Guild Wars 2

tldr;

Have Sword/Pistol as your weapon switch. Cloak and Dagger with your S/D build, swap to your Sword/Pistol which has Sigil of Intelligence on it, and have a Stealth Pistol Whip Critical. Repeatable every 9 seconds.

Why would you not use it on a 100% mob? My point is, why not use it on a 100% mob, except now, you’re severely punished for doing so. As others point out, autoattack is going to be more effective. So why not just black out the skill until your target is at 50% health if it’s ‘meant to be for low health targets’?

Skills aren’t supposed to be ‘a right time to use it and a wrong time’ it’s supposed to be effective at any time, per game design promises made for years. Again I only contend the 20% damage nerf above 50%. There’s a 40-60% damage difference between the target at 51% health and 49% health now.

I wouldn’t be complaining with a 10% nerf to damage over 50%, but making it no better than an autoattack is kind of odd in terms of where they plan to go.

And again, 20 days! Who starts the nerf bat knee-jerk reaction that soon? They even had some dev post about balance on the Announcements forums about not doing just that. 20 days! 70% of everyone isn’t even 80, and 95% of everyone doesn’t know their true end-game build yet that fits their perfect play style.

It’s like if within 20 days of releasing Starcraft 2 they said, “Naw naw, Terran Reapers are OP nerf that build order now.” Instead of waiting for it to manifest how it did. It proved to be the only high level play, not just a variant, and as everyone here has stated, over and over, Heartseeker spam is the mark of low level play.

Maybe if you’re lagging, but in sPvP it’s fairly instant when you reveal from stealth. Also in WvW the game doesn’t stream in enemy players behind you, so if the Thief gets behind you sometimes it takes longer for him to ‘show up’.

However do some testing and you will find out that you can target him still, and more testing will show you can still damage him, even though the graphic is not yet on your screen. So you kind of have to adapt to that design challenge and don’t just stop attacking when he goes stealth. He is STILL THERE somewhere, keep attacking.

The punishment was less damage at high health. The nerf translates to ‘massively less damage where no one wants to use it anymore unless the enemy is low health’. Not just ‘Use it above 50% and get some benefit over autoattack, but see big differences when the enemy is low health.’ Spam HS on a 100% mob and see how far you get in 4 attacks pre-nerf. Nowhere. Maybe 70%. Now it’s even worse?

And I said most useful skill.

What other class is punished on a main damage skill 50% of the time?

Where else do the ‘mechanics’ of the attack make you feel it’s not worth using 50% of the time?

Again, the people who are loving the nerf and saying “switch weapons lol” forget that the game design was about allowing people to play how they wanted. Non-condition build dagger thieves who want to put out damage have to wait for the boss, or any mob, to hit 50%, before they can ‘do damage’. Otherwise it’s auto-attack. Cloak and Dagger can be useful and powerful, and maybe we will see more of it, and maybe that closes the gap. It has no special Combo finisher, it has no utility except cloaking you and being ABLE to cause damage if you then press your 1 key again as it cancels auto-attack.

1/5 of our dagger weapon skills are nearly useless 50% of the time.

JStereo.6953:

This isn’t a big deal. Heartseeker is still useful as both a gap closer and a finishing move. Nerfing the damage it did above target 50% health just hurts the Haste + 2222222222 spammers.

Actually, it hurts our entire gameplay, making the skill far less worth using for every PvE and PvP engagement 50% of the time. Think of it – your most useful skill only usable 50% of the time without severely kittening yourself.

They promised not making these kinds of nerf-bat changes. And here we see it WITHIN 20 days. The Thief BEGS for skilled players to play it. There’s probably a 2:1 favor of skilled players playing Thief than any other class. Good players know they can turn the utility into massive K/D ratios. They could have done it on any other class, but the Thief begs for it to be used that way.

The only problem I have is the 20% damage nerf above 50%. If it becomes no better than your auto-attack, yes it still has use for a gap closer, but then you’re not using it 50% of the time. In fact, you’re punished for thinking of using it for damage now. In your mind, you’re going to be saying, “Ah nope don’t press that key, it’s not even worth it anymore until he’s at 50%”

Is that the game design everyone was promised? To have skills made unviable 50% of the time? Was the idea to take out the nerf bat within 20 days? Was the idea to make players not use 1/5 of their skills half the time? Or to at least be punished for doing so.

Just an odd nerf this early into the game.

Shhh! ESDF is the trade secret of good gamers!

You need a 7+ button mouse, so you can use thumb keys. Put your Heal on Z or somewhere closer than numpad. The Number 3 is viable to use for Skill 3, as well, it’s right there, and with Death Blossom it’s not like you’re moving for that second.

Didn’t think about using Shift… normally Sprint/Crouch in other games. But really I haven’t finalized my keybinds.

Seriously though delete this thread. ESDF is for pros. When someone says they use WASD you know they’re a noob.

I have seen this Cluster Bomb bug as well in medium sized WvW fights, sometimes in Keep assaults. It seems when you are casting very fast it will not update to Detonate for the skill, and instead you have to let the current one finish. I have tried replicating it in order to do multiple non-Detonating Cluster Bombs (multiple shots in-air) but it is hard to replicate.

The Signet increases your run speed IN and OUT of combat by 25%, as well as underwater. If you take any damage at all, even from falling, you run in ‘combat speed’ which is much slower than your normal speed. I suggest using this in your favor with caltrops or casting any AOE behind you to put the enemy in combat mode and slowing them down as you escape. Or do whatever you can to touch that fleeing opponent with something to slow them down.

It’s still good as a non-condition thief. I don’t have condition damage, but if I see a warrior bull rushing me, I’ll use it to evade him and hit him with a bunch of bleeds and damage. Timing is key, and although it won’t dodge the instant stuff – what does. You have to think before you leap, that’s all.

It IS kind of bad they made 1/5th of our D/D skills completely useless 50% of the time.

I would have agreed with the damage benefit happening at 50% instead of 66%, but reducing the initial damage makes it a no-no to push that key half of the time we are playing. It is actually counter to their game design. Pretty bad, hope they don’t spiral out of control on this kind of crap within 20 days of release. 20 days and start ‘balancing’ stuff? Come on. The meta game hasn’t even begun to develop.

bloodymarx.9052:

Allow me to chime in with one thing that I believe is worth noting. Before this change, HS’s “improved damage to weakened targets” kicked in at 66% HP, while as far as I know, every other effect against weakened targets (+20% damage from Executioner, 4s immobilize from Panic Strike, and so on) kicks in at 50% HP. After this change, unless I’m mistaken, every such skill or effect will trigger under half HP: HS is consistent with the rest then.

Besides, if you’re looking at a bar, it’s easier to approximate more precisely where 50% is than where 66% is.

Maybe ArenaNet knew that it would be considered overpowered regardless, but knew it was perfectly balanced at 50%. So at release, they made it overpowered, so when they nerfed it to their balanced state as it stands now, they could say, “Look, we nerfed it! Just become more skilled and deal with it!”

I wouldn’t put it past them, they think of everything.

I see the green dot players, and I think having to memorize the locations of control points instead of seeing dots change colors on your map is working as intended.

Amazing find! I have my volume up for TeamSpeak etc, and mid-combat sometimes I get some NPC yelling in my ear. I tried turning down certain audio settings with no effect.

Looks like it’s just a bug where the 3D sound appears right on your person. Great job and I hope they fix it soon.

Hello,

I wasted some silver on these Sigils to test them out. Since it needs 26 stacks and then gives 5 seconds of invulnerability, I thought; Maybe they have it reset to 25 stacks, so after every kill you get 5 seconds invulnerability!

Maybe. But as it works, it does give 5 seconds of invulnerability, and you lose all stacks. At that point, and the bug, is any kills after that do not give a stack at all. So you’re stuck with a useless Sigil in your weapon.

I then switched to Superior Sigil of Demon Summoning on the same weapon. I could not get any stacks with that at all. I was in WvW, so I switched to a different WvW zone, and was able to then gain stacks of the Demon Summoning sigil.

At 26 stacks, I got a Fleshreaver, who died to NPCs in the Quaggan Weather Node area soon after, while losing all 26 stacks. And again, any subsequent kills did not increase my stack from 0 to 1 and beyond.

It seems if you get the effect, either there is a crazy 5-10 minute cooldown, or it’s bugged and can’t continue building stacks.

This was on an Exotic Shortbow in WvW for both tests. Both Sigils after resetting my stack count did not increase the count thereafter.

You can also shoot this behind you as you run away. You need to bind your ‘look behind’ key or just pan your camera around, but if you’re running from someone you can launch shots behind you, dealing damage and hopefully breaking their resolve to chase you. You can use Gas Canister this way as well.

Spec for evasion. See results. Working as intended.

I remember in WoW when people figured out how to Rogue tank and then they nerfed it. And yet, it took forever to get the gear to do that in the first place. Why not let them do it? It didn’t break the game. But it was nerfed. And I was at like 60% evasion or something on my way to get there before they nerfed it. Had to scrap all my hard work (the WoW motto).

Ahh, Cloak and Dagger. I was thinking too much ‘surprise’. Yes, that is completely valid and gives the full damage per hit.

In terms of it being hard to pull off, yes it can be if you don’t bind keys. Even if you do, still tough. I think a macro might help hit them all at once, if that’s doable.

Yeah not for normal PvP, just thinking of how someone could make a video of the 3/10 times it works as intended strung together to make it look like it’s insane damage and amazing but really it only works 3/10 times, hehe.

It is possible that the extra crit damage in Critical Strikes (+ 10% more crit damage) might make up for the lack of the 2 dodge Mights (+ 70 power). I now believe it does. Plus giving you around 12% more crit with the 7% trait and 100 more Precision.

The title should say ‘… Backstab Opener’ because that’s what I am going for, although Cloak and Dagger is fine considering you can now use Steal to just get to range, or really just walk up to the guy. With Cloak and Dagger and the extra Signet you get the biggest hit. And I am sure someone could get a bigger hit maxing Critical Strikes and using Backstab against a low-health target (a 2% raw damage increase over the current setup, but with + 20% more critical damage). Again the goal was an opener; full health to nearly dead in a single hit.

You could even use stolen feathers now that I think about it. So all is still doable.

Ok so this is a tough one. It doesn’t work as you have no way into Stealth with no Steal/2sec stealth trait.

Need to find the Stealth somewhere, giving up damage for the stealth, possibly putting back the heal to Hide in Shadows – need to turn off autoattack too.

The question is, Hide in Shadows(losing 175 power), or Points in Shadow Arts(losing 35 power + 13% damage).

Pretty sure the power loss is the least effect. Need Hide in Shadows.

Theorycrafting here at work suffering from withdrawals. Gotta check it later

Oh Signet of Malice heal skill. Adjust +175 power.

Yeah I think everyone totally agrees with you and I’m glad there’s an effort to get it changed. But we also note we have to make due and it’s great as it is. I was really hoping I could go up on enemy Keeps when I first found out about the skill. But that would break a lot of things. And in PvE there are plenty of spots it works, and others it doesn’t. I had reliable teleport up to a single ledge 900 units up that was like a mushroom, every time, but can’t use it to get up a tiny rock nearby.

Edited again
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#Mckzzc0MMoLvmMoLvmpa0apVsMMmV

Basic Setup:
1. Apply Basilisk Poison
2. Dodge twice for 2 stacks Might (+ 70 power)
3. Activate 3 Signets for 15 stacks Might (+ 525 power)
3a. Hide in Shadows to Stealth
4. Steal to target for 1 stack Might (+ 35 power)
5. Steal applies Poison, Basilisk
6. Backstab

You gain:
+ 635 power
+ 150% damage from Assassin’s Signet
+ 10% due to condition applied (steal poison)
+ 5% dagger damage
+ 13% damage due to initiative
+ 5% attacking from the back

Trade-off is no guaranteed critical from stealth. My thinking is to get the absolute most power out of the hit, stacking power, precision, and critical damage gear so you’ll crit most of the time anyway.

I think it’s the highest damage output theorycrafting.

I wonder how much might we can stack with everything. I think each stack is 35 power. So 15+ stacks is sick, especially combined with Bloodlust. Signet Build is out there somewhere!

Some attacks already ‘hit’ before you see them hit. Just dodge right after going stealth. Come on.

I know what you mean, but “learn how to use it” is saying “Yes, it doesn’t work where sometimes you intuitively think it should, however it is what it is right now – many would say amazing as it is with the balance of sometimes not working exactly every time – and I’m sure the devs are aware and if they think it’s part of the design they will fix it, but for now, adapt and overcome.”

Garenthal.1480:

The allergy to a stealth orientated class is very hypocritical from what I’ve seen of it. I see plenty of people bringing up how awful stealth has been in other games, though by that logic should we avoid every class archetype based on how things played out in other games? I didn’t think so.

Having the ability to lay in wait and ambush an unsuspecting foe would be brilliant in my humble opinion.

Unfortunately we don’t have a days-long stealth. I’d like one for ambushing, yes. But, an example; my warrior friend and I were killing fools like normal. Then we ran into a big group and had to run. So we run and jump down some cliffs – the enemy chasing most of the way. We turn some corners and I drop Shadow Refuge against the wall, telling my friend to wait. I cast it against the wall so the icon wouldn’t show. And what do you know, some lone player comes around the corner looking for us. He stopped like 5 feet in front of us. He was standing right in front of us, completely unaware, when we attacked. The warrior Bull Rushed and 100 Blades, and I just spammed some Heartseeker. He died instantly. No one expects the Warrior Frontstab coming out of stealth!

The shot also is linear in that, let’s say you’re on one side of a small hill, for example near roads, and you shoot to the road – you will appear on the crest of the hill many times instead of on the road. This is because it’s line of sight. It’s not WoW where line of sight doesn’t matter. You can actually sneak by PvE mobs, hide behind rocks, and so on. For the shot, just learn it’s quirks and adapt.

I am getting it, just not with badges. Not worried about the damage just yet. I might gem for damage, not sure, I will have to try pure defensive first. I think in the end you will have to balance.

But, before you spend those badges, note that you can get the same stat gear elsewhere for Karma. So those hard-earned badges don’t need to be used unless you just want the looks, or save them for the weapons.

“Stuck” is the key word for “I lack skill”. As others mentioned above, there is room for Thieves, moreso than any other class, to go down into the assaulting enemy’s ranks, dish out some damage and confusion, and then return to the Keep safely, healing up, and doing it all over again. When those people you damaged die, you get loot bags popping up all around you. It’s great.

As for Keep assault, you’re doing it wrong. Cluster Bomb to push back the people on the wall, and to take out defensive equipment. Then go towards where your enemies spawn sitting between the Keep and your enemy spawn and pick off the people who begin running back to the Keep. This reduces the enemy force at the Keep, allowing your team to take it with ease.

Drop Shadow Refuge on your teammates bashing in a Gate if attacking to heal them and break target from any enemies. If defending a Keep, drop Shadow Refuge at the exit point of the door and let a small team come out in stealth and start picking off targets.

I love the phrase, “You’re doing it wrong.”

I am a Thief and the Thief kills me every time! I don’t know what’s wrong but definitely the Thief class needs a nerf and I need a buff. Because the Thief class shouldn’t be able to kill the Thief class every time. I propose that the Thief gets a 10% damage reduction, and that Heartseeker cost 4 initiative. I also propose that as a Thief, in order to kill another Thief better I should get a 10% damage buff and have Heartseeker only cost 3 initiative.

Assassin’s Creed Guild is recruiting! All players must look like Assassin’s Creed character to join!

There are some backstab builds on YouTube. Note that they always kill a single target who is alone. I’ve seen one where the guy was attacking into groups, however many times he was running away with 1k hp left after bursting on someone and getting all the AOE from enemy teammates. If you can pull off escape all the time, it’s great. Otherwise you will get owned pretty quick against someone who is aware what’s coming.

Heck now when I see backstab thieves (durrr signets) I dodge the moment they disappear (steal→stealth for them, but they still have to get to my back) and then I just Cluster Bomb my feet a bunch of times and they come out of stealth in downed state.

No, cookie-cutter means a specific build which with good skill results in more arena wins over losses compared to other builds. If you’re in WvW it’s not applicable. And even in sPvP no one is using glass cannon and doing well against skilled players.

For WvW, I might not do tons of damage, but my role is confusion, escape, and support. So do I expect to die to the 1/100 thieves I run into who are the glass cannon? (no) Sometimes I do though. Actually only once. But that was before I began getting gear.

The gear caps quickly. And I spent like 3 gold to get rare items for EVERY slot I have as soon as I hit 80. So it’s not gear based, it’s very skill based. The gear helps you avoid the insta-kills you are experiencing with lesser gear.

I spend hours and hours in WvW and rarely ever die. I don’t burst down undergeared targets as fast, but I survive huge mobs. I run through enemy lines all the time.

The question is what are you spec’d into doing? Because if you’re not glass cannon – meaning, you’re not trying to pick one target and down him as soon as possibly hoping he doesn’t have friends nearby to stun you and insta-kill you as well – you’re either support or control or any number of other things which are useful in their own right.

Meaning, not cookie-cutter.

When in sPvP you backstab that Warrior for 2k, he turns around and stunlocks/100 blades you in 2 seconds to death, you will rethink the glass cannon for sPvP.

I play WvW. I have a non-standard build. I have the following roles:
1) Ranged damage with AOE (Shortbow)
2) Ranged area damage debuff (Cluster Bomb into Gas Canister field)
3) Extremely effective seige weapon destroyer (Cluster Bomb walls)
4) Downed player revival expert (Shadow Refuge)
5) Enemy mob of players escape artist (Shadowstep, Shortbow teleport)
6) Straggler wrangler (Shortbow teleport, Shadowstep, switch to crippling dagger throw)
7) Force multiplier (Thieves Guild during an out-numbered fight)
8) Enemy distractor (Go in first, take the first shots of all enemies while using dodge and Shortbow’s Evasive Shot(?) to avoid all damage, then break target with stealth-heal)
9) Low-Health-Enemy sniper (Find enemy at 50% health, steal to get right on target, heartseeker burst him down, shadowstep out if too many people target you fast enough, otherwise finish the enemy)
10) Enemy lines masochist (Shadowstep into enemy lines, Death Blossom as many times as you can before low health, Shadowstep back to safe location)

That’s 10 roles and I didn’t even switch out my skills at all for those 10 roles, which I normally do depending on certain situations. Meaning much more variety.

(Quick compare to WoW Rogue. Mutilate Mutilate Mutilate Vanish Garrote Mutilate Mutilate or some other such nonsense (and I know it’s much more dynamic but come on it was pretty plain PvP))

The fact that killing someone isn’t as easy as bursting them to downed state, especially if they have friends or a group, means the glass cannon is exactly what it’s designed for – downing a single player quickly – but if he has friends and if there is any crowd-control or AOE, the glass cannon is very weak and has to run. He should excel at single-target kills, but those are rare to come by in WvW or sPvP.

This very skill based game has me laughing nightly.

Answer: Don’t spam. Get a couple autoattacks in between Death Blossoms, or Heartseekers. Considering the autoattack 3rd attack applies a bleed, it’s in your best interest to use it. Manage your initiative and become a better player overall.

GW2 queues up attacks. If you press a key a few times, they will activate as long as there is initiative to do so. Make deliberate attacks and you’ll be fine.

First, you’re not level 80. Second, you didn’t get the Exotic gear yet. Third, your build is damage/crit based vs. toughness/vitality.

The answer: No, it is not cookie-cutter based at all. You can be effective at whatever you choose. Some thieves right now are playing with the backstab build. They are very squishy if you learn to fight them.

In WvW you have fully geared players now. Meaning sub-80 you’re doing almost nothing. Go to sPvP and get a feel for how it will be when everyone is geared.

To backstab builds, anyone with the up-ranked to 80 icon is a free kill.

Surprised no one responded yet. I watched the video; I’d recommend showing more ‘action’ honestly but I did like the explanations.

I like that going Condition damage means you’re stacking vitality and toughness in terms of traits.

Conditions are pretty good… I’d actually say your build is more for PvE. I know that’s odd, but the raw damage regardless of being in melee range or not is key to sustained DPS.

I thought of trying it out for WvW, but then realized most people have a condition removal. As thief, I’d wipe the bleeds with the stealth heal. Mind you, it’s stacking good damage just before that, but missing out on 8-10k damage with wiping it clean. Count on dodges for a couple of those Death Blossoms, and it’s not -as powerful- as it seems. I also don’t want to do that on the few classes that can give their conditions to their enemies (Necromancer at least).

Everyone has a different style which is awesome.

One utility critique; I see the Scorpion Wire and know you want it to pull targets back into Caltrops and back into range. But for actual fights it is very gimmicky in that you have so many other ways of getting to the enemy instead. If I were you, I’d switch out for poison, as at least then someone has less a chance of negating all your damage with a condition removal. I love the Scorpion Wire, but I usually just switch to it for specific cases; rarely do I ever need it right then and there. Poison would give you a huge DPS increase.

Please note I really like the build. It’s awesome. Groups of players where you’re hitting multiple people… evading attacks left and right… crazy AOE “in-the-mix” damage. You can go into a large WvW group and destroy their lines from within, then Dagger Storm out (I do this already without the conditions – thus not as effective). You have the toughness and vitality to survive that, and the damage to make them all freak out. Nothing like seeing 10 people ticking away damage while you whirl back to your own group. Was really hoping you were going to show multiple targets when you ran to the AOE training area

Problem:
“Bhwaha Bruno like big number, cluster bomb does big number! Detonate useless!!”

Solution:
Cluster Bomb’s Detonate does a couple things if used correctly. First, each mini bomb has a chance to crit, which can cause many runes and sigils to activate. So don’t get it in your mind that it is worse. In fact, Detonate can do more damage. The tip I wanted to point out is that if you check Cluster Bomb’s tooltip you will see that it has a bleed effect. And that effect says X damage – mine was around 200 last I checked. The key here is it’s only applied to maximum when you Detonate. If you don’t Detonate, your target gets 1 bleed stack for 1/3rd the damage of that Bleed number on the tooltip. To maximize damage, you need to Detonate when the Bomb is close to the ground, popping all mini bombs in the same area, doing more damage, and stacking 3 bleeds for the maximum damage.

When choosing to Detonate or not, the only question is how accurate you are. It is better to Detonate when your shot is spot-on or if there are more than one enemy in the area. This is because those bleeds will hit multiple people. Do not Detonate, on the other hand, if the enemy is near the edge of your AOE circle, because the mini-bombs have a smaller radius and only one might hit them, compared to the large blast of the Cluster itself.

One last thing to point out, and I hope others fill in some uses I don’t have time to add, but if you’re chasing someone, there’s always room to lead your target and hit them in the distance. Most players don’t realize that our AOE indicator for Cluster Bomb is just a bright circular light on the ground. Not like other AOE’s where you SEE where the damage is. It’s just lighter texture, and most people don’t see the ground light up and think anything of it. I love tossing a long range Cluster Bomb while leading a target, switching to daggers, steal-shadowstep to the target and have the Cluster Bomb land in conjunction with Heartseeker spam or a Backstab if I have some form of stealth available.

Use Signet of Shadows? I think it’s called that. Run 25% faster, including in combat. Or yeah, keep being slower than your prey and run into the issue you pose here.

Skill will replace the need for combat text. In time, you too will know that an axe in your steal icon means ‘whirlwind of death’.

Come on guys… I know there’s a skill gap but come on, do you really think combat text is going to replace your memory? If you get something new, check the icon, then – after the fight – stand still, mouse over, and read all the juicy details of the item. Then go to the skill calculators online and make a build revolving around that one stolen item, and report it on the forums along with a YouTube video of how it kittens noobs.

Or that^.

Just because the Mesmer stealths, doesn’t mean he’s now 30ft away like when a Thief stealths. He’s still-right-there. So Cluster Bomb his feet all over. It also takes out the clones, sometimes in one shot.

Shortbow is fine, the Cluster Bomb radius goes far beyond the targeting range you mentioned for one. The fact that we can get right up on the enemy walls, spam Cluster Bomb, while dealing damage and bleeds to players, as well as being the only class with absolutely no issue when running away from people who might jump down after you on the wall, makes the Shortbow just fine as is.

Heck I thought they dropped damage on the Cluster Bomb a while ago – maybe they did – but it’s back where it was and with top-end gear you will crit for 2.5-5k depending on the armor of the target. That’s AOE crits, mind you. Everything dies.

Also drop poison and Cluster Bomb into it to give Area Weakness. Nothing like turning that non-crit warrior into a glancing machine.

The answer: Use ranged, preferably Shortbow. The bouncing arrows hit 3 times, killing off clones and phantasms, while also damaging the Mesmer. Also, stand still. Clones and Phantasms stand still if you do, meaning the guy who appears from stealth, moving, is the Mesmer. After you learn to range Mesmer, and not think ‘light class! go melee!’ they become very easy. Oh and throw down poison all over. Nothing says, “That’s the Mesmer!” like poison damage ticking over his head.

Sounds like Necromancers have a pet build, a direct damage build, and an AOE condition build, and any mix of those.

Kinda beats just having Heartseeker spam huh?

Necromancers are now showing in WvW to be very powerful. Not many people use condition removal yet. So pretty sure my assumption of them being the most powerful is correct. Just gotta learn to micro everything and you’ll be fine.

@ozymandias
That’s too much work I just want 10% profit selling junk!

Just think back to your favorite SNES game. What carrot on the stick was there? You played it and hopefully beat it, and then set it down and nurtured those nostalgic memories for years. Secret of Mana made me cry. Guild Wars 2 doesn’t end however, it is persistent, and with that comes the knowledge that you can have fun as long as you want with the no-subscription-fee model meaning you can put it down like a console game if you want. And the lack of new uber powerful gear coming out every 3 months means you can pick it back up where you left off. And because of that, all the nostalgia you’re building now isn’t going anywhere. It’s always going to be there. Fun is the point and is the point of any game. Guild Wars 2 is reminding you about this, and you’re trained so hard to think MMORPG = WORK when it’s supposed to be about fun!

Hey guys,

Yes, in World vs. World PVP, I often do not have time to run back to the merchant who is located in one single spot on the map. I’m usually fighting enemies or keeping my team alive. And my goal, and gameplay style, is to not die. So I’m alive, for 5 hours on end every night in WvW, with loot dropping left and right. I usually fill up my bags within the first 30 minutes of being in the map. From there, I salvage some items, but not all, and eventually get to a point where I’m selling random things on the TP just to keep a slot open for the next drop… which comes so fast I end up managing bags more than I’d like!

I have to resort sometimes to mailing a bunch of gear to a friend just to clear space, however shortly after, I’m there again full of loot.

Now, I probably should grab the lowest salvage kit and destroy everything for materials and send those to my bank. I understand this, and after a while as many items have, I will get more than 250 in a stack and begin carrying extras on my person. So then I have to wonder if I should sell the salvaged material on the TP in the end. So you go to sell the leather and so on, and find out it’s worth 4c. You can sell even the junk loot for 30c. And selling on the TP might not give me that full 30c but it gets me close, so why waste all the time thinking about it. Just sell it however it can be done. Salvaging is the same amount of work with the end result being less money.

I wouldn’t mind selling items for lower than the vendor price, except they make it so you can’t put in buy orders lower than vendor price, so no one is able to make money on that. I just don’t need the junk and there’s so much of it. Everyone just wants to get rid of it for whatever they can get. Mind you, my situation is about the junk loot (including up to Masterwork items), and anything crafting is a separate issue.

Right now for crafting even, people just want to get rid of their junk! So if you’re here and ranting that people are selling all the high-end exotic gear at a loss, then ok you have a valid point. But if you’re still leveling up and wondering why your crafted item isn’t selling for profit, it’s probably because there are 10,000 others leveling up the same profession trying to offload the junk they had to craft.

Some people make money on junk. If you want to be a junk dealer, I’m sure you can. There’s just not huge profits in it unless you’re that guy who started 1-800-got-junk.

I especially appreciate that I saw many times you had no/little Orb bonus.

Thank you for showing me that I need to get better.

Alright we’ll give it a go. I’ll make sure to pick some under-geared targets to really make it look good