Guild Wars 2

barti.7685:

good guide

you kinda forgot to mention that entering a free tpvp at peak times will results in getting stomped 85% of the times you enter tho leaving you very frustrated to say the least but apart from that yea thats how it should work.

what did I say about crying in this thread?!?!

Honestly though, I don’t mind facing premades so long as I’m matched up with equally experienced pugs. I pug probably 95% of my time in game and as long as I have a decent bunch of people with me that know how to flex the game plan based on what the competition is doing then we at least put up a good fight, if not steal a win. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I enjoy facing premades because of the challenge. I might be in the minority but I like to pvp because I like competition and if my team is rolling over the opposition there is just no thrill.

In the worst of instances I’ve been matched up with three rank 1’s and a rank <10 and had to face a solid pre made. In which case the only points we got were the ones I gave my team by back-capping because I seem to be the only one who noticed the other exit from the spawn…

Which reminds me: Always call incoming and numbers! This is how you identify the enemies positioning and weakness in defense. For instance, if they pile 4 people onto a node to try and take it then they’ve left 1 node completely undefended and another node with only 1 defender.

if you’re focusing on burst then why are you even thinking about condition dmg?

I believe the answers for which you seek can be found somewhere between Elixir R and your tool belt…

wow. necro’s turning on each other. the darkside of the forums is strong with this game…

I like the idea of adding some secondary effects to our Fears. I don’t, however, like the idea of it being condition based. It just so happens that Necros have a lot of lack luster traits though and traiting for Fear to do different things for different builds could be a lot fun.

Excuse me but this here is a No Crying Zone. Take the Theif QQ elsewhere please – there are plenty of options on the boards.

Crucial classes to group comps IMO are Mesmer, Guardian, bunker Ele/Engi. Any class you add after that is just gravy.

Seems kind of pointless to discuss meta a day before a big patch though. Most classes haven’t even seen their full potential yet with all the bugs, broken traits, and whatnot. Super interested to see what tomorrow’s patch has to offer.

There’s obviously a ton of other stuff that could be said about tournies but I thought I’d just start with what I felt were some basics.

It’d be nice, for once, to keep a dialog going about playing the game instead of crying about it.

So feel free to add/amend.

Cheers

Keys to X-factors on each Map:

Forest – the Mobs are the X-factor here allowing you to accumulate 25pts for your team on a successful “last hit” kill. Stealing helps build a point advantage. Stealing is also easy with high burst and heavy bleed classes that can time the last hit. To avoid getting your mob kill stolen simply wait for bankers, kill them, and THEN engage the mob. Simply: don’t touch the mob till the enemies are dead.

Foefire – there are 4 NPCs in yours/your opponents base that provide 150pts upon successful kill. Taking the opponents close point early and then taking down the door closest is a good way to provide your team with a potential “last ditch effort” to steal the win.

Khylo – the trebuchet here is the key. Using the trebuchet is an easy way to overwhelm opponents assaulting or holding a point. So either using it or keeping your opponent from using it should be a pivotal part of your strategy. Clocktower is also the easiest point to aim for when using the Treb.

I won’t speak on strategy as that changes based on map, group comp, and opponent, but I can guarantee they all by and large account for these things if they have any potential for success.

Some basic rules:
- Only 1 person caps – current capture mechanic rquires only one person from your team to stand on the point to capture/hold it. this should be left to the designated bunker. roamers should not stay for caps, they need to stay moving. screw the 10 glory this is about winning (see Basic Concept #1)

- Only 1 person stomps – if there are other opponents still contesting the point and your teammate has already started the stomp then you should be working on getting the next opponent downed. **Caveat: always dbl stomp warriors to ensure they don’t get back via Vengeance. Providing Haste, Stealth, or Stability is always a good way to ensure a stomp.

- Always Revive – there are no dedicated ‘healers’ in this game so reviving is everyone’s responsibility. when a player is downed they start a new HP pool, reviving is easiest and fastest when they first go down. THe longer they’re down the longer it will take to get them back up. Using Haste, Stability, or Stealth are good ways to ensure the revive does not get interrupted. Also, be sure to interrupt any opposing players trying to stomp your teammates. It’s worth the CD to keep your team’s numbers strong.

- Always call incoming and numbers! – This is how you identify the enemies positioning and weakness in defense. For instance, if they pile 4 people onto a node to try and take it then they’ve left 1 node completely undefended and another node with only 1 defender.

Just wanted to put out some info for players new to the tournament scene and looking for a little more info to help them find success. Admittedly for selfish reasons as I’m tired of pugging and getting matched up with people who have no idea of the differences between hotjoins and tourneys.

So here are some things I feel players could benefit from understanding when entering a tournament

For starters, there are some Basic Concepts that need to be considered –
1. It’s about your team “winning” not about your personal “glory”
2. It’s a conquest match, so any and all actions should revolve around capturing AND holding 2 capture points.
3. Controlling the map is the goal, and the more efficient your team is the easier it is to control and ultimately win.

The roles:
Bunker – team member built to control and hold a point long enough for their support to arrive and help clear the opposition.
Roamer – someone built to quickly travel between points and provide dmg and/or support to help defend and retain control of a capture point.

I save my glory for 10 ranks at a time and when I hit a new bracket I splurge and by stacks of gold chests and salvage kits. deposit all collectibles (you might need it for your other toons!) and salvage everything else. save up arcane crystals and slivers as they generally make rarer items (orbs and powder accumulate fast – I have more than my locker will hold). tourney tokens generally make the best items early on. Rank gear doesn’t really get interesting until you hit 20.

Drops are somewhat random, though rarer items salvage better mats (sometimes), but recipes are simple. Here’s a decent link to tell you how to make different stuff in each tier.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/55030-pvp-mystic-forge-recipes/

also, you can preview all items in the PvP locker even if you don’t have them yet

hope that helps. good luck!

deathmatches are boring IMO requiring no thinking or strategy, just smashing your face into the keyboard as fast as you can with whichever fotm class is doing the most dmg with the least amount of risk /yawn

if there were any way to make it interesting though it would be to have a 2v2v2 or a 3v3v3 or maybe even take it up to a 4 team map. maybe even put it inside of a maze. that actually could be pretty wild no that I think of it…

spread your attack where? there’s three points, you need two to win, and the portal can take your whole group back forth between the two…

and “otherwise useless mesmers”? lol seriously? maybe you should play one and think about that comment again

well that kind of spoils the fun then doesn’t it…

so much for 20s fearing people off points for an easy cap…

20s Fear bug? hmmm… might be time for necro’s to make their presence felt in tournies with an exploit of their own… <evil cackle>

I’m kind of curious why we don’t see ranks on players in pvp just as you see levels on players in wvw/pve. what good is it to see lvl80 on every player in the mists? I mean, we all know that already, it was on the box when we bought the game…

and for those who don’t think rank means anything I suggest you jump into some random pugs for free tournies and see for yourself how different it is to run with a bunch of <10s and then with a bunch of >30s. No it’s not a clear cut indication of “skill” but it is accurately indicative of player experience, where experience = familiarity with maps, strategies, game/class mechanics, character builds, fotm classes and counters for such, etc.

TL:DR – stop matching me up with rank 1’s kitten !!

I used to main an Ele but I got tired of the lack of build options and the limitation of not having weapon swapping – not that 20 skills wasn’t enough but because you’re forced to work within a single range i.e. melee (MH Dagger), medium range casting (MH Scepter), or long range (staff). With Necro I might not have RTL but I do have swiftness up 90% of the time, and I can work from both max range with staff and melee with dagger. I also have an Oh kitten bubble with DS when someone gets the jump on me. Awesome condition control and boon removal, solid dmg through power specs, and 2x HP pools. And not mention we’re only going to get better as we get our bugs fixed. How could there NOT be a future for us?

the duel wells is sick in a power spec for tPvP IMO.

Assaulting – soften up a point with marks, push your way onto it with fear mark, drop wells, daze, and watch the opposition melt
Defending – harass foes with staff and marks as they approach the node and drop wells once they get there, daze, immob, dagger AA spam, stomp

I’ve been melting 2, 3, 4 people at a time in tPvP with it just because I put the wells where my opponent wants to be, rather than trying to lock my opponent down.

It definitely requires a staff though. 2x MH daggers is a big limitation of the build IMO but that’s not to say there weren’t some very obvious bright spots for Necro’s being highlighted.

Thanks for the build and the vid Huff. Cheers

iSmack.1768:

[VVVVVWAAAH VWAAAAAHHH] I [VVVVVWAAAAAAAHH VVVWAAAAHHHH] can’t [VVVVVWAAAH VWAAAAAHHH] hear [VVVVVWAAAH VWAAAAAHHH] you [VVVVVWAAAH VWAAAAAHHH]…

lol love this

SausageStorm.4293:

Any tips? Any tricks? Anything at all? How can I fight something I can not see and removes all conditions while regenerating HP in Stealth?

I was killed at least 20 times today by 3 different InvisiThiefs.

So my butt-hurt level is through the right roof now. :[

Things I’ve learned to do when fighting a theif:

- cast your marks at your feet, not between you and them. they’ll port right past, and you’re their objective so you know where they’re going.

- their dmg comes in spurts, be ready to pop DS but don’t hang out in it for longer than you have to, and when you are in DS make sure you’re doing more than just soaking up dmg.

- make them pay a price for getting to close. thieves hate our wells. nowadays if a thief is attacking me from stealth I simply stop running, drop well, pop DS and #4 till I can see them again.

- use your fears wisely. like i said before their dmg comes in bursts due to their mechanic, if you don’t have DS available you’ll need your fears.

- Shadow Refuge – their little invisible hut, use the Fear mark to push them out of it before they can get the full benefit. if Fear mark is on cooldown then just throw all your marks on it and pressure them out with dmg.

- I like the warhorn for fighting thieves since hte daze stops them from hitting you entirely and the locust swarm will cripple them when they try to HS spam you.

hope those help. good luck!

Sugram.3106:

hackks.3687:

I think you might be going about it backwards.

first decide on the format: PvE, PvP, or WvWvW.

then decide on the role you’re trying to fill

that makes it easier to decide on what weapons/utilities/traits/runes/etc to use

i said sustain damage type/role

sustained dmg against who/what/where?

if you read the Post Your Build thread you’ll see that people explain the purpose of the build before giving the details. that way you can understand the build choices they made. throwing some tactics together and picking a pair of weapons, then asking “what will this work for?” is going about it backwards.

does that make sense?

I think you might be going about it backwards.

first decide on the format: PvE, PvP, or WvWvW.

then decide on the role you’re trying to fill

that makes it easier to decide on what weapons/utilities/traits/runes/etc to use

Mazra.1625:

hackks.3687:

Mazra.1625:

1. I’d recommend using Death Shroud when you need to absorb damage and you have used your long cooldown abilities, like utility abilities and your #4 and #5 spells.

DS has a 10 sec CD, is instant, keeps all dmg from effecting your HP, and works while CC’d. Far better to hit it first, figure out what you’re dealing with, and then decide on which long CD you want to blow after

that’s just my opinion

You should know what you’re dealing with before you’re getting hit. The guy is level 41, so I assumed he was asking for help with leveling. Unless you auto-run into a pack of whatever while alt-tabbed out of the game, you should know what you’re dealing with and how to proceed the moment you initiate combat.

The 10-second cooldown is going to seem like a lifetime when you get knocked down and roflstomped by four centaurs or hammer-wielding enemies. Blow your cooldowns, pop Death Shroud and deal damage while you wait for your cooldowns to finish. If you run with Soul Marks and Mark of Evasion, you can prolong Death Shroud’s duration quite a bit by dodging and placing a Mark of Blood every 10 seconds.

meh. I was referring to PvP

Mazra.1625:

1. I’d recommend using Death Shroud when you need to absorb damage and you have used your long cooldown abilities, like utility abilities and your #4 and #5 spells.

DS has a 10 sec CD, is instant, keeps all dmg from effecting your HP, and works while CC’d. Far better to hit it first, figure out what you’re dealing with, and then decide on which long CD you want to blow after

that’s just my opinion

currently playing with a 30/0/10/0/30 power build with the stability trait for DS as well as retal when entering DS in additioin to +15% movement in DS. Basic idea is a stun break that hits back every 10 sec. By and large DS is an “Oh kitten” button that extends your life under duress and also provides a little utility and dmg. So with that…

1. Yes, by and large DS is something that should be saved for more moments of duress. That doesn’t mean it can’t be used for it’s dmg/utility at other times though when you want to apply pressure.

2. LB is a waste of time. Just fires way to slow. below 50% the dmg tales off significantly

3. AoE situations are situational – see what I did there? Honestly though it changes, sometimes in a close range push I’ll drop all my marks at once, drop my wells, and pop DS #4 uber aoe pressure. If I have more range to work with I’ll be more particular about what I drop where and when based on who I’m trying to set up for a kill.

4. Just consider it your means of hitting back while in DS (which you use when under pressure)

5. The loss of LF while using LT is marginal at best.

6. yes, but creative usage of skills in situations is never a bad thing… unless it doesn’t work

7. I’m liking the stability. the retal just makes sense given the designed use of the skill. it really just depends on your build and playstyle.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Weakness

50% of all non critical hits will glance

weakness is pretty “meh” as far as conditions go

works really well until they crit, you mean, since weakness doesn’t effect critical hits, no?

… holy rambling tangent, batman!

think you might need to head over to the PvP forums and vent a little

Soryuju.8164:

hackks.3687:

monepipi.5160:

Warriors can’t use Vengence right off the bat when they’re down, you know. If I remember correctly (correct me if I’m wrong), it starts off already in cooldown, the warrior has to wait for a while before he can pop it. Anyway, if its a warrior you should expect it.

who cares if it has a timer? every downed #3 has a timer. how many of them let people get back up from a downed state?

if everyone were supposed to be able to get back up on their own then I suppose ANet wouldn’t have designed our #4 ability to be interrupted by damage, would they?

there’s no getting around the fact that it’s completely out of line from the intended design of the mechanic.

edit: of course I’d have nothing to complain about though if ANet would just give my necro access to some form of stability so I could stomp efficiently…

I’m confused why you think Anet didn’t intend for people to be able to get up on their own from downed state using Vengeance when they pretty much explicitly made that the function of the skill. Anyways…

Guardian’s Downed #3 produces a symbol that heals for 4k each second, uninterruptible, that is very capable of ressurecting if the opposing team isn’t paying attention, or if there’s only one other downed opponent nearby. Engineers can throw down their Elixir R toolbelt skill before they go down to self-rez before an opponent’s stomp animation can complete.

<snip>

TL:DR – I disagree that the Warrior downed state is overpowered or unfair to other classes.

Guardian #3 is not instant revive nor does it give them 5 sec of invulnerability. Elixir R is not a downed ability either – though also suspect IMO.

I didn’t say that the Warrior downed state was over powered. I said Vengeance was out of line with the intended design of the downed state. Every warrior I know has told me that all they worry about is getting the player downed, whether they get downed or not. Once it’s a downed fight they can’t lose….

but if you’d prefer, we can just agree to disagree.

monepipi.5160:

Warriors can’t use Vengence right off the bat when they’re down, you know. If I remember correctly (correct me if I’m wrong), it starts off already in cooldown, the warrior has to wait for a while before he can pop it. Anyway, if its a warrior you should expect it.

who cares if it has a timer? every downed #3 has a timer. how many of them let people get back up from a downed state?

if everyone were supposed to be able to get back up on their own then I suppose ANet wouldn’t have designed our #4 ability to be interrupted by damage, would they?

there’s no getting around the fact that it’s completely out of line from the intended design of the mechanic.

edit: of course I’d have nothing to complain about though if ANet would just give my necro access to some form of stability so I could stomp efficiently…

monepipi.5160:

hackks.3687:

Pie Formation.8196:

hackks.3687:

hackks.3687:

Vengeance Question – why do warriors seem to be immune to CC once they get back up under the effects of vengeance even though there’s no stability boon?

bumping. I’d really like an answer to this question.

You get ~5 seconds of invulnerability when you vengeance.

that’s just kittened up…

what’s the point of a downed state if certain classes don’t need teammates to revive them?

Lol, its not a revive….its borrowed time and a delayed death. Just CC or move away, after 15 secs the warrior will expire at your feet.

Just CC and move away? Did you not read the part about the 5 sec of invulnerability?

and how is it not a revive? he was down, now he’s up without anyone’s help, and not only that he’s invulnerable, and when traited just needs to kill something to survive the vengeance effects? Oh, and his HB is off CD, he’s probably got Frenzy ready as well, adn the would be stomper is standing right in front of him still trying to stomp before he can pop vengeance. give me a kittening break.

maybe I’m bias about this since I’m playing my necro lately and they suffer without a reliable stability to stomp with, but logically speaking it’s completely counterintuitive to the whole mechanic for a player to revive themselves.

Pie Formation.8196:

hackks.3687:

hackks.3687:

Vengeance Question – why do warriors seem to be immune to CC once they get back up under the effects of vengeance even though there’s no stability boon?

bumping. I’d really like an answer to this question.

You get ~5 seconds of invulnerability when you vengeance.

that’s just kittened up…

what’s the point of a downed state if certain classes don’t need teammates to revive them?

kind of hard not to get hopes up at this point, I think. ANet’s slow & steady approach has been far more slow than steady. Seems reasonable that after three months people feel like ANet has some ground to make up.

Dibrom.6408:

IomegadriveOne.5291:

That 1 second fear can fear people off ledges and cliffs or move them towards another target. That 1 second stun which does only 1k of damage. Something I can heal back with my passive healing in about 2 seconds. You know how many times I have rezed myself with my pet in pvp? Never.

No it can’t. Also guess how much damage fear does?
(spoiler: 0)

sure it can. it just requires +50% Fear duration trait and incredibly poor positioning on your opponents part.

Fear can also do dmg when traited. just not enough to be considered worthwhile.

Vengeance Question – why do warriors seem to be immune to CC once they get back up even though there’s no stability boon?

agree with Tekno, I think you’d get more out of weapon swap sigils than kill boosts. I would suggest battle since Might will give you extra condi dmg to go with your Target the Weak in addition to the added power.

11 sec? Mine can’t seem to make it past 6 sec. It takes about 11 sec for me to get from one point to the next in PvP and the JH won’t even make it half way.

sorrow.2364:

Well, there are some cases when in WvWvW I’ve met people roaming around and engaged a fight with them.

After I succeded to down them, not the time to stomp and they rally. I mean, rally for no real reason, no neutral/hostle mobs around, neither an enemy.
Can it be the Jagged Horror?

apparently it very well could be

I’ve actually let people attack the JH before just to see what would happen and more often than not nothing comes of it. In this case the downed Ele used his Mist Form (meaning he wasn’t attacking at all), then the JH died, and when Ele came out of Mist Form he was revived and fighting again. He seemed to be just as surprised by it as I was.

@ Lukin – I was thinking the same thing. Personally I just want a new/better minor trait.

keep in mind this is one time out of hundereds of matches using that trait

People can be revived from Jagged Horror dying

Didn’t believe it till I saw it with my own eyes. No one around but me, my team mate, a little Jagged Horror, and this elementalist that just so happened to have my JH targeted when he died.

Well I’ll be kitten /p>

my bad. topic is in regard to pvp

so far my thoughts agree with both of yours

any other thoughts, power necros?

As the title says and assuming MH weapon is dagger.

Just curious which people feel is the most potent and why.

Hufflepuffer.4201:

< snipped for the sake of the Necro community >

should be a rule against putting that much bad news in a single post. I mean we all knew it, but seeing it all in one place…. ugh…

I’ve always assumed that the precision was there to not only help generate more conditions but also to supplement the lack of power. you may be focusing on condition dmg but your skills still do direct dmg as well. as long as they crit they’re still respectable dmg even if they don’t stand out like a power build’s does. neglecting that would be a mistake IMO.

I don’t understand. What KD is not effected by Stun break?

As far as I’ve noticed if you’re on the ground, pop stun break and get right back up.

Can we have some examples mr. OP?

digiowl.9620:

That may be a potential issue with moving it down the trait ladder, as then it could be comboes with the 5 second DS cooldown to have near continual stability.

Then again, we can via that route have continual fury and near continual retaliation…

I think the point is no one wants to put 30 points into a tree for 3 sec of stability. Even if they did use the stability and CD reduction traits DS is only 4 skills and 3 have reasonably long CDs (keep in mind you’d be forced to choose the DS skill cd reduction OR the stability in this case). On top of the issue of maintaining LF any build centered around utilizing DS so often is severly limited and performing to 1/3 the potential of most other classes. Basically it’s a poor man’s Elementalist without all the power and utility. Why wouldn’t you just log over to your Ele and do it better?

Darkheart said, “Who plays with just the #1???”

…given the responses in this thread, apparently a lot. I use both my staff and daggers almost equally. What’s the point of weapon swapping if you’re not going to use it? DS is reserved for “oh kitten!” moments and the bits of utility it provides in keeping me alive and keeping pressure on my opponent. It doesn’t offer anything worthwhile enough to utilize it for more than that.

@ OP: So where are the tool tips for these classifications that tell me whether or not I can use a weapon as my “main” weapon? I’d also like to see where these limitations are represented on other characters. Could I find this in the wiki? /dumbfounded

1/10 – ridiculous thread is ridiculous

why would you bother trying to escape a necro when playing a mesmer? just run him over

I don’t want more DS’s to choose from. I just want to be able to customize it for better synergy with builds.

If it were up to me though I’d overhaul the whole thing. LF would be the entire mechanic with skills being made available upon LF gain and scale in effectiveness based on LF level. I’d also increase LF gain and cost drastically. 4 skills based on LF would provide a single target dmg+CC, aoe conditions+CC, a skill called Death Shroud that provides a couple life sustaining boons in addition to traits to customize the boon procs, and lastly a channeled LF consumption that converts LF into HP.

IMO this would make it a lot easier to fulfill that design philosophy they had in mind as well as give us a larger spectrum to create builds within.