nov 15 patch will make or break the near future of GW2’s pvp. it’s basically rock bottom atm. the current meta simply excludes too many people unfortunately. sadly, ive been playing Dota2 again, more and more frequently.
Op is much too melodramatic. In my view from many hours of tpvp, the only real issues are mesmer portals and prof switching.
All profs are well represented in paid and free tourney, except for the ranger maybe. Burst and direct damage still have a place, despite the condition/bunker meta. Bunkers can be brought down by organized condition heavy teams, but they could use a nerf. Whether you build for burst or conditions you must have more sustain, compared to spvp let’s say. Every prof can build for sustain and something else.
Roaming is another highly viable role.
Do we need more game modes? Sure. But balance is far from messy. Expect many problems to get resolved on the 15th
my mesmer GS/mantra sniper build is extremely effective in spvp (hoping to take it into tourneys). the build provides reliable sustainted and burst dps from 1200, in addition to having excellent survivability. stealth is way OP…something my ranger can only dream about.
ironically, the ranger is probably the worst ranged prof because you cant disappear to reset the fight, like the thief, ele or mesmer. rangers without lots of toughness and signets are basically instagibbed in tpvp. rangers lack reliable control, dps and burst from 1200, but are quite effective in skirmishing range (600-900).
this occurs with all teleportation skills when the weapon is sheathed (i.e. blink, judge’s intervention etc). after the teleport occurs, if the weapon was sheathed on activation, the character model will freeze in a pose and glide on the ground, frozen in that pose.
in my opinion, mesmers (along with certain bunker builds, which can actually be manageable) are ruining tpvp. it’s two things and you know exactly what im gonna say:
1. portals: for these control maps especially treb repair in Khylo, this is hugely OP. portals should either be an ult, or go on a huge CD after one use. this would fix it for WvW as well.
2. sword/pistol/staff/shatter: this playstyle effectively renders every other mesmer build obsolete. not only is this particular weapon combination and its typical shatter build the best 1v1 build in the game, but mind wrack is some of the best AOE burst in the game as well. this mesmer is not a one trick pony because you can literally do the stun/shatter/blurred frenzy burst combo over and over again. 15k+ burst on demand with a huge tank to boot. take that thieves.
in my opinion, mesmers (along with certain bunker builds, which can actually be manageable) are ruining tpvp. it’s two things and you know exactly what im gonna say:
1. portals: for these control maps especially treb repair in Khylo, this is hugely OP. portals should either be an ult, or go on a huge CD after one use. this would fix it for WvW as well.
2. sword/pistol/staff/shatter: this playstyle effectively renders every other mesmer build obsolete. not only is this particular weapon combination and its typical shatter build the best 1v1 build in the game, but mind wreck is some of the best AOE burst in the game as well. this mesmer is not a one trick pony because you can literally do the stun/shatter/blurred frenzy burst combo over and over again. 15k+ burst on demand with a huge tank to boot. take that thieves.
This is thief hate is devolving into straight up prejudice.
Soon it won’t matter what they do to thieves, they could nerf them to unusability and people would still rail on them.
This is what happens when you add a stealth/burst class to a MMO. It ALWAYS happens and is a TERRIBLE design decision. ArenaNet should have never given the thief class stealth, instead the class should have been based around short range teleports and evasion. Stealth is and always will be unbalance-able. It gives a huge boost to survivability, allows first strike capability, and catches the enemy unaware.
thing is, there isnt supposed to be a “burst profession”, according to ANet’s manifesto. every prof is supposed to be able to do everything equally.
the resolution is oh so simple: nerf backstab damage by 20-30% and increase HS initiative. keep everything else the same, and the thief would be perfect.
Try making better points or roll a thief and try to apply your friends tactic and see how it turns out in da big zerg.
first of all, that doesnt require skill, and he admits it. he’s been playing his thief for just under a week. secondly, i have no interest in rolling a thief. theyre not a problem for me, i dispatch even good ones on my guardian and ranger. the problem is the overall game balance. too much effect for little to no effort. so why roll anything else? and thats exactly what we’re seeing, outside of tpvp and pve.
the thief is currently the greatest balance issue. i agree that sword/pistol/staff/shatter mesmers need to be nerfed second. and i agree that bunker guardians are ridiculous. but warriors are just fine. their use in high level tpvp is limited, and theyre just fine in all other areas.
my friend who plays a skilled thief engages zergs at will, picking off 2-3 people before disappearing. he basically never dies. again, it’s not about “with proper communication, skill and timing, thieves are no problem.” it’s a zerg! why should anyone engage large groups without any fear?
garbage. lets wait for next weeks’ blog. decent thief nerf, but they still have way too much freedom and now we’re back to HS spam (4-5 consecutive casts, 3-4k each), which is a bit better i guess.
if you dont play tpvp, then you cannot comment on prof balance, period. any scrub (no offense) can look good hiding behind a mob in WvW. playing other profs for over 50 hours in spvp will help you realize how weak the ranger is in every respect.
Dragonbrand’s community was completely destroyed by this. for whatever reason, all the pvp guilds transferred off at the same time, and now we’re dead last in every match-up. i partly blame the idiotic guild leaders for starting this trend, but it’s ultimately ANet’s fault. WvW is driven by community. there is no community now, so WvW is meaningless >.<
3 crits for over 1k per tick, #1 crits for over 1k per ball. #3 has a huge range. #2 can save u. So not just for confusion. But if ure preventing your opponent from attacking for even 3 seconds ure winning.
As I said, defensive weapon that’s useful at range.
Rangers get crushed in tpvp, especially the last round when u get past the scrubs. You can try running axe torch SB condition DMG with protect me, sos and sor. 30/0/30/0/10. It’s the only build (and its variations) that is kinda viable.
The hell is the point of this thread? My experience is the exact opposite on dragon brand. Im always running into people to do events with across all zones. All of our servers are full or high now….no medium pops left. And the game is gonna explode with the content patches. Find a new guild bro.
My GS mesmer crushes any lb ranger I come across at 1200. At 1500 you miss half your shots against a moving target. Where are all you gosu rangers in tpvp and spvp? All the rangers I see are usually getting stomped on. I tend to ignore all rangers if they’re not on point as their damage tickles. If ranger is on point I just step on him, be it on my mes or guard. Rangers are always the first to get focused down as they have no escapes and immobilize breakers. If you haven’t experienced this then u haven’t encountered half-competent teams.
Mesmer is overall a well designed class. All trait trees are viable and all weapons are more or less useful even in PvP. Coming from the mess that is the ranger, my mes is a breath of fresh air
Ranger is fine. Thieves can be a tough fight, but most classes are incredibly easy and boring. As for condition spec – triple trap is the best condition damage in the game.
Thieves and warriors are actually the easy fights at least with my build. It’s the bunkers and tanky condition specs that will crush you. Rangers don’t have reliable condition removal due to pets melting in longer fights, and they don’t have good sustain in general, also due to terribad pets.
I just switched my build to 20/30/0/0/20 with +4% for mantras, +3% per illusion, with valkyrie armor and knights jewelry. My GS is a Mystical Claymore (zerk stats).
I have to say the build is amazing with lots of crits, vigor on crits, high dmg.
I’m very pleased with that trait/gear configuration with the GS. I’ve heard a lot of hate towards mantras, but +16% dmg from them is amazing. Also I find the condition mantra excellent. I’m also using the daze mantra with good results.
Nice glad ure enjoying it. I’ll start putting some footage together soon for a vid. I’m wrecking in spvp. The damage is so high from such a long distance and escaping is possible most of the time with blink and 2 invisi, so u can always reposition and nuke. Given how reliable the DPS application and cc are, I think this build would be viable for extreme single target damage in tpvp.
@lights bane
I took your advice with the scepter and started using to more defensively while sometimes pre-empting my escape. It works great. 1 crits for over 1k and #3 has a very nice range. Even untraited confusion is very useful. Torch synergizes wonderfully by giving a free escape. The iMage does suck, giving only 1 stack of confusion, but the prestige is worth it. Offhand sword might be a great defensive tool as well.
sounds good man. i’ll continue to advocate for the profession, you can continue to live in fantasy land where youre not outclassed by every single profession in the game in every single way.
enough of these useless posts by noobs who havent even set foot into tpvp. listen, no one cares about rangers and PVE. you can go 0/0/0/0/0 with or without a pet and still faceroll through all of the pve content.
pets are not fine. no, it’s not us. it’s the terribad pathing. any fool can juke a pet by changing angles sharply. pets are melted by stray aoe, both in PVE and pvp. these issues need to be addressed.
when you blink with any weapon set sheathed, the character animation will freeze and you will proceed to glide instead of running. unsheathing the weapon before blinking prevents the bug.
i dont shatter my illusions. i use the trait that gives +3% damage per active illusion. Runes of the Scholar and Sigil of Force for another +15% damage, and +12% damage for 3 charged mantras. this is a lot of reliable damage from 1200.
i use mantra of pain. it’s spammable, so with 3 charges, autoattack, #2 and iberserker, you can easily dish out 10-15k damage against high toughness builds in 3-4 seconds. throw in a daze for good measure to interrupt any healing.
I play ranger, mesmer and guardian in wvw. The utility rangers bring compared to the other two is simply laughable. My mantra GS mesmer vastly out dps’s my lb ranger because the damage is basically instant (laser beams can’t be sidestepped) not to mention I can daze and actually support my team on demand. The ranger’s pet is always either travelling or dying.
