Guild Wars 2

If our shortbow was returned to its original firing rate, I can let a lot of the other things slide for a while. Let us have some kind of good dps on a non-Aquaman weapon to at least justify our existence in dungeon/fractal runs.

Why, Mr. Anderson, Why? Why do you persist?

Jay The Dude.5830:

whats the ranger community got to do with it? i said the player base, meaning wars, thieves everyone the op suggested failure rates an 60s CD’s for

I think what he means is that while the other classes would torch LA if they were gimped like Rangers are, the Rangers themselves whom have been gimped like this for months now have been comparatively passive about it.

plasmacutter.2709:

The charr still do not acknowledge the searing as a terrible act. (using wmds to indiscriminately burn and render uninhabitable large primarily civillian areas)

They’re too busy dealing with the after-effects of the Foefire to be sorry. Also, they’re Charr.

plasmacutter.2709:

Rhytlock’s sword was plundered from ascalon, and if he were not so stubborn as to continue to cling to it, he could arrange with logan to have Jennah bear this sword to Ascalon and lift the foefire’s curse — freeing both the Ascalonians and the Charr.

To be fair, Sohothin’s last sighting before Rytlock got a hold of it wasn’t in Ascalon, and lifting the Foefire’s curse requires both Sohothin and Magdaer, and as we know Magdaer is in no shape to be wielded by anyone at the moment.

plasmacutter.2709:

No, I believe until the charr grow a concience regarding this issue, the ghosts will continue to act as their conscience for them, making sure the black citadel and its surroundings never know peace, as the ghosts of their victims manifest in their homes and attack their cubs while they sleep.

They’re Charr, though. Constant war is kind of their thing.

plasmacutter.2709:

For the part of the ghosts… they are in no worse a situation than had Adelberne ordered a surrender.

This I really can’t get behind. Had Adelbern ordered a surrender, the Charr would’ve likely killed everyone immediately, or if not immediately, in very short order. The souls of the defeated Ascalonians would’ve likely at that point went on into the Mists. That compared to over two centuries of restless torment initiated by your own king, at least in my opinion, would be a better end. It’s basically a choice between a quick death and then Valhalla, or being trapped in a form of purgatory that may never see an end, and I at least vote for the former being the better choice that the Ascalonians were not allowed to make.

I take it you’re using the Noxxic Ranger build for PvE damage (http://www.noxxic.com/gw2/ranger/pve-builds/damage-build)? I did anyway, and I don’t know if you’re in the position I was in, but at some point I just got bored of that build and decided to try something else. I can’t really recommend any build to be the “one you should go for”, since every build has its time and place and varies by play style, but I’ll go over my build progression and maybe you’ll get something out of it.

After ditching the Noxxic PvE damage build, I went for a direct damage build (30/30/10/0/0) that revolved around berserker stats. The only thing(s) that made me not a complete glass cannon were the Divinity runes that I slotted, which, albeit only slightly, made me resilient enough to stand up to at least stiff winds. I ran this build for the remainder of my world completion tour, including in WvW, and it did okay. I could pull off an average of 3-3.5K in damage per long-ranged critical hit with a longbow, and the shortbow did its job if/when the gaps got closed.

The problem with that build is that even though it’s not a complete glass cannon, it’s still very fragile, and as decent as the damages were from the LB and SB, they relied on too many factors to pull off reliably in the often cramped conditions of dungeon runs. One fiasco of a CoF Exp dungeon run in which I was obviously the weakest link and that taught me the saying “a dead dps is no dps” was enough to make me do a 180 of my build, which lead me to the build I’m using now. (Note: I’m not saying GC Rangers aren’t viable or can’t be used effectively, I’m just saying I couldn’t, so if you’re a boss at timing and evasions, more power to you.)

After realizing that even at near-glass cannon stats I wasn’t doing the kind of damage that might warrant me being as fragile as I was (e.g. clearing a mob single-handedly), I decided to search the forums for something more survivable, something that might not hit as hard but can at least keep me from being that guy that’s always downed and useless in every fight. That search ended at what is possibly our most survivable build: the 0/0/30/10/30 BM bunker.

It’s more an sPvP and WvW build than it is a PvE build, but I’ve found its survivability to be useful in every situation I’ve since found my Ranger in. When you’re able to shrug off things that used to be able to one-shot you, and when your pet is sometimes able to out-regenerate the damage it’s taking even from champions, you suddenly find that you have options that go beyond staying one evade away from instant-death, such as rezzing others while under direct fire and even comfortably holding aggro. You’re still not as indispensable as a Guardian or Mesmer in the same shoes, but at least you’re not as useless, which I hate to say is a compliment towards the Ranger class as it stands right now.

That said, I have noticed that although “a dead dps is no dps” doesn’t apply that much to me now, I would still like to do some decent dps. A BM bunker naturally favors condition damage because the 30 in Wilderness Survival basically hands it to you along with the boost in toughness that makes you a bunker, but the problem is CD doesn’t do as much damage as direct damage can because it’s capped at 25 stacks while the other has no limit. You won’t notice this limit soloing stuff, but if you’re in a party with other CD dealers, you’re basically not going to be contributing much, if any damage compared to, say, a Necromancer, which means in such circumstances you’re kind of just… there. Also, CD takes time to take effect and can easily be removed or transferred, which can make fights take quite a long time versus just straight-up kicking your opponent’s teeth in.

Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t really provide you with a straight “get this, do that” answer, but hopefully from my experience you gleaned something that might help you towards that answer you’re looking for. :T

Cheers!

Of any class I might feel for after a balance patch, the Warrior ain’t it. I’m sorry, and no offense to any Warriors, but y’all already have the game handed to you on an orichalcum platter. :T

It may well be PR dribble, it may well mean nothing, but I have to admit it made me feel a little better because acknowledgement!

AlecFair.1270:

I know its been a long while any anet has been making promise. Though we do have to remember that Rangers were the most used by botters and they might be trying to take care of the security of the game before buffing up the ranger some because there are still botters out there in the game more than likely farming low tiered populated servers. Until then best most can do is just roll another toon and enjoy the game and cross fingers I already have and been having alot more fun with the variety of playstyle.

I think if ANet just came out and said that, a LOT of us would understand. We wouldn’t kittening like it, but it’s infinitely better than this current lack of communication… this waiting limbo. Really, ANet could just about say anything right now and calm a lot of us down. We just want to know where we stand, even if it’s exactly where we are.

Noooooooo! Those karka shells and vials of potent/powerful blood are mine! MINE!

GET OFF MY ISLAND!

On a sympathetic note, are those refugees insane? What could be so kitten that could drive them to take refuge on an island full of angry crustaceans that routinely wipe entire Lionguard parties?

Frosty and Frosty Law Firm.4981:

Give me videos and explain your video in-depth or you’re lying.

You didn’t watch his WvW videos?

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/WvW-Bunker-Ranger-Play/first#post1524183

I was about to flip out of my chair. Guard nerf like it or not we all knew was coming, Empathic Bond nerf stings but can be worked around, but if they nerfed Healing Spring in the way the OP described, that’s an end-of-a-build type nerf. Oh god, I can’t wait to get home now to see for myself.

I already got my GW1 armor. It’s nothing at all special, since the Krytan skin was on the first post-starter set you could get from a collector in Prophecies, but I like it just the same. It’s simple, appears comfortable, functional, and suitable for most areas (lol at Fur-Lined anywhere other than Shiverpeaks), and doesn’t make my character look like a walking fire hazard (Druid).

I would either buy armor from the trading post every 5 -10 levels or craft your own at around the same frequency. There’s no point in investing too much in level 1-79 gear because you’ll pretty much be shedding them as you progress.

As for what in particular you should get, that would depend on what build you’re running right now and how comfortable you are with it. For instance, if you feel like you hit hard enough, but are squishier than you’d like, buy gear that will boost your toughness or vitality. If you feel like you have no trouble surviving, buy gear with more stats in power, precision, and critical damage.

Informer.5213:

Guard: Pets will no longer guard areas that should be inaccessible to them.

Like it or not, we all knew this one was coming, and why.

Crippling Talon: Cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 18 seconds to 15 seconds.

Okay.

Empathic Bond: Fixed a bug that wouldn’t apply transferred conditions to pets. This trait now transfers three conditions to the ranger’s pet every 10 seconds rather than all of them.

Okay, this one stings, I’m not going to lie. Still, it’s not necessarily build-busting, and can be worked around. Whatever.

Hawk and Eagle now have their own unique icons instead of sharing one.

Okay.

Path of Scars: This ability’s damage has been normalized between traited and non-traited versions. Damage has been increased by 85% when not traited.

Nice. I might give it go just for kicks.

Icy Screech: The White Moa activated ability now applies 3 seconds of Chill, and the skill fact has been updated appropriately.

Okay.

Overall… eh. Nothing great, nothing particularly build-busting (unless Guard was your only contribution in WvW). Well, at least we didn’t get nerfed into the ground like some Thieves were hoping.

What I had to fight in this duel:
- 2.5 seconds of culling on each decloak
- unresponsive tab targeting that doesn’t prioritize anything
- my pet
- other birds
- rams
- cannons
- some thief

I rolled there. XD

Godlike, btw. I love how in even the fights you lost, you made your opponents commute and work their kittens off for that stomp. Probably not the easy lone Ranger kill they were expecting.

If Rangers get nerfed, I… will probably just adapt and overcome. Rangers have been getting pummeled with the nerf bat since GW1, so whatever foam-padded punishment we get that doesn’t render us completely useless in any environment probably isn’t going to bother me that much. I remember not being to join PUGs and getting kicked from parties in GW1 because of my class, finding solace only with other Rangers (and some Necromancers and Monks, of course) in Tomb of the Primevil Kings as a B/P, so being marginalized and excluded by the other classes in GW2 is really nothing new. :T

There’s already a Ranger guild that Paz Shadow started and talked about briefly here:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Ranger-Guild/first#post1442175

It seems you’re looking to start one with more of a competitive edge, though, like a Ranger DARPA of sorts. Well, the more Ranger guilds, the merrier.

I never really got why Lost Shores was a one-time event. The way it affected LA, okay, fine, one time’s enough. However, taking down the ancient karka in Southsun shouldn’t have been a one-time event. Continuity shouldn’t be a concern, because… I mean, how many Shatterers and Claws of Jormag have we taken down every day? Even if taking down half a dozen ancient karkas a day isn’t feasible for whatever reason, I’d settle for some kind of champion karka event, because without some sort of central focus in Southsun or rewards in general for going there, there’s just no reason to. It’s really kind of sad.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

I know how to fix this.

Everyone log out of the forums and go play.

There, problem solved, we just increased the server populations.

In all seriousness, I still say it’s likely there are lots of other factors. That there’s no subscription fee means people can come and go if life interrupts (school, family, work) and not have to push time in. There’s also people who just log in to blow through new content as it’s put out because they don’t have time to do it slowly

Some of my guildies actually have very real time constraints on their computers. One for instance plays at an internet cafe in Asia, one’s computer is time-controlled by his/her dad, and one often goes “gtg, mom” before immediately logging off. I myself get on usually around after 9 or 10 PM (PST), and unless I’m running dungeons or Fractals with my guild, or am otherwise occupied by something (like a new event), I get off around 12 AM. What? I can’t stay up the way I used to be able to. =_=

As for getting off the forums to play, one interesting thing I’ve noticed (anecdotal, I know) is that of the people I’ve met and talked to in-game, not that many visit the forums (or know/care about them).

:|

Shrug

I go to farm the karkas on the beach. Left to my own devices, I usually make around 1 gold an hour. With a party, I’ve made around 2 gold an hour. The under-population actually makes the runs kind of peaceful. Yeah, I know I can probably get better loot in Orr, but I’m tired of seeing the death, the decay, and the flocks of exploding, undead chickens.

As for why Southsun is as underpopulated as it is, I think it’s because:

1. The enemies you find there are either hard or annoying to kill.

2. The rewards for killing those hard or annoying enemies don’t really seem worth it.

3. Passion flowers, the resource unique to Southsun, has a drop rate that is better represented in scientific notation, and on top of that are usually surrounded by the aforementioned hard or annoying enemies.

4. There aren’t really any events there that are fun. I help the Sylvari lady with her omelettes because I feel bad for her (and the omelettes are kind of good), I participate in the other collection event because “since I’m here anyway…”, I ignore the kitten out of that one guy that keeps asking if I have a moment because CAN’T YOU SEE I’M SOLOING A VETERAN KARKA AHHHHHH!!!, and the Lionguard event… the last I saw of the Lionguard they were all downed between two veteran karkas. Oh, did I say downed? I meant to say they were putting up a good fight and had the situation totally under control. Yes, yes they did.

On one side you have those claiming GW2 is dying because there’s no one on, and on the other side you have those claiming GW2 is doing swell because there a lot of people on, both sides telling the other that their claims are anecdotal and so don’t have much/any credibility. You also have those that stand by ANet’s claim that the playerbase is steadily increasing, versus those that suggest ANet’s lying and that external sources like Xfire paint a wholly different picture, both telling the other that their sources are biased, fallible, or inconclusive.

We all can see how this isn’t going to go anywhere, right? :P

Xsorus.2507:

You’re using Signet of the Hunt correct?

That is why the mobs are running directly at you.

SOTH is like a never ending taunt..

Take it off one time, and you’ll notice they’ll stop running at you.

What…? Okay, that I didn’t know. I mean, I’m kind of glad mobs come at me so I don’t have to keep chasing them with my GS, but I didn’t know SoTH was why. O_O

OP: My BM bunker build runs with devourers and/or drakes, both known for their toughness stats, and they tend to survive reasonably well in dungeons and at least low-level Fractals (although I’m sure my 30 in BM probably has something to do with that). If you want your pet(s) to be more hands-off, I would recommend the devourers because they’re ranged, move around quite a bit, can perform knockbacks, and can tunnel to evade/retreat, which although still doesn’t make them as smart as we would all like our pets, gives them at least a fighting chance at staying alive compared to our melee pets’ tendency to just stand next to the boss and straight-up take whatever’s coming down at them.

The rewards (or lack thereof) do put a damper on doing things at lower levels. I still do them, if only to help out the lowerbies (e.g. reviving the ones that get downed since my bunkerish build can take getting stepped on by whatever it was that downed them), but for a champion kill to result in blues, whites, and/or bones… kind of sucks. I mean, I’m glad I got to “serve the community” and all, but… man.

It’s actually kind of funny how engrained this lack of reward mentality has gotten with me. I was playing Borderlands 2 recently, and when I got good loot I was all surprised. When I repeatedly got good loot, I was actually going, “Is… is this supposed to happen? What… how…?” :P

Sword/dagger would be more for control and evasion than damage, something that has more of a use in sPvP than dungeons. If you’re at all statted for condition damage, I’d go torch all the way. If you want to be more of a team player in dungeons, I’d go warhorn for the #5 boon that everyone nearby can benefit from.

As much as I like the sword, though, what Lord Kreegan said about #1 having the potential to send you kicking and screaming off ledges and cliffs keeps me from bringing it most of the time. You can mitigate that potential by setting the attacks to manual and timing them so that you don’t leap at something that’s no longer there (i.e. killed before your attack connects), but ehh… there’s just still too much of a liability there for me to feel like it’s worth it. YMMV.

Obsidian.1328:

^Lol

Ironically you’re helping my argument. Plainly, back then the writers saw the Charr as little more than beasts with opposable thumbs.

In a related note, anyone else get the feeling that the transition from GW1 to 2 was like going from PG-13 to G?

I noticed that, too, actually. Despite some goofy moments, I felt like the GW1 universe was more dark and brutal than the one presented in GW2. Characters were more prone to permanent maiming/death, the antagonists were more ruthless and cruel, the enemies were much more deadly, the environments were more mysterious and sometimes harsh, and the situations were (or at least felt) much more dire and serious. Heck, the games themselves were much more hardcore and unforgiving: if a party wiped in a mission/dungeon instance in GW1, it was over, with no option to retry at a checkpoint or WP rez like there exists now in GW2.

Different games for different audiences/times, I’m afraid, for better or for worse. It’s kind of like comparing Skyrim to, say, Morrowind. :T

Dream Runner.8546:

Can someone please tell how the humans are “just” as bad as the charr?

Well…

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Charr_hide_armor
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Warrior_Elite_Charr_Hide_armor

Psynch.4087:

I’m pretty upset that this is a major conflict and that we have to fight for the side of the queen. It’s not uncommon in western games, but it’s sad to see it so blatantly incorporated into the story.

I play human characters for their aesthetics, but their story line is just so problematic. Invading a space and brutally killing off another race that had been living there for generations. Then the humans claim the land as their own and continue to oppress the centaur clans in the surrounding areas. Not simply defending Divinity’s reach, but actively carrying out campaigns to further annihilate the centaur ranks.

So, the war is not fought over precious resources or an ancient disagreement, but rather the centaurs trying to reclaim the land that was stolen from them.

I wish there was a branching story line that let you aid the centaurs.

Same spiel the Charr have/had against the Humans, basically. What sort of end would you prefer in this particular war, though? If you go with the centaurs’ demands, the Humans would either have to leave completely (to… Orr?) or subject themselves to slavery and/or death.

I have a really hard time re-adjusting. When I go back now, I have to keep reminding myself that I can’t jump, I can’t attack while moving, the skills work differently, and the gold in GW1 is not the gold in GW2 (I keep going into my inventory and go “I’M RICH— oh, wait…”).

I go back primarily to try to get HoM points, attempts that usually end in a matter of minutes when I realize the sheer amount of time and gold I’d have to spend to do so is, quite frankly, not really all that worth it. Sadly, I did have at least one character way back that had enough stuff to contribute at least a decent amount of HoM points, but who I deleted for reasons that were later nullified by an update.

Secondarily, I go back to do the missions I didn’t get around to doing, and at least in Nightfall, I have to say the writing and voice acting are pretty darn impressive. Even with the character model limitations, there’s a certain depth and edginess that nearly all of the major characters exude that is unfortunately absent in the audition-like exchanges between most of the GW2 characters (as awesome or as funny as some of those may be).

Read OP in Tiny Tina’s voice (from Borderlands 2). >_<

Anyway, 3/4 off the top… so you want all Asura to be the size of their progeny. I can already barely see their progeny! Can you imagine what it’d be like to fight an Asura Thief of that size? Why even bother with stealth at that point? “Oh, I thought I saw a rat— WHAZAAAAAAA!!!!!”

I’m packing a LB and a GS for dungeons and low-level Fractals right now (if only because that’s my variety of the week), and apart from the Dredge Fractal where you need to be able to interrupt the Ice Elemental from healing (where LB #4 is better than SB #5 since I’m always the one drawing), my LB almost never comes out. It just doesn’t do enough damage quickly enough, or at least not as quickly and consistently as a SB. Top that off with #1’s lack of a secondary effect like you mentioned, and it remains a comparatively situational weapon next to the more general-purpose SB.

Just my two coppers. :T

I don’t really have anything to add to this topic myself, save to say that this is where I first learned of the 30/10/30 BM Bunker build.

Just for illustration purposes, think of the Ranger as being the Aquaman of the Justice League universe, while the Thief is something akin to Batman. So, when Aquaman finds one way to deal with a careless/inattentive Batman out of the water, while Batman can kitten even Superman up six ways to Sunday in general, in addition to virtually any of the other meta-humans being able to overpower him in every way that matters, it’s hard for him to feel bad or think Batman has a point about his highly situational, locational tactics as being “overpowered”. :T

Wetpaw.3487:

Try playing a Ranger since release, then come back and see what classes you like to cry about and scream nerf to.

This.

FrouFrou.4958:

If you died to a ranger, you are bad and you should feel bad!

And this. And I say the latter as a Ranger primary.

We’re gimped to the point where in terms of cookie-cutter builds for sPvP, we don’t really have “options” so much as we have maybe two builds (Trapper and BM Bunker) that are “viable”, and only one of which is capable of killing someone in a short amount of time if they stay.

As for traps being visible before they’re activated— well, they’re not traps anymore at that point, are they? What you’re asking for is akin to Thieves having red outlines around them when they’re stealthed or Mesmers having red outlines around them apart from their clones. You’re not asking for a nerf (i.e. traps do less damage), you’re asking for a breaking of a class mechanic/skill definition.

I have a hard time weening myself off of the 0/0/30/10/30 BM/Bunker build. I hit like a wet noodle, but love the “WTF?!” look Thieves give me after their burst fails to drop me. Still, Wetpaw’s trait makeup looks like it’d still provide the same or similar toughness (minus regen), but would give all the CD from WS something to do.

I actually wish male Humans would hold their GSs that way. The female GS pose exudes a certain finesse that the male “flag” pose lacks.

That said, realistically speaking:

I really liked that piece, too. That scene, however, was ruined by my character blurting out something like, “It feels… cold!” because he was hit with a condition.

There needs to be a way to mute all vocals during that scene.

I romp around Queensdale leaving piles of bandit corpses, making centaur shish-kabobs, helping the locals deal with their wasp, ogre, oakheart, and shadow behemoth problems, and providing help to those who ask for it. It’s the least the ONE AND ONLY HERO OF SHAEMOOR can do.

I decided on my main’s name instantly… because it’s mine, and I’ve had it since GW1.

As for my alts, I tend to take about ten, fifteen minutes coming up with something that fits their race/lore, biography selections, and how I intend to roleplay them (even if just in my head)… and then another ten, fifteen minutes altering it because it’s already taken. >_<

What Keyce said about swords and DancinPuppeh about Ranger versus Thief.

Additionally, I think one of the key differences between the Ranger and the Thief (or really any other class) is the fact that the Ranger has a built-in, non-removable pet, and success as a Ranger in any mode is greatly determined by how well you can control that pet and keep him doing something, anything other than limping behind you after getting stepped on by a boss. Because like it or not, that sometimes brainless fleabag accounts for 1/3 or 1/4 of a Ranger’s total damage output, and a good bulk of the Ranger’s traits have to do with him, so to discount Fido/Mittens/Pooh, no matter how stupid or squishy he can be, is almost like limiting a Thief to only one single-handed weapon.

What I’ve noticed is that I can almost breeze the jumping puzzles that I have little to no investment in, while the ones with something I need at the end have me calculating every single inch of every single move. I’ve also noticed that when I go back to those with an alt or to help a guildie with my original character, often times I wonder why it was so hard the first time as I virtually dance from jump to jump.

Granted, the ones that take a long time and that can kill you if you trip up always unnerve me, but even those become less stressful to do if I feel like I have nothing to lose. As such, I think at very least a small part of the difficulty with some of these jumping puzzle vistas and skill points has to do with personal tension. The less stressed I am about a given puzzle, the easier it becomes.

I remember a vista in the Eternal Battlegrounds that took me a solid ten minutes to do, and it wasn’t because it was really all that difficult. It basically involved going up some stairs around a tower and making two or three jumps across some planks. That’s it. The thing was, though:

1. This took place immediately after I had helped my world secure the enemy keep the tower was in, an effort that took an enormous number of people, equipment, time (almost a week in the making), and coordination.

2. Almost immediately after we secured the keep, the enemy world regrouped and was pounding on the doors (it’s their keep after all, and it’s right next to their spawn point).

3. That particular vista was my primary’s final one, the one that would give him world completion.

4. I wasn’t the only one there trying to get it, which meant lagfest.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, I was not in a good shape when I got to the tower. I was tired. I was stressed. I was shaking. I was cursing. I kept looking at the keep door, anxiously anticipating an enemy zerg bursting through to do horrible things to an invader that had helped in taking over their keep. By the 20th failed attempt to even land on the first plank, I was screaming obscenities at my screen.

When I FINALLY got to it and got my world completion song and dance in, I was utterly exhausted.

Stress can kill a person, man…

I run with it for… actually all of the skills. #1 is a good general attack with a built-in evade, #2 complements my condition stats, #3 is an awesome gap closer/wannabe-Ride the Lightning, #4 is a block, knock-back, and cripple in one, and #5 is a good interrupt and opportunity for your pet to get a good dig in.

It might not do as much damage as other weapons, but like the LB it’s a good utility weapon, and one that I keep equipped at all times now. You might not have as good a time with it (or any melee weapon) if you’re a glass cannon, but running a BM bunker variant myself, I simply love it.

The Krait enslave Quaggans. No, I don’t feel bad about them getting what’s coming to them.

The most difficult one of these I’ve encountered so far is the Tribulation Rift vista in Dredgehaunt Cliffs due to the stakes (it’s very high up, so if you fall, you die) and the Veteran Stone Guardian event boss camping next to it, the latter of which made me go, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I’m not going to try to fight that thing now! What if I get my kitten handed to me? It took TEN MINUTES for me just to get up here!!! Kitten that!!!”

I managed to edge past it with minimal damage, but I couldn’t activate the vista because the boss was still engaged in combat with me. I had to wait until the event timer ended and the boss went away (and stopped taking pot shots at me) before I could get my vista point, which all told made the entire experience last a good fifteen minutes or so.

I remember the Breached Wall skill point being harrowing experience for me. I made it on my first go, but I noticed when I got there that my heart was pounding and my mouse was covered in sweat. I remember a couple of the jumps (and I think one in particular) being very close, with me gasping for breath after making each one. I don’t think I’m going to be looking forward to doing this one again for my alts, though I have to admit after doing this sort of thing once, following attempts become easier because you’re more relaxed (e.g. you stop having a death grip on your mouse).

As for the Mad King’s Clock Tower, all I had to do was watch a YouTube video of that and I was like, “No, I’m good. That’s okay. I don’t need that kind of stress in my life, thank you very much.” :P

OP, if you’re on Dragonbrand, or if I can figure out the guesting thing, I can try to help you or at the very least go with you. Watching someone else fall off the wall or miss a jump might make the ordeal a little more lively for you (or traumatize you). :P

plasmacutter.2709:

They nuked civilians, men, women, and children, they utterly destroyed anyone they captured in battle following this to the point there were no future generations.

The humans caught in the foefire most certainly have a better fate than what awaited them in charr hands.

Their ghosts respawning in the parlors of charr families and destroying their homes is a lasting reminder to them that, even in war, there are some tactics you just don’t use.

Since the charr have no conscience, even to this day, the ghosts of the foefire are their conscience, and will continue to rip at the heart of the black citadel until either it is destroyed or the charr learn remorse.

The Foefire also nuked civilians, men, women, and children (all Ascalonian, to boot), and on top of that condemned them to a mindless, frenzied, restless hell of an existence. I’m sure at least some would’ve been down for that, but everyone? Did anyone aside from Adelbern have a choice in the matter? Did the civilians? There’s a difference between dying for your home and getting turned into what is basically Ascalon’s version of the Risen for it.

As for that being better than getting killed by the Charr, I would have to disagree. Neither is good (obviously), but I would think a definite and relatively quick end at the hands of the Charr, followed by going into the Mists/afterlife, is preferable to a living hell that has so far lasted over two centuries, and that may or may never have an end. The Charr can just up and leave the entire area, and the ghosts would just be rooted there for an eternity with no possible rest in sight. As a matter of fact, if the Charr were spiteful, they could do just that.

There is no disagreement about certain tactics being ones you just don’t use in war, but the fact is those tactics have already been used by both sides. No side is getting away clean on this one. Additionally, I think the idea of the Ascalonian ghosts being a form of “conscience” for the Charr is itself despicable. They aren’t a summoned phantom army or the souls of dedicated individuals that by their own free will chose to become pawns in a potentially eternal war, they are the original Ascalonians that were robbed of a choice between life and death and enslaved into a ghost army by the will of one man. The Charr can leave, the ghosts can’t, and that I think is a fate worse than death.

I’m fine with amphibious animals as-is. Yeah, it weirds me out that something like a feline or a bear can hold their breath for as long as some of my underwater ventures can take, but if I think about how long my own character can stay underwater and the depths that he can dive to with nothing more than a breather (which isn’t even necessary — take it off and nothing happens), I can’t really point fingers at my pets and claim they’re unrealistic. :P

On a side note, Devourers look cool underwater.

Bought some once. Never again. -_- I’m better off exchanging the gems for gold.

AesirValkyr.7418:

I’m not giving a real answer, but its more based on how GW1 worked and how I think I’ve read GW2.

Aggro “should be” based on mob intelligence. If you are in range and the mob is smart enough to define you as a threat, you will be the threat. Dumb mods will attack the immediate threat, smart mobs will attack the target of opportunity.

The method used in GW1 worked well in my opinion, I am hoping they expanded on it in GW2.

I liked that about GW1. :P I can’t say for any certainty, but I felt like my Ranger was hardly ever singled out or deliberately targeted, which meant… HEY!

plasmacutter.2709:

This would probably end if the charr grew a capacity for remorse, marched unarmed into the catacombs, presented adelberne with his son’s sword, and formally declared penitence for their atrocities.

Rytlock Brimstone: “You lost this war long ago, and we’ll kill you until you get the point!”

Not likely to happen. Not soon, at any rate, and probably not willingly.

As for this “who was more brutal/merciless/evil” thing, like Narcemus said, both sides were. We just happened to have been playing on the Human’s side for pretty much the entirety of GW1 and only saw things from their perspective (or at least our characters’), at least until EoTN. Yeah, the Searing was a kitten move, but that doesn’t automatically make Humans goody-two-shoes or justify the Foefire, something that is arguably worse off for the Humans inside the blast radius than for the Charr, condemning the former to an eternity of mindless vigilance regardless of choice versus an instantaneous death for the latter.

True, the Foefire more likely than not kept Ebon Hawke (at least) from being overrun, but at what cost? If we’re going to treat those that got forcibly turned into ghosts (whom by the way were not all soldiers) as strategic pawns in an eternal war they may or may not have wanted to be a part of, against a race whose future generations may or may not remember (or care) what the ghosts were/are about, then we’re just trading the Humans’ atrocities with the Charrs’, demonizing theirs and justifying/discounting the Humans’. No one wins or comes out with both eyes.

I’ve RPed sarcastically (“What are you guys talking about? What GAME? What do you mean ‘just a game’?? This isn’t a game! I can totally fall to my death here! YES, I’m afraid of heights!”), and have encountered maybe one person that did it back in GW1 (he spoke in Shakespearean for an entire mission), but otherwise haven’t encountered any on Dragonbrand. I would like to actually RP in-game, but am too bogged down with guild stuff to really have time. I actually thought about “retiring” my character after he helped take down Zhaitan, going back to Queensdale and taking up cooking, but that was before the guild stuff took over. Eh well. :T

While I’m not saying hacking isn’t a possibility, if they were hacking, why stop at 22? If you’ve seen the bots in this game (at least back when they were more rampant), they’re capable of Jumper-like abilities. Hacking to level 22 would be oddly small potatoes.

Oh geez, this thread is old.

Serious: what happened?