Guild Wars 2

470+ here. Haven’t spent a single Laurel since it was introduced, but will likely use them for Heavy Crafting Bags when the time comes to go for a Legendary or Ascended gear too. I’m reserving some to buy Karmic infusions, but I’m holding off on buying Ascended trinkets until I see what r500 Jeweler can produce.

Same here, Pixel. I was tempted to get the Dreamcleaver on my Sylvari, but she already has an Aetherblade axe and I didn’t think it was worth it. Since I’m sure the Dreamcleaver will one day come back as part of a sale, I’m just going to wait. If ANet releases more playable races (resulting in more characters for me), then I’ll pick one up down the line.

It’s a music track from GW1, titled “A Storm is Coming”.

I have no problem with making all Ascended gear tradable. If Legendaries are tradable, why not Ascended?

Ah, good to know. I’ll keep that in mind for something to do with my excess tokens. (Plus I could use more Dark Matter anyhow.)

I’ve fought the Queen both using the stack method and the “legit” way. Honestly, once you’ve cleared out the Spiderlings (and maybe destroyed the Gargoyle heads if they’re giving you trouble), she’s really not that hard the “legit” way. The stacking method is undeniably quicker if your party is heavily geared for DPS, but if your party is wiping using the stack method due to squishiness or what-not, give the “legit” way a try. It’s not too hard to dodge her poison spit if people split up, and just kite her.

Kholer is also very doable if people clear out the adds and res people if/when they get downed. Use block/dodge when you see him perform his pull animation; failing that, unless you’re a glass cannon build, you should be able to survive his whirl if you dodge back at the first opportunity and heal up.

IMO the hardest fight in the whole dungeon is the Troll.

All that said, I do agree that AC Exp is a ROUGH introduction to Exp dungeons for newbies though.

Noah.4756:

You’re forgetting that salvaging dungeon weapons allows you to get inscriptions which can be used to level up your crafting to 500. I am fairly certain this will be applied to salvaging dungeon armor as well. So it is not totally useless.

Does that actually work? I was under the impression that only named, dropped Exotics had a chance to salvage their inscription off. (From what I heard, dungeon weapons do not give inscriptions when salvaged, and neither do crafted Soldier’s/Magi’s/etc. Exotics.)

Strange. That event always worked fine for me when I did it. Might be a new bug?

Same goes for Iron/Steel Ingots, but I think that Iron is probably less expensive given that Rich Iron Veins tend to offer a LOT of iron ore. (It’s not uncommon for me to get almost 20 iron ore from a single rich vein.) Plus, there are some good spots out in the world where you can find lots of iron nodes close together. Hit those one once a day and you can collect lots of iron fairly quickly.

Would LOVE a mineable Snowman node for Snowflakes! Not sure how it’d work though. Having it give out different tiers of Snowflakes based on the level of the character doing the mining would help spread out supply for all Tiers, but I don’t know if the mining code allows for that.

Perhaps a Snowman node just gives out 3 different types of Snowflakes (randomly chosen) with each mine?

Zommoros says:

“Ho ho NO.”

Heh, I keep on getting Urban and Uncategorized myself. And 5/9 runs it was Mai for the Boss Fractal.

I had the hardest time getting the two Molten Fractals to spawn for me. (9 Fractal runs. 1 Molten, 3 Jade, FIVE Mai. -_-) I finally lucked out yesterday and got the Molten Facility. Now I can relax and do Fractals when the mood strikes me (although I still need the secondary achievements for the new Fractals).

The main problem is that some of the Fractals only spawn in a single band (Swamp, Aquatic, Snowblind, Molten Facility, Aetherblade, Thaumanova and Underground). I don’t think anybody’s complaining about Underground being rarer, and Swamp and Aquatic can be easily re-rolled as they’re in the first band, but getting the remaining four can be a real pain.

Funnily enough, it’s the Thaumanova fractal that gives me the most trouble with PUGs. It’s fairly long and most people haven’t done it yet, so I have to explain exactly what (NOT) to do at Subject 6, lead everybody through the cannon room since they don’t know where the consoles are, and sometimes end up solo’ing the end boss because it seems lots of players aren’t used to a “run and gun” strategy when facing bosses, and just stand in one spot even when the floor is disintegrating beneath them.

I cringe whenever I see the Thaumanova fractal now, since it can take us up to an hour to complete with PUGs.

As others have said, given that it’s called “Fractal Fortnight”, I’d say that it’s only around for 2 more days. The ones in the “Dungeon” category are permanent and can be completed at any time, but the ones in the Living Story category need to be done before Tuesday’s update or they’ll disappear.

I expect that after the Tower is destroyed, the ruins of it will still be visible in Kessex Hills. The land will mostly recover and go back to its previous state, but there will still be evidence of what transpired. The Toxic Alliance events near the Tower will probably remain (and in these areas there are sometimes Toxic Spores that inflict Pollen), but the Offshoots and Champs will disappear. Toxic Seedlings may still be found scattered across the world, giving players continued opportunity to harvest Pristine Spores for crafting recipes.

Yeah, Pie Formation is right. I discovered that myself after getting killed during the “bugged period”. I had no idea this was the case, so my apologies to everybody I killed in the last few Southsun Survival games. I did not intend to screw you out of getting your reward chest.

It’s all down to your personal taste. I think the Dreamcleaver axe has a nicer special effect, but the Aetherblade axe is a lot more intricate, with moving parts. (Zoom in and check out the “cutting blade” on the front of the axe while you’re chopping!)

Yeah, the 250 → 50 was intentional, since unlike the Halloween ingredients, supply for Ascended mats is constant all year long.

With WXP becoming account bound, I think we could make a good case for Commander tags becoming account bound too. Still, I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Aside from the 1 sec casting time, anybody else getting Healing Hands flashbacks from this? XD

I mostly stick with Flesh Golem (since I’m a MM), but Lich Form is my go-to elite for situations where the golem is a hindrance (such as against Tequatl, or the Jade Maw).

Can only speak for myself, but when dealing with large groups, I start out with Staff. Drop Chaos Storm on the group, pop Mirror Images + Phase Retreat, and Cry of Frustration for 6 stacks of Confusion + Chaos Armor. Activate Chaos Armor again (skill 4) to increase the aura duration, and drop iWarlock, then switch to my second weapon set (usually Scepter/Pistol, but occasionally Sword/Pistol). Drop a second Clone, then Mind Wrack for 2 more Confusion stacks and extra damage. This is usually enough to kill, or nearly kill, all the mobs. Just mop up with Phantasms, Blurred Frenzy or autoattacks after that.

I just hope the new skills don’t cost 25 skill points each. These ones look like alternate “standard heals” when compared to the Antitoxin Spray, which was extremely niche and used only in the Tower of Nightmares. Having to spend 25 skill points on what should be an alternative standard healing skill would be excessive.

Err, are you just doing it for the daily? You know you can just complete 1 Fractal for that, right? It’s not the full 4 Fractals?

Completely understandable. Enjoy the holidays, ANet!

Electro.4173:

Zaxares.5419:

Legendary Armor for Elementalists. An armor skin whose particle effects change depending on which Attunement you are currently using.

Do. Want.

Do not want. And by “do not want” what I really mean is please don’t add that to the game because I don’t want to grind for a legendary of any sort but that would be way too awesome to pass up.

Hehe, you and me both, Electro. You and me both.

The first thing to do is check your gear. Are you using level appropriate gear? You can get away with using lower-level gear within 5 levels of your current level (level 75 gear if you’re level 80, for example), but anything less than that and you’ll start to notice a HUGE hit to your damage and survivability. Level scaling takes your gear into account as well; it assumes that you’re wearing gear appropriate to your level. So if you’re level 80, but still wearing level 50 gear, you’re actually operating at a huge handicap.

Second, what stat spread are you using? I know that Berzerker gear is considered the metagame king, but to be honest, unless you’re doing speedclear dungeons, Berzerker gear really isn’t necessary. If you’re not able to survive, you’re not going to be of any help. Switching to tankier armor like Soldier’s can make a lot of difference, and you’ll still be able to contribute effectively to your party.

Finally, a large part of surviving in dungeons or Fractals is just knowing what to do. Many boss attacks will rapidly kill even the tankiest player, so awareness of what strategies work is crucial to surviving. As an example, take the Legendary Captain Ashym at the end of the Urban Battleground fractal. He does a TON of damage, very quickly. As a result, most players do not stick around in melee range, instead opting to let the NPC allies occupy his attention while they attack from short – long range. You CAN melee him if you like, but be prepared to go from 100% health to downed in under a second if Ashym switches his attention to you.

My suggestion is that when Polymock is introduced, minipets are used as Polymock pieces.

But yes, a minipet slot would be a great QoL improvement. Supported!

Eh, I just roll into combat with them at lower health. Blood Fiend rarely gets targeted since he hangs up the back anyway, Bone Minions were made to be exploded, and Flesh Wurm gets destroyed at the end of every combat anyway. I only bother replacing my Blood Fiend if I’m going into combat with an Elite/Champion and I want him to be at full health.

Legendary Armor for Elementalists. An armor skin whose particle effects change depending on which Attunement you are currently using.

Do. Want.

John Smith.4610:

Unfortunately I’m not permitted to release these statistics at this time. I’m sorry, I’m sure one day it will be available.

I got a direct response from “The Man” himself! -swoon-

But yeah, fair enough. I imagine Behellagh’s answer below is probably why it can’t be released at the moment. I just hope that “one day” is not after the GW2 servers shut down.

I would speculate, but I’m a packrat as it is and my bank is already overflowing. No space to warehouse goods.

Am not opposed to the weapon skins staying permanently, but I’m sure that the Rox/Braham/Marjory/Kasmeer weapon skins will continue to make periodic reappearances during sales.

Amassed 130+ Fine Essences and 41 Masterwork Essences of Luck over the week. Combined them all with my Artificer last night, up to Exotic tier. Monthly Masterwork Crafter done, all for free.

Arcane Brilliance is apparently a blast finisher. It has now become a must-have for my Arcane-traited Staff Ele. (I will miss the heavy condition cleansing of Ether Renewal though.)

Odds are good you’re just a better player now. You know what skills work, what are the enemy mechanics like, how to rotate skills, swap weapons etc.

Yeah, I’m very confident that we will see Ascended jewelry crafting too. They may have the advantage over existing trinkets in that the Jeweler can customise precisely what stats and upgrade they have. The current Ascended gear can remain as they are as a “cheaper” alternative to crafting, or they might make Ascended gear salvageable so players have something to do with Ascended Rings they don’t want. (ANet has already hinted they have something in mind.)

Yeah, Crystalline Dust will be the bottleneck there.

That’s why I support the salvaging of Ascended Rings for Ectos, with rare chances for Dark Matter and Mist Essence.

I think ANet should introduce MF recipes that convert a stack of one Ascended type to 50 of another. It would allow players that have a shortfall of one ingredient, but an excess of another, to obtain the material they need without necessarily needing to do content they dislike.

NiloyBardhan.9170:

Zaxares.5419:

My guess is that Ascended/Legendary food will involve combining many lower-tier ingredients to help soak up oversupply. For example:

Essence of Berries:
- 250 Blueberries
- 250 Strawberries
- 250 Blackberries
- 250 Raspberries

And then that itself becomes one of the four ingredients needed for an Ascended food item. Perhaps Ascended food buffs last for 1 hour (or even 24 hours?) to justify their cost.

lol
No thanks. I don’t want to spend 20 gold for 24 hour buff (unless the food provide something extraordinary like +800 MF or +500 of any stat boost). Just no.

Perhaps a permanent food item, consumable once per day that lasts for one hour?

While I would support old titles being achievable again if it makes sense for them to do so (carving pumpkins was back in Halloween. Why wasn’t the title?), I wouldn’t get your hopes up. :/

Uncategorized – Cliffside – Aetherblade – Mai

I think ANet needs to make the Molten facility spawn in the Fractal 1 group as well. This is getting ridiculous. :P

Just wondering if there’s been any update from your side, Gaile? Support is basically sticking to their position, which is fine. Once I know where I stand, I can decide whether or not to purchase more gems by December’s end, but I’d just like to know if there’s any plans on ANet’s side to change the requirements before I do.

Morinmeth.9823:

Zaxares.5419:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

CC Danicia.1394:

I hope Krait comes back. Krait is most entertaining.

Krait as playable race confirmed…. because Danicia likes them. :P

Zaxares also wants Krait as playable race. And Tengu. And Skritt.

Skritt mesmers would cause me to QQ all day.

“Quick! Kill it!”

Probably not, no, but one can dream, right?

This is mostly a question to JS. Would it be possible to get some statistics on how much gold is converted to gems in a single day, and vice versa? I’ve been watching the currency exchange bounce between 9.5 gold to 7 gold and back up to 8.5 again just in the space of two days. It got me wondering as to the actual numbers that take place behind the scenes; how many players actually DO convert gems to gold? I’m quite curious to know the velocity of this market.

No idea if ANet is going to make any changes, but do Caduceus’s Manor if you need Cotton, and farm pirates/Risen in Bloodtide Coast/Sparkfly Fen for Linen. Centaurs/pirates in Gendarran Fields and Lornar’s Pass are also good targets if you need Wool.

I will gear up all 5 of my characters. (Eventually. Check back with me in 1 – 2 years. Yes, I’m serious. That’s how relaxed I am about getting Ascended gear.)

In case people aren’t aware, you can also refine Essences of Luck for the Masterwork Crafting achievement. You probably have a lot of those just from salvaging blue/green gear; save them all up, give them to your Artificer, and get it in 10 mins.

Group Events/Champion Slayer are also easily done via the Living Story. See if you can get a small group going in Kessex Hills or the Tower of Nightmares; both offer Group Events and Champions aplenty!

Or you can just join the Queensdale/Frostgorge Champ trains. I find those utterly boring, so I avoid it, but it’s an option.