I kind of like that the distinction between a Mesmer’s “real” magic and “fake” magic isn’t at all clear. After all, visceral confusion about what’s even real any more: that’s part of the descent into madness, isn’t it?
I’m probably one of the lone dissenters but I actually agree with the OP about Tybalt at first: I thought it was a little off-putting how blatant they were being in a public setting, and that for an ancient secret society they sure seemed to be relatively open, easy to find (their HQ is a stone’s throw from LA’s marketplace) and a bit goofy.
What rescued the character for me though is that a) it’s impossible not to like the guy and b) he has a surprisingly powerful and sad backstory that I really did not expect from an MMO.
The best fit I found was the Nightmare staff. A Mists version would be fantastic, but as others have suggested I think most of the Forge weapons are just existing assets with a name slapped on.
Does make you wonder if there’s a Caladbolg lurking in there, though!
If you honestly think the Personal Story would be a tough enough requirement for weapons of this nature, I don’t know what to say.
The problem that many players’ll face is that they’re not going to be happy either way. They essentially want a peaceful, all-win solution, and it’s not possible.
The minute a guaranteed track is added to acquiring these weapons, it’ll only be a matter of time before half the game’s population is toting them. They’ll lose all prestige, and the players in this thread who were once so frenetic about finding them will lose all interest. The scarcity is a good part of the allure, whether one wants to admit it or not. It’s called the Veblen effect and it’s a somewhat sad but very real part of human nature.
The requirements that people lament now were intended to keep the amount of these weapons in circulation very low, and even still you can see many being worn in Lion’s Arch, etc. Clearly the requirements weren’t too difficult for a good many players, and it’s these players the devs are likely worried about when it comes to adding a guaranteed quest track or something of the like.
Warrior same mobility or more than ele? LOL TROLL
Nuff saaid kthxbai.
Wars have exceptional mobility, half of their non-util skills are leaps or gap closers and then you still have stuff like Bull’s (which seems to have a much longer range than the one listed). People just don’t “feel” as mobile on a Warrior in PvP because your condition management isn’t that hot and you’re only effective in melee.
I’m not sure which line I find more annoying; this one or Trehearnes (however his name is spelled, we call him Treehorn) constant “This isn’t going to end well”.
I WAS GOING TO MAKE A BAD SALAD JOKE BUT NOW I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT.
I kinda feel for ANet… they’re really kitten if they do, kitten if they don’t.
Players complain that there’s no “gear progression”, ANet caves in and puts +1 gear in. Players now complain that there’s a “gear treadmill”… I don’t get it. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. I think it’s a bit of a shame if people missed out on all the sweet little things in this game because they’re obsessing over the grind/not-grind.
Personally I’d love if they just went pure “horizontal” with new gear, i.e. all new cosmetics. However, for a game that’s buy-to-play with a very humble cash shop, I can understand if this may be prohibitively expensive.
As an aside, this game is impossibly more forgiving than 95% of persistent-world games out there, and it’s extremely generous for the small amount of money you ever really have to put in. The MMO I migrated from had gold-sucking mechanics, cash shop items and RNG stuff that would make half the players on here turn white.
Saying “No shatter/use mantras (which mantras?)” is fine, but I like to use Distortion against Rangers. It helps to counter kiting without putting BF on cooldown. Plus you’ve went 30 into Dueling, anyone with half a head on their shoulders’ll roll DE with that many Major slots.
Well, you haven’t really made any case for why you want the Mes’ base health nerfed. Generally damage that would kill a lower-health Mesmer would’ve killed him anyway since it’s more to do with his defensive cooldowns, so what’s the point.
So I’ve figured out a way to do this and I finally pushed past it just an hour or so ago.
You absolutely must be at range, for me (as a Mes) my trusty greatsword wasn’t cutting it, I had to switch to a staff. Basically, the moment the last emplacement is captured, rush to the courtyard and start kiting the first Vet Risen Acolyte to hell. Keep moving, dodge the mob melee kicks, etc. It’ll take some doing but he’ll eventually go down.
Once the first is out, the second is a little easier, and presto, you’re done.
I doubt this is feasible for melee unless you just spam the sword/GS auto or something. Basically you wanna stay at range (so go rifle for warriors, but don’t use your adrenaline since it’ll lock you into the channel).
Speed seems to be the key here, you really need to rush as fast as possible before the amount of mobs becomes too overwhelming.
I must say I was really taken aback when you learn more about Tybalt’s past. He was a lovely character to begin with and a joy to be around, but the material they gave him was pretty dark and real (cultural ostracization, depression, physical disfigurement). It was a lot more tasteful and handled with a much better temper than some of Bioware’s efforts, like Jack or Miranda.
In thinking about it, I actually say it wouldn’t be impossible to rescue Trahearne, and this isn’t an old-school console game that prohibited patches… wink wink.
For example, say after your mentor dies and you (or most players) see Trahearne for the first time, he could gently offer:
“I’m sorry for your friend, Lightbringer/Recruit/Scholar. If it’s some consolation, your astonishing talent and grace on the battlefield did both him and the Order/Vigil/Priory a great service”.
A simple, sincere compliment that doesn’t sound forced or reactive. This could even segue into a conversation or a sequence where Trahearne expresses his doubts about his worth in combat, then with a little bit of nosy prodding (from you, not him) he briefly discusses what he’s been called to do. Then he could politely ask that, while this is not the time, perhaps you could give him some help or training for the coming fire.
Trahearne’s sternness can work, but the fundamental problem with characters that are always stern is that they’re just a chore to be around. (Characters that are over-the-top comical or extroverted are as one-dimensional but at least they’re rarely as dull). So, perhaps you could also have a sequence where Trahearne lets slip his mask of stone-cold level headedness, tells you of his deep doubts about himself and everything, opening himself up emotionally. In lieu of anything better to say, you (the PC) make a stupid joke, and he laughs, partly to try and please you, someone he considers a rare friend… but both of you know he can’t escape his serious mantle due to his duties.
Now you have a bond, he seems like a real person, and the rest of the story becomes much easier to swallow.
I don’t think the problem with Trahearne is necessarily that he hijacks the spotlight and the glory from the player. Personally I have no problem at all with taking a backseat to an NPC protagonist. In fact, I find the sheer novelty factor of having a Sylvari hero quite compelling and I think the writing team’s heart was in the right place.
I could play as an apple merchant or a wall clock in a video game for all I care, but if I’m going to be an NPC’s sidekick, that NPC has to be worth my time. He should be personable, ideally lovable, but at the bare minimum, he should be interesting. If I can’t form a bond with him, I end up feeling cheated out of my time and resentful that I’m now a whipping boy for someone I don’t care about.
The crux of the matter is that Trahearne is boring. He’s not just boring, he’s hollow; he’s a cipher, a blank space, a droning dentist’s PA system. We know nearly nothing about him at all when he suddenly springs himself into our lives, and then all that we learn is that he has some sort of vague fixation on “studying Orr”. We never learn why, nor do we ever see him rationally struggle with his sole desire in life. He just drones on and on about how he’s been drawn to the place like when Odo flipped out in DS9 and had to return to the Founders’ homeworld (someone less charitable might say it has tones more along the lines of Poochie’s: “I have to go now, my people need me”.)
Even that chief of the Seraph has more character. Trahearne is so utterly vacuous and sounds positively bored himself with his own story, and if he doesn’t care, why should I?
I also can’t really see how playing a full Sylvari campaign could help matters any… it sounds harsh but Trahearne is almost unsalvageable. There’s just no piece of backstory that could save his character since the point at which most players will meet him, he still sounds vacant and passionless about anything. Hell he doesn’t even flinch at the transition from “scholar” to war general that would make any real-life person run for the hills, and in fact your presence in helping his emotional transformation is completely perfunctory; he would’ve done just as well if you weren’t there at all.
It doesn’t take much at all to turn a simple character into one the player will ultimately love, cherish and feel compelled by. Often it’s just a small remark or a quirk, or a bit of background story to a character. Just look at Tybalt.
Basically, the problem with Trahearne isn’t that he’s the world’s true protagonist, it’s that:
a) He has no personality;
b) His bond with the player is contrived, superficial and not even required for him to perform;
c) There’s nothing to his story or his character to give him depth or make him feel real.
(edited by shimmerless.4560)
When It’s Ready.
The last time I tried this, what I would do is try to kite the Acolyte since it was clearly the source of the problem… however kiting isn’t really possible since the mobs have some kind of bizarre turbo speed mode (is this intentional?), and the Acolyte itself has a fairly strong leash meaning you can’t pull it very far out of the Courtyard.
I’ve reduced the veteran levels so they’re L59. I suspect they were up-levelled back when veteran were a lot weaker than they are now. I don’t have an ETA for when this change will reach Live, though, sorry!
The issue is not with the mob levels, it’s that (among many, many other things) there are two mobs at the end (the Risen Acolytes) which infinitely spawn regular mobs. The courtyard fast runs out of allied NPCs (who all die fast) to draw aggro and so you’re essentially stuck at being swamped by ~40 to 50 mobs.
It’d be appreciated if this were at least put in the dev tracker so I don’t have to run around the forums just to know if this is even working as intended or not.
One of the many wonderful features of this clearly well-tested, expertly-crafted mission (not quite ekeing out the turbo mobs or the “Unknown dealt 6,000 damage with Explode”) is that the pathing on some of the vets that jump around is broken to the point where they’ll reset if you’re at their spawn point. This means they’re almost constantly regenning no matter where you are and without creative use of leashing it’s a phenomenal slog.