Welcome MvM to the server. We’re doing better coverage wise now, but Dragonbrand needs a strong EU guild to stabilize things between SEA and NA, especially in our upcoming matchup with Maguuma. We also have a prospective guild that runs during late-NA lined up, but their logistics won’t be in place until another month or so.
tl;dr: EU & late-NA guilds still needed!
Welcome Mist to Dragonbrand. Still seeking late-NA/PST coverage and one more EU guild.
Welcome DAWN, TRS, and VOLT to Dragonbrand Glad to have you on the team.
T4 is nearly tied with T3 in kills.
Stay classy folks. Bump.
Bump. Seeking EU guilds for T3 action.
This change is going to set back many havoc guilds and celebrity pugmanders, though I think we’ll be unaffected. My gut instinct is that we’ll see a polarization towards large scale sieges and hardcore havoc.
Bump. Bumpity Bump. #HoTHype
It was seen as a passive playstyle that made the game unfun. All clone death traits were removed from the game several patches ago (though similar traits in other classes still persist).
Raid groups will be looking to their Mesmers to provide more than just white damage. With how strong alacrity and quickness currently are, it’s more likely that Meta Mesmers will more or less be a buff-bot.
Bump. Heart of Thorns is less than one week away.
Welcome [Rekz] to Dragonbrand.
Surprised that no one has mentioned it yet but Illusionary Leap —> Swap is a nice tool for kiting on a low CD, especially if you throw The Prestige in there as well.
Bumper to bumper traffic.
We don’t need this crap on this forum. Report and move on.
1. Highly unlikely game-breaking bug was intentional.
2. There were two mass messages about the patch 10m and 3m prior to deployment.
Working as intended.
I’m like to help with WvW content, though I’m a bit concerned server mismatches will be an issue.
Boppity Dipple Mip Mop?
Even with the addition of a passive heal on Signet of the Ether, the healing it provides is pitiful compared to Ether Feast. Aside from niche uses in certain dueling builds and instanced PvE, it isn’t really used by experienced players. Signet of the Ether needs either a cooldown reduction or increased healing rate wiith illusions (better as to differentiate from Ether Feast) in order to be competitive with the alternatives.
edit: grammar
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Feels like it recharges at the same rate if not faster than before.
I don’t understand why condition Mesmers use Signet of the Ether. Even with three illusions up the healing is worse than Ether Feast and I almost never see them use Blurred Inscriptions for the lower cooldown. Can someone enlighten me?
I’m more of a WvW player than sPvP, but from my experience the highest burst from OOC is probably GS4 —> GS2 —> MoD —> DE —> F1 —> GS3 shatter combo with Mental Anguish GM trait. Staff and sword/sword are interesting dueling weapons, but the ramp up time on the cast skills is going to limit your burst.
What have you tried so far? I hope you’ve put in SOME effort at the very least.
edit: grammar
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Pleasure fighting you guys this week. Server website added!
Bump. We’re still looking for EU and PST/OCX coverage!
Bump. Had some very fun fights against HoD and NSP this weekend.
Bump. Dragonbrand has broken into Tier 4 for this week’s matchup.
Bump. Dragonbrand could really benefit from having better EU and PST coverage.
/wave
While I empathize with your frustrations over the state of solo/duo-roaming, I think the problem has more to do with zerk-laden pugs that will AJ a fight whenever they sense blood. I want to shed light on why people do take an interest in small group roaming however.
There’s More Build Diversity
When you’re solo/duo-roaming, you’re shoehorned into ticking a lot of boxes, e.g., damage output, condition clears, stealth or mobility. For most classes, this necessitates a high amount of Zerk or Rabid/Dire and builds that gib people in under ten. You end up with a lot of cookie-cutter builds like PU condition Mesmer and D/F Elementalist that become eyesores to fight because of how strong their 1v1 offensive pressure is combined with their survivability. In small group roaming, a good 1v1 build isn’t the same trump card when you’re fighting 3-5 players. Weapons, skills, and traits that provide team synergy are a lot more useful. Suddenly, stat sets like Clerics, Cav, and Valk become a lot more attractive when you can make theory crafting assumptions like 100% Fury uptime, to give an example.
It’s More Challenging
You’re probably rolling your eyes, thinking how 3v1ing a hapless roamer can be challenging. In the same way that solo/duo-roamers often get chased by pugs from a zerg, small man teams often get chased by the entire zerg itself. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been tailing a zerg only for it to reverse and chase us halfway across the map. It happens with SoR, AR, SF, DH, DB- every server. But to be honest, that’s what makes small group roaming so much fun. We fight outnumbered but not outmatched. The combination of our comms, builds, and teamwork often pull us ahead of the players running selfish builds that try to pick us apart. Every player matters and you either get better or get bent.
Moving Forward
Like solo/duo-roaming, small group roaming has also been dying a slow death. Players that are willing to work together have flocked to GvG guilds and sPvP teams. Many players simply are unwilling to put in the time and effort needed to be able to kite and survive zergs. Those that do face strong competition from other small man teams and often disband if they can’t trade wins.
I could try to have my guys refrain from picking apart groups smaller than us, even though nobody aside from [MR] will give us the same luxury. Have you considered joining/starting a small man team? That’s partially why I tried contacting you…
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You could try to get in contact with Inceptio Nova [NOVA]. They’re a pretty nice bunch of PvXers that helped me out greatly. You’ll want to contact Radjan Majere.4208.
Pretty much. They did a nice job.
Not everyone is looking for the same qualities in a server. You mentioned that you were interested in small group roaming. If your group is good enough, take a look at some of the Tier 3 servers. There are actually teams of 3-5 roamers on maps that you can fight. Just keep in mind that some of the more toxic players in the game have found their way to T3 because of the GvG scene, so if you don’t have a thick skin it might not be right for you.
I wouldn’t recommend the other tiers in silver because most of the time players will be running with their respective zergs instead of splitting up. For my small man team in T5, we mostly spend our time killing uplevels and tailing zergs. If this doesn’t phase you, the relatively cheap price of transferring to the T4/T5 isn’t kitten
uming you run 3-5 players, Anvil Rock and Sorrows Furnace could really benefit from you transferring there. Darkhaven and Dragonbrand are growing rapidly, with Darkhaven having pretty strong coverage in all TZs except SEA, and Dragonbrand struggling during EU/OCX. Feel free to PM me in-game if you have any other questions.
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Huh, we just had two transfer to Dragonbrand a few days ago.
About Dragonbrand
Dragonbrand is a friendly community of loyal and dedicated players. We have undergone a rebuilding process in the past couple of months and are now on the rise. On the WvW front we boast a stable and resilient core of players and guilds that serve as a backbone for our growing competitive community. We value this community on Dragonbrand more than anything else and are looking for like-minded people to keep us competitive across all time zones.
What Do We Have To Offer?
- Friendly, positive community that plays to have fun
- Democratic and transparent server organization
- Active community Teamspeak with Commander Chat
- Balanced blend of PPT, fight-oriented, havoc, and roaming guilds
What Are We Looking For?
Most importantly, we are looking for guilds and players that want a home to stay, rather than a bandwagon to hop on to. Our intent is to have competitive and fun WvW matchups while still fostering a strong, positive server community. Guilds that thrive on community and enjoy open raids will find themselves comfortable on Dragonbrand.
The following list gives an assessment of what we’re looking for in each time zone:
- EU: Dragonbrand does not have any dedicated guilds that raid during early EU or EU prime. This is the most severe coverage gap for the server. We do have drivers that occasionally tag up but are looking for cohesive guilds that can bridge the SEA-NA gap, rally the militia, and join our family.
- NA: Dragonbrand’s North American coverage is in a healthy position. We’re not the dominant contenders during NA, but for the sake of tier balance that’s alright. There are weekday queues for Eternal Battlegrounds, and often on the borderlands. We also typically have 1-2 small and mid size guilds that will run during PST.
- OCX: Dragonbrand’s oceanic coverage is represented by 2-3 guilds of small, mid, and large sizes. The militia presence is relatively newer, with many players having sought refuge to rebuild from servers like IoJ, SoR, and SoS.
- SEA: Dragonbrand has traditionally had a very strong and stable SEA population, though two of these guilds are currently on hiatus. The server has an healthy militia in addition to 1-2 active small and mid size guilds.
Still Reading?
Out of sheer luck, Dragonbrand is now in Tier 1. The next couple of weeks are going to be incredibly interesting with the glicko volatility reset. Before the server mergers were implemented, the consensus was to remain in Tier 2. The dust needs to settle before the community decides on a new course of action. Thanks for reading.
Grimaldi and his alliance has left Dragonbrand months ago and we are now the prime destination for many former Fort Aspenwood guilds that are seeking to rebuild. Please do not hesitate to contact me, we are all in this together. I will give you the no-bullkitten lowdown of what is going on in Dragonbrand. Thanks for reading.
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Sick and tired of Darkhaven’s kittenty WvW. I used to be able to log in and roam and run into people, party up on the spot. Now you could run for an hour and not see another soul. Hoping to find the remaining few stragglers so that I can at least have a few people around me.
Check out [Sold], [VOID], or [XOXO]. Feel free to PM me in-game if you have trouble finding contacts.
That’s what happens when you spend so many weeks fighting dragon blob, no roaming fights means people get bored and do other things like pvp. I used to see Sold roaming on your server quite a bit, might want to see if any of them are still hanging around.
Every other word out of your mouth is some snide comment towards a community you don’t know and players you’ve never roamed against. Nobody on Dragonbrand cares enough to slam your server constantly, so why do you?
I refuse to do anything solo against DB because the only people I find are in a blob.
That’s not what I saw yesterday when you tried ganking me twice outside SMC and died.
Rebuilding can be arduous and incredibly taxing. Good luck and I hope you guys find your stride again.