Guild Wars 2

Moddo – You can’t fix one problem (Mesmer lack of siege pressure) by keeping or introducing another (Berserker LOS). I expect Arena Net will buff the class if they feel it has become too weak.

“Working as Intended”.

The difference is that other AOE spells don’t actively seek you out and can only be cast so far into a keep due to LOS. They also cannot target the EB underground spawn platforms.

Unless you can cause your enemy to lose you as a target Berserker can be continuously cast while you are in range, which makes it far more effective at harassing than other indirect target abilities.

As you pointed out, Berserker is the only phantasm that ignores LOS and this is clearly creating problems.

I have faith that with enough positive attention to the Berserker LOS bug, Arena Net will take notice and fix it inline with other spells. There will of course be griefers looking to exploit bugs in class mechanics for fun, that’s only natural, but it’s also only natural for these things to get fixed

Keep up with the bumps folks and hopefully the developers will take notice!

Darnis, those skills require LOS to the target area and so can be avoided by moving out of the red circle. The Berserker doesn’t require LOS and can be repeatedly cast at someone who would otherwise not be reachable by any other skills.

The unique nature of the Berserker LOS bug is best demonstrated beneath EB on the underground spawn platforms, where no other skill can perpetually target a player.

I realise that you must feel passionately about having one of your skills fixed, but you ought to understand that it’s just a fix, and wouldn’t affect you in any meaningful way unless you’re attempting to grief other players.

Here’s a hanky to clean the froth off your mouth.

from my earlier post:

“Something else to bare in mind – if it were just one Mesmer spamming the berserker I’d just jump down and send him packing over the nearest cliff with my Warrior, but it’s usually a group of them, in which case you have no way to defend against 2 or 3 berserkers and no way to escape.”

Grenades and Meteor storm don’t follow you far beyond LOS, they also need to be cast onto something that is within LOS.

It takes more than 2 auto attacks to kill it, and you won’t be killing it until it tries to attack you so you’re going to burn something to dodge it.

The berserker can be used to perpetually harass players while allowing the caster to remain safely out of view from retaliation.

Haha well the fact you disregarded all other points kind of demolishes your argument don’t you think?

Yes you can avoid the berserker. Eventually you will run out of dodge and defensive skills and you will be hit. Your HP does not regenerate fast while in combat so in the end it will be whittled down to nothing.

Something else to bare in mind – if it were just one Mesmer spamming the berserker I’d just jump down and send him packing over the nearest cliff with my Warrior, but it’s usually a group of them, in which case you have no way to defend against 2 or 3 berserkers and no way to escape.

In the case of keep sieges, yes you can indeed avoid the attack by running away but as LOS doesn’t block targetting, “running away” means leaving the battlefield entirely. On the other hand you could kill it, but the cooldown is short enough for it to be back up right after you kill the last one.

Yeah siege weapons under there is also iffy, the issue boils down to answering the question:

“Is it fun being attacked with no way to defend yourself?”

And of course the answer is no.

ANet could either set up some elaborate blockades on those ledges to prevent people spawning in from being ganked, or they could fix the skills causing the exploits.

I reckon it would be simpler to prevent skill casts without LOS, and prevent siege weapons from being built underground.

Are you trolling or are you just that daft? It’s hard to tell on the internet, so I’m just going to assume you didn’t think your reply through.

The issue is not with taking damage and dying, the issue is taking damage with no way to fight back. If I willingly jump down to fight those players then I will accept my fate, or get lucky and fear their noob arses over a cliff. However I should be able to make the choice of whether to fight or not, and until that choice is made I should not be subject to unavoidable and uncounterable damage.

Spawn points and their mechanics. Look them up.

Once again, the LOS bug will be fixed.

[Edit]

I know what your next reply will be, so I’ll just counter it right away: Yes, I could choose not to go into the EB underground area, and that’s exactly what I’ve done. Somehow I don’t think this is what ANet intended though. The problem is there is no way to know who is on the other side, and usually as I mentioned this is solved by making you untargetable at your spawn location, so that gankers can’t have their way with you unless you choose to engage in a fight.

In honesty, all damage should be blocked from being cast up or from those ledges.

Mists of Pandaria is looking pretty good now, I don’t like the subscription fee but the way the GW2 economy is going, it’d probably work out cheaper in the long run. Then there’s the whole thing about WoW being exactly what it says on the box. Always wanted a reason to go resurrect my Worgen Rogue =)

The problem isn’t the difference in stats (although that is kitten too), it’s the Agony mechanic as a gear check to progress through dungeons. That’s a slippery slope, and for ANet to start so soon after the game’s release is disturbing.

Yes yes yes! I loved Katars in Ragnarok! I also really like the idea of the Assassin archetype being rooted in a slightly more Arabic style, as that’s where the word originated.

“Oh boy! I can’t wait to see what the new Thief changes will be!”

I pointed this out in the WvWvW forum regarding Mesmers chucking those blighted things up onto the spawn platforms in the underground area in EB. The mechanic is pretty broken to be honest, yet the Mesmer players who have commented about it seem to think they’re above reproach saying things like “working as intended”.

It’s not working as intended.

As noted it’s the only (or one of very few) skill(s) that doesn’t require LOS, so to fix it you either fix each instance in the world where the skill has an undesirable effect, or you fix the skill.

ArenaNet will fix it. Sorry chaps.

There’s an issue with the three ledges in the underground area of Eternal Battlegrounds that allows Mesmers to stand flush with the ledge wall and cast some of their illusions onto the platforms above.

The ledges need to protect the players upon them from damage, or the portals need to be useable as a means of escape. Currently groups of Mesmers can just sit underneath the ledges and gank anyone that pops through.

Well no, it’s not working as intended.

You fail to see the point here, if you portal through to the ledge you have no choice to leave, and you cannot attack the Mesmer as they’re standing flush with the ledge wall below. There needs to be some kind of barrier up to stop attacks and casts from passing through onto the ledge. The three ledges were quite clearly designed to prevent players portaling through from being ganked by a zerg waiting on the other side.

This isn’t a class bug, but rather a bug with the area itself which needs fixing.

As if Mesmers weren’t cheap enough, they seem to be able to launch their illusions up onto the spawn points in the underground area of EB, this wouldn’t be a problem if you could kittening leave through the portal, but Arena Net seem to want you to commit to your 3 silver repair bill the moment you step through. You have the choice of slowly dying on the ledge, or jumping down to meet the rest of the zerg.

Thankfully their awful personalities are kept mostly out of your personal story missions. Eir is really the only likeable and halfway sensible character of all of them. You can catch up on their inane squabbles and hissy fits by doing the dungeons, although I’d personally find discussing the meaning of life with a Murloc more fulfilling.

Does anyone else get the impression that the Sylvari are incredibly narrow minded? Caithe especially; upon discovering that there may be other Sylvari descended from another Tree, can only assume how alien and heretical they might be. The Nightmare Court are no better, on the one hand they reject the Pale Tree’s authority, but then go right ahead and devote their lives to believing in and causing misery and pain.

I get the impression through art style and voice acting that the Sylvari are supposed to be proper, elegant and respectful. I can’t decide whether this is yet another symptom of Guild War’s nonsensical writing, or if Arena Net genuinely intended the Sylvari to be a race of Hannibal Lecters.

They’re not designed to be damage dealers, they’re designed as utility skills. Between them, you can prevent high damage attacks from flat out being cast, or cause them to miss. My Thief alt I’m levelling has no trouble fighting groups of mobs thanks to black powder inflicting blind on them continuously.

He never asked for this.

Focksbot: They knew. Oh, they knew.

Stability is your friend when facing the Dredge.

Those mother kittening mining suits are the most annoying mobs in the game. I’m running through lower level areas now on my way to 100% map completion, and whenever I go underground or into a mine with Dredge in it, I make a point of killing every single one of those pricks and often repeatedly.

When I was in Frostgorge Sound doing the Dredge uprising hearts, I actually revelled in watching those muppets kill each other. The fact that those events repeat forever, making that area a continuous grind of misery, pain and suffering for those mole kittens actually warms my heart.

Orr is a fantastic zone!

It’s the only zone in the whole game except exploreable dungeons where I felt like there were truly any enemies worthy of the name. I actually had to respec my warrior more defensively and LEARN some kitten combos before I was able to advance through those barricades in Straights of Devastation. I had to be selective of which skills I picked, and would often switch out different major trait skills depending on the particular area I was in.

That said, I died a grand total of twice in Orr, both times falling from a ledge. I was able to solo all but two skill challenges, one in Malchor’s leap with two veterans that I couldn’t kill fast enough, and another in Shores inside that maze which I had the same problem with.

Orr is not too hard, it just requires some thought, which appears to be a commodity bred out of this current generation of gamers.

PS If you’re a warrior, CARRYING banner of tactics is your friend.

Well knowing the Mad King, and knowing you, perhaps this time you’ll have to face it; this time you’re through.

I remember Super Mario 3 taking nearly 60 lives from me in the final world on that damnable tank level alone :/

I’d completed it before step 3. Shrug, guess it’s not as hard as people think.

<- grew up playing platformers.

I got the Mad Moon on my fourth or fifth run. I’m not a shield kinda guy, so I’ll sell it to one of you suckas for 150g.

I, like most players, have completed ClockTower many times now and while the initial twenty five minutes are a little difficult, the challenge quickly wanes. To remedy this I have a few suggestions that I hope ArenaNet will consider:

1.) Make an extended ‘hard mode’ ClockTower with more jumping, and increased equipment damage the further along you are when you die.

2.) Make the existing and extended ClockTowers give improved loot the more times you complete them in a row; at 10 completions you get an achievement and a unique exotic item or skin. These could be made craftable as well to stay fair for those who don’t have the time / aren’t skillfull enough to complete the challenge by normal means. The mats should probably cost 1/4 as much as a legendary, so easy to reach for most if not all players.

3.) Add a death timer that stacks if you fail multiple times, making you wait a little longer, say 30-45 seconds longer at max stacks just to calm people down who have been trying but failing – this would be especially good for casual players who have never played a platformer before (about 65-75% of GW2 players).

4.) Put players of similar girth into the same instance, or limit players of large girth to x per instance. This should allow most normal players to complete their runs effectively while limiting the small minority of excessively large characters to their own instances or groups. A message could also pop up recommending particularly fat players to remove their clothes.

5.) Make ClockTower PvP.

It’s annoying to have to ask you chunky monkeys to take your clothes off so the rest of the players can see what they’re doing. After the first time I failed the puzzle I took my Norn’s clothes off except the shoulder pads to remove clutter from the screen yet keep her distinguishable. Everyone else in the instance did the same thing. I find it incredible that anyone even has to ask. And yes, it is a pain in the kitten to have to run with some fatty who dies at the same bloody place in the puzzle over and over again, meaning that up until their very obvious point of demise everyone else has to suffer.

What they need is a separate instance for large characters, where those with eating disorders or obsessions with fur can go after they inevitably fail three or four times what is in actuality a fairly easing jump challenge (it has nothing on Mario, Sonic, Megaman or any other REAL platformer).

good job dude, there ought to be some sort of recognition for facing ridiculous odds and making it out alive!

Im hanging onto mine, I have several thousand that I packed onto an alt to get it away from my bank slots. Waiting to see if the price goes up down the road.

Minion of Vey – I think it’s fitting that such hysteria should exist around the Mad King’s event, even to the point of undercutting by several gold to give the illusion of “my my, isn’t this deal something” (that should be read in a Morgan Freeman voice by the way).

A few weeks ago I foolishly crafted an extremely ugly exotic sabre in hopes of selling it for a tidy 30 silver profit. I didn’t check supply vs demand thoroughly enough and within minutes was undercut by another seller. This continued for several days until the sword was no longer worth the materials to craft it, the sellers list window telling a sordid tale of me toos a page long. Eventually I took it off the TP and used it myself as an excuse to switch to a different build.

I’m quite fascinated with the Trading Post in this game, it’s so simple in its portrayal of economics yet so informative of human behaviour, my true opinion of which is neatly hidden under the guise of The Mad King Did It, so as to not get covered in cat fur.

Grim – Kitty

I completely agree Sleepy. The game does need its gold sinks, but this combined with encouraging players to purchase keys with gems to manufacture the Mad King’s chests when those chests have such a terrible drop rate makes me extremely hesitant to perform any task requiring a large investment of effort before someone else has tested the water.

Ethos – As I wrote, undercutting is normal and to be expected especially when dealing with the Mad King’s eager disciples. However, no sane person would ever undercut their nearest competitor by more than 1 copper, as the effect of undercutting someone by 1c and 100g is the same as far as jumping the queue of sellers is concerned. Any undercutting beyond 1c has no favourable effect on the seller, in fact it is detrimental to their profits!

Thus I once again surmise that the Mad King himself is influencing these poor budding business people to make excruciatingly poor business decisions.

Either that or someone at ArenaNet is having a laugh.

Sleepy – Someone from ArenaNet mentioned that people should bare in mind that once the event is over, crafting will be the only way to make the weapons… However, as you said, they screwed up by letting people craft them before the event was over under the impression that that would be the best way to get them.

I get the overall impression that ArenaNet are fairly savage when it comes to the economy in this game, and players should in general be extremely wary when making large purchases or decisions that cost a lot of effort, as they may be screwing themselves out of a fortune.

I was lucky enough to get a Mad Moon shield drop in the Mad King’s dungeon yesterday, and checked its price on the TP to see if I should equip or sell it as I’m currently a sword/warhorn warrior for melee range combat. Initially the price of the shield was around 50g, which suggested that it should be sold, but now I’ve noticed that undercutting has reduced its price to around 10g.

This is Madness!

The cost of manufacturing the shield is over 100g currently, yet people seem obsessed with selling their shield as quickly as possible, EVEN THOUGH IT WILL NOT BE OBTAINABLE VIA ANY OTHER MEANS THAN CRAFTING IN LESS THAN A WEEK! I understand that people will want to sell their ill gotten gains quickly, and so undercutting will be a factor, but the amount by which people undercut is also insane! Some drops in price were by as much as 10g in a single undercut.

Now, had I not seen this level of silliness with undercutting on other items in the game, I’d have assumed that someone was forcing the price down to buy a large stock of Halloween weapons to sell later on at a huge markup (completely missing the issue of supply vs demand with expensive gear)…

…However I think that what is far more likely, is that the Mad King himself has somehow influenced these otherwise logical and reasonable sellers to commit heinous crimes against the economy. I can only hope that in the coming weeks and months the Mad King’s hold wains, and I’m able to sell my random 10 minutes of effort chest drop for a disgustingly large profit.

Yeah it’s a kitteny state for sPvP, it’s at least mitigated by allowing you to roll a fully functional alt almost instantly. I sPvP with my Thief and do everything else with my Warrior.

Kashou you should further narrow your post down to sPvP, as a lot of the stuff you mentioned doesn’t apply in WvWvW either. E.g. banners are useful in a zerg for their effects and triggering combos, and with the amount of CC happening you won’t care so much about not having your precious frenzy vs shake it off. +Healing is also pretty kitten useful in WvWvW. Basically anything to keep you up for long enough to put another player between you and the 10 enemies that popped in thanks to high server load.

Ok, thanks very much!

…The server, BlackGate, has its population listed as “full”. Would he still be able to roll a character on there at off-peak hours, or does “full” mean no transfers/new characters period?

“I like Apples, but Oranges taste better!”
“Why not eat an Orange then?”

In other MMOs:

“Waaah! It’d take me 6 months to grow an Orange!”

In GW2:

“Waaah!”

Personally I’ve prioritised my legendary item collection to leave the base weapon till second last, and the karma to dead last. This is mainly because of the high price point, but also because my guild will have the karma bonus buffs by then, and also I will have maximised my chance to get the base weapon through RNG.

The cost of the weapon is certainly huge, but I’ve already begun to break even with my weapon smithing trade skill at 325/400, where selling the weapons I produce is enough to fund further skilling up.

I would suggest to anyone wanting to make enough money to buy the base weapon outright to look into playing the Trading Post, or research into which profession makes a good amount of money by selling crafted items. 300g is certainly not obtainable via world drops imo, you really need to have a grasp on the game’s economy to pull that much money off.

Finally, and this will be controversial for sure, but if you REALLY need to you could always buy gems with real money and trade those for gold. I would personally consider this a last resort, but not completely off the books as the game does not require a monthly subscription. If I had every other material ready except the base weapon, and saw no way to obtain the weapon by other means, I would consider this.

Having said all this, who the kitten cares about 300g when you need ONE MILLION KARMA!

What class / story chain did you guys choose that you found challenging? I played my warrior through the Vigil quest line and found it to be really easy (even before the nerfs to difficulty) and I’m getting the impression that I chose an easymode class. I also haven’t been killed in Orr yet by anything other than one of the environmental jumping puzzles, and I pretty much solo’d the skill challenges except the maze one in Cursed Shore where my DPS wasn’t high enough to kill the two vets back to back.

I was thinking of rolling an Elementalist to up the ante a little, would this be a good choice for difficulty?

Is this the mission that happens in Lion’s Arch? Because if it is, it is eminently soloable! (hint, look around for siege weapons)

Hey ANet, just letting you know that I found this weird, rare bug in the very final mission of the story mode in this game. It’s not a biggy really.

If you could just, you know, make Zhaitan do something other than just stand perfectly still while we pummel him to death over 20 minutes, I think that would be grand.

Thanks, and with hugs!

Regarding naivety, I have to agree that the story is very unimaginative and by the numbers. I suppose it’s because I too have read my share of books, and it seems that ArenaNet simply did not employ a good writer. For example, the main antagonist is so obviously evil that it defies belief. Zhaitan is almost a comical villain whose lumbering hordes of undead are a pretty good metaphor for the game’s treatment of the storyline: laboured.

I’m 28 and for the last half hour I’ve been posting in threads about the bad story and scripting in the game. I just witnessed a man die for his friend and didn’t feel a shred of emotion, in fact I was trying to find a way to skip the whole scene.

I feel that although the story is cliche, predictable and at times utterly ludicrous, what really brings these problems to a head isn’t the problems themselves, it’s the execution of the story. Many times cutscenes have lasted for too long, NPCs have paused between actions for several seconds, and voice acting has been all over the place.

Compared to other games, even games in its genre, Guild Wars 2 seems to be between five and ten years behind in terms of cinematic quality.

Claw Island stood out to me as well as a spectacularly badly executed mission, I’d like to add that the return to Claw Island mission is similarly ridiculous. The dragon fight simply has to be witnessed to be believed; The thing lands, and stands almost perfectly still for about 5 minutes while you slowly whittle its life down and it dies. The thing put up a pretty poor show in my opinion and it is not worthy of the notoriety bestowed upon it.

Although I don’t find the acting in the personal story missions to be too good, I can’t say I’ve had many problems with difficulty. Some of the earlier group fights were a little scary, and during those fights I’d often switch to my rifle or bow and cover friendly NPCs. If I got knocked down, I’d focus on a mob on low hp to be able to rally and get back into the fight.

I’m currently 80 in Orr with a hammer/rifle crit/control spec warrior who sided with the Vigil. So far Orr is the only zone that I have 100% completed, it’s a pretty freaking amazing place and in my opinion the only zone outside of the dungeons that actually gives you a sense of epic struggle and danger. Definitely recommended!