreat.” I also use it extensively for zone control. Its easy to dodge, but if I hit a downed/stunned opponent who has less than 33% (?) life, it hits very hard.

My trick though, is that I use it EXTENSIVELY with no target whatsoever. It took a bit to get used to exactly where it will land, but it works much like a ground-targeted skill this way. A bit buggy sometimes, but quite effective.

As for the rotation above, I essentially hope to get some movement out of them just from seeing the dragons tooth. Ideally, I have them stunned before they can get out of its effective radius.

Looks like a sound strategy

I havent messed with signets too much. I only have something like 1300 kills on my scepter, so not much experience yet and my gear is almost all weighed towards crit damage. I have been considering switching my runes for more precision/crit damage though, instead of fury. It worked very well for auras (especially an aura share build), but it doesnt seem to have a great return on just the fury from attunement switch.

Anywho, one of the reasons I like arcane wave so much is its 1500 range. Just love it! I am also traited to gain +3% crit damage and 3 stacks of vulnerability (on any arcane activation, OR signet). With 20% decreased cooldown, I really, really enjoy it. Especially because I didnt have to entirely re-gear!

I have wanted to try out working some signets into it though, especially with the trait that allows the passive ability to stay active. It seems it would work in well with my build, but now I just have to think about the best way to implement it.

Thanks for the inspiration.

ProxyDamage.9826:

If done right, good. Namely, procs could happen every x hits instead of a random chance. Instead of 30% to trigger, it would just trigger every third attack. Much better.

The most recent game I have played to do this well (imo, of course) is Path of Exile. Say you have 42% evade rating. You WILL be evading 42% of attacks, and it is not a luck based system where you have a 42% chance to evade each and every attack.

Polybiased.9604:

Similar to some above, just grew tired of d/d. Been running an S/F build that works fairly well. It’s no d/d in many respects, but it does have some advantages. It is a signet based build which most scoff at, but it works well with this setup.

This is the build if you’re interested: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fEMQJArdlMG6Nmbw2AG+Aw4BIeQiQhFNUUMDPA;T4Ag0yvEOJ9S9lyJqnMPJey+k7J5TjSmEA

S/F has a fair number of fast recharge, fast casting skills which goes well with the heal signet (in addition that you can spam it and keep the passive with this). I’m on the fence about the utility of the water signet that may be better replaced. Although the additional condition removal is nice and another chill plus that it restores 25% endurance in this build gives it slightly more value. However, the magnetic which removes 3 conditions and is fairly fast recharge (due to trait) and phoenix might be enough cond removal on their own. The number of times that 10sec removal has been helpful have been fairly numerous though.

Anyway, this works well for me in many pvp situations. Takes a bit to l2p it, and ymmv. It’s not d/d, but I find it reasonably “viable”.

I think that s/f is just something that hasnt been explored yet. I also find that s/f takes more planning and a bit more patience with skills than other ele weapon sets. Its probably why I like it so much. It can be extremely unpredictable, but that also makes it harder to learn situationally.

Thanks for posting your build! As I have been running s/f very effectively (or at least I feel so), I love to see other ideas on how people are implementing it!

edit: My favorite burst is first Dragons Tooth then immediately followed by phoenix into the same area. While that is queueing up in the air for everyone to see, I hit the area with arcane blast and arcane wave, increasing my foes vuln. On the same target as I hit with arcane wave, Ill switch to air, hit Air 5, Air 2, then Air 3. By about this time, dragons tooth has generally fallen and lots of nice little numbers have started to pop up on the screen!

Depending on how the fight is going at that point, I will switch to water to drop water 5 (aoe stun) and more vuln (shatterstone) or earth to cast magnetic surge (for more AoE damage) and then Ill throw on rock barrier while using earth 5.

I still feel fixed percentages are a better “scarcity” implementation than RNG. It leads to players knowing that they WILL get “x” if they work at it and do the steps necessary. It also allows for a significantly more predictable economy, as there are less random variables involved, and also allows for better control over the scarcity of said items. You can even implement items that will never be attained by more than 1 or 2 players, simply by having a percentage that is based in the right variables.

It gives more flexibility, more stability, more predictability, and less frustration for everyone involved. Never understood why it hasnt been more widely implemented in games, and even when it has, its far too simple and direct.

The arcana d/d bunker is the strongest build available to eles currently. To most, that essentially means everything else is useless. I dont think many are willing to try anything else, honestly.

My WvW S/F build is here:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/S-F-WvW-PvE-Build/first#post1495588

I feel extremely effective in both group and solo scenarios (I mainly WvW, fwiw). Dragons tooth is one of my favorite skills in the game for siege busting. I got ~4k kills with d/d on my ele, but find this combination to be more fun for me.

So, yes, some are competitive but I would still call the arcana d/d the most effective build the ele currently has. I got tired of playing it though, so that was my motivation. Though, I only ran the arcana build (X/X/X/30/30) for a couple hours. I decided to focus on crit damage instead, which largely carried over to the s/f build.

I think that this type of issue has really been ongoing, and it only exacerbated by the rating system. The upcoming changes may make some difference, but not in this specific arena (afaik). It is really an issue that has plagued open field PvP games since their inception. It either tends to go full AoE, or just huge numbers to win the day.

I feel that the two best solutions, when taking dev time and player satisfaction in equal consideration, are to either remove AoE limits or employ a dynamic “outmanned” system. I think the latter is a better option, even though I am not against removing AoE limits. The objective would be to create a system that adjusts player stats in an applicable radius that is determined by how many numbers each server has. If balanced properly (BIG if), this would allow skill to start to be able to mitigate numbers. The only time this happens currently is if the ones with the numbers essentially have zero experience, and the smaller group is very well practiced.

So, it would basically be the outmanned buff, just rehashed and made… relevant and dynamic. As more players from a given server join a specific fight, the stats would adjust according to the changes on the fly. In any tier, this would allow skill to start to matter equally to numbers. As it stands, numbers are the name of the game. Skill only becomes remotely relevant if one side has no skill whatsoever, or the numbers are very close to equal.

Actually, if the dynamic adjustment system could be done well, and packaged properly, its probably an engine that could be sold to other games, developers, etc.

Arcane blast with staff is straight up awesome. edit: I would even go so far to say that without it, a staff ele is not utilizing their combos to the best of their ability.

With the amount of fields the staff can lay down, having access to a reliable finisher on such a short CD is very, very useful.

I also find the loss of cantrips on my own s/f build to be mitigated easily by the defensive skills. Of course, there is the issue of convincing pretty much anyone that s/f is useful at all! At any given time though, through all of my attunements, I still have access to 7 finishers that have 100% chance, and then auto attack in earth with has a 20% chance of proccing a physical projectile finisher. The drawback is that all of these are either blast or physical projectile, but its still quite useful.

Traited, the arcane skills turn pretty deadly. With a decreased CD and stacking vulnerability on each activation (3 stacks for each arcane skill used), in combination with the minor trait “60% chance to inflict vuln on crits” I find it increases my damage substantially. I am also traited for +3% crit damage on each arcane skill use. I find that when someone (including myself) has more than 10 stacks of vulnerability, they tend to find a safe place to cleanse. Where they are then promptly hunted down! Usually..

Slight update to the build. After a couple of weeks of playing this effectively, I hadnt really updated my gear from my last build, as they had similar goals.

After doing the math, trying to eke out a bit more, I came to the conclusion that in replacing the amulet, shoulders, and gloves I can get +9% crit damage and +46 power at the expense of 158 toughness. Given the amount of block abilities and defensive capabilities of the build, I felt this was an excellent trade off.

I also switched the air trait Aeromancer’s Alacrity for Arcane Lightning (3% increased crit damage for 10 seconds on Arcane skill use, it also stacks). Coupled with the gear changes, this puts me at 87% crit damage, and after using Arcane Blast and Arcane Wave, 93% for ten seconds. The trade off is that armor is now at ~2300 and ~2650 in earth attunement with rock barrier up. Though, I feel it makes the build stronger overall. A dragons tooth that crit for 5,000 before will now be just under ~6,000. Base crit chance is 38%, with fury 56%, and with a full stack from Superior Sigil of Perception 68%. I am able to generally maintain 10+ stacks of vulnerability on a single target, and 5+ AoE. Pretty effective in that regard.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEQQJArdlEGqMGZQ5A1NBARRLpMKEi4hFQERpQMA

is the link for the slightly updated build. But, like I said, I only changed the one trait

I think this is about the final tweak on it, though Ill always be looking for more!

I think some of the arcane skills are extremely useful. I love arcane wave and arcane blast for the quick access to two different combo finishers. They also do some pretty decent damage, and can inflict vulnerability if traited.

I did a build that focuses on having arcane wave and arcane blast here:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/S-F-WvW-PvE-Build

Now, I am obviously not going full arcane, but as was mentioned, cantrips are where the stun breaks are. I like mist form, as it allows me to cast some long spells and switch attunements without retreating.

I think arcane wave and arcane blast are two of the most useful skills eles have access to. It doesnt hurt to have something with 1500 range on it either. Your mileage may vary, like always.

Durian.5419:

Where are my scaling ladders and siege towers to climb over your walls. Why can’t my trained Raven fly up there and peck you?

While I have seen countless ranger pets climb walls.. I have never actually seen the raven do it. Ironic!

Either way, I am not a huge fan of the “ledge mechanics” either. It also seems that, as a mainly Asuran player, this is exacerbated on the short ones. It could be considered a line of sight issue, but I find it strange that something like using a bow/arrow requires one to actually stand on the ledge.

I went through a few other s/f builds and didnt see this one posted. I think my goal in posting builds is to hopefully get others to see how things can work together in different ways. At least, that is where I find value in others builds!

My idea was to come up with a s/f build that was effective in WvW and PvE (though, mainly WvW). What I came up with was based on my d/d heavy crit build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEQQJArdlEGqMGZQ5A1NBARRLpMKEi4hFNERpQMA

For my gear, I use a mix of Valkyries (weapons, boots, and coat) and Knights. For my trinkets, I use Emerald Ori (Pow/Pre/Tough) with exquisite beryl jewels (Pow, Crit Dam, Vit). I use Superior Sigil of Precision and Superior Sigil of Strength on weapons, and Superior Rune of Rage 6/6 on my armor.

There is no specific rotation, as I find everything is a bit more situational than with something like a d/d build. Though, when “traveling,” I trade out an air trait to “One with Air.” One of my favorite combos is Shatterstone->Freezing Gust->Comet->Dragons Tooth->Phoenix->Arcane Wave->Arcane Blast. Or some variant there-of The amount of burst in the last few skills, if they land (important part), is generally enough to make someone fumble a bit.

I still am a bit undecided on the water traits. The idea with this current incarnation is to apply up to 10 stacks of vulnerability (with Shatterstone, Arcane Wave, and Arcane Blast) and deal damage from there. The issue is that there is nothing in water that really does that much damage, but the vulnerability will carry over to other attunements and allows water to be slightly more viable instead of just an emergency heal and semi-useful chill followed by stun.

I find myself enjoying the build quite a large amount!

With fury and the perception sigil, I can get over 60% crit chance with 78% crit damage. Fury uptime is increased with Runes, but is flat out not as effective as when used in combo with auras granting fury/swiftness (d/d). The loss is more than mitigated, imo, with the defensive properties of earth attunement. Edit: As my elite, I do use the asura racial “D-Series” Golem. The wall of reflection it casts is HIGHLY useful to my playstyle. Your mileage may vary. Health is at 17.5k and armor is at 2500. In earth attunement, with rock barrier, it is close to 2800. Attack is at 2700 even.

I welcome all constructive feedback, and hope this isnt just a rehashing of an old thread (wouldnt be surprised!).

Fizzlepip.5218:

Props to the guy that’s got an awesome S/F build, although I still wish more people just ran Staffs like they should

Never!!!!

I used to carry a staff with me when I was playing d/d on my ele (not an arcana bunker though). I actually ended up using it more than d/d, even though the build had no staff specific modifiers.

I have noticed that in using s/f I have very close to the sieging capabilities of the staff, but dont have to switch. I do notice I have to pay closer attention to combo fields, as I cant lay them out as well myself. Other than that though, I still see plenty of combo fields getting laid down by people who dont understand what they can do with them. So, Ill hop in one and do arcane blast, etc etc. I run both arcane wave and arcane blast for the on-demand support (and obviously for the damage!).

I really think that as this game ages, we will start to see more and more classes added to that list. I still remember when ALL eles, of any form, were considered underpowered…

One of the best fights I have ever had on my ele was with a ranger a day or two ago. Absolutely phenomenal player! I am guessing they would have won, but were probably not entirely familiar with the s/f ele skill set. I have also fought along side you, so you may have seen my dragons teeth falling

Trying to get post to work… sketchy forums.. wow! Got it to work.

RNG uses an equation, so no, not truly random.

The results will never be outside the bounds set by the equation. So, it may have the appearance of random-ness, but it is not truly random.

For its purpose in a video game though, I think it works very well. Thats not to say fixed percentages may not be a better option, allowing for a more stable and predictable economy, but thats another story!

Toble.2968:

while they try to make a solid scepter focus build to stand out

Aww, I already did this :\

I am a man born out of sync, I did it all wrong and too soon.

After doing it though, I have noticed more dragons teeth falling alongside my own, and its a sight to behold. That said, after levelling 4+ classes to 80 (and recently deleting my thief), the only “EZ” classes I am aware of are thief and warrior. Warrior tends to balance out a bit, though thief is still a bit of an issue when it comes to skill input vs efficacy.

I would love to see someone who has never played ele before even play the arcana bunker well. “What are attunements?” That said, the arcana bunker COULD use some balancing. But I honestly feel quite effective on my s/f ele, and I would guess anyone who has fought me would agree. They also probably wonder how they heck I actually get dragons tooth to hit and be effective!

The only class I dont see a whole lot of is the engie, I see a bit of everything else. I like to take note of this, as one of my 80s is an engie. I have a soft spot for the class, and it needs some work imo.

Majik.8521:

Retrospek.4583:

A proper proposal to fix the problems with thieves in my opinion would be that not only does outgoing damage break stealth, but also incoming damage breaks stealth.

stealth breaking on damage taken would just kill the thieves.

i still believe the best solution is to apply revealed debuff every time they come out of stealth.

I have actually been thinking about this. I do believe there is far, far too much aoe damage for stealth to break on damage.

If we take it in the context of the game:

Going into stealth likely takes focus and concentration. Our hero would be able to maintain this under certain conditions, especially no damage. Even if taking a little damage, I would think such a hero would be able to shrug it off without much effort. One option is to make it a trait where you could remain stealthed while taking damage. Not sure if its the best one, but its out there.

However, I think that stuns, knockdowns, etc should break stealth. In the same concept, the hero wouldnt be able to maintain that focus or concentration if they are knocked for a loop. I actually think this would be a good option. Maybe even a trait that allows for stealth to continue when knocked down, stunned, etc. It makes sense to me, and this little touch along with getting culling fixed (whenever that happens), may balance the thief relatively well.

My first character was a thief, however, it felt cheap to me. Even at 80 with full exotics, I am contemplating deleting. Just dont play it anymore and have been thinking about running a full support guardian.

After running d/d (and frequently switching to staff) on my ele for quite a while in WvW, I have ended up switching to s/f.

It isnt as effective in some situations (such as outright mobility), but I find it perfectly viable. If anything I would love to see a bit of a buff to it, but.. remove it? I dont even understand the premise. You can effectively do that yourself by not using it, then just ask for things to change on the weapon sets you DO use.

That said, I think the focus fire skills are poor at best, the rest I find myself using constantly. Personally, I enjoy playing it much, much more than any other weapon set on the ele. Some say I am a strange, strange man though hahaha.

I see people posting their death count, does /death actually account for deaths in WvW? I havent tested it out, but mine seem way too low to be the real number.

Usually my SOP is to get the aggro of whoever I am fighting and just last as long as possible. Very rarely will I run in a zerg larger than 20 (cant even remember the last time). In doing so, it generally allows pretty much everyone else to fire freely without receiving much, if any, damage. The longer I can last without dying, the longer my team mates can fire without fear! I will also do this to help my team mates get away.

Heck, sometimes I just like to mess with peoples heads by doing nothing except jumping around when fighting them. Then, after I die, Ill go right back to the same spot and do it again. After 5 or so times of this, Ill open up and attack. Never gets old! While I cant see their faces, I would love to! Its the same thing as that pause right after you Moa someone. Though, I will not personally attack someone who is Moa’d, I just get a huge kick out of that pause.

My kph are something like 8-9. My kills per death are ~35 or so (just going off of memory, not logged in currently). If you want yours to be high, just run with a big zerg every time you play! That will also net you quite a large amount of kills, especially if you are focusing on AoE. If you run with a skilled zerg, all the better, but certainly not necessary.

Muppet.6485:

@Tuluum: Yes easy fixes would be to make blocking the shot throw you into the combat state, or by adding a CD for out of combat switching. The second I find much more unlikely as they’d probably have to blanket that across all Classes and then we’d have an uproar, and even if they did change this solely for Ele’s, than people would just resort to Inventory switching again to circumvent it. And yup, fast fingers allow for pre-buffing, just be careful not to get stuck with just the focus (switching from staff eg.) because 8 skills really kittens you.

Ironically, I have been playing solely with s/f in WvW lately. I am finding it to be a ton of fun!

Though, I do feel that attunement switching is specific to the ele, so implementing something like an out of combat cooldown just for the class wouldnt be too far out of line. Maybe something that mirrors roughly how long it takes to open character tab and click-click (2 seconds?).

Asmodal.6489:

Gallrvaghn.4921:

Gaudrath.6725:

What effect? Gray shader is not an effect. :p

It fits the skill’s name PREFECTLY <3

and obsidian is actually more black than gray

That it is…

I would actually be happy with just some random rocky outcroppings that show up on the character model. I am not particularly bothered by the color itself.

Muppet.6485:

In WvW I see issues with blocking treb shots via the focus air skill. I haven’t spent too much time in WvW so I can’t say for certain, so correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that if you successfully block the projectile you aren’t actually put into Combat mode. Again, I’m not 100% sure of this. If this is the case, if the enemy teams portal bombs you, rushes your siege, whatever, you can easily switch to your preferred PvP weapon set with no penalty as long as you’re quick about it, and again with the possibility of prebuffing before they hit you.

I can actually see something like that being a bit of an issue. They could just throw a cooldown on it. As it stands though, I can do exactly what you are saying currently. I just have to make a few clicks with my mouse. I cant deny it annoys me a bit!

Toble.2968:

Has anyone ever considered that being a girl playing a videogame is so common place that it seems incredibly silly

Thats pretty much how I feel, though the rest seems a bit of a rant (the clue was /endrant and after hours of investigation, it clicked).

I have been playing with and against females in PvP since I started with Ultima online. A thread like this back then might have been relevant though. Interestingly, the overall perception of females on the internet has not really caught up with the reality that has existed for years now.

I certainly wouldnt start a thread about male WvWers. I just dont care if you are female or male, my personal requirements for getting along are the same and I hold the same amount of respect and expectations for both.

That being said, I generally prefer a females voice to a males.

Minion of Vey.4398:

Certainly would be nice to be able to use the weapon swap hotkey out of combat though.

I want that more than any fix on any class I play. Out of combat weapon switch. I completely understand why it is not available during combat, but it IS available outside of combat (just isnt even remotely convenient!). Why not just streamline it a bit?

It seems completely reasonable to me.

lothefallen.7081:

You just turn a brownish color…i’d like to see effects similar to the earth shield conjure where stones form around you in that defensive position. Something visually telling and more appealing than the current iteration. I support this change.

I agree. The animation for obsidian flesh isnt terrible but I do feel it could be better.

On top of that, I think that earth shield skill you are talking about is one of the neatest animations in the game!

There are also conjured weapons, which can kind of act as a weapon swap.

papacooldown.9482:

Man im getting so tired of seeing the same pattern in every single MMO. Some good player is able to roll people with a particular spec and posts a video of it and thus the tears start flowing and the devs eventually nerf (usually overnerf) the class/spec in question. Rinse, repeat for a while and you have PvP similar to WoW – homogenized to the max, every class can do everything. Then these same whiners will cry epic oceans of tears over how they are no longer a unique snowflake that specialized in X because everyone can do X now.

Please try to avoid knee jerk reactions to getting killed a few times by something you dont fully understand how to deal with yet. You may eventually get your way but players like you are the source of homogenization in MMO PvP, and you may not like the end result once you get there. Why not try to play the class/spec in question to understand its weaknesses? Do me a favor and go try to play a confusion spec mesmer in WvW. Let me know how useless you feel when you come across a player that negates your entire spec by NOT PRESSING BUTTONS for the few seconds your confusion stacks are up. Then go to SPvP and let me know how useless you feel when your confusion does such pitiful damage with such short duration that it can be ignored entirely.

I cant deny its a bit annoying, but the important part is simply acceptance. Thats how people work. If they lose, it is rarely looked at as an opportunity to learn.

I have been playing MMOs since Ultima, and this is a trend that is 100% consistent. Just enjoy the game as it is, because it will most certainly be changed according to those who whine the most.

Sadly, it also minimizes the veracity of people bringing up very real issues.

Aint nuthin gonna change bout it though!

fishergrip.4082:

Notice how only mesmers are trying to argue that confusion is not overpowered and even some unbiased mesmers agree it is overpowered.

Nice generalization

My mes is only level 52 (53?) and I do not use a confusion build. I just happen to disagree, as well as others, and it cant be explained away in its entirety with generalizations.

Nina.4596:

What did you guys expect from a free to play game.

How did you get your game for free? I certainly had to pay for mine!

Anywho..

I had an interesting incarnation of this last night. My skills seemed to have slight lag, but not too bad. However, I was fighting in EB and my character got frozen in place for ~20 seconds. I was still able to give and receive damage, no skill lag, but NO movement.

Immobilize you say? Well, despite the zerg of 20 applying conditions, it only showed up at first. Even then, I was running ether renewal on my ele and even during the short times when I had zero conditions, still no movement. This, of course, resulted in death. Though, I am quite happy with how long my new build is holding out against such issues (s/f with lightning hammer as well as d/f with the same, no cantrips).

As for posting this in other forums, I dont personally do that because they are scary and new!

dreztina.4820:

Can’t help but think most of the people in this thread haven’t seen what happens to a zerg when you get a couple confusion mesmers and a necro together.

There is a good chance most have not. I dont think it is, as yet, a widely employed strategy.

I have used it, as well as have had it used against me though. The first time it was used against me and the group I was with, it was pure, unadulterated destruction.

Thing is about losing though, is it gives a clear objective of areas that need to improve.

The next time we ran into it, just laid down a bali or two depending on group size. Which is another thing you dont see much of (using siege in the open battlefield).

I suspect both will become more prevalent as the game goes on.

Xsorus.2507:

Applying one type of condition to an ele is useless, That’s why a Bleed Warrior wouldn’t do squat vs an ele.

As a Ranger though, I can apply like 5 or 6 of them fairly quickly, and fairly often. I also can heal almost just as good as an ele, and have fairly good burst with my pet.

That’s why I don’t have a whole lot of trouble with them currently…I mean..if they decide to run, Nothing I can do to stop them… but if they stay…

I apologize for not making it more clear that I was being sarcastic.

Applying a single condition to any class is next to useless, unless you are able to repeatedly apply it with no cooldown (cond on crit traits with high crit rate, etc.). The only time it will be of any use is if the person isnt prepared for it at all, and have nothing that will remove conditions. Or if the removal is on cooldown.

I have always found rangers to be tough opponents if played right, and pretty darn weak if not. Just like every other class. The only one I dont feel that applies to is the thief. The amount of skill it actually takes to succeed is significantly lower than most other classes. Which is why I have essentially shelved my lvl 80 thief in full exos. May even delete him!

Eh, starting to go off topic :P

DivineBeing.2086:

Tuluum.9638:

I have been running into this issue as well.

Many times, my skills will essentially queue up, then all activate one right after the other 5-10 seconds later. This usually results in death.

Yours queue up? I would like that at least lol.

As of right now, my skills don’t even register they have been pushed. I sit there rapidly hitting mist form 20+ times to just be obliterated because it never fires.

I think its 50/50 on that one. If it doesnt activate, you can actually run or something, haha.

In my case, after 5-10 seconds I am essentially trapped into ~4 seconds of skills that I am unable to stop or interrupt (and thats if they are all instant cast). My screen also freezes for that 5-10 seconds. This only seems to be a recent problem in GW2 for me. In fact, at first, the lack of serious issues right around release was like a breath of fresh air. That has changed..

I suppose in any given situation one might be better than the other, lol. I think we can both agree that it is REALLY problematic in any form though. I have to say though, its still better than the last time I was playing LotRO.

Just wanted to note that yesterday was the first day that I noticed a change in drop rates.

No update since the last time I played, so maybe it was just a lucky streak. Still never received any rares or anything, but I got almost 1g in crafting materials/items sold on TP in about three hours!

By FAR the best run I have ever had. As it has been 100% consistent for me during my entire 1k hour playtime, I am chalking this up to sheer luck. That being said, Ill take it! :P

I have been running into this issue as well.

Many times, my skills will essentially queue up, then all activate one right after the other 5-10 seconds later. This usually results in death.

covenn.7165:

Confusion builds are a hard counter to bunker ele’s by the way. Less/More depending on how the ele is traited specifically. I can generally wreck most 80 d/d’s with my uplevelled mesmer, heh.

But… But… Everyone always tells me that putting conds on a d/d ele is completely useless. That it never, ever, ever works and that every single condition applied is removed immediately and that d/d eles remove a condition with every step they take. Everyone tells me that they dont have any cooldowns on their cleansing abilities either, allowing them to remove conditions every single second for eternity (and beyond!).

:D

On that note, confusion seems to be fine on any class I have played. It can make things.. confusing.. for a bit, but it runs out pretty quickly. I solely save my cond removals on classes for things like confusion or if there is just every condition in the game on me.

On the note of this thread, may I also say that feedback from mesmers is equally OP. The damage it does is relentless. Why should I have to move outside of the bubble to attack? This was advertised as an ACTION oriented game! That makes me stop pressing 111 and press A, thus stopping my action!

Its a total bait and switch, I tells ya.

Cazio.2137:

Tuluum.9638:

Cazio.2137:

“Play it because it is fun” is not a valid reason when the entire point is that WvWvW lacks lasting fun due to things I mentioned.

Obviously, WvW in its current incarnation just isnt for you!

Personally, I really do play to have fun. I have more fun in WvW than elsewhere in the game so I spend most of my time there.

That being said, I fully support implementing systems which can encourage those who want more from it and hopefully the March update (if it actually comes in March..) will start taking steps in that direction.

Or judging by these forums a lot more than just me.

Yup, that would be implied by “which can encourage those who want more from it.” Of course, it was me talking to you, so I said “you.”

Cazio.2137:

“Play it because it is fun” is not a valid reason when the entire point is that WvWvW lacks lasting fun due to things I mentioned.

Obviously, WvW in its current incarnation just isnt for you!

Personally, I really do play to have fun. I have more fun in WvW than elsewhere in the game so I spend most of my time there.

That being said, I fully support implementing systems which can encourage those who want more from it and hopefully the March update (if it actually comes in March..) will start taking steps in that direction.

Great stuff Ace!

If you ever happen to mention me, please make sure to exaggerate as much as possible so I appear to actually be capable, and perhaps even mysteriously dangerous.

OooOOooooOOOooOo

:D

Keep up the good work.

Death Reincarnated.3570:

Do others feel bullied by this? Do the players feel this is ruining their game experience?

I think thats actually the pertinent question with all of this.

Previously, I said roughly what my drop rates are. Apparently, I am in the “unlucky” group, and perhaps even in the top tier of that (what an accomplishment! ). In 1k hours, I can literally remember each individual instance a rare has dropped for me. I cant remember more than four in 1,000 hours of playtime. Lets just say I am forgetting a couple and make it 10 total. That seems to be the drop rate that some see in ONE farming session! I actually had to be convinced after a while that exotics drop from enemies, I truly believed they were only crafted. I still have never received one as a drop (though obviously I have for map completion).

While the RNG is, obviously, random.. there should be some kind of consistency that starts to display after a while. It might not be a bad idea to implement this check and balance type system.

Regarding your question though (sorry it took so long to get there, haha): It actually doesnt bother me. I dont particularly care other than it takes me forever to make money. With 4 level 80s and 1k hours, you would think I would have started to collect at least some gold, but only one of my characters even has full exotics. I thought more did, but when I checked, only one :\ I have maybe 2g combined between all characters. I sell everything I can on the TP (even if it only gains me 1c more than a vendor) and sell everything else. I do zero crafting, so all of that gets sold as well.

I stopped farming because of the results. I just felt like I was wasting time, and I enjoy just playing the game.

That being said, it is blatantly obvious it is an issue to some. My guild tag [ONE] has sadly become very applicable as I am the only one logging in anymore. It may not solely be attributed to loot, but there is definitely an issue with player exodus (as in all new MMOs). It just seems a bit worse here than the other MMOs I have played.

It truly is a bit insulting that an ArenaNet representative would imply that I am just some tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist because I have only received a handful of rare drops in 1,000 hours of playtime.

edit: You can only imagine how I view legendaries with how consistently bad my drop rate is. I laughed out loud when I looked at the requirements. I have received one corrupted lodestone in my playtime, and not much else that is pertinent.

Turbo Chet.8527:

I’ve probably put around 600 hours into this game and I can count how many exotics I’ve found on one hand. And obviously, no precursor as well. 600 hours ANET, your reward system isn’t very rewarding at all.

I would much rather have your issue :P

As I said, I can count the number of rares I have gotten in 1k hours on one hand. Maybe I am forgetting a couple, so lets just say both hands.

I have never gotten an exotic.

I am male, and out of my five characters, one is female (asura).

She is an ele. I thought I would get a kick out of this small, unassuming, endearingly cute lil thing wreaking so much havoc and destruction.

And I was right!

:)