Guild Wars 2

Yeah, I agree with the OP here. While there are some fun and wonderful characters in the GW2 universe, there is certainly a lack of well-developed villians.

There is no Magneto or Lex Luthor in this universe. No person you must fear, yet you do understand. The villians in GW2, maybe because of how the game is structured, are wholly unrelatable forces of god or mustache-twirling archetypes.

AzureDragon.1482:

I also have tons of dyes and probably spend way more time than I should playing with different color combos. XD

I’m afraid to do that, even with the undo button. I have a mix and match set, and I worked hard to get my look to where it is. I don’t want to risk undoing it at this point. haha.

Lonewolf Kai.3682:

Simple: a whetstone is a rock that you use to sharpen bladed weaponry.

Edit* Just to let you know I’m not making that up
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whetstone

LameFox.6349:

I can imagine a lot of people probably don’t sharpen their knives, but yeesh, one would think the sudden ‘h’ in the word would be reason enough to consider it may not be the same thing. There’s a /sunglasses-ready ‘sharpest knife’ joke within such easy reach of this thread…

Not to forget that once combined, ‘Stoneheart’ seems almost antithetical to the character.

Yeah….I know what a whetstone is, thanks people. eyeroll

What I’m curious about is why her name got fully changed, instead of partial changed. And why Rytlock decided that would be her name. Even if “Stoneheart” is antithetical to the character, they could have made it “Heartstone” and kept to what, at least I undstood was, the naming conventions.

Funny I run into this topic today. I was just telling my guildies that I’m surprised to not see some human woman in Lion’s Arch hitting on a charr somewhere. I know more than a few women IRL who would love the chance for that.

Rednik.3809:

spoj.9672:

Who would want to have a relationship with a charr anyway.

You clearly underestimate the diversity of personal preferences.

Heck, I would. Protective, loyal, and knows how to have a good time. Totally down.

3. At the beginning of the fight—We don’t need no water…
5. When friendlies are around—Hey, you guys, help me kill this guy.
6. When the opportunity is right—Now is the perfect moment!

These. Mostly in boss fights, or if I’m about to expend our only underwater elite. At the beginning of a boss fight, when a boss can’t clear the burning condition, VoJ can stack on a lot of damage.

Ezrael.6859:

- Make the skill cleanse 1 condition from yourself and allies at the start of the channel.

Absolutely endorse this change. As it is, I think most new guardians assume that’s what the skill actually does and then are disappointed to eventually learn otherwise.

If someone hasn’t mentioned it to the OP yet (sorry, some of these postings, while helpful, are just walls of text to me), the Shield does have the benefit of providing extra defense to your stats.

I was pretty confused to find out that after Rox “Pickheart” (………lame) was accepted into Rytlock’s Stone warband that her name became “Whetstone.”

I thought the non-warband part of the charr name was personal, chosen by your farrar mates upon graduation, and wouldn’t change even if you had to join a new warband. So I expected Rox to become Rox “Stoneheart” (awesome!) or “Heartstone” (…not as awesome).

Instead, Rytlock made her…whet. I don’t even think I should comment on that.

I guess I’m wrong on the naming conventions? Why wouldn’t she want to keep the “heart” part of her name as a momento from her fallen warband (even if it’s kinda lame for a charr surname)? And do we have any kind of (PG-13) explanation why Rytlock and his warband would name her “whet”?

Grond Forgesight

9/10. It’s a great charr name, with a lot of character, given the backstory. “Grond” uses the correct consonents for a male charr name – but I can’t help but feel like the name sounds a tad gross, so a minor points deduction.

Tsumedenko Rawrawr

He’s my only character (I’m a one-character kind of guy). Since the game doesn’t explain the naming conventions to new players, I initially named my charrdian “Tsumedenko” (“thunder claw” in Japanese) and Rawr (“I love you” and “I eat you” in dinosaur, according to my tshirt). When I explained charr naming conventions to my guild leader, he decided I was part of the “Raw” warband, which would give my charrdian this name. As an ash legion charrdian, my character is used to not being taken seriously until he appears in a ball of flame behind you with a giant sword. The name only adds to that. Silliness is the charr’s secret weapon.

Jam.4521:

Kinda sucks when playing my melee warrior, but I can survive them with care, my main issue is when there’s more than one and I have been stun locked before, then finally get out with 6 stacks of confusion. Its painful.

This game is fairly punishing to melee combat in general. Especially with the wonky camera targetting that will force your melee character to wildly swing at something that’s 1200 range away even though he’s being hit by something right next to him.

Scott McGough.6897:

As for the flaming gauntlets, remember that Canach is a seasoned combat veteran and an experienced guerilla fighter with a fairly twisted sense of what’s right. When he heard about the Molten Alliance refugees resettling on Southsun Cove, he saw a chance to help other Consortium victims and get even with Noll. But like a good soldier, he wanted to understand the situation in which he was about to involve himself, so he made a point of seeking out one of the Molten Alliance weapons facilities and clearing it.

Does this mean he’s met Rox and Braham? They seemed to be involved in the clearing of every one of those weapons facilities.

Wooboost.8527:

Power monger. I wanna be the very best…

…like no one ever was. Doo, doo, da doot…

Atlas.9704:

(sings): “Like no one ever waaaaaas…”
er sorry I nearly went into a song.

[Edit: Ninjaed! :P ]

I’m a very goal oriented player. I’m only interested in playing so long as I have a goal I can see. The early game kept me really busy as I made it my mission to explore the maps, complete every heart, completing my personal story and whatnot. So long as the game gives me something concrete and explicit to do, and it’s actually accomplishable (hello, WvW exploration on a server that’s never been the green server) I’m happy.

I’m also happy making buds in PvE. I’m really not a PvP or WvW kinda guy. I just want to play the game.

Things change. Times change. People change. The humans and charr don’t have to actively like each other to not want to be at war with each other any more and occassionally work with each other.

And yeah, all the Legions were part of the war that started centuries ago. But Ash got smart and used their diplomacy corps to end the war so the Legions could focus on bigger issues.

Gabby.3205:

I just don’t get why the devs can say that “The Consortium are neither good nor evil”. What they are doing to that refugees is slavery!

It’s more indentured servatude more than chattel slavery. But I agree that in my mind, the contracts are unenforcable by any ethical government.

GoldenTruth.2853:

You can’t pick between the consortium and the settlers (except for a boon) story-wise because you are neither on the consortium’s or settler’s sides. Rather, you are trying to help out the lionguard/Kiel by quelling violence…

That’s the point… I don’t want to be doing that. And it doesn’t make sense for my character to be doing that, either. I don’t want to be attacking charr settlers, since I’m on their side, but I’m forced to just by wandering around Southsun because they will sure as kitten attack me.

Plus, I could just as easily choose to quell the violence by putting the Consortium on their kittens and throwing them into the ocean for a nice bath to clear their heads.

So, from the very beginning of this storyline, I’ve found myself squarely on the side of the refugees. As a charr player, the chances that I would side with some asura and humans over an unethical contract are NONE. And the kittenhat consortium have done nothing at all to change my mind. As far as I’m concerned, the charr (and their nornly friends) should just steal a boat, stab any humans in their way, and get back to the Legions.

From the description of this month’s event, I thought I’d have a chance to help the refugees (even if not to the blow-up-the-consortium levels of help I’d like to offer). But, no. When fighting randomly breaks out (without any kind of words beforehand, I might add), I’m attacked by settlers and consortium equally. If settlers attack some Consortium flunkie, they attack me as though I’m with him!

If the story development team was going to pit two sides against one another, I really wish they hadn’t made it a false choice for the player. It would be much more interesting if the players could choose sides.

tl;dr: Save the charr, stab the humans.

LameFox.6349:

To be fair, the emotes also suggest they’re familiar with Maori culture and/or watch rugby.

Or they happened to develop a similar dance to the Maori. ;D

He didn’t always have that whip, either. It came in an update so he’d be less pathetic in a fight.

Aside from the fire, the whip is a lot like the kind the Nightmare Court use. You actually get to use one yourself early on in certain Sylvari stories.

CharrGirl.7896:

Why, Rytlock of course

Yes. It’s absolutely Rytlock. Sexy voice, piercing eyes, those teeth. I’d love to make him growl.

Cherrylin.5869:

Thanks very much, guys!

I’ll conclude charr shed tears unless some valuable source says otherwise. ^^

Probably the correct assumption. Why else would they cover and wipe their eyes during their rediculous (hillarious) /cry animation?

The mace is really more of a party weapon, with everything it will do for your allies. Like Staff, it’s meant to be switched in and out of, and you should keep a Greatsword or another solo-friendly weapon on hand in your other weapon set.

Yeah, though I support that the Troll is a much needed dodge check (it’s imperative players learn the dodge mechanic early on in their dungeoning), he is a bit much in the very first story dungeon. He’s easy for experienced players, byt he really doesn’t belong in that early of a story dungeon the way he is now.

Yeah, they have mentioned they’re working on more charr facial features. Hopefully this means a nice content update coming soon.

Yeah, the dungeon was fun. I’d certainly welcome it if it came back in some form.

darkace.8925:

Joke’s on you guys, Zommoros is immune to burning.

I doubt Miyani is…

Yeah, the devs have said before that Guardian charr pull their protective magic out of the desire to protect their warband.

Ultimaistanza, your shots are great. Congrats on the Legend. I’m working on Twilight myself and am almost there.

My charrdian, victorious.

Gameplay wise the charr racials do give Guardians access to range they otherwise wouldn’t have (Charrzooka!). The charr warband elite is basically a watered down version of one of the Thief elites.

WannabeHero.5489:

It was very hard to find armor that I deemed suitable for a Charr thief. Personally I think 90% of medium armor looks silly on Charr, the coats make the look too bulky.

9/10. I think you did a great job. It’s unique, well-matched and the hoodie looks awesome.

My mix-and-match charrdian.

I dig a lot of the folks’ style on here. Especially the charr with hoodies.

Here’s my red and blue Charrdian.

Helm: Severed Breach
Shoulders: Ascalonian Pauldrons
Chest: Draconic Coat
Guantlets: Flame Legion
Pants: Whispers Leggings
Shoes: Paws of Koda

Yeah, Wrath (downed skill one) is by far and away the worst downed skill of any profession. It’s overly lengthy, focuses too often on the wrong target, and doesn’t do enough damage to make up for either of those cons.

Wave of Light is nice against swarms, and Symbol of Judgment is really great if you can get it off. But, yeah, because of Wrath being so awful, a downed Guardian can be in some real trouble.

This is a long-standing complaint.

I do have to agree, the no combo finishers thing is a little strange. And the shadowstep on the Sword is indeed a little finicky. But the lack of the symbol indicates that the Sword is meant to do something a little different fromt he other Guardian weapons, and that’s proc the Virtue of Justice. It’s the fastest weapon we have for that, and arguably the best DPS weapon for Guardians.

Obtena.7952:

ZD could stand some improvements but other than this, sword is appropriate.

I’d argue that Flashing Blade could use a minor buff, seeing as it barely recharges faster than Greatsword’s Leap of Faith and does a lot less things (no finisher, less damage, can’t move without a target, no additional blind duration). It’s not as bad as some people make it out to be – it is a very quick recharging blind – but it’s deserving of a small buff.

I think the OP is confused. You did get Black Lion Keys early on in the game quite a bit – from Personal Story and map completion, not from drops. As an experienced player, though, you almost never see them (without buying them outright).

The prisoner collection isn’t exactly a scavenger hunt like the “10 rats” thing. It’s more of a mechanism to make sure players can’t just run by all the fights.

Doesn’t the game prompt you with an “are you sure” before you purchase the item? If that’s the case, and you still bought the wrong item…that seems like a mistake that’s no one’s fault but your own. A suck it up and deal moment.

maddoctor.2738:

I made that post while it was bugged on the first day, now it’s open consistently, it just changes location each day (??) rotating between Diessa and Wayfarer. The layout is always the same as far as I know.

The layout of the dungeon is the same, thoigh the spawns change up. Last night a cadre of Transparent Oozes appeared, which immidiately began chain pulling my whole party. Grrrr…

Isn’t that what the wiki is for? It certainly does contain quite a bit of background and lore history. Am I missing something?

Mongo.2490:

Just compared to the other professions’ F skills, they’re incredibly bland. The F skills usually define the gameplay of the profession.. elements, illusions, pets, tools.. but I’m going on lv35 or so having never touched em.

In a way, it is pretty class defining that we can tank through so much, despite having one of the lowest HP pools in the game. Aegis just isn’t available much to the other classes.

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Fiontar.4695:

I hope the other things you’ve been working on aren’t more “fun” improvements to dungeons and world PvE mobs. So far, you’ve proven the existence of “anti-fun” as a real property and your pursuit of it has been disconcerting! (It’s probably not a good sign to have some fans breath a sigh of relief to learn that the new dungeon was not created by the Dungeon Team…) ;P

What someone defines as fun is often different from what another person calls fun. I’m sorry our dungeon work has not appealed to you and others, but there is an audience for what we do. My hope is that in the future, we can build something that appeals to you and other folks currently not on board with our dungeon content, while still staying true to the people who have enjoyed our content thus far. Bridging that gap is not an easy process, but I am confident that such things are not impossible feats

Wow, this thread has gone off topic. haha.

But I did want to add that I appreciate this kind and thoughtful response from Robert even in the face of un-constructive criticism. Looking forward to seeing the next batch of changes and how the devs incorporated the constructive feedback from the players.

This is an awful, known bug and has been for a while. I suspect if the dungeon team hadn’t been working on testing the Flame and Frost dungeon, this would have received a fix by now. Hopefully Robert will have some good news for folks who have hit this bug in the near future.

haviz.1340:

Reset the fight, she sometimes gets bugged.

Resetting her doesn’t always fix the bug. I know I’ve been on teams that trounced Lupi and then couldn’t DPS check Simin with her 10 second non-stealth window, even after multiple resets.

IamDuddits.1692:

People still use the “It’s the first dungeon” argument as an excuse for dodge being too hard to grasp. People say dodge-or-die is too harsh for the first dungeon, but honestly PvE leveling up to 35 was a gradual enough learning curve. If you haven’t learned to dodge highly choreographed attack animations from leveling then clearly the punishment for failing the dodge wasn’t enough for you to learn the mechanic. It’s not even a low level problem, I see so many level 80s fail this dodge repeatedly and consistently.

The other problem isn’t so much the people that don’t read dungeon tips and guides, it’s the people that don’t even listen to you. I think some of my most enjoyable AC runs were with groups consisting of low level players on their first characters and not from groups of all 80s that were in full zerker.

The problem is – with Kholer specifically – that they want you to dodge while dealing with adds (that stun you) off camera and a wind up that is near impossible to see among everything blue and glowy. Kholer will at times summon adds and then immediately spin as you’re trying to identify the adds. If you’re pointing your camera away from Kholer to deal with the adds (since we know the camera targetting system will inanely choose to focus on Kholer if he’s what your watching, instead of the mob right on top of you), Kholer will almost certainly choose that moment to catch and spin you to death. And even if you have stability to break Kholer’s catching you, he still deals enough damage to one-shot lower level players.

Kholer is in no way a newer player, lower-level, teaching tool boss in this level 35 dungeon. Then again, he is somewhat optional.

Overall I enjoy the changes made to AC. The storyline of the explorable makes more sense (why are we getting these torches, for instance?), and the mechanics require more teamwork and less tank-and-spank. Still, trying to take a couple of newer players into their first time explorable using Ascalonian Catacombs is a major headache, whereas it should be usuable as a teaching tool.

Just curious, aside from our elite, what do you think is the Guardian’s best healing skill? What are the pros and cons to the ones you use?

Here’s some numbers from the wiki:

Healing Breeze : Heal yourself and allies in a cone in front of you. (Healing for self: 6,525×1; Healing: for allies: 1,725×1; 2.25 activation; 40 recharge)
Shelter : Block attacks while healing. (Healing: 4,555×.7; 1.25 activation; 30 recharge)
Signet of Resolve: Signet Passive: Cures a condition every ten seconds. Activate to heal yourself. (Healing: 8,150×1.25; 1 activation; 40 recharge)

Lets face facts, the Virtues are amazing little signet buffs while passive. But I get the OPs gripe; if your build never encourages you to pop the Virtues, they can be a bit boring. And on their own, none of the Virtues are worth popping.

With support, certain Virtues (especially Justice) can be worth popping. One trait folks haven’t mentioned, for instance, is the one that recharges Justice upon rally. This can be very helpful for groups against swarms in dungeons. But, yeah, most of the group would rather have you alive with your Virtues in tact instead of weakened with the minor buffs they got from popping the ability.

One thing a party of mine found to be annoying the other night is that the Berserker does some kind of knockback when he shadow steps. 3 of us in one fight got knocked off the stage because of it. I was jumping and then suddenly was knocked a quarter of the platform off the stage!

So, yeah…beware of that.

Paul Belz.7351:

Braham also revives any dead players after you kill the first of the final bosses and progress to phase 2 ;p

Hey, Braham, there’s this gal named Lupi I’d like to introduce you to next time I have to see her…

Congratulations! It’s a tough story mission.

Hmm. Looks like a cheetah face. The devs have announced that new faces will be available for charr soon (like a “kitten” looking face akin to Rox’s). Perhaps this will be one of them.

Nope, the charrzooka is a kit skill, and should replace your 1-5 keys when it’s activated. I’ve never had this happen. How wierd.

Sounds like you should report it as a bug.

The writing in the Flame and Frost instances has been fantastic, with a lot of memorable quotes. I do believe my favourite was:

Braham: Why can’t I be the ram?!
Rox: Because I’ve got the horns.

Made me laugh. What are your favourite Flame and Frost quotes so far?

I’d also like to add my congrats to the developers of this boss fight. It was difficult, but not punishingly so. And it never seemed unfair.

Plus, it was a smart decision that when the party did defeat one boss, it didn’t come back if the party fell to the other part of the duo.

I had fun!