Guild Wars 2

I think the speed of guards is fine. As you level up more, you can spec to essentially have 100% swiftness uptime if you want.

As for dungeons, try GS + scepter/focus or shield. I rarely use a staff anymore.

S/P is by far the weakest of the weapon sets for a thief. Let’s look at the set over time.

1: Nerf PW by 15%
2. Nerf the food for health regen on crit
3. Nerf haste

Pistol whip does need a buff at this point. The 15% nerf should be reverted and it should receive an additional 10% damage on top of that.

Definitely disagree with #2. The beauty of WvW is that anyone can play. If you start making buffs limited to party members, it now forces people to group or they cannot participate as effectively.

I’d say for all categories to keep the points the same but double the rewards. Right now none of the categories are all that valuable.

Personally, I do not mind the current system. If you enjoy WvW, the badges add up fast anyway. I think I am sitting at 4000 badges with nothing to spend them on. Also, the current drops add a bit more strategy. Sometimes, I will see a bag that I left behind but would need to jump into an enemy zerg to get it. Is it worth it or move on? Those are fun decisions to make.

My issue is that other than badges, the rest of the drops are very poor. I have over 11,000 kills and I can’t remember getting anything good as a drop.

RyuDragnier.9476:

So you want to make it so Staff Elementalists (and other AoE abusing builds) can take down entire zergs by themselves and become massively overpowered? Because that’s probably what would happen, causing ANet to pull a massive AoE nerf across the board that would effect PvE as well and make AoE useless. I SAY NAY!

Or… wait for it… wait for it… zergs won’t be able to stack anymore.

It’s fine as is. It just adds more strategy to a fight.

Everyone zergs in the top 3 tiers and it just a way of life. No point in arguing it beyond that. If anyone doesn’t want zergs, try a lower tier server.

First, who cares about wxp? You get some lackluster skills as you level up. Furthermore, you get a title that the enemy can see. Again, who cares?

If you enjoy zerging, zerg. If you enjoy roaming, roam. Look at it this way…. if everyone is zerging, that means there will be more opportunities for you to capture things while roaming,

Large scale zerg fights are the best part of this game. Just last night, there were about 60 invaders trying to capture bay. We had a slightly smaller number defending. Participating in that battle was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in WvW.

I’ve always said before though… there needs to be both zergs and non-zergs. Some people have a preference for one or the other. My hope is that at some point ANET releases a smaller scale map. Let the people who enjoy 5v5 or 10v10 fight there. Its a game and people should have the opportunity to play it the way they want.

Eles aren’t op. The 0/10/0/30/30 d/d build is op. The problem is that besides that build eles do not have anything else that is viable.

@OP. I’m guessing you do not play either class since you don’t know what you are talking about. Warriors and Guards are used for very different things and each shines in their respective area.

You are probably right about the streams. If you are watching a guard trying to 1v1 in WvW, most likely they are out of place and don’t know what they are doing. WvW is mostly a zerg fest for guards and the way to play a guard in a 40v40 is way different than playing a bunker control guard in a tPvP match.

That said, these specs are all REALLY great for PvP. I remember using one of your roamer builds last fall and had a great time.

I’m not really a fan of the idea. I prefer fighting people vs a ballista. Also, this won’t change the zerg mindset even if there are a lot of ballistas. WvW xp is gained the fastest while following a zerg, so that’s what people will do.

I do totally agree about the support fotm comment though. Seems like that is what everyone is running.

Thieves are in general the weakest dungeon class. Yes, they bring some utilities as has been outlined earlier in this thread. That said, other classes are always better to bring to a party.

It really depends on what you like.

sPvP: Fast combat with a lot of kills and a lot of deaths
WvW (Solo): Hope you find someone who is in the wrong place and kill them. Alternatively you could be a yak killer or WP contester.
WvW (Zerg): Can still be a lot of fun, but the class isn’t as strong here compared to others

I like searching for the loot bags. Besides, after you play enough, it really won’t matter to you if you miss some…. not sure what to do with 3000 badges anyway.

I doubt it is too big of a deal. Yes, people could do it, but you really need a life if you want to spy on another server. I’m sure there are some who fall into that category, but it is a very small minority.

As for misplacing siege, how do you know it isn’t just griefer on your own server. You know, like people who put up their commander tags when in the jp.

etrigan.4213:

Great weekend, for me some of the best fights were in the openfield at Umber.

All three servers showing up for the fun. Just epic.

This is so true. 3 zergs battling without the lag of SM. Probably not the smartest strategy for any of us, but definitely the most fun.

Let’s look at thief builds:

1. P/D – This set-up will be dead. Most of the damage is from the CnD, and then the sneak attack. Not viable anymore
2. D/D – “Bunker” build – This relies a lot on the perma stealth from CnD. Build not viable
3. S/D- Again not really viable. There isnt a lot of damage from this build. It’s mostly a hit/stealth/hit control spec. Build no longer viable.
4. P/P- Bad build now and will continue to be bad.
5. S/P- Great in PvE, but average in PvP/WvW

So that leaves D/D BS builds. That build will be impacted the least. Essentially ANET is forcing people into that spec.

Personally, I am fine with the stealth debuff, but there needs to be buffs in another areas at the same time

Doomdesire.9365:

It’s fine in PvE imo, but needs work in WvW. The S/P build in general seems very weak to me.

Possible suggestions

Increase the stun
Move when slashing

Or keep damage/stun during the same and reduce the cast time/animation time.

This thread makes me laugh. Here is how I look at the servers.

FA: omg, treat us with respect. seriously, we are good. no, I mean we are really good. just give us respect already! stop diminishing us!
TC: wait, fa? have you ever beaten us? stop talking. seriously. beat us then you get respect.
Kain: kids, stop fighting. mommy and daddy are trying to wvw. seriously hush children.

It’s a game. Have fun. All three servers are really good and the scores show that.

sigh a really bad idea. Let’s also get rid of differences in weapons and armor. Oh wait, we have that in sPvP.

The LAST thing we need is the removal of more strategy related to WvW. Yes nourishment is strategy. A lot of players switch foods throughout the day, just the way you switch utility skills.

Well, a three things…

First, you are up against two incredible servers. It will be tough to compete with them. The reality as well is that when you are in third place, you lose a lot of the more casual WvW players. You will still have your core, but the players who always give you a queue will be gone. That’s to be expected.

Second, everyone in the top 2 or 3 tiers zergs. SoR did it as well in tier 2. It’s a valid gameplay strategy. Hopefully there will be incentives not to zerg in the next update, but who knows.

Three, you are in a tough spot. SoR isn’t at the same level as BG and JQ currently, but is definitely way ahead of all of the tier 2 servers. I do not see any competitive matches for you for awhile.

Agreed. I’m tired of seeing commanders who just yell stack all the time. I want to see people spread out and fighting.

Cool video. I see you mostly use SB to kite and attack. I don’t really see the value of S/D as your secondary though. Given how you are playing, I’d probably use S/P instead.

It makes me lol when a gc comes on here and complains they took a lot of damage.

Straegen.2938:

style.6173:

So, a 20 person team. That means the main 1v1 classes aren’t as valuable. Here is what I would want:

5 Support Guards. Constant protection, heals, retaliation? Yes please
5 eles. Aoe damage
3 mesmers. Portal bombs, veils, timewarp, etc
2 necros. Great for zerg busting
3 warriors. banners plus damage
2 ranger

Sorry engi and thief. You don’t bring enough value to the table in a 20v20 matchup.

Dump the rangers and add 2 more warriors with hammers, GS, rifle. Thieves, eng and rangers are fine classes but don’t really add much in terms of versatility or team buffs.

This I can agree with.

Overall, this has been a great match-up. Kain and FA are both great opponents. I personally really enjoy fighting FA. The reason? They are the most similar to TC in WvW ability. That means the match-ups will always be close.

I think in general, there are a number of people who are too sensitive on all servers. They tend to post here the most either bragging or feeling the need to defend.

That said, in the actual game, the battles are fierce and the competition is sportsmanlike. I hope this 3 way battle continues for many weeks.

So, a 20 person team. That means the main 1v1 classes aren’t as valuable. Here is what I would want:

5 Support Guards. Constant protection, heals, retaliation? Yes please
5 eles. Aoe damage
3 mesmers. Portal bombs, veils, timewarp, etc
2 necros. Great for zerg busting
3 warriors. banners plus damage
2 ranger

Sorry engi and thief. You don’t bring enough value to the table in a 20v20 matchup.

No No No. You cannot run as a glass cannon and be a commander. The reality is that you as the commander are likely the one leading the charge into an enemy. You can’t sit at the back and say “Ok guys, you go attack while I wait back here”. No one will follow you. You need to be at the front.

The reality is that sPvP isn’t that popular simply because most people are enjoying other parts of the game. I do believe that WvW caught anet off guard.

The other thing is that people want to use their own gear. While the idea of even match-ups are appealing to you, the longer people spend gearing up, the less likely they are to want to use other equipment when they fight. If I spend a ton of time getting a legendary, why spend time in sPvP where I can’t use it?

Finally, the other death toll against PvP is that there are different balancing options there than in the rest of the game. Originally, PvP was the place where I’d go to check out new specs. Now that is no longer representative since there have been a lot more nerfs in PvP than in other parts of the game.

This thread really needs to be closed. It is way off topic at this point.

Columba.9730:

Daeqar.8965:

Columba.9730:

Where does it say that only thieves are allowed to solo?

Secondly, if Spvp and WvWvW are the same, how about we balance thieves in WvWvW the same way they are balanced in Spvp?

No where, and there’s lots of people that run around with D/D Ele, GS Warr, Mesmer, and even some Necros and bunker troll Guardian builds and the like running around solo looking for 1v1 targets. And lots of them have great success with it and particularly look for Thieves to single out. I even saw a Ranger doing it last night who was shockingly good, although I’m not entirely sure he wasn’t cheating because I saw him using abilities of sorts that were completely new to me.

The thing is, most other classes have lots of good teamplay options to build for – and they use them. Why would they setup for dueling instead of setup to actually win? Thieves don’t have much of an option because small scale is literally the only thing the class is good at – the only thing that makes them special. They are deliberately designed to be lacking in other areas as a trade-off. The only logical thing left to do is scrounge for small scale tasks in WvW that are helpful and just be really good at them, no matter how limited those tasks may be.

Thieves do fine in Zerg vs Zerg. What you wrote isn’t accurate.

Lol. Thieves are the weakest zerg class. Name one class that is weaker. Go ahead, really. Waiting…. Waiting.. The correct answer is none. Thanks for playing though.

Sirendor.1394:

My hopes:
- Fix culling
- Penalize zergs (unsportive warfare)
- More visible rewards for claiming
- Options to customize the world
- Living world: why aren’t their citizens, farmers and all that out there?
- More siege options: ladders, sapper explosives
- Allow other classes to get more viability.
- Guilds need more options for WvW
- More useful UI party options & squad options.

My thoughts on this.
—fix culling – yes please
—penalize zergs – no way. zerg warfare is fun for a lot of us. i do think there should be smaller maps for those who want some team objectives though.
—claiming rewards – yes, but there should also be penalties for guilds who claim but do not add buffs
—the rest I agree with.

deracs.1762:

Feeling very cynical at the moment, I expect culling to be replaced by massive lag (lag like there is now at world events like dragon in frostgorge) Over powered stealth will now use the lag as an excuse vs culling and continue to claim it is balanced. I think the WvW titles will be fun, but the forums will find new and inventice ways to complain about them (more inventive then my complaints about stealth lol)
Truth be told I expect WvW will continue to be fun, but I am truly concerned that removing the culling mechanic will result in serious lag issues for a lot of people

The lag in EB in the SM lord room is already the worst lag in the game. A lot of times the only skill that works is the auto attack.

“Fixing” it is a bad idea. A lot of people actually enjoy large scale combat.

Now for the rest of you who do not enjoy it, there should be smaller maps with more small team objectives.

Haldunius.7864:

I’m curiously awaiting all the TC forum trolls. Are they still all waiting in the tall grass in the Maguuma/DB match up thread? You guys were putting in overtime there.

haha. Every server has its black sheep.

Looking forward to a great match-up. Kain was fun to play against, and FA gave a great fight the last time we played.

The final results for this upcoming week really could go any way.

Pinko.2076:

I think you shouldn’t stress out as a Mag commander since 90% of the population is taking this week as a burnout vacation right now.

My thoughts on a week like this… It’s a great opportunity to try out new things. If you are a commander, try new tactics. If you are a regular player, try out new builds. If it works great, if not, that’s fine too. It’s basically a big chance to test new ideas.

Of course, if you want to find good battles, there are plenty of those as well. At the end of the day, this is a game. It is about fun and not the scoreboard.

The best way to fix stale match-ups is to introduce new 2 server maps to go along with the regular 3 server maps. Keep in mind NO solution will ever fix the top 2 servers and the bottom 2 servers. Anyway, here was my idea.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/wuvwuv/An-Idea-to-Fix-Stale-Match-ups/first#post1508443

Easiest to kill: Other thieves
Hardest to kill: Eles

Arganthium.5638:

style.6173:

As it stands right now, this is probably the weakest of the thief weapon sets (even more so than P/P). So I’ve been thinking about easy ways to fix it. So here is my crazy idea:

Add a leap finisher to Infiltrator’s Strike

This would add a whole new mechanic to the weapon set. You would have a way to access stealth, but it would be less efficient than the D/P combo. It would be fun to see some more people actually using S/P.

I wholeheartedly disagree.

First- yeah, it’s not quite the same thing as the baller set you’ll get from D/D. It just doesn’t do quite as much damage.

However, as a long-time Sword lover, and, particularly, S/P, I think that you honestly just don’t know how to use the set. For one thing, it’s much more of a graceful, hit-and-run, Shadowstep-Pistol Whip-Shadowstep Away deal than a “ermahgerd I’m gonna go right up to my enemy and spam Backstab/Heartseeker/LDB lol”.

S/P is also a much more survivable set than most others (I think SB might- might- be the exception). It comes with two automatic interrupts, a cheap shadowstep and condition removal, amazing kiting options (seriously, S/P could practically be considered a ranged weapon set, if it weren’t for the fact that you can’t teleport up keep walls and the like), and some pretty nice, sustainable bursting. D/D only has some good bursting and nice damage- but that’s it. It’s a much riskier weaponset that can be immensely rewarding, but is very likely to also get you absolutely murdered. S/P gives you, I think, a small advantage over a very, very long period of time, and, unless your opponent doesn’t know what he/she’s doing, will be very likely to get them stomped before they even realize it.

Maybe you’re a masochistic gambler that likes to take insane risks, but S/P is a fantastic weaponset because it deals great, sustainable damage, condition removal, kiting, etc, unlike D/D.

I really hate that so few people use S/P like I do (actually, I’ve been using some more D/D builds recently, but I think I’m going to switch back to my strong and standard 0/20/20/15/15 build soon). I think that people just go to the thief with a very narrow mindset. I came to the thief for the shadowsteps, and that’s how I got into S/P.

You prove the point though. If S/P is so good, why does no one use it? The answer is that it is weak. D/D, D/P, S/D, P/D are all stronger builds. The only one that is comparable is maybe P/P.

Something really needs to be done to make the weapon set more effective.

If you are looking for 1v1, why are you looking for WvW? Unless you plan to just sit around and wait for some straggler to run by, you won’t get the opportunity a lot.

As to your original question, both are good. D/D for burst, S/D for more sustained fights.

If you think a thief is OP in PVE, you clearly haven’t played other characters.

and why didn’t anyone tell your teammate in the second video that thieves are OP.

Exasol.2765:

I’m hoping for Spvp skill versions/balance to apply to WvW

Definitely disagree. Some changes should be carried over (ele heal nerf), but not all. WvW and PvE are way different than sPvP. The truth is that most players don’t even want to play sPvP.

bladie.5084:

lLobo.7960:

Terrible idea…
IS as a leap finisher would be crazy OP…
Blind not going away on attacks would be insane OP, even if they didnt stack in duration.

S/P is a good set now, maybe some work on PW to improve time or dmg, but even as it is is a good skill to use…

S/P is not a burst dmg set, is more controll and sustain dmg set.
You can perma blind groups of trash mob and autoattack them to death, helps the group also. You can tank with PW spam if timed right to evade boss (blind imune/10%) attacks, etc… On most bosses IS/PW/SR work wonders to deliver dmg and recover from stuns and conds.

D/P is a good solo set, but not so nice in groups due to combo overlaping that can mess up your stealth.

D/D is still a good ST dmg dealer if you dont need to worry about evading much.

You’re talking PVE, I believe most of the thieves here are implying PVP situations. The first obvious disadvantage is the fact that S/P is not stealth specced, which is perfectly fine imo. And the fact that it’s not stealth specced, makes it a lil more advanced for whoever wants to play it. But what’s disappointing is the dmg, and the skill options of S/P. And lets keep in mind this is the #1 skill set with the most demanding initiatives.

Exactly. Blinds are useless against people who actually move (non PvE). And yes, my comments are focused around PvP and WvW.

Here is what people who think this will make it OP do not understand. You CANNOT spam this. Add up the initiative usage and you will see. You would still end up with a skill that is less effective that D/P but at least it makes S/P more viable.

If this was a change to “help” the thief in PvE, revert it. I never had problems with mobs resetting. This new change just means as soon as I’m visible again, I get attacked. There needs to be a second or two before a mob can react when you appear.

I think there is a pretty good mix of classes. I think it also defends on where you fight. Zergs seem to be dominated by eles, guards, warriors, and mesmers. Thieves are around for killing of yaks or picking off people who are out of position. Necros are a very strong class although likely less prevalent than the first 5 I mentioned. Rangers were around more before the guard nerf.

And engineers? They are a strong class but no one plays them. I hope ultimately they get a portal.

What we do NOT need… a new currency in WvW. Anet seems to be creating new game currency every update (a really bad idea). Let’s hope that stops. Badges are the WvW currency, so I hope they use that.

Other hopes:
1. All ascended gear is available for purchase with badges
2. A new 2 server set of maps.
3. Ability for commanders to unclaim keeps/towers/camps if there are no active buffs
4. Culling fix. At the least, revert back to the original culling system

Some things that I disagree with the OP
1. There should not be penalties for zergs. Some of us really enjoy that type of fight and it is the reason we even play WvW. Smaller groups should be encouraged through increased drop rates or achievements.
2. Keep WvW and PvE activities separate. There are way too many bandwagon jumpers in this game already. We don’t need to see people jumping servers every week based on the buffs.
3. Eles seem perfect? They are the strongest class currently in WvW. The heal nerf from sPvP should have been carried over.

If you don’t want to be killed in the EB JP, just don’t go into it. There is nothing in there that you can’t get someplace else.

That said, the biggest mistake ANET made was to put badges in the chests. Those should not there. They should change it to the following:

1. Remove all badges from the chests
2. Double the amount of siege in each chest
3. Double the amount of money in the chest
4. Have a small chance for a precursor to drop