Guild Wars 2

TL;DR:
typing a wall-o-text about how to “properly” nerf a profession which will likely never be read by anyone at Anet is easier than learning to play.

Nothing needs buffing or nerfing. The c&d thing on walls is just stupid and should be fixed, but not surprising for ANet.

Ross Biddle.2367:

I love thieves. Their burst and sudden use of multiple skills makes them wax to the proverbial flame of confusion.

^^
I used to get kitten when bs thieves instagibbed me back when I was a noob. Now I like to go stand around and pretend to be afk/distracted and wait for them to open on me. Let them wall hump for ‘perma stealth.’ sounds fun /eyeroll

Now what really annoys me is the ele’s who will engage you and then run at 50% over and over and over and over. So, pretty much all of them. Stay and fight to the death once, you might get better and have to run less ;-*

Some kind of quitter debuff would probably work best. Otherwise, they should at least give an outmanned style buff to the team who is down a player.

Yeah, a really good stealth spammer d/d thief is rough. Fortunately the vast majority of thieves aren’t at that level. A few tips:

Unless you’re in full rabid with tons of armor, you’ll want to stack some vitality so you’re not instagibbed by the steal/bs combo.

Don’t shatter when they stealth. Your clones/illusions will go after the thief immediately when they go vis.

They have to stay inside of shadow refuge for the duration to get the full stealth, so drop aoe/interrupts on it.

Make the most of your combo fields. Sword leap on an ethereal field gives you and the clone chaos armor. Staff retreat, obviously. Iduelist shots confuse when comboed with ethereal. Retaliation, confusion and chaos armor can really ruin a bkacstabber’s day.

If you can survive the initial burst and get a good combo off on the thief, you should be able to apply enough pressure to regain control of the fight.

Yep, you’ve got it
I always keep a focus in my bag for travel, and for tower assault. It’s still a great offhand without the projectile reflection, so no worries if you get caught up in a fight with it equipped while travelling.

Oh, for utilities.. 90% of the time I run blink, null field and decoy with Mass Invis.

Sometimes for WVW I run 20/25/10/0/15, and go GS/sword focus or sword/sword. I don’t like dropping master of misdirection. I do think the staff is stronger is most situations than GS, but GS is really nice for putting clones/illusions on your enemy at range.

In pvp I use carrion amulet, berserker jewel and runes of Lyssa. Sigils of energy for more dodge clones. Wvw I’m in all berserker armor, chrysocola jewlery and orbs. Rampager armor would probably be better, but I had switched from a power/crit glass build and didn’t feel like grinding cash for new armor.

Torch and scepter are both lackluster. Focus is nice, but I actually prefer the OH sword. Pistol is still king of mesmer offhands, for power or condi builds.

I have no opinions on pve. But in pvp and wvw I run a similar build. I also use carrion and rely heavily on retaliation and confusion. I’m sure this build would work for you, but try 0/30/20/0/20 with sword/pistol and staff. Less punch on your mind wrack, but what you gain is very worth it (imho).

You pickup confusing combatants and debilitating dissipation, so your clones apply confusion and either bleed or vuln or weak every time they die/pop for any reason other than a shatter. Your also grabbing illusionist’s celerity and the cooldown reduction for all your weaps. That plus deceptive evasion and you pump clones/images at a staggering rate.

I run sword/pistol instead of focus for one important reason. Iduelist’s shots are combo projectiles, so drop a chaos storm or null field on your iduelist, and he will inflict confusion with every shot. I dunno how many thieves/wars/rangers have burned themselves down on me before they knew it due to retaliation and ~9 stacks of confusion.

This build does decent damage, but it’s very low on burst. It is very resilient and tough to take down. It’s also exceedingly annoying to fight, which is why I love it.

Remember, left to right

I rarely use it. I hate that you have to stop to cast it.

I think they should make it on target instead of targeted and caste-able while moving. That or significantly buff the damage/utility.

For the love of god, creatures big and small… PLEASE Anet, give us a utility speed buff. 25% passive signet, eh eh?

Rym.1469:

You say that cast bars lower skill cap. Well, not really. Have you ever heard of “Fake Cast”? What it means, you cancel ability when casting to force enemy try to counter it. In games like WoW it’s very skillbased mechanic due to hard CC/healing skills and in much more dynamic game like GW2 it could be even more, just because reaction time is quite shorter.
The another reason is, you won’t build working Esport based on watching animations. They’re too different, they can lag out, they just won’t work. You can’t make MMO based only about bunkers/roamers and watching animations, dear God! You have to predict, you have to have full view of what you see, then we can speak about more advanced tactics, build diversity and e-sport. Without these basics, I’d say core pvp mechanics most of the times you smash your defenses and interrupts veery randomly when entering larger fight.
When the game pretends to be a revolution, be it, but don’t throw away whole bunch of good ideas because “it was before” like Robespierre in french revolution, or you’ll kill yourself.

Yeah, in wow I always pvp’d as destro lock. You had to juke fears and bait those counterspells. Of the two combat systems I think GW2 is more fluid and just feels better. It’s just my opinion that cast bars would detract from that. I want to be watching the combat, not text and colored bars.

That’s not an offhanded response. I loved how my lock played. I wish Gw2 had a better analog, but overall I don’t think cast bars mesh with this combat system. You’re not likely to change my opinion on that point

Maybe target of target, but only for allies. I don’t mind a little fog of war. A smidge of realism and the unexpected is nice. Wow pvp often came down to who got the opening, or who ran their little fight script best. You had cooldown timers and notifications for everything. It became wooden and mechanical (imho) at higher levels of play.

Okay, so I’ve always played asuran mesmer. Tonight I made a maximum size male norn mesmer. Loaded him out with the exact same build/gear as I usually run, and ran a few hours of spvp. Not only did I not notice any difference in my survivability, I have never received so much trash talk. Whatever ppl thought of trying to target me or my team around 4 of my big butt, they definitely noticed me, and let me get under their skin.

So, whatever targeting advantage asura may have given me, I’m pretty sold on Norn as being the OP race for spvp. At least when it comes to Mesmers.

I like this idea. More siege variety and non-combat siege would be interesting.

That would be a nice feature.

Onshidesigns.1069:

kodesh.2851:

Onshidesigns.1069:

kodesh.2851:

How about no.

Too creepy.

Read All the posts before making stupid comments.

I did, and that’s what I had to say about it. Kindly t(-.-)t

How long have you played video games? How many have kids as main characters? No it isn’t creepy to play a kid in a game, It normal.

Since MUD’s were the most popular multiplayer games around, if you don’t count my 8-bit days. Yes, many games do have kids as main characters. It simply doesn’t fit with this game’s milieu. No sane parent would let their kid out of Lionsarch. It would feel really tacked on.

Onshidesigns.1069:

kodesh.2851:

How about no.

Too creepy.

Read All the posts before making stupid comments.

I did, and that’s what I had to say about it. Kindly t(-.-)t

Tier 6 gemstones. They just have stats, no special effects like runes. But it’s a good amount of stats and they are only a few silver each.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crafting_material#Gemstones

For any kind of pvp/wvw, runes of Lyssa are beastly. Assuming the precision compliments your build and you know how to get good use out of Mass Invis (I prefer it to Timewarp, no matter how op it supposedly is).

It’s the condition wipe + stealth. The boons are just icing. I can’t count how many times this setup has saved my bacon.

I agree with xavi. Runes of centaur are a good option if you aren’t using a focus, or don’t like swapping one when traveling. But I feel like using the healing mantra is a punishment for perma-swiftness :P

Mainhand pistol please.

Try them out in the heart of the mists first. I really like Runes of Lyssa, but just run orbs in pve b/c they’re so cheap.

I thought it was trap rangers and 100nade engi’s that were OP this week.

I did the first few on my first few chars. Not for me. This is a great mmo, but it’s not a great single player RPG. Story mode just feels bad and tacked on imo. Breaks the immersion with all the scripted crap and instances.

Please? I’m so tired of 111111ing for those first 5mins just to get to level 2 so I can enter PVP.

WvW needs Raids. C’mon.

Capes. Yes, please. You guys could make a kitten fortune in the gem shop if you released them there first.

Toxyn.9608:

kodesh.2851:

More things I would never do. Blah.

You may not do them, but others surely would. I am sure there are things you want added that I would not be interested in.

Actually, there’s probably things I want removed that you like

Daily/monthly rewards for one.

I’d like the option to not have any daily/monthly rewards, but have that extra loot/exp just rolled back into my kill/ other activities. I just want to roam around and do my thing. I’ll chop down that tree if I kitten well feel like it, I don’t care if I need 4 more gathers for a monthly prize. Pthththp.

How about no.

Too creepy.

I’d rather have selectable armor sets than dual speccing at this point. I wouldn’t say no to it, though. I swap specs a LOT.

More things I would never do. Blah.

Just make them all available for karma.

Plum Butter.4058:

The problem with enemy cast bars is that Arena Net wanted everything to be more reliant on the visibility of the world itself. That is why they were not in the game to start with and the UI is very minimized.

^^

This. No cast bars. It would lower the skill cap, not raise it. Memorizing the names of the most dangerous skills so you can interrupt them isn’t in fact, skill. Having a feel of what your opponent is/will cast next based on many hours of gameplay and by watching their movements, is.

This required situational awareness lends itself greatly to the immersiveness of the combat and gameplay. And I think it would be of too great a detriment to that immersiveness and feel changing character model sizes, for the tiny smidge of fairness you might add.

It’s also a totally hokey/kludgey way to fix the “issue.” I hope ANet has more class than to just resize a race model because someone lost at pvp.

Rampager has the right stats in the wrong combination. Too much precision.

I too wanted a power/crit/condition set. I also wanted to be able to buy it all on the trading post. I settled on full zerker armor, with chrysocola (pwr,cond,vit) jewlery and orbs. Staff is Rampager, though I will probly swap that for Carrion.

This is a slightly more power/crit focused. You get to about 1900pwr, 800condition dmg, 40% crit. Those are rough numbers, I’m usually 20+ into dueling. I use a sigil of minor corruption to get condi over 1000.

Ah, I thought you were asking in general, not just pve. I’m obviously more of a pvper :P

For PVE mesmer condition builds felt pretty weak to me. Phantasm power/crit was probably the best damage output. Power/crit shatter sometimes, depending on the fight.

VERY viable indeed. I run a similar build, 10/25/20/0/15. Extra 5 in dueling for confusing combatants and I also pick up debilitating dissipation in Chaos. You can pump out clones almost faster than you can shatter them with the staff and deceptive evasion, so I like having them drop conditions on folks when they pop due to being killed or me summoning a 4th illusion.

To the above poster who said zerker doesn’t synergize with carrion, phooey! It all depends.

For pvp I’m carrion amulet/rampager jewel, runes of Lyssa. Staff, sword/X.

For Pve I just go full zerker power/crit, cause why not? :P

For WVW I run all zerker armor, Chrysocola/carrion jewlery and orbs. I have around 1900pwr, 40% crit, 50% crit dmg ~800 condition dmg and 19k health. Sigil of minor corruption gets condition damage over 1000 before food/buffs.

While I don’t burst as hard, I can put out heavy sustained damage regardless if they are stacking toughness or vitality. Staff retreat with combo fields can give you VERY high uptime on chaos armor.

I’m considering dropping the 10 in domination, but I like being able to swap between extra illusion damage, mind wrack damage or clone cripples depending on the situation.

Less burst obviously than full power/crit shatter or phantasm, but you pump out consistent damage and are very difficult to bring down.

My only pve advice would be to focus on power/crit mostly. GS and sword/X are all great. Utilities are situational.

For PVP or WVW… The staff is my best friend. 90% of the time I have blink, null field, decoy and mass invis on my bar. Null field is amazing. Love using it offensively to strip boons, and love the free chaos armor from comboing with staff retreat. If you end up doing a lot of pvp/wvw, practice how to move, and when not to move. You can really confuse people if you have a few clones out and you’re not strafing/dodging/jumping and making it obvious which is the real you.

I agree scepter could use some love. But I doubt they’ll add new conditions or effects like long term sleep/immobilize.

Here’s how to fix scepter with only existing mechanics:

Scepter 1: Add a random condition (maybe confusion, burn, vuln) like winds of chaos, but no boon/bounce on the first two in the chain, third would remain the clone summon.

Scepter 2: Currently feels clunky and the clone summon sometimes messes up my dodges. Maybe something like guardian focus instead. Create a shield that absorbs the next 3 attacks, if not destroyed the shield explodes, blinding nearby enemies.

Scepter 3: Get rid of the channel, make it a simple on target spell. Reduce total damage a bit to compensate. Would deal moderate damage and apply 5 stacks of confusion.

The guild bonuses and upgrades, like most other rewards feel watered down. Who cares about 5% better crafting or w/e, really? Let me easily queue me and my buddies, from anywhere for some hawt guild on guild pvp or wvw action. Make claiming keeps/towers meaningful in some way. Put your guild icon on the minimap for everyone and give a guild only rally point. Let us form pvp teams in the guild panel so we can hotjoin/tourney as a group easily and from anywhere.

They went through all the trouble of making portals everywhere and letting you pop into wvw or pvp from anywhere… Go the extra mile and get rid of the last few barriers to gameplay.

Troll thread.

Golems are good, but there are NUMEROUS other elites that are way more dangerous or better able to change the balance of a fight. Especially 1v1. Get real.

I also hate the auto camera rotate. It’s just annoying.

xiv.7136:

zone.1073:

Give us a settings option to change our view of Asuras, so that Asuras have the same model and size as humans and sylvari, but with an Asuran head. Done deal.

The player controlling the Asura will still see themselves normal and tiny. But people who see the Asura have the option to tick “Normalize Enemy Character Models” in settings.

This idea needed to be quoted

Surely this would satisfy both sides right?

Will this also make Norn human size? If they ever put this change in, I’d reroll Norn mesmer, maximum size. Don’t like not being able to target a little me, GL when there are 4 MASSIVE me’s.

pvp “rewards.” They really need to make honor give you something in the pve/wvw side of the game imo.

Actually, I think the entire loot/gear system from top to bottom is broken. I already stopped doing all pve because there is no loot I want (bought crafted exotics, no way I’m running the same dungeon 40+ times for a different look). Stopped doing WvW because it becomes monotonous and the rewards don’t feel meaningful (yay some exp and a few silver for spending an hour on that keep).

PVP has kept me entertained just because I like the combat system, and trying out new specs/combos. But that’s wearing off and there are no rewards in sight that will keep me playing much longer.

Trap rangers are great, but they don’t have much for stun breaks and escape abilities, their bar being full of traps and all. Their trap range isn’t that large. Not a lot of condition removal. There’s Enough there to exploit. Reflection, retaliation and confusion are all very helpful.

As a mesmer, I always like to take at least 15 into illusions for confusing cry and illusionary retribution. Let your phantasms do the talking. I also happen to run a clone spam/death build, so they get confusion and another condition every time they pop a clone. Helpful for necros too.

Guardian I run GS/Hammer, so trap rangers hurt. I pretty much have to burst them down before I run out of cooldowns.

jportell.2197:

Anyways Imma keep playing sPvP on my Asura not because I know it ticks people like him off but because I like my ninja back flip dodging purple butterfly making asura Mesmer. That is all and have a nice day.

I think you brought this thread around to the real issue here. NERF BUTTERFLIES.

The animation may be the same, so it’s like blackjack. You have to be able to count the cards enough to have a feel for what skills they’ve already burned and what they’re likely to pull next. No cast bars is a part of what makes this game’s combat system feel so crunchy and good, imo. It’s more immersive.

Great response Chaith. OP, I’d recommend you try this build out. Nothing will teach you how to defeat it like learning it yourself. That’s the easiest way to l2p, and I do it anytime I run into a spec/combo that I don’t know how to counter

Getting trash talk thrown at me is how I know I’m doin’ it right. That and the scoreboard

I’m fine without cast bars. I like that people have to learn the animations through experience. Cast bars would make interrupts even more ez-mode. It’s not tough to tell when someone is casting, but it does take some experience to learn what to interrupt and what to dodge/ignore.

I do think the mini-map could be more informative of your own team’s movements. Enemy movements should remain hidden.

Two races of humans, plant elves or cat monkeys… I’ll stick with the Asura, thanks. Now that I know this annoys people so much though, I’ve deleted my couple of non-asuran chars so ALL of my pvp toons are Asuran. t(-.-)t

iDefender only seems to work well for me underwater :P