Guild Wars 2

Just because for some reason it bothers me, but those are roman numerals that represent numbers. They arent really meant to be spelled out…

Fun video though, its helping me think of my guardian in some slightly different ways and thats always a good thing. Thanks!

Natar.3671:

Gosh u make me wan to make a guardian now and make ppl fly

Just to help you along..

Punting is 5% more fun than you think its going to be, every single time. Doesnt matter if you think its going to be the best, most funnest, amazing experience ever.. it will be 5% better than that. Every time.

So, it seems the majority on the forums at least are not particularly in favor of a rifle. For me, the reasons are obvious.

That said…

How great is the idea for a staff? I mean, seriously!

Chopps, you should start a thread on thakittens honestly one of the best ideas I have heard in a while. A bit flabbergasted I didnt even think of it until you brought it up, but hey, cant win em all :P It would be fun to see the ideas that get thrown around with it. I think the staff has an enormous amount of different ways to implement it.

Go, go gadget Chopps!

MakersMark.8420:

That’s like posting a video of who can tie their shoes the fastest.

Kontrolle.3514:

Just to get this straight, you guys talking about elitism and PvE?
I mean really? This sounds paradox?

I think what needs to be understood is this type of thing isnt really about challenge. Its about satiating ego and being able to show that off to others. I suppose most people will take that to be a negative accusation, but it just is what it is.

So, you will see that they tend to choose the easiest things to do, figure out the absolute best way to do them, and then complain about how easy it is/was. This all plays into a theme of self-gratification. Its not even a matter of whether or not others even see it, only that the individual believes others care about their achievements.

There are also those of us that seek challenge above all else, tend to actively find ways to do so with the tool set that is provided in any given game or activity. Is it too easy if I do everything to make it as easy as possible? If the answer is yes, some of us will find ways to make that more challenging. Anything from aggroing more and more mobs to limiting what gear we can wear. This concept is foreign to others though, because it does not fit into placating a certain experience/playstyle (which I illustrated above).

Its not even a matter of one being bad, or the other being good. Its just two different ways to approach a game. Though, like I said, I would venture a guess that most who are truly seeking a challenge will start to create it for themselves after being let down enough times. That is when the real fun started, for me at least.

The biggest difference is that one will never be satisfied regardless of what the game developers do with their software. The reason why game companies are not catering to this anymore is because they have realized it is more trouble than its worth in the mass majority of cases. It is a blackhole of resources.

The attitude of some players isnt relegated to any specific playstyle though, and I think thats important. You will find egomaniacs in all levels of play and in every game, and in every mode within those games. You will also find amazing people who have great stories to tell.

The point is, game companies are going in this direction for a reason. And regardless of if you or I feel that reason is “valid,” it wont change the course the gaming world is headed. My only suggestion is to find and make the challenge for yourself instead of expecting to have it all handed to you. That will only lead to disappointment in the majority of cases.

Adapt or die, as its said. ;P

For as much as I enjoy the concept of a huge battle in SM…

The lag is rather unpleasant. I died by falling off of a ledge. Twice.

Benjamin.7893:

WvW is much easier. You don’t have to think about your fight and coordinate with your teammates at the same time. In fact in WvW you don’t have to talk at all, just listen to 1 person 90% of the time.

Same exact thing could be said about SPvP.

In the more organized fights, you will not be able to cut it with strategies like that. Actually, your entire zerg of 40 will be wiped in literally seconds to a zerg that knows what they are doing.

Someone who just gave a cursory glance towards S/TPvP would likely make the same assumption.. “Its just a bunch of people running around mindlessly, they dont even have to talk!” This isnt even exclusive to any game mode whatsoever, this is a Player Vs. Player thing that exists wherever Player Vs. Player exists. Playing against noobs requires very little effort and organization. Playing against organization takes more effort and organization.

I can only think that a lot of these comments are coming from a background that isnt very familiar with PvP in general, or perhaps, transplants from other games such as CoD or LoL.

That said, I find the generalizations immensely entertaining

Chopps.5047:

Puandro.3245:

Thank god they are nerfing pets!

Made me “lol”, nice dude

I have devised a clever, albeit crazy, strategy against those pesky BM bunkers. I kill the pet. I have yet to convince more than a handful of people to try out this revolutionary idea, but those that have, drink Dos Equis.

Seriously though, very few believe me on it… The pets that are hard to kill dont do much damage, and even with the boosted stats from the BM line, something like the raven or jag just dont take damage that well.

I just wish the Pig Family F2 got back some of its reliability I havent been able to successfully use them for a while now. Since I tend to rely on things like siamoth stealth, it is always used in a situation where I need it NAO! I much prefer the red moa currently, since its just fury, and when it goes on its full CD without activating it is more of a nuisance than a death sentence.

Mepheles.2087:

I level faster by Race zone hopping to thirty. Plus I actually like to be useful in WvW Since it’s the summer coming up school is out anyway, So It’ll probably take me a week to get to 80. and maybe a few days to get all the gear I need.

WvW is both the slowest and one of the fastest ways to level, depending on circumstance. I agree though. I tend to split it up with the personal story and some hearts. Since this is number 7 getting to 80, I needed to look at different ways just to make it even remotely palatable, lol. Luckily, I am starting to “get the hang of things” and really enjoying the class. I find myself getting a “head start” on skill level when I do it mainly through WvW, only because of how much thought you have to put into using the skills you have effectively. At level 30, its not as much of a concern, but I was quite happy when I soloed a supply camp at 11! I got lucky though, as no one came and intervened, and also got one lucky rally. Makes it edge of your seat play, lol. I am more proud of the 200 badges I have earned on him than any other character. Almost rank 10 too, which is kind of neat. Never had that metric when levelling before.

Some classes can be very, very useful at lower levels too! Things like reflection, heals, siege, supply, etc are all very useful at any level. Admittedly, the guardian has been the most useful I have used since so many of the skills have nothing to do with level, and are only refined by traits (like applying boons, wall of reflection, aegis, etc).

Having your characters death rally a ton of enemies is never a good thing though. At least not for your team :P

Im just playing the devil’s advocate, obviously, do what you enjoy most. Sometimes I get bored, ya know?

A properly played trap ranger is a truly formidable force, without question.

So, valid.

Thesilentflute.8761:

Those opinions are coming from people that obviously don’t tpvp I do wvw and tpvp a lot 2500+ hours of mostly pvp. Trust me tpvp is skilled game play In wvw commands are list lazly left/right, push through, pull out, and drop the bomb. It doesn’t matter what player is there as long as they can follow these simple commands as the commander is the only real player. There are skirmish groups but very few because most players don’t feel confident enough that they can win with lower number and run in a herd so they are not faced with there own failure, but the commanders since he is the only real player.

About bunkering points if you only play bunker yea your just a babysitter and are no more skilled than a wvwer infact prolly less skilled. As for the rest of the players on the field there combat exp surpasses 90% of wvwers cause they get very little real combat. The 10% is people that yak 24/7 but they are prolly tpvpers anyway lol.

Dont know what type of player you are dealing with in dubveedub, but all the things you list are pretty much my check list I go through mentally on which commanders I wont follow. Maybe you just didnt know what you were doing or what was going on?

Such a strange division that has been created between WvW and S/TPvP… It never really even comes up in WvW, honestly, but it seems to be a hot topic in the S/TPvP area.

Chopps.5047:

In the lore, rangers are very much in tune with nature. They are quiet and leave no evidence they were ever present at a spot in the wilderness. Guns are loud and a sign of weakness to a ranger. Good rangers use the bow and arrow better than a warrior uses a rifle.

Personally, I could go for a staff or a whip. I don’t think the rangers would use the whip to crack because that’s loud and they wouldn’t use it to hurt animals. Instead, I imagine it would be a skill weapon used to evade or stun targets.

We’ll have to see what ANET has in store for us in the coming months.

You know, I hadnt thought of the staff as a ranger weapon before.. But.. I think that if its implemented right, that could be REALLY neat.

As for rifles… meh.. A true ranger has no need for such things.

Mepheles.2087:

I wish DH goodluck as I am taking the week off from WvW to level a D/D Necro. have fun you guys.

You can always level in WvW! :P

Thats what I have done for the past… three (?) characters I have levelled. It does take longer, generally, but you have to play your class much smarter. I think in the end, that benefits our skill level.

There is something to be said for sentry guards all of a sudden being a serious contender, lol. With my support guard (level 28 right now), I brought him in at level 2 right out of the intro. Playing without any utilities forced me into relying on the basic skill set, and I think I am a better player for it.

Dont you give up on me Mepheles!!!

In both areas, you have players fighting other players.

Only difference is that in WvW there is more terrain, and more dynamics in the forms of things like siege/towers/gear/etc.

I fail to see how one could cultivate better players than the other when it comes down to individual skill level. If anything, structured PvP would likely inhibit the player from dealing with more dynamic situations as the possibilities of different encounters is much, much more limited than WvW.

In the end though, both have great players and both have not so great players. A person going from one to the other will likely struggle a bit at first to adapt.

For me though, I got tired of the whole node cap song and dance long before GW2 even came out. Tried to love it here, but just cant. In that time, I found that I dominated more people than I do in WvW. That said, I dont think I can reasonably make any conclusions from that.

So, to directly answer the point the OP raises… if a group that has never played dubveedub before came into the game mode with the attitude that they learned “everything possible” from structured PvP (or any other game or game mode for that matter), they are probably just going to be walking loot bags. Ones which I will gladly farm!

:)

I just wanted to add that I dont feel that crafting is really meant for gearing yourself up.

It seems to be designed more to make things to go on the TP. I also think it might be best (for most) to ignore crafting until you are comfortable with the game.

Gear is attained in many ways like the TP, dungeons, and WvW.

Using a site like www.gw2buildcraft.com can also be very useful for working things out without actually investing money into them.

Tongku.5326:

SF is hurting

For whatever reason we only had half of our people show up last night and gained the outmanned buff real fast everywhere we tried to go.

If keeps up and you dont feel challenged, feel free to transfer, we have space

AHA!!!!

Now I see SFs master plan…

Zenith.7301:

If someone rolled a ranger to play zergs then he’s playing the wrong class. An ele, necro, or engineer will do the job of ranged/damage and CC much better.

And if you just want a raw damage guy, play a longbow warrior and weep for hor comparatively miserable the ranger longbow is.

The game is far too dynamic to make sweeping generalizations like that, at least in my opinion.

When I am coupled up with an ele, or other “mass damage” class/build, I find that I can dramatically increase their effectiveness with my own build (on a ranger, mind you). It allows me to break up the solid blob a little, allowing those AoEs to more consistently hit individual targets in each group.

When you have a couple of classes that can do this at multiple ranges (guardians are great at it close range, for example), all of those classes that provide that massive AoE are all of a sudden more effective than they would be on their own, or even by adding another of the exact same class/build/skill level.

Engies, Eles, and Guards are, imo, the best “healing” classes. You already seem to understand there arent dedicated healers, so no reason to clarify that one!

They all do it quite a bit differently from one another though. This isnt entirely accurate, but you can think of them all doing roughly the same job (when built for it, obviously) but the ele does it at long range, engi does it at medium, and guard does it in the middle of the battle.

That said, I find that if you get a guard and a couple of water fields, that they all work together quite well with a hammer. Meaning, if you get a support/healing ele and a support/healing guard, they will be much more effective than one or the other on their own.

Basically, if you build a small party of 5 to be solely support/healing on the inside of the zerg, there is a very, very good chance you will keep those players alive for much longer than they would without you.

My advice would be to just try out the different classes and see which one works best for your playstyle. They all bring something relevant to the table, and are even better when used together as a “Borg Collective Healer.”

As a BCH, you actually get quite close to a dedicated healer in other games. You will still inevitably be doing damage, and reflects, buffs, etc. but its about as close as you can get. I find that having a BCH in a zerg of even 30 can turn them into a real monster (i.e. resistance is futile).

Of course, all will soon be assimilated.

I havent seen any HOES around… but then again, I dont go into the bad parts of town (AKA NSP BL)

:D

I just wanted to say:

Great job DH in SF BL last night!

Regardless of population, people were playing really well together. We also finally learned that “flanking is good!”

Was nice to see healing springs drop right at my feet, one right after the other. Makes doing those blast finishers on a support guard so much more effective!

pastrynator.9652:

This afternoon we GoMers had a little fun. We took SM and decked out the third floor with acs and catas. We then allowed DH to capture SM while we all waited for the first mesmer check victim to arrive on the second floor. Shortly after he died the mob arrived! The first shot is of some of the set-up, the second is during the first mob. This lasted about an hour and in the end I obtained around 80 badges. DH eventually took us out and there was a rage in their eyes. Enjoy!

Thanks for utilizing that strat.

I have been wondering about it for a while, and I did see a vid lately that used it with great efficacy! I just want to see the same strategy used extensively on broken parts of walls that only have one staircase going up (or even just in the towers that have that nice chokepoint/kill zone). Have yet to convince many people it works, and it seems to be.. most educational when another server uses it against us.

I told my server mates to take note of the SM strategy. We will see

On the plus side, it allowed me to sharpen my teeth as a newbie support guard! Perfect situation for it.

Meurto.8520:

Unless they are both terrible it’s going to be an extremely difficult fight.

^Pretty much this..

To word it a bit differently;

If the thieves are even remotely competent, it is a fight you will lose and there isnt much you can do about it.

I didnt read all the posts.. but..

I just wanted to mention that it may be more productive to set up your hardware in a way that suits you more than picking a certain class. Many of the classes use the same buttons.

One idea is that you can actually purchase hardware which is more fitting to you. The razer naga is a decent mouse, but it doesnt sound like you can take full advantage of it because of ergonomics. It may take some testing, but you could try out different mice and see if one like the G500 (my current favorite), G600, Naga Hex, etc allow you access to more usable buttons.

You can also look into getting something like a Logitech G13. I bought one after using a nostromo variant and have never regretted it. It is one of the most useful and adaptable devices I have ever bought for a computer and it brings new meaning to the word “accessibility” for those of us that have some issues. It will allow you to use just your thumb for all WASD type movement as well.

The last suggestion would be to work your keybindings in a way that suits you better. If you can only use two fingers on your left hand, that is more than enough to access 10 skills even on a regular keyboard. Ill explain;

One finger can be used to access a shift type button. The other is used to activate keys. For illustration, lets just say those keys are Q, W, A, S, Z, X (if you look at your keyboard it will make sense). Obviously, it doesnt particularly matter which key is which, just that they fit your needs. You could even keybind Shift, Alt, and Ctrl to the thumb buttons on the Naga to access even more skills. I think it would be best to try to use the mouse for movement unless you have found another setup that works better for you, like the joystick on a G13.

So, this gives you access to five skills with one finger. Then, you can use the other finger to press Shift, and it will allow you to use the same keys, but keybind them to different skills (keybind example: Shift + A, Shift + Z).

I think that using a combination of hardware and clever keybindings, you might find that you can play every class. Though, obviously, some are a bit more intensive than others (even just different builds within the same class).

Bright.9160:

All I’m asking is challenging, fun, rewarding content that isn’t a linear walk from one boss that can be melee’d down in about a minute to the other one.

If you are not relegating yourself to only PvE, there is plenty of that to be found.

To add, I could see how some would find the PvE lacking. Though, I find that to be in all games. Personally, I want difficulty to come from being outsmarted by what I am fighting, not just have to press skills at the right time (that is learned and becomes predictable). In this way, I find PvE in general lacking in the challenge I desire. At least until AI is improved to near-human levels of creativity.

Kichwas.7152:

zenleto.6179:

Sovta.4719:

Ashabhi.1365:

@ the OP:

Yes. The elitism you speak of is ruining the game…for you.

I am sorry that the game does not cater to the ultra-hardcore dungeon crawlers/raiders. If it did, may of us (myself included) would be looking for something else.

Yes, you ruined it for yourself.

But what about us who just want to play game, challenge? Us that socialise in real life? (that we have)

What about you? If you aren’t finding any challenges and you aren’t enjoying your time playing then you should really consider your options.

Yep.

There are games made for 17 year olds who skip school to play 16 hours a day, make spreadsheets to min/max, and rage at the screen over a 0.1% difference between X and Y.

This game is not one of those games.

This is the game for that kid above once she or he hits over 30, has a kid, a job, and plays here and there while looking for an easy way to chat with her or his mates about the events of the day.

Our spreadsheets are devoted to the quarterly statement for management, we skip work because the kid got sick and we clock in 16 hours for less wages than we should get, and we rage at the screen over the 1% taking 90% of the fruits of our labor.

We don’t care for Farmville either, we want an action MMO, and now we have one.

Thats exactly how I feel too. And, when I actually put effort in to find it, I see no shortage of challenge when I want it. The nice part is that there are plenty of times when I just want to log on and make a nice wade through a mass of risen, hacking away and having no worry about whether or not I am playing “to the max.”

I find both are available in GW2, and love it. I find the reward to be the game itself. I just got to the point of having so many collected pixels that the next data set started to lose all meaning. That said, for those that like that collecting, I would agree the rewards probably arent up to par with the status quo. Whether that is good or bad is subjective.

Honestly, Im just going to mirror what some others have said.

I am going to assume that the people complaining about difficulty are PvE focused, and are also relatively “new” to MMOs (meaning, started playing after Ultima, EQ1, etc. There will be exceptions to this, obviously.

Those of us who have been around for a while might have discovered the trick in challenge and that is to create your own (not all have, mind you). For whatever reason, most who make posts like these are fervently against this and wish for rewards for doing what they are already doing. Most want the “easy” way out by having everything done for them.

I say this only because that is EXACTLY where I was at years ago, when WoW really started to change things around. In retrospect, I was being pretty kitten dramatic about it all, but on other things, it actually made some improvements to the genre.

The reality is, with PvE AI, there is no way to truly get challenging content. There arent any dynamics that cant be learned. The only way to find this is with advanced AI (which is still a bit off) or actually playing against other humans. The issue that I initially had with playing against other people was that it smacked my ego around pretty harshly. I learned that I wasnt nearly as good as I thought.

The drawback is you have to deal with even bigger egos than in PvE (which is saying something, honestly).

I eventually learned that if I wanted challenge, I HAD to create it for myself. To continually have the challenge I craved, I could do it with the “toolset” that was given to me by the game designers in the form of the game.

While some may be against “tying one hand behind your back,” I only have one thing to ask; why? Through experience, I learned that doing so gave me some of the best gaming experience in my life. I do not min/max in the general sense, but I do try to coax the most performance out of builds that others consider inferior. I try to find the challenge in finding a build that wouldnt work for anyone but me. If I find something too easy, I have no issue intentionally limiting myself just to see if I am really as good as I think I am in that scenario.

Its obviously not going to apply to everyone, and this is all just from my own experience with video games, MMOs, and life in general. I learned that if I am not challenged to the extent I want, that creating that challenge myself is much more effective than waiting for someone else to do it for me. In retrospect, I was just too lazy and perhaps even a little intimidated by the idea of having my ego take a blow.

I learned to compete with myself, not the game and not even with other people. If I am not constantly growing, learning, and changing then I consider it a failure on my part and not anyone else.

Maybe it will apply to you, maybe it wont. But, this is how I came to terms when things got too easy. I consider it a life lesson that I can apply to anything, including video games.

Joey.3928:

Yea I’m going to stick close to bunker. I’m taking away some healing power and some passive regen to pump up my power so i can actually do direct damage (went from 1.1k to 1.7k power) and give pets 30% crit dmg. I’ll see how that works out tonight.

Just wanted to point out that my advice may not apply to the bunker. I only used a bunker build when I was learning the class and its just not my thing anymore. I seem to take the same process with every class.. start out super survivable and slowly add more damage. My build is pretty glassy at this point, at only 2400 armor (pets are red moa and jaguar usually)! I do make extensive use of the protection on dodge roll though (one of my favorite traits in the game).

I figure you know this Joey, but there are others reading that may not!

Eyelusion.8205:

The damage when you are outmanned is like the damage from fall damage from a high cliff. You get downed and die but you take no damage. You just get the downed penalty is all.

Strange… I definitely have been receiving armor damage when outmanned. It just doesnt require any money outlay to repair. I dont get any from a falling death though.

Must be bugged for me. Doesnt matter too much though, being free and all!

First time it happened, I was rather confused as to why it didnt say a price for repair.. Then I saw I was outmanned. Wiki definitely says “No armor damage on death” though. Ill bug it next time.

I havent taken particular note, since I dont pay attention to the cost much, but as far as I remember, when outmanned, you still receive armor damage. The only difference is that when you go to repair it, it should not cost anything.

Hope that helps.

I find direct damage to be more effective on my ranger.

I am built with flank damage in mind though (thief runes and traits), so there is some condi in there as well from the SB and GS maul.

I also like to use life steal food, since I have decent crit chance (and with red moa, traits, am able to keep fury up a large portion of any fight). It heals, but it also does ~300 damage per tick. Not much, but I basically look at it as a condition of sorts.

I actually find using hilt bash to interrupt heals can be unreliable against other players (but great for guards). If you activate it on someone running directly away from you, it will frequently miss. I dont know if it is working as intended or not, but its something I would like to see addressed actually. I like SB 5 much better for interrupting heals against players.

My basic strategy against most mesmers is a bit of a battle of attrition. I am glassy, so that may sound counterintuitive, but it seems to work well. Most mesmers save their utilities to avoid being bursted. In that respect, I find good consistent damage to be superior to trying to burst them down. When flanked, on most opponents, my SB will crit for ~1500 on its own. When you add in life steal proc, sigil of fire proc, and bleeding it really adds up quick.

I only get in range of a mesmer when trying to land the GS combo (swoop, hilt bash, maul), then I activate GS 4 while running away. Once it drops, I switch to SB to continue the pressure.

I am not the best player, but this strategy has worked quite well for me. Then again, I use a very odd build that I have frequently been told is terrible. Regardless, when it comes to actual engagements, I find a lot of success. The only classes/builds I truly struggle with are condi based. Even with healing spring, they are a real struggle for me!

I found a decent counter to them purely by happenstance.

I run GS and SB. GS has Sigil of Accuracy and SB has sigil of fire. I also have muddy ground and frost trap.

Between these skills, I find that it counters mesmers relatively well. The muddy ground stays in place for a nice long time, and the frost trap is great for slowing down clone generation as well as just general skills.

The AoE provided by the fire sigil SB is pretty decent for clearing out clones, and the GS is “decent” at it. The best technique I have found, amongst these things, is to save swoop for when you have the real mes clearly identified. I will lay down muddy ground to stop them from moving for a second, hit them with swoop->hilt bash->maul. All of these skills have relatively short CDs as well, especially if traited for it, so can be used right about at the same time as the major skills on the mes.

I will also tend to use muddy ground, specifically, to put a stop to a shatter. When I see the clones charging, I try to get them close together by kiting and then hit them with muddy ground. This generally allows enough time to get rid of them before they pose too serious of an issue.

Conversely to what most say, however, I find that having a balance between killing the clones/phants and attacking the mesmer gives me better success overall. I know that on my mesmer, when someone is only focused on me, I can use that GREATLY to my advantage in a lot of different ways.

The jag is great though, because they can keep that balance for you without the mes even seeing them for nice periods of time (with stealth). The drake is good for clearing clones, but overall, I just have trouble using them reliably against a quick opponent.

In 1v1 regardless of class, I have also found Siamoth to be a very dangerous tool if used correctly. Though, it has to be said I have found the pig families F2 to be pretty much unusable lately.

If they are skilled, they are skilled. As I think we all know, and extremely skilled mesmer (regardless of build, really) can be a serious threat.

orktorzult.9368:

scorepoints?…..nsp warrior

With the new API, you can get live and reliable updates on the score at this site:

http://mos.millenium.org/na

On the live map, you can even see where vet supervisors have the buff without actually going there to check!

Sororita.3465:

>.>

so, shut down NSP and DH in one night and theyll have a crazy party in lake, im fine with that.

Will you go to the crazy half-naked lake party with me?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No
[ ] Maybe

LilMcGinley.3890:

It’s not even seeing the arrow, just remove the level indicator, it’s an easier fix. We know everyone is level 80 right? Why show it?

I think its not even a bad idea to remove the level 80 indicator and uparrow, and then replace it with WXP rank that both allies/foes are able to see. I am not sure that the enemy needs to know who is upleveled and who is not so clearly. I will purposely use low level armor skins on my characters, but they obviously know I am at least level 80 on those characters. Plus, I just like the looks of some of the armor better than most.

For enemy servers, its not like they cant guess the approximate rank by just looking at the title anyway, but it would make the data actually relevant to the game at hand and also allow allies to see each others rank. Like you say, we are all “technically” level 80, why not use the screen space for something that is more informative?

TeamBattleAxe.3901:

06-04-13
NEVER FORGET

Going in sig..

inb4 “Nerf Bird Song.” The nerf is going to happen now, you know that right?

The story:

The venerable Commander Bird Song approached SM. Knowing his prowess, he decided to solo the great castle. After getting into inner, a great battle ensued. For hours on end, he valiantly struggled against the entire forces of Darkhaven. Eventually, he succumbed to his wounds, but not after waving to a surprisingly violent mesmer.**

**Story may or may not be indicative of the true happenings.

So, Rob was indeed within SM. Pretty funny stuff!

Not only that, but he was true to his word about the reward.

Much respect.

I have no doubt that whole ordeal was as fun as it was boring :P Im lighting it up just for you! Well, and for me

Rob.7624:

Still here guys. Like really.
Seriously
You’re blind.

You arent a mes, sooo… meh. :P

Id rather have a commander inside SM waiting to be found than leading a zerg capping things!

Its kind of like playing hide and seek with your kids, with no intention of actually seeking. You just want them occupied doing “x” while ya watch some TV.

edit: Wait!!! Moneh? Im loggin in.

Valar Morghulis.7049:

I usually drop it and immediately hit the OC. Then wait a sec or two for the water jets and then splode it and possibly another blast/leap finisher. I think I am having issues with it when I have lag, it’s not registering the OC fast enough and making me wait for another full cycle (HT usually dead by then). Getting faster interwebs soonish so hopefully that cures it.

All the info helped me to narrow down when/why it was failing. Thanks a lot!

While Cleansing Burst does seem a bit unreliable in how long it takes to activate, it seems that if you actually see the water jets at the top going, it is creating a water field without any exception that I have experienced. First it starts “sparking,” and then it will start spraying the Cleansing Burst water from the top. This can be done every 15 seconds if you dont splode the turret.

Now… dont get too excited about the faster internetz though… I have a decent connection (50mb down/30mb up) and a good computer and I still experience a significant amount of lag. It wont hurt, obviously, but a lot of the issues are on Anets end. After some of the most recent patches, I cant even run WvW without putting it on the lowest possible settings across the board. Even then, I still am having very, very serious issues. At launch though, I never had a single issue running it at the highest settings. Well, sometimes I would get very minor skill lag in a major SM fight, but thats not too bad. I am hoping they start to look into it… At least now though, I am not lagging then crashing within five minutes of loading the game like I was right around when they introduced the API, lol.

Its gotten to the point where I am rolling a guardian just to continue playing without dying instantly. Its lovely to have your screen lock up, then unfreeze to see yourself in downed state!

Good luck!

ok!

Just went in game to test, and I forgot one crucial thing!

You have to press six again to activate “Cleansing Burst.” Then, use a blast finisher to profit. It doesnt create a water field on its own without using that (afaik). The animation is a relatively short window, but when you see water pouring out of the top spouts, thats the time. That is the part that seems iffy, since it can sometimes take longer to actually start this animation. Sometimes it is immediate (less than a second), but I have seen it take as long as 2-3 seconds before water starts spraying out… The only time a water field is created is when the water is actually being sprayed from the top. So, even if you have activated the skill, and it hasnt started the spray animation, you will not have the AoE heal. You do have to watch for it, which can be hard sometimes, but this should help a lot.

But, if you do a blast finisher during the animation, it should be reliable every single time. Usually, this involves sploding the turret, but you can also use mines to great effect (especially if it is a melee attacking the heal turret, cause it has great knockback and really short CD). When traited, this allows you to do the AoE blast heal on the turret every 18 seconds without losing the turret itself.

Sorry bout that, but test it out and see if you have more success.

Valar Morghulis.7049:

Ya, I know about the changes ( I miss the old version). Sometimes I wait and wait and it never does the twirl/water jet thing and if sploded no combo heal. Was just curious if it is a bug that it doesn’t always work or if I need to figure out how I’m kitten it. Thanks for response tho.

Since the change I have only played my engi for maybe 100 hours, so take note of that

I have observed it to be 100% reliable when activated at the right time. At first, I disliked the changes, but after getting used to it, I find it significantly more effective than it used to be when using a blast finisher in the water field. Without that, it is so-so (imo, of course).

Hey there Jaxxx

I swore they changed it recently to where you can actually move and still retain the stealth. Previously, this didnt work (the second you moved it dropped stealth). Either way, this is one of my favorite traits in the entire game.

I find it VERY useful in WvW though (even though its obviously situational). At least for me, when I get one immobilize/stun it means there is a whole lot more coming RIGHT after that (focus fire). It allows me to drop target and quickly reposition using something like swoop. I usually drop a healing spring to remove immob, or stun break otherwise. It does not last very long, basically just long enough to drop target and reposition (mayyyybe 2 seconds?). As for its specific mechanics, as far as I can tell, it is exactly like the thiefs stealth.

I dont feel I have amazing reflexes or anything. In my experience though, it has saved my rear more than even a trait like Bark Skin. Generally, you are stunned/immobilized before a burst where as if I get low on health to activate bark skin, I will usually be dying with or without the trait.

I used to use it extensively with the stealths/buffs granted from Siamoth with fantastic results. However, it seems the F2 for all pets has become very, very hard to actually activate lately.

Some may find it hard to use, but maybe its just a mindset thing. There is also something to be said about the accusations of hacking that this trait will almost undoubtedly receive

edit: To be clear, I dont do PvE except to level so I have no idea whats what there. PvE just doesnt interest me anymore.

Valar Morghulis.7049:

Side note erm question.. Does your water field always work on your Healing Turret? Mine seems 50/50 if HT makes a water field or not, maybe I’m doing something wrong tho :p

They recently (or semi recently) changed the way healing turret works. Now, it only does a water field when it “activates.” Meaning, when you see it start twirling, splode it for extra healing. Someone who plays engi more may correct me a bit, since I havent played it a whole lot as of late!

Can you all please be nicer to my up level guardian?

I say he is 3 levels of fury, but really… he is just a softie.

On a similar note, I do find it pretty darn funny how many have danced on the corpse of my level 3 guardian. Maybe its norn hate? Guardian hate? Dunno! It doesnt happen on my asura, but thats probably cause you bookahs cant see the small little speck laying on the ground :P

edit: Wait.. I am a bookah now too! Such a confusing time in my life…

Tenebrous.2451:

Or sustained bacon and avacado bombardment.

May I PLEASE be subjected to this “punishment?”

@Wintuo;

All I asked was if you were still as insular as you were on DH. It was a point of curiosity.

If you never thought it existed, then I suppose that answers my question.

dusanyu.4057:

DevonCarver.5370:

Everyone knows that the true key to the sandwichmancer class is the bread. New weapon confirmed! Ciabatta!

Ciabatta is under powered and needs a Ham Buff everyone knows that dual wielding French baguettes is imba.

You are so wrong on that it isnt even funny.

Well, maybe its a little funny.

DevonCarver.5370:

Everyone knows that the true key to the sandwichmancer class is the bread. New weapon confirmed! Ciabatta!

sigh

Are you serious?

Ciabatta is well known to be completely OP in ALL formats. Then, you put it on a class (sandwichmancer) which is inherently OP in and of itself?

Ill just say this pre-emptively; NERF THE SANDWICHMANCER. They shouldnt be able to make delicious sandwiches AND eat them too… Completely ridiculous…

I quit.

Oh DR… some things never change.

IoJ most definitely has though. I havent necessarily seen any big transfers to them that I am aware of, but they are an entirely different beast now.

IoJ, I suggest being like a cat with its prey! Play with them (DR), toss them around a bit, and bat them from side to side before devouring them.

From what I have read on these forums, FC should be throwing out some great roaming squads, so that should be fun!

:D

They “are aware of the problem and are working on a solution.”

This has been a serious issue for a while for some of us though. For me, it started right around the time of the API introduction.

Some hours it is perfectly fine, others it isnt. But it seems like once it gets bad, it stays that way for the rest of the day. I suspect some type of memory leak may be involved in some way, but am far, far too lazy to alt+tab out and look at system resources. :P

Either way, you can look through the MANY threads that have been posted about it as well as the terse sticky at the top of the WvW subforum.

I have no idea if this is WvW specific or not, as I dont play anything other than dubveedub at this point. Would be kind of interested to see if its happening to this extent in other areas of the game.

Cant say I expected this to be the match up…

Anyway, good luck to all! Hope we have some good times out there.

I missed you GoM :’( Hope you are still posting a ton of pics Sororita, as I still have yet to see more than one with me in it. I suppose that despite all the innate superiority of an Asura, we just dont show up well in screen shots… Our dodges are still awesome though.