Guild Wars 2

Fungalfoot.7213:

The biggest problem with stealth right now is that stealthed players can stomp. Initiating a stomp should by all means break the stealth so downed players get a fair chance to use their interrupt. This obviously isn’t as much of an issue if you’re packing an AoE interrupt.

This doesn’t prevent mist stomping, or blind stomping, but one less form of un-counterable finishers is always a good step

A small step they could take to dealing with stealth, is visibility (shocker!)

Dealing certain types of condition damage changing your character’s color already (fire could be red, chill=blue, poison=green, etc.)

Having one of these conditions applied to you when you enter stealth would more or less “paint” you, so you would still be transparent, but you would be partially visible until the conditions are cleared.

It is slight, but it would still work…kinda

Why is farming Glory what determines your rank?

It was nearly the same way as GW1, which was also, not the greatest system, it promotes running uneven matches, elitism and various other toxic behavior in hotjoins.

Ever try and play the objective in Hotjoins? More than likely at some point you were called an idiot, and that hotjoins are simply for “faming glory”

Ever fall behind in terms of score because the skirmishers are all in mid trading kills? More than likely someone will have sent toxic remarks your way about how their rank makes them better than you, or spam their useless twitch streams.

The community for Spvp needs as a whole, some form of reward…AND some form of progression. Since gear cosmetics is only a minor form, this has made us realize that the only thing left is making that purple bar go up….this is bad

We need a system similar to GvG’s (GW1) rank and rating system, where the Rank isnt determined by how much accumulated glory you have, but by the actual Rank you hold among other players.

This needs to be done on an individual and a team basis, a Solo Q rating/Rank and a Team based Rating / Rank, with more and more tangible rewards as you progress in rank.

But let me clarify on those rewards, we do NOT want these rewards to simply be “farmable”, or at least not in terms of instant gratification, so high rank teams can’t simply dominate a bracket and get more and more lootz. The actual rewards may be Bonuses and Unlocks, as players and teams progress perhaps they gain new account additions, perhaps a 1-time free character slot, or allow players to obtain exp on non-80 characters while playing in Spvp (this allows them to Spvp and go straight into WvW if they wanted without the PvE if they so desire, or let PvErs gain some levels while playing Spvp rather than feel like they get absolutely nothing out of it)

Extra account-wide Skins, skill point tomes, account unlocks etc. etc. things they can actually use in more than one game-type

But rewards aren’t the important thing (yet) First, we need a proper system in place for player progression in PvP/Tpvp, something that pits equally skilled opponents head to head, something that measures your ability, something that rewards that ability…..then We can have its little brother, the current hotjoin, where it is just a drunk party all the time, no need to worry about capture points and stupid stuff like that….just kill and run around…in fact remove the points and just have a TDM, why not.

Oh….and we need some other PvP formats pl0x -.-;

Trego.6182:

Chrispytoast.3698:

I really don’t understand how thieves think Stealth as it is now is ok. It is the only mechanic that does not have another mechanic to counter it. Conditions —> Condition removal, Direct Damage --> Blocks and invulnerability, Stuns —> Stun breakers, Stealth --> “Swing wildly and burn your AoE cooldowns trying to find the thief.”

The last one is not a counter. Blocking should be the counter. If a thief attacks someone who is blocking they should be revealed. How stupid does it sound to be blocking and have something hit your shield and still think “Holy crap where did that come from”

I am not asking for a nerf to thieves, just a mechanic that counters theirs.

Stealth —> brain…

Can you write me counter to invul, endure pain…etc. please?

Ya…..Endure Pain has its counter and pretty much a “how-to-deal-with-endure-pain” guide built right into its tooltip -.-;

Zindrix.1750:

kelman.9451:

Team stealth to me is worse than a thief annoyance. A team appearing on top of you out of no where with instant massive lag and 10000 status conditions on you, oh what fun.

Veil at most lasts 3 seconds.

Refuge lasts roughly 10 seconds, but ofc it could just be a portal bomb + veil

Deminishing returns on stealth too please

Dand.8231:

Zietlogik.6208:

In a battle of attrition you have no sustain, because your heal is a spike heal.

kitten , you got me. If only we had a high HP/s Passive Heal of some kind, instead of nothing but spike healing…

HP is highest yes, same as Necro in fact, and passive heal? other than signet? you mean adrenal health…ya that does alot….no, no really it does!

kitten you people pounce on this kitten like you make a living off negativity and being useless, productive posts please! Or is that asking too much from teh intarnetz lately?

Dand.8231:

Zietlogik.6208:

There is no way to naturally fix a warrior’s sustain is there? this is pretty much just “built-in food buffs”

Yeah! If only those jerk devs would improve our heals by buffing adrenal surges heal, having mending remove more condis, and upping healing sigs passive.

>_>

Seriously dude?

This isn’t sustain….this is augmented healing (in exception to Signet). Seriously dude?

In a battle of attrition you have no sustain, because your heal is a spike heal.

Nex.2450:

Zietlogik.6208:

…

Define Counter: to react to something with an opposing opinion or action, or to defend yourself against something.

Nothing you listed counters stealth, they are simply things you can/should do when someone stealths.

Facepalm. That’s exactly what a counter is. The things I stated either prevent access to stealth, or negate the damage that is applied from stealth.

You’re definition of countering stealth is much too limited. Everything I have suggested is a way to react, and defend yourself when a player attempts to stealth or attack from stealth. These tactics are not limited to thieves, as other classes have access to this mechanic.

Endure Pain? Blocks physical damage….thats it, you are still free to be conditioned, pushed, pulled, blinded, knocked down, immobilized, slowed, and basically everything EXCEPT take physical damage…this has nowhere near the utility of stealth.

Stealth drops target, makes the player invisible, and any traited effects take action. It does not protect from anything that you listed that endure pain does not protect from, nor does it protect from physical damage. I am not saying that every utility is exactly on par with stealth, there are ones that are better and ones that are worse.

Also, you made no rebuttal to how stealth DOES cost something, and by “countering” it like I said, the person will lose the opportunity for that stealth, yet still have to pay the cost.

Anyways, it really helps if you try it out yourself by playing a thief. You’ll see that while stealth is very helpful, it is not nearly as overpowered as you make it out to be. And if you have already played a thief thoroughly than I guess we shall agree to disagree.

We will have to simply agree to disagree then. My second 80, and only other fully geared character, is my thief (I tend to play melee classes in RPGs, so this was an instant decision for me.)

I enjoy it thoroughly, but again, this is not about the thief, this is about the in-combat effectiveness of stealth overall. The issues are simply augmented by quick access with low penalty by in particular, the thief class, but that is a separate topic.

Gain a small amount of health for critical hits.

-or-

Gain a small amount of health when striking stunned or knocked down foes.

There is no way to naturally fix a warrior’s sustain is there? this is pretty much just “built-in food buffs”

Nex.2450:

I’m really surprised about the amount of people that state there is no counter to stealth, or that it comes at no cost.

Weapon Skills

C&D: Not the easiest to land, comes at a high cost of initiative, and the thief has to come into melee range. Dodging, blinds, distortion, invulnerability, aegis, cc’s and teleports all counter this skill from landing.

BP + HS: Comes at a massive initiative cost but is easier to pull off than C&D because it requires no target. Can be countered by interrupts, and push/pulls, leaving the thief with next to no initiative.

Utilities

Most stealth providing utilities cannot be countered easily. This is like any profession’s utilities, a warrior’s endure pain cannot be countered, and an engineer’s invulnerability cannot either. Shadow refuge can still be countered by using a push or pull in the field, or laying down multiple aoe’s. All utilities come at a cost, which is using a space on your limited bar.

Countering stealth in general

The best, yet hardest way to counter stealth is to predict the opponents movements while they are in stealth. The thief usually has 3-4 seconds to make an attack from stealth, so predict when they will attack by their distance from you when entering stealth. A well timed dodge or block will waste their attack, then they will have limited time or they will be revealed, and then you attack them.

I find it funny that people complain that they can’t track a thief in stealth; that seems like it would completely defeat the point of stealth wouldn’t it? Predicting a player’s movements isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it’s definitely possible, and is a skill that is acquired after familiarizing yourself with your enemy.

Other simple things are using your auto attack to hit them while in stealth, laying down aoe’s underneath yourself, and popping invulnerability utilities.

Stealth is hardly a free, un-counterable mechanic, and is merely in line with the numerous other survival traits that other classes possess.

Nothing you listed counters stealth, they are simply things you can/should do when someone stealths. You seem to not understand the difference that lies between the mechanic and the person using it. Laying down Aoes etc. is not a counter to stealth, this is something used on any player regardless of class, or abilities, just like a guardians circles or engineers turrets, you simply do the same thing because their skill “localizes” their location for you briefly.

Yes you can throw down AoE…stealth has nothing to do with this, yes you can try and use CCs, again, stealth has nothing to do with this. The issue isn’t the thief, it is the stealth. You completely missed the point of the thread.

Being able to instantly drop target, re-position, and gain the many many advantages of not being seen or tracked is just too much for how this game is currently built. And for thieves in particular, gain speed, healing, condition removal, etc. etc. etc. is putting it even more over the top.

All of your thief counters are viable, but they are more appealing on paper than in practice…and they are thief counters, not stealth counters.

I like your comparisons to other utilities, but there are fundamental flaws with them. Endure Pain? Blocks physical damage….thats it, you are still free to be conditioned, pushed, pulled, blinded, knocked down, immobilized, slowed, and basically everything EXCEPT take physical damage…this has nowhere near the utility of stealth. Engineer’s invuln? (and Guardians) Last a couple seconds….on a massive recharge, and pretty much disable you for its duration….still nowhere near the utility of stealth.

Then there are the applications of stealth-stomping….why this exists is beyond me, I am sure they must have left this balance decision to a kittened monkey in the Anet closet somewhere. There is pretty much no reason to even have a down state if a thief is nearby, unless you want to troll him for a few extra seconds as an ele ;/

Predicting an enemies movements is a counter? It is strange I tend to do that with any ground targeted abilities regardless of class….stealth has an impact on this how? Oh right, because you have to randomly swing in a direction you think they went. Because god forbid you shouldn’t be aloud to track a player using a basic human sense called vision, that is reserved for fighting the lesser classes of GW2.

Stealth is hardly a free, un-counterable mechanic, and is merely in line with the numerous other survival traits that other classes possess.

I need to re-quote this a second time….Yes it is, an no it is not. Stealth is not a counterable mechanic, but a thief is. There is a difference.

You have all these talented artists…where is our Pie Charts? our voting graphs?! our poll bars?!?

I wouldnt mind seeing who is in the lead in votes, and by how much personally. Why no webpage or something for the voting process? Maybe a leaderboard depicting the average votes per player, the highest votes done by a player etc.

And of course, the charts simply displaying the current standings of Evon and Keil…

Shufflepants.9785:

If you guys truly wish to nerf stealth or nerf how often players can stealth, you’re going to have to be ok with an increase in thieves’ out of stealth damage. Backstab is a huge part of pve and pvp damage for dagger thieves. And then you’re gonna need to give thieves other ways to avoid damage, say, give thieves access to aegis?

Most classes do not have access to aegis…this is not the way to handle it either. They do have very high mobility as well as easy access to evades and vigor. This is the reason it needs to change. Stealth has become a crutch to many players and they don’t realize how many other tools they could utilize, but they simply can’t face roll with.

First things first…I am not against stealth completely, just its in-combat usefullness.

This is becoming more and more of a problem in PvP environments and WvW.

Stealth fields, finishers, leaps, and stealth in general has gotten a little out of hand mainly due to the in-combat capabilities of it.

Stealth should be a tool to escape, initiate, even both but not be a constant hindrance to an opponent in mid-combat….with no cost, or penalty (no revealed does NOT count). This is simply bad mechanics.

Currently the amount of in-combat stealth some classes can bring themselves and allies can simply make for an infuriating experience. When initiating a battle, group or individual stealth is a valid tactic and can alter a battle every so slightly in your favor if used correctly. But when it happens several times during combat it simply takes away from any form of equality in terms of success and failure between the combatants. It no longer becomes an equal fight, it becomes a mess, tipping quickly into one players favor.

This is a tricky thing to alter since its applications are rather widespread, for example a simple Smoke Field would yield no effect with blast finisher or leaps when used in combat if it was removed completely, but they are a great strategy before a battle to position yourselves for an advantage….and the field cannot have in/out of combat applications without becoming too complex.

Causing damage to reveal a stealthed character or show a trace view/silhouette of them (similar to what the player/allies sees as stealth), or perhaps have a passive ability attached to one of the 4 primary attributes (such as precision) that allows you to detect a stealthed unit nearby would solve some issues.

This would allow players to react to a stealthed character if they have a quick enough reaction time, still giving the stealthed player enough time to effectively initiate and also allow the stealthed character to use distance to stay hidden and escape if they need to re-position by moving further from the target. This would allow agressive plays against stealth to exist, actively searching for the player in order to prevent another impossible-to-predict ambush.

I have always enjoyed stealth in games, I tend to play sneaky classes in most RPGs and Shooters. But when you get detected in most games, you need to react quickly, find cover and carefully plan your next move…not simply make your own cover in the middle of a firefight…(some games have this, but taking damage shows you so….its a poor move usually to do that.)

The issue is in-combat stealth, not stealth in general.

Since GS is more or less the king of Mobility, perhaps this can be augmented into its F1 ability.

Vault:
Range: (lvl1/lvl2/lvl3): 150/280/500
Radius: 100
Combo Finisher: Leap
Use your blade to leap to target area and gain Fury (10 seconds) striking any targets in your path. 50% damage dealt to targets in travel. 25%/50%/100% (lvl1/lvl2/lvl3) Bonus damage dealt to targets in target location.

Ground Targeted ability, with a relatively short range, and a small radius requiring accuracy with the leap. Giving a small amount of mobility, with the utility of Fury and a leap finisher and added damage for proper execution landing the leap on a target.

Numbers may need some tweaking but, meh.

It’s hotjoin, a decent warrior can use a variety of builds and accomplish quite a bit…its the decent part that comes the hardest for most people.

Conditions can destroy anyone who is simply not prepared for the re-applications (now with Torment, they could freak out and move alot, dealing more damage to themselves because they do not know WHICH conditions to cleanse, and how to deal with them.

CC can destroy alot of pugs in Hotjoin because many don’t bother bringing enough stability or stun breaks to deal with it…then there are the lololol ones that pop all their defensives and dodges on a single CC.

Displacement can task a newcomer’s perception when they get into combat, then are unable to really know where they are due to being moved around by other players skills.

Really, it depends on the players, not the build (usually anyways)

-Where did the battle take place?

as said: Crystal Sea / Desert slightly into the reaches of Elona….it was literally just in the sea though, don’t get snippy. It may have been near a location where the Forgotten had residence. Not much is known about it.

-Were all the gods fighting, even Dwayna? Then how did she contribute to the battle? Healing other gods or..?

Simply because her followers were mainly healers, does not mean they are pacifists, also stated: she is the goddess of air as well (in turn lightning and air magic)

-How was he defeated? A hammer blow, a godly spell or something else? Maybe Abaddon’s predecessor came back somehow for a final stand and sacrificed himself?

Abaddon himself has no predecessor, although it was hinted at through dialogue, it may simply be untrue, as far as we know he was one of the true six gods. Also he was not necessarily defeated, simply imprisoned because of his actions, although it was a war he waged against the remaining gods.

-Which army fought the margonites? Forgotten only, or Orrians too?

The margonites were created when abaddon bestowed the magic upon them. The margonites are simply devout to Abaddon so when he was imprisoned they were the vessel to seek revenge on everything he wished. So in turn the margonites were potentially enemies to all, including the devout of the other 5 Gods.

-Did all orrians opposed Abaddon?

Abaddon was the one who gave the power behind the great cataclysm that sunk orr, to the Vizier Khilbron in order to defeat the Charr who were invading the human kingdoms….although the Vizier may not have know the power was from abaddon when he acquired it, turning himself into the Lich in the process.

Interesting notes:

- Abaddon granted the Vizier the power that sunk Orr, in order to stop the Charr invasion.

- The Charr gained their power from Abaddon through the Titans released from the realm of Torment

- The humans used the gift of magic Abaddon gave them to try and claim Tyria for themselves, which began The Guild Wars.

- The Charr invaded when the humans were weakened by war.

All of these are linked to abaddon, and there is so much more content we could possibly get that focus around the Gods and Orr.

Abaddon gives magic > Abaddon becomes imprisoned > humans use magic to wage war to conquer Tyria > Abaddons power is acquired by the Charr via the Titans > Charr invade the human kingdoms under war > Upon the steps of Orr, Abaddons power is used to sink the nation and cause the Cataclysm.

Not 100% but I think King Adelbern’s sword was Orrian in nature, meaning it too may have been infused by a certain god’s magic, and causing the Foefire.

Simply put, Abaddon is awesome

I vote for Aoe/Control

Hammer + Longbow

Burst usage and mastering weapon swaps is key

Decent defense with the capability of pressuring a point from any range

For a guide, make sure you mention small details that others may not know, such as specific combo fields, or skill canceling. (depending on your weapon choice, leap/blast finishers into allies light fields / fire fields / water fields) You would be surprised how many people don’t know the effects.

The professions/builds you face, which ones to target first and burst using the build you decide to choose. (like 3-2-1ing a monk in GW1! or pressuring an enemy frontline to protect your backline…too bad that doesn’t exist in GW2 though)

WhiteAndMilky.2514:

Is losing the toughness from rabid worth it though? How much more damage are we talking over something like a rabid gear and a bleed/fire build?

Either Zerk or Cavaliers (Power/Tough/Crit dmg) if you run 30 in arms + fury

I have never really enjoyed using the Mace/Shield or mace builds, I;m more of a GS/LB or GS/Hammer type of player by default, either holding distance or using the mobility of hammer F1 and GS movement to stay on and punish a target. But with CC so easy to remove, and being the only way for a warrior to really stay on a target. It makes it incredibly frustrating simply because it takes soooo much more effort to do your role than other classes.

Most, if not all, other classes can deal enough damage or simply lock people down without nearly as much work put into actually achieving it.

As a staff necro I am completely baffled as to why and how so much utility is put onto a single weapon and given to one of the highest HP pool classes (aside from us warriors) with 1200 range…

when I play a thief I simply don’t understand why so much in-combat stealth and get-out-of-jail-free mobility skills can be used simultaneously and still deal crazy damage.

As a guardian I completely forget where my dodge button is because of the amounts of passive defense I have in protection, aegis and retaliation….I just spin2win

I haven’t delved into mesmer, so I cannot comment….but I can only imagine.

Engineer is kinda meh, but can pump out some decent burst out of absolutely nowhere….and 20 seconds of burning ticking for 700-1k a pop is always awesome…

Ranger I have not used anything other than regen ranger, but ive been on teams with a spirit ranger….kitten

Warriors, we get CC, and maybe a quick spike if you are packing frenzy and the enemy stands still. But that is all we have, we are kited like no tomorrow, chilled, crippled, immobilized, and pulled and pushed all over the place…and give up precious utility slots just to gain slight bits of stability or condition removal to try and deal with it.

Hopefully there is something in store for us in the future, but I am going to my alts for now.

As a PvP warrior….is there anything that can be said here to make me want to continue? Or should I just delete it now and accept Anet cannot balance for kitten.

Viking Jorun.5413:

robocafaz.9017:

Viking Jorun.5413:

As for my melee weapons I run dual axes. The mobility is far more than running a greatsword and the damage is on par, as well as being able to have multiple sigils. (Accuracy and Rage)

How, may I ask, does dual axes provide more mobility? Sure, you have the gap closer in Eviscerate, but that’s it. And you can’t use it as an escape skill really because it barely goes anywhere and has a recoil.

It’s not more mobile than having a warhorn or a sword leap, but you’ve got a cripple with a long duration and are able to stay on the move while you build adrenaline with Axe 5. It’s a lot more flexible than say, greatsword.

What are you smoking o.O

Comparing those 2 weapon sets and saying GS has less? when was the last time you played this game?

generalraccoon.3857:

It reminded me, and has been said before in the past, that some would say the SAB style skin reward was good. By doing the content repeatedly, you are guaranteed bauble bubbles, which in due time you will have enough to buy a skin off the vendor. However there is a luck factor where you could get lucky and get a random skin from the chests in the event, which if you do not want, can be sold off at the trading post. So 3 methods of acquisition: Grind, RNG or gold.
Just thought to share that.

This exactly…not to mention the SAB skins were all awesome :P (they need a Super Hammer!)

Yes, it is definitely better, but I would still prefer a more sound way….the drop rate is an issue, if maybe it was a chain reaction effect.

Every 10 crystals you find, or 3 BotfW events completed gets you a “token” save up 10 tokens for a reward. Have some kind of solid foundation to the reward system THEN throw in RNG. Not the other way around.

So it leaves you with.
Complete option 1 to get reward (lengthy, but guaranteed)
-or-
Play normally, wherever, and have a random chance at tokens dropping (or something similar)

Then aside from these rewards, have some bonus “exclusives” that maybe require an actual difficult achievement, or like the previous poster has said, a choice.

This was done in the personal story, completing certain story steps rewards exclusive skins, but you can only choose 1 of 3….this works. And if you want all 3, then you completely do the story on 3 characters to choose all 3. They did it right there, why all of a sudden does everything needs to be…..a rare chance

I pretty much just quoted some things from the webpage, and some remarks may have gotten out of hand…

But basically, every single event/activity listed on the website has “a rare chance” listed for its reward, which in turn, disappointed me greatly. The last one in particular has this listed: “may even earn a rare chance at” which implies it is a privilege to even have a chance, at a chance, at a chance, at a reward

Also mentioned how the RNG tends to cause disdain between players due to having things such as “i got it on the first try, its not that bad” types of things appear in chat between players, when people who spend crazy amounts of time and/or money and get nothing tend to be frustrated by the entire thing.

and it still will leave players with a notion that they will never get something they actually want, because the steps of obtaining them legitimately do not exist. They need to add methods to obtain all rewards through ability, not simply “%chance to find chest + %chance of getting from chest” that is a terrible forumula.

example: I just recently got my wind back piece from the last update content. But I had to spend so much time trying to grind loot bags, to have a % chance to get a kite fortune…then get a random amount of fortunes from those to accumulate 150 (at least they ALWAYS gave you at least 1 fortune scrap though, so that isnt 100% bad I suppose) But I would have much prefered to do a scavenger hunt, or other activity, or achievement that allowed me to get this item, rather than it be up to chance. I could potentially be still trying to get it right now if the %chance didn’t like me and drops less loot bags, which dropped less fortunes, which gave fewer scraps…

tl;dr – Just a little disappointed that RNG is in such full motion regardless of how much people dislike it. and it still will leave players with a notion that they will never get something they actually want, because the steps of obtaining them legitimately do not exist. They need to add methods to obtain all rewards through ability, not simply “%chance to find chest + %chance of getting from chest”

If it is the initial fall of abaddon that would be interesting, I can already load up GW and participate in his destruction.

But if this is a route that the devs are taking when going for FotM….

How about when the Underworld was usurped by Grenth against Dhuum
…or witness an attempt to usurp the Fissure of Woe by Menzies against Balthazar
…or non-God related stuff like mini-sections of the Prophet Glint’s story.
…or when the Stone Summit claimed Thunderhead keep or enslaved the dredge.
…or see what remains of the unseen ones…Lazarus the Dire still wants his revenge!
…or…or…or the list goes on T.T

I wonder if they can actually play off their weakness a little bit.

something like “For each nearby foe, you gain 20% faster endurance regeneration”

Well I do provide the info on the actual crash send, not too sure if they get sent to the same dept. as the bug reports from the in-game menu, but I can only assume.

It is just really strange, and only started happening frequently lately, so I don’t know what to say either lol

Ok so…this window appears frequently…but i would say 1/3 of the time, the window will appear, and the game will run FINE in the background….I can still move around, chat, type, do everything…just the window is there telling me it has crashed.

So I send the report (these things even get read?) and go on my way.

But it is just strange, that over the past 2 weeks this has been the worst for crash windows, and this particular error to start occurring.

And yes, I run the -diag, and -repair

Still does it, I don’t know what is up with it….but in the middle of a pvp match, this window appears (i can still fight in the background…this is more or less like a malware popup window now) and when I close the window, it closes the game.

Allie Murdock.8152:

It might not seem this way sometimes, but we definitely hear you. We just choose to ignore you and not monitor the current meta-game. And instead focus soley on our internal testing.

fixed that for ya, not to sound overly rude, but the same problems we have now, are the same problems we had at launch, and are still having…not to mention a plethora of new issues that have cropped up over each update. Sometimes it may feel like things are getting better…on paper. Then we go to actually play and it is simply the same old mess.

Guild armor (pretty obvious) and I believe the invaders from WvW

Please don’t take it away! T.T

It reminds me of the RPGs I grew up on, Legend of Zelda is a big one for this (it reminds me of Wind Waker on so many levels)

Area is designed beautifully, scavenger hunt is enjoyable, the movement abilities make everything more interesting in terms of jumping puzzles.

The freedom of movement (go where you want) is such an amazing tool to an explorer type such as myself

Please….please let it stay

So….I fell through one of the many holes in the new PvP Skyhammer map

And to my surprise, I was instantly filled with nostalgic thoughts of Vulture Drifts (GW1) and running from Dunes of Despair to the collectable vendor near the portal.

The mesa formations, sand wurms….everything reminded me of it

Anyone else think this is a small glimpse into what the Crystal Desert will have in store for us when it is added?

No….they don’t….really they don’t (not until they fix the issues with leaps + Z axis anyways)

Rush: Make it something else…like "For 5 seconds you move 50% faster, and your next strike deals an additional 25% damage and your speed boost ends.)….example

Whirlwind Attack: Don’t change this….this is a skill that needs to stay how it is, it is a gap closer/escape we can actually CONTROL the direction of.

Bull’s Charge: It is a good skill already, the only issues I have with it is that it homes in on a target, and runs straight into walls/rubble and stops you completely. Maybe make it similar to the Rush idea: For 5 seconds you move 50% faster and knock down foes moving away from you.

Shield Bash: For 5 seconds you block income attacks. If you block a melee attack, you charge to foe (same range as current) and stun them for 1 second.

Kick: make it similar to tremor from Mace offhand. Envoke a powerful kick that launches foes in a cone in front of you. (short range)

The GS skill Whirwind attack already has an evade btw….

And Earthshaker is fine, they just REALLY need to fix the Z axis issues.

They definitely need to add some “weekly” and “monthly” events, things that are beyond epicness in terms of actual impact and awe taken upon the player and the world.

Similar to my “Meta story” idea, but more focused on open-world encounters and interactions, where the meta story is more about instances and telling a short story.

KarlaGrey.5903:

Zietlogik.6208:

tier 2 in fun was RA and Alliance Battles and Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry

final tier was Team Arenas and Hero Battles, which were very niche gamemodes that some people had fun with, but not the majority.

I would put RA in final tier, along with JQ and FA.

The main reason why TA was underpopulated was the lack of any real rewards outside title points, most notably a lack of shiny emotes a-la HA style, and lack of a ladder and tournaments, which drove competition in gvg/HB.
To this day, I cannot understand why they haven’t done a single thing for that place, while not only introducing tournaments to HB, but also designing a whole new arena that is Codex. As much fun as the latter is when it’s actually someehat alive, it cannot really replace TA nor HB. I suppose 4v4 just never had any real player representation in the live crew, or other groups in contact with Anet.

Remember these are my “fan based” tiers, not necessarily in terms of greatness. Ta was not fun, regardless of rewards, it was meta build against meta build, and just rinse and repeat.

The reason I placed RA above it in simply because the random aspect made the mode interesting since the entire team comp was usually drastically different each time, and unless you got a monk, there never was a team meta, only a few builds that focused more on self reliance

FA and JQ I also placed above this because they have the same random team comp aspect, coupled with an interesting game mechanic and actually strategy for success outside of direct builds and player interaction, a player holding a gate or amber/jade point was valid at any time.

Hero battles, was not a success, simply because in a team based game, they threw in a single-player micro-management mini-game. And that is what it works perfectly as…but not as a PvP mode.

And Codex, I completely forgot about codex, that is probably because outside of a drunken office party, this is not all that fun or interesting to most players, it was something to pass the time when you get burnt out on the more interesting stuff.

Terrahero.9358:

lordkrall.7241:

Terrahero.9358:

That sounds aweful.

As a wvw player we dont get as many achievement points. And the achievements are quite insane after a few tiers.

You still get points for dailies and monthlies though.

That doesnt cut it.

Anet will balance the rewards you get from these chest to a certain “income” of achievement points.
As a WvW player i’d be far below that balance point, so i will end up getting far less reward chests that contains stuff like gold, unique skins, laurels, gems, and various other cool or valueable items.

They would also be balancing it around the entire game….which makes more sense. They shouldn’t cater to you simply because you only play WvW

Or people could read the page they have for the achievements…

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/new-account-achievement-rewards-incoming/

As you complete achievements and increase your achievement score, you’ll unlock new, exclusive rewards for your account.

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Exclusive armor and weapon skin unlocks – including Radiant armor, Hellfire armor, and the Zenith weapon set.
Permanent account bonuses—permanent boosts to Magic Find, experience from kills, karma gain, and more. Earn achievement points on any character and get rewards for all of your characters.
Currencies – gold, gems, karma, and laurels.
PvP Rewards—skins and glory boosters.
WvW Rewards—use Badges of Honor and siege blueprints to help push your server to victory.
Utility Items—Instant Repair Canisters, Revive Orbs, powerful boosters, and more.
Unique Titles—show off your dedication to your fellow players.

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Summary page—This page gives you quick access to all of the achievement skins you’ve unlocked, achievements you’ve recently completed, and your account bonuses.

It is a good point about the event consequences, I like to think the current events are more of an “on-the-surface” type of deal, where it looks likes things are changing, but in reality nothing actually does.

It is like a freshly waxed car, our current events are more like water, it just rolls over and has no effect, but you see it happen. What we need are pebbles, unpredictable movement, some scratches and dents that we need to re-wax to get back to normal, something with some impact.

Subject 4: Personal Story, world interaction.

This is a touchy subject, but I believe alongside a players personal story, there should be situations where the story actually takes place in the seamless world, allowing other players and themselves to interact and alter the world while it is in progress.

This can be a difficult one to work out, but I will try an example to clarify:

A player reaches a part in their personal story where they need to find a relic located in some old ruins guarded by pirates, with some jumping puzzles and trap scattered around. A dynamic event would kick off that cause the pirates to locate themselves around the ruins while the player with the story needs to get in, and get the relic.

Other players who happen to be in the area may come and aid them, as well as other dynamic events may cross-over and effect the players experience of their story, making for a more living and interesting situation as it happens. Perhaps a krait invasion occurs as the player is approaching and suddenly the pirates and krait are in conflict allowing the player to slip in, but may overwhelm the pirates and take the ruins as their own.

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Subject 5: WvW (guild claiming….not exactly living story)

Yep, I am going there, this is just something that is becoming a stigma for alot of players. “Is it PvE? Is it PvP? Why are there NPCs? thats lame”

The seamless and constant battles of WvW are a wondrous addition to GW2, but there always seems to be something missing, and it suddenly becomes a monotonous feeling of zerg v zerg, or empty servers being spawn locked.

There are many ways that WvW is amazing, but there could be more. more customization, more confusion, more everything.

The maps are bland, so when nothing is going on, all you see is air, and open space. This will probably never change regardless of how much I would love there to be gank routes, proper canyons, caves, tunnels, dense forest and hills to promote ambushes and small group roaming….but alas.

Something that COULD fill up that space, is player chosen additions.

From various control areas (Garrison, keep, SM, camps, etc.) there would be a variety of options a GUILD could choose to change the battlefield. Examples:

From a camp: A guild can choose to set up guard towers and small walls to “fortify” a camp location, rather than simply pumping guard levels up, or adding a few patrols. Purchasing them as upgrades from the appropriate NPC, they would provide you with an item similar to a siege weapon, you can place on the ground (restricted to the camp, and nearby area, as well as restricted by the amount placed)

From a Keep/Garrison: A guild can purchase a “1/2 way point” that replaces a nearby Sentry with a guard post, providing walls, and multiple guards and patrols to a Dolyak’s route 1/2 way to the camp for added defense, and causing the route to become more treacherous for enemies.

From a Tower: A guild can purchase assault groups to locations that will send a wave of NPCs to an area for an attack for a fee (similar to mercenary groups)

From Stonemist: A commander can purchase 2 things: A.) An NPC army of roughly 20 (8 veterans, 11 regular mobs, 1 champion) who charge a selected keep until killed.

B.) A large mobile airship, that acts as a low flying destroyable waypoint when it reaches its destination and comes to a stop/hover. Players can wreak havok on enemies below with cannon and mortar fire, or simply ranged weapons.

Players will need to defend the airship until it reaches its resting point (just outside the outer gate of an enemy keep). Once it arrives, it stops and becomes a waypoint (contestable when being attacked, as well as destroyable) for allied players to get to the battlefield quickly if the front gate is secured by your server and the airship is not under fire.
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So those are my ramblings for the day….have a good day everyone!

Topic Length is maximum 5000 characters, so this will be a 2 Part series!

Let me just say that I DO enjoy the living world content, it just started out slow-burning and un-interesting, but lessons are being learned and things are picking up smoothly. BUT…the content is not being done in a way that aids players participation.

In reality we are faced with events we cannot participate in, and it leads to disappointment, this is true for games as well, but the main difference is we have the control to re-live these events.

So my first suggestion towards having a seamless world is the re-introduction of past events in a somewhat “random” but still plausible manner:

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Subject 1: Meta-Stories + Rewards:

Similar to current Living Story events that appear on your event log for the duration of the event, these would be past (and maybe new ones created every so often for spice) events that have occurred that are 1-day occurrences that happen 1 or 2 times a week that last for 24-hours from its start.

Example: Flame and Frost dungeon – While exploring the world, this may trigger at 2pm Tuesday and last until 2pm Wednesday, and appear in your event log (globally) as “Remnants of the Molten Alliance have been spotted in Diessa Plateau and Wayfarer Foothills attempted to re-activate their facilities!”

This allows players to re-live the Flame and Frost dungeon arc while still not intruding on the world as if it doesn’t belong.

Along with the re-addition of this content, new randomized (but not crappy) rewards would be added to completing the dungeon allowing players to have a reason to re-live it.

Example: Flame and Frost Dungeon – Completing the dungeon will reward 25 silver + Karma + Exp + 1 Azurite Orb…..but may have a rare chance reward of one of the following: 1g -or- 5 Jugs of Karma -or- 1 Molten Ticket -or- Exotic Sentinels recipe or crafting material (insignia)

Adding these and various other new and old content additions that are sudden and scarce all around the world WILL get people to travel, it will get people to zones you normally don’t go to, it will get people together and moving.

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Subject 2: Content/Patch Information

We all like to have this information, but one thing that can TRUELY take away from a seamless world feeling is that the events that are about to occur…are TOLD TO US BEFOREHAND!

We look at the GW2 website, we look at our achievement page, we know EVERYTHING that is going to happen before it happens! This is BAD (CAPS LOCK)

The way for something to have a proper impact on a player is for it to feel sudden, and feel organic when it is supposed to. Things like holiday events etc, we can be told this, this is fine.

But when in the middle of the event we find out someone gets assassinated, we know the target, and we know the group behind it….before it all happens, is awful! This does not feel organic, it does not feel alive, it feels fully and forcibly scripted and fake.

When we are attacked by some unknown force, we need to be attacked by an unknown force, NOT be told a day/week before that it will happen…that is how the emotion is created that drives the story forward, it is sudden, and it adds suspense.

the best example of this in GW would be back in GW1, when the War In Kryta began…we had no idea, we were in the dark, posters started appearing, shady figures started to appear….we were curious, and we were in suspense when it began, and most importantly we wanted to know (not be told), and GUESS, what would happen next!

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Subject 3: Zone based events, and added mechanics

This is a tricky one, but I can think of an example to explain what I mean by this.

A zone where multiple “factions” or “races” exist that allow players to pick a side and participate in PvE/PvP hybrid events.

Example: Caeldon Forest – Event: The Nightmare Court has awakened a colossal Husk to terrorize the local populace!

When this event appears, players have the option to approach 2 NPCs that allow them to make a choice on who they aid. When a player chooses a faction they become PvP hostile towards those who choose the opposing faction (and only the ones who chose)

Nightmare Choice: A Husk has been summoned in Briarthorn Den, make sure it survives and aid it in destroying 3 nearby outposts!

Dreamer Choice: A Husk has been spotted leaving Briarthorn Den! Destroy it and defend any nearby outposts it assaults!

The reward for Success and Failure would be the same as any Group Event currently but both sides (whether you succeed or fail) will receive a special reward that is the same regardless. (this allows players to freely choose a side to play and still be rewarded the same to prevent team stacking/rolling) but still keep it challenging enough for the players even if they ALL decide to help one faction.

PART 2 INCOMING

I have opened a crazy amount of these chests and have nothing but candy and nearly 2 stacks of fireworks to show for it.

RNG is simply RNG, those who it favors do not have a problem with it, the rest….do, and for good reason.

I would have to estimate anywhere between 2000-3000 chests I have opened and no wings, no tickets, no nothing. (well probably like 13 risen knights…wooo)

I was actually just about to Copy/paste one of the anet crash dialogues from the crash window.

Copied, and went to go paste it into the OP, but as soon as I closed the window I got a bluescreen. So something fishy is going on with either my drivers or hardware, i’m currently troubleshooting.

If you would like to help, I have gotten 3 different messages in the bluescreens when crashing in GW2

dxgmms1.sys
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Bad_POOL_HEADER

I am thinking maybe my dated HDDs are starting to act up, it would give me an excuse to upgrade, but money won’t agree with me right now :P

NOTE: I also have a crash.dmp in my GW2 folder, but uhhhhh, it is completely blank

Ever since I updated this morning I have been getting constant crashing (window for error reporting appears)

It happened nearly every time I was in a spvp match, and randomly when in WvW.

I have tried using the -diag, and -repair

Neither of these seem to have fixed the issue.

i5 2500k
GTX 680
4Gb RAM (1600)
Win 7

The incentive would be to have an enjoyable experience, and to have fun. This is a concept they simply cannot understand.

Yes fun is subjective, but when nearly nothing in the system is actually fun….then you know there is something wrong

broken tournaments, no actually reason to play other than a quick way to get your daily laurel, this is absurd

GW1 has several gamemodes, and 2 of them were beyond fun, GvG, and HoH (although elitism ruined it)

tier 2 in fun was RA and Alliance Battles and Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry

final tier was Team Arenas and Hero Battles, which were very niche gamemodes that some people had fun with, but not the majority.

Our current gamemode is more in-line with Hero Battles in my opinion, and we need this to change.

People play e-sport games not for progression, but for the fun and challenge of it. Starcraft 2, League of Legends etc. players can have everything unlocked, but still play for the fun of it (just like we have now)

So obviously all that is missing is a game-mode (and balance) that people ENJOY PLAYING

Interesting, I have been running pretty much those exact same traits since right after patch except I use dogged instead of deflection (for reasons stated below)

They open up alot of chances to swap weapons around too, since the traits are more universal

I tend to run Hammer / GS though, since the mace is just way too slow, and the stuns are the only thing that mace main-hand has to let you stick to a target properly.

I simply just change 1 defense trait from defy pain/spiked armor to Merciless Hammer, and the build runs nearly every weapon without any major downsides (even Longbow with the range buff)

Axe/Shield + GS for solo roaming (swap in deflection or shield master)
Hammer + GS for small team comp
LB + GS for tower assault/defense

and that is pretty much all I need.

I find the extra leap and stuns from Hammer to be invaluable when roaming over the mace, but in the end that is personal preference, since they both provide defense in their own way (mace+ shield is direct defense / blocks, Hammer is stuns and displacement)

A note for you though: Sigil of Hydromancy for the mace/shield set or GS is uhhhh….interesting to test out btw, especially since you need to be insanely close range with your build.

Forgot to mention: check out the new Stomp. Bulls/Stomp/Endure are my prime choices now, even though stability has so many applications as well

TGSlasher.1458:

Zietlogik.6208:

- snip – on that subject…how about you you guys try moving the objective from Ruins onto the to of the ship on the Raid on the Capricorn map….we know, water combat, woooooo, but we really don’t need it -.- (opinion)

I would like the point on the boat. Since the underwater part would still exist, they could put an underwater secondary objective in.

Yes, I forgot to elaborate, the ruins objective would exist in some way, and it would be to control the sharks, or replace the sharks with some other thing that it does…

We still want balance, and we still want more gamemodes that actually promote teamplay and are more e-sport oriented.

The system in place is fine…for some people who want a quick join sPvP game. But for those who want to take the pvp a little more serious, this gamemode is a punch in the face on all levels.

It is fine to have it there, just give us another option, more options, the right options.

an e-sport CAN function off of one game-mode. The issue is that the mode has to be made for e-sport type players, it has to be the RIGHT game-mode.

The balance is slowly getting there, i would say it is better each time (usually) but the game-mode has seen no changes, no additions, no nothing. (spectator…no)

Even something as simple some randomized objectives, or moving some things around, or adding gank routes to maps.

(the 3 maps that are a prime example of the right direction for additional objectives [Forest|Spirit|Temple]. we just need to have something other than team-splitting capture points…a singular team-based objective…guild lord anyone?)

on that subject…how about you you guys try moving the objective from Ruins onto the to of the ship on the Raid on the Capricorn map….we know, water combat, woooooo, but we really don’t need it -.- (opinion)

Is this thing still bugged? I might give it a shot if it isn’t….but i somehow doubt that