Guild Wars 2

I think that GW2 has just the right number of skills, frankly. I’ve been used to wow, that has upwards of 30 skills I need to keep track of, and it becomes arduous to say the least.

Don’t be fooled into thinking fewer abilities does not translate into less skill. If you spam all your buttons at once, you’re probably gonna die. You have to know exactly when to hit the right skill, because if you hit the wrong one, there isn’t a ‘backup’ skill waiting.

I’m only a level 43 warrior, but I have a build almost exactly like what you suggested. Arms gives me precision base, and precision from unused signets. Disc gives me crit rate for sitting at max adrenaline.

I’m sitting at roughly 80% crit, normally. When I blow my burst skill with greatsword, that jumps to 100% for the duration of a hundred blows, which is huge damage.

I don’t know about Anet’s rules, but if I saw someone in map chat trying to sell their character name for gold, I’d immediately write an email to Anet asking them to release the name, because you obviously aren’t going to be using it for its intended purpose.

Shameless bump.

kilopy.2173:

Because the dungeons are ridiculously hard and the horrible loot at the end will guarantee even more people ignore them than are now, to the point where nobody will want to waste the time running dungeons? What kind of dumb comment is that?

There’s a thing called risk vs reward, look it up.

Good. If people who find the dungeons too hard stop doing them, they’ll stop clogging up the forums with their childish whining.

The reward for clearing a dungeon, is the act of getting it done. Of completing something difficult. The loot is just an extra bonus, not the main incentive.

ps: The “risk” of a dungeon drops significantly when you learn to play better. The game’s been out, what, two weeks? In two months people will consider AC boring, because it will be so easy. They’ll know the pulls, the fights, the traps. More importantly, they’ll know how to combo, how to group buff, and how do dodge.

I just hit level 43, so we’re in the same zone.

I rock the great sword, and go for as much crit as possible. I have 20 points in the trait that gives precision. My level 10 trait skill gives me 40 precision for every passive signet I have on, and I roll with 4 of them. My level 20 trait skill reduces my greatsword cooldowns by 20%, and gives me might every time I crit. 10 more trait points are in the trait that gives bonus condition damage, and my level 10 skill there gives me +9% crit chance when I’m at 3 adrenaline.

I have a roughly 80% static chance to crit, and the stacking might often doubles my power. If I hit my great sword’s burst skill, my crit rate jumps to 100%. It’s a very fragile build, but I mow through mobs.

As soon as I saw the frog people, I wanted to play one. A frog person guardian. I’ll be just like Glenn from Chronotrigger!

Dying less will result in lower repair costs. As it should be.

What do you need gear for? There’s no gear grind, no higher level of dungeons. You’re not on a treadmill.

Play the content because you enjoy playing the content, not because you need some digital lollipop at the end of it to make you feel good.

You’re certainly not alone. But at the same time, there’s an equally large group of people who feel the opposite, of which I am a part. We’re just a bit more quiet about it.

I am HAPPY to have a dungeon that challenges me. That makes me work for victory. For which victory is not assured! I hope the rest of the dungeons are as difficult if not more so. And I sincerely hope that Anet doesn’t reduce the difficulty.

Rshipley.8194:

Because the amount of copper ore is 10 to make 1 bronze bar.

10 copper ore makes 5 bronze bars. >_>

My current toon is a warrior, level 43, specializing in the greatsword. I do a TON of damage, but I’m very frail. My strategy is to kill enemies before they kill me, and provided they’re within a level or two of me, it works.

I’m thinking about making a guardian alt, but I’m concerned. They look very ‘defensive’; lots of blocking, healing, etc. This might make me harder to kill, but is it going to significantly impact my killing speed? My warrior might be fragile, but he only dies if I really over extend; otherwise, he chews through quests like lightning.

Any input is appreciated!

Something I’ve discovered is that the best way to keep up with tradeskills is to level an alt with entirely different skills that uses different mats. That way, you can chuck other stuff you get into the bank as you level said alt, which ultimately helps your main.

The reward for completing the content should not be the gear or the gold, it should be the action of completing the content. GW2 isn’t a gear grind. You don’t HAVE to do the dungeons to get gear, to then get into harder dungeons. Since the gear isn’t required for anything, and completion of the dungeon isn’t a necessary part of the gameplay experience, it’s not something 100% of the player base has a right to experience.

Get better, do the dungeon. Or, whine on the forums, and get nothing.

Let me see if I understand. The content is too hard for you, so it should be made easier so you can complete it? You’re not going to learn to play better, you’re not going to get better gear, you’re not going to study the dungeon and try again. You’re just going to complain to the developers until they give you easier content.

I sincerely hope Anet doesn’t listen to any calls for nerfs.

The LFG tool was the nail in the coffin of wow’s community. There was no requirement to get into the group, and no accountability if you screwed people over.

This is an MMO. Learn to talk to people. Be social. Be friendly. If someone is such akittenthat they can’t find dungeon groups, I wouldn’t want them in any group LFG put together anyway.

So I’ve reached a bit of a crossroads in the career of my warrior. He’s level 43, and his crafts are at about 120 each.

The materials I need to work these skills up are from level 30 zones, and can’t be gotten from nodes; I have to farm mobs, which is a lot of grinding. Which won’t be so bad, so long as I stick to events.

My choice is to drop back and focus on my crafts, or just carry on with my story and worry about crafts when I get to 80.

Advice? Opinions?

This is something I’ve been suggesting to my friends and they agree, along with gear sets, it should be implemented. There should be three sets you can flip through, as that gives the ability to have a questing setup, a pvp setup, and a dungeon setup.

Silly question. I’m a level 43 charr warrior. Where would I find my cultural armour?

I see LOTS of warriors. I don’t think it’s because they’re unbalanced or over powered, simply that when playing a new game, warrior is a ‘go to’ class. You don’t need to know anything else about a game, you can play a warrior.

Other than that, elementalists and engineers are pretty common. Thieves I don’t see much ( pun intended), and I wouldn’t even be able to recognize a mesmer.

I’ve been really pleased with the game community, both on the forums and in game. I hope it stays this friendly.

I’ve for 3 10 slots and a safebox that’s 8, and I haven’t run into any bag space issues yet. I say go for something cheap and cheerful, and you’ll be fine.

I think that the concept of scaling your level down to the zone you’re in is the most brilliant thing Guild Wars 2 has done, and probably one of my favourite parts of the game.

My warrior is level 40, and in mostly level 30 gear. I had to go back to the 5-15 zone to farm copper. The mobs were challenging enough that I didn’t want to fight more than 3 at a time, but easy enough that 1-2 didn’t worry me. I took part in most of the events I came across.

I went around the rim of the zone, killing and farming and eventing. Then I went back to town, and used the mats I’d farmed to take weaponsmithing from 45 to 120. This process levelled me from 40 to 42.

That’re revolutionary. Being able to level from 40 to 42, in a level 5-15 zone, and working on a low level craft. I’m not a slave to the story, or to the zone level requirements. The levelling path I take will be entirely different from yours! That’s great, and I hope they don’t change a thing.

It’s been my experience that as melee, you do a ton of damage, but you have to actually pay attention to what the boss is doing. I felt the same mechanics, getting one shot in AC. Then I noticed the boss’s movements, and I could dodge backwards or spin through him to avoid it.

In GW2 you don’t stand still and run through a rotation.

As dangermonkey said, signets are something you want to use in times of need.

I’ve also found that they work really well in combination with other abilities. For example, if you use signet of might right before you use a weapon skill cooldown, in order to kill a mob quickly, it can work out well.

I try to explore a lot, and do all the heart quests in a zone that’s appropriate to my level. I don’t usually chase 100% map completion, because I want to have something to do at max level.

The best way to get xp I’ve found is working up crafts. Say for armoursmithing, I need jute and copper. So I’ll go to the starting zone, and run around the edge killing mobs, mining ore, chopping down trees, picking up vegetables and killing any humanoid mobs I see. Along the way, I’ll do any events that happen near me.

By the time I do a full lap, I head back to down and craft up with all my mats. I usually get 2 levels by doing this.

Warx.8495:

Fair enough, I guess I was just expecting one thing and got something else. You’re the one in this thread who has really addressed my concerns.

It wasn’t that hard, they were the same concerns I had. I’m a tank by nature, not just by gameplay, and not being able to be the tank concerned me. I like being in the front of the group, calling the shots, making the pulls, taking the hits. And I can’t do that any more.

But I adapted. ctrl+t puts a ‘mark’ on an enemy mob, and tells the group what to hit. So even though I’m not the tank, I still mark the skull. And I use my warrior abilities to rush into combat and get the first hits. The difference is, once I’ve used up my great sword abilities, I dodge away twice, and switch to rifle. I slow the target down until they switch aggro. Signet of healing tops my health up. Then I dodge back in, switch to great sword, and lay down more damage. It’s a much, MUCH, more rewarding playstyle than ‘stand still and hit buttons until mobs are dead.’

ps: The easiest way to get through to someone who disagrees with you is to agree with them where they’re right, rather than pointing out all the areas they’re wrong. Find a common ground, and build on it.

Warx.8495:

Well yea, that’s why you normally have 1 tank, 1 healer and the rest DPS. What is the problem with that? Why reinvent the wheel?

I think this is the central point that all of us here are trying to express, and one you need to grasp:

Guild Wars 2 is not a wheel.

You’re absolutely right, game companies should not reinvent the wheel. But that analogy only applies IF they’re creating wheels in the first place. This is an entirely different experience from wow. You can’t come into this game and say “Where are the tanks? Where are the healers?”. There aren’t any. There don’t NEED to be any. The game is simply built differently.

Why is it built differently? Because innovation happens, in any industry.

Warx.8495:

And you’re saying that a game like WoW or SW:ToR didn’t have freedom when “choosing” what you want to be? I’d called that freedom.

If you want to make a dungeon group in WoW with 5 rogues, you can’t. Two warlocks, a priest, a hunter, and a rogue? Nope, can’t do that either. Warrior, DK, hunter, Mage, warlock? Sorry, not allowed.

In order to complete content in “holy trinity” games, you NEED tanks and you NEED healers. In a game like GW2, you need 5 skilled players. Any profession, any skills. As long as all 5 people know what the hell they’re doing, you’re golden.

I’m reading everything you’re saying, and I can see your side of the story. But really, REALLY, you shouldn’t be playing GW2. It doesn’t have what you want. You can rail and complain and mope about it, but they’re not changing their entire design philosophy to embrace a point of view they’re actively avoiding.

Sorry.

If you want to stand in one spot, using one weapon, and take all the damage that the enemies can put out, you’re playing the wrong game.

You’re totally entitled to your opinion, and you’ve laid it out sensibly. That said, I disagree with you.

I’ve played a lot of MMOs, and spent most of my years as a dedicated tank. When I got bored of tanking, I healed. So I know whereof I speak. Having a tank/healer in a group of five, basically gives 3 people the right to be asleep at the wheel. Did you get hit and die? Blame the tank for not holding aggro. Did you die because you stood in the fire? Blame the healer for not keeping you alive.

The holy trinity shunts responsibility for group succcess to two members of the party, while the other three get a free ride.

GW2’s system means YOU are responsible for your survival. Did the boss one shot you? That’s your fault for not dodging out of the way. You actually have to watch the boss animations now.

Your first dungeon experience sounds similar to mine, lots of zerging and dying. The difference is, I blame myself for most of our problems. As a warrior, I put all my points and gearing into precision, which means I had almost no toughness. I was a glass cannon. I also had no abilities on but signets, which means I was helping nobody else in the party. I suspect the rest of my party did likewise.

I’m willing to bet that a group of people who changes their abilities to banners and group buffs will have a MUCH easier time.

In the holy trinity, two people watch out for everybody, and if anything goes wrong they get the blame.

In a bad GW2 group, everybody watches out for themselves and if anything goes wrong it’s their own fault.

In a good GW2 group, people work on supporting each other. And this is the kind of game I want to be playing.