Guild Wars 2

Yiyojin.3241:

There are so many thief haters. There are so many people taht actually are not playing a THIEF!! So you clearly don’t understend things that I’m speaking about.
2x dodge, 2xskill evade + 1attack up of 50% weak attack =no attack option for atlest 3 seconds. After that you have 1 attack again.
And if in this time you get plenty of damage you are in trouble.

So many people talking about other builds.
1: you don’t know my build, and i will never tell about it.
2:Try to play a thief for 1 month + and you will see that what you tough you know, was just 5%.
3: I tryed a lot builds and finaly came up with the best possible build for thief FOR my kind of playing. The way i love to play is this build the best.

Someone up there wroten that i should L2P because I’m in trouble with decent warriors now.
Try to imagine a warrior that hits you down on hp for 1/4+ of hp every time you get attacked.

I play a thief. Level 80 doing a lot of WvW, and a lot of sPVP.

Honestly, complaining as a thief is very disingenuous. Our survivability comes from stealth and evasion, and it is high. Our damage is also very high and very sudden. I’ve also tried out conditions thief and it is very, very strong.

If you get caught with your pants down a lot, you will die a lot.

But that only happens if you’re not very good at playing a thief.

It takes a fair bit of twitch, which is as it should be.

Jasher.6580:

Situational? Maybe. But so was Pistol Whip. Giving any profession the ability to basically “global” someone from full health to zero is not balanced. No matter what the circumstances are.

I did WvW for 4 hours yesterday.

I was 100bladed probably around 20-30 times. Most of them with quickness running.

Not one of them landed more than a hit or two on me. If I get stunned, I usually stunbreak and dodge retreat. If I get immobilised, I remove condition and dodge retreat.

Seriously, it is so simple, it’s gameplay 101.

Dodge dude. It is so easy to avoid, if you’re getting hit by it at this stage, it means you are just bad at the game.

These 100b warriors are usually glass cannons too, so you can turn around after they are spent and just down them with autoattacks.

Every competent player already knows how to dodge 100b, and because GS warriors are built (too much imo) around that 1 predictable ability, it makes fighting against them very simple.

I think that is the most salient point.

Elementalists are great and possibly the best class in the game, but only if you can use them properly.

Which most people can’t.

I would warn off bad/clumsy players from playing an elementalist.

I would invite, nay, urge hardcore/skilled players to play an elementalist, it was made for them to really show what they can do.

I don’t mind the ascended gear.

It is not required for anything except FOM level 10+ so I am not really bothering with it right now.

It’s only a 3% difference in total char stats, and by the time they add more pieces, they will make the backpiece and rings as common as exotics, so it’ll only ever be a 3% gap, which is so tiny as to make literally no difference.

Soon they will make it super easy to get anyway, like exotics are now, and then I’ll get it same as everyone else.

I have literally never been asked to link gear or anything like that.

I’ve been in PUGs starting from overflow and my own server, and nothing remotely like that ever happens in map chat. People just make groups and go, even for the lower levels.

Gear does not even matter for level 1-5 fractals, you could clear them in green masterwork gear easily.

I do think you’re making this all up in a desperate bid for attention, OP.

If you’re trying to PUG level 10+, fine, gear does become an issue. But let’s face it, you’ve already done the content a bunch of times before that point.

My questions avoid the ascended gear thing because I believe that is all very overblown.

- Are you considering showing individual names in WvW to foster greater recognition and rivalry in WvW, and are there any technical considerations making this sort of thing difficult?

- We already enjoy WvW a lot, but do you think that siege items and golems have too great or too little an impact? In what concrete ways do you plan to add to or change WvW, and why?

- Can we get some more details on when you are adding spectator mode, ladders, matchmaking, ratings, visible leaderboards and esport support for sPVP and tPVP, with a view to be “well on the road to esports-ready” by Xmas?

- Would you consider dueling options in the Mists only, so that people can test builds and pass time while waiting for tPVP matches to start, and without impacting or spamming the PVE areas?

If you have a naga/hex/mmomouse

- Change 1-5 on the mouse to F1-F5 and in-game keybind weapon skills to F1-F5
- Rebind attunements to 1-2-3-4
- Utility ERT
- Heal Q
- Elite G
- Interact F
- Weaponswap `
-Dodge shift

With this you have these advantages:

- no wasd problems with kiting + using weapon abilities at the same time

- no shift-modifiers, which means you can spam away accurately

- 1-4 on keyboard is attunements, nice easy and quick

- Having both hands activate different sets of abilities:
a) mouse for weaponskills only
b) keyboard for utilities and attunements
… makes getting solid muscle memory easy

It basically means you can combo weaponskills and utilities/attunements with both your hands rather than focusing all your effort into one hand.

Spreads the load, as it were

This really deserves its own website

Great work

Decent write up

It doesn’t say a whole lot though

Would really like to hear a lot more about the PVP side of things

PVEers have had their big update, now it should be the turn of the sPVP and tPVP players.

Sorry no, GW2 gameplay is better than Simon Says with a keyboard, I much prefer the dodging, improvised supporting and “use the right skill at the right time” gameplay than what we had with previous MMOs.

WoW turned into barely more than a rotation game with proc-watching in PVE – and yes, I include hardcore raiding which had just move out of fire when DBM says so, and do X when DBM says, X being:

- Switch tanks for debuffs
- Move to specific position/formation, run when timer says
- Use a colour/switch/mechanic/ability that is the cornerstone of the encounter when the timer says

If you want to play Simon Says with a DBM/bigwigs “synchronised dancing” game, just play that, I’m sure there’s a browser game of it around somewhere.

Panther Chameleon.8465:

So, a 40k hp bonus while perma blinding and crippling a team is bad. Got it.

My elite skill gives me might and fury for 30 seconds.

Yeah, it is that awesome!!!!!

Would I trade it for 20 seconds of tanking with blind and cripple spam?

Hell yes.

The thing is, they also exit the WvW zone.

When they log back in, they need to queue again, so really the loss is theirs.

Also, so much time wasted. Respawning and killing a mob to recover the repair costs is quicker.

Except Norn guardians rock.

Also, Liam Neeson:

Someone said healing rain is not limited to 5

I would really like to know if that is true

Loumy.7841:

xiv.7136:

Type 7:

“I do WvW, PVE, dungeons and sPVP; I am a competent player and I can do maths, so I realise the new gear with 3% total extra stats has literally no impact on the outcome of any of those activities.”

But your math is WAY off xiv :-D

It’s not.

Compare total stats of your character with full exotics, then replace the backpack and 2 rings with ascended and check your total stats. The difference is 3%

That is how you measure the increase in power, not just quoting “omg it’s 10 more precision on that piece of gear, that’s 20% more!!!!!”

I had some issues with my chat box, could not whisper people and got error messages about the login server.

I wasn’t being suppressed, it was just something strange with chat, the game was running fine.

Columba.9730:

I guess if you love getting curb stomped by better geared players in WvWvW, then we can take your advice and not get ascended gear.

If this is happening, it has nothing to do with gear, it’s just because you are getting curbstomped by better players.

Get better at the game.

3% total stat difference changes nothing.

Type 7:

“I do WvW, PVE, dungeons and sPVP; I am a competent player and I can do maths, so I realise the new gear with 3% total extra stats has literally no impact on the outcome of any of those activities.”

That is one hell of a nice theory.

All that is missing is illuminati reptiles out to enslave the human race and continue strip-mining the earth for gold.

You talk of “losing” this game as if it was some kind of tragedy.

There are families being blown to pieces in Gaza, tribal wars in various countries, and ecological disasters. Those are tragedies.

This is a game where they added a backpiece and a ring that have slightly higher stats.

Relax.

Aliens allergic to water invade a planet that is 70% water and walk around without protective suits.

GW2 lore is better than that.

nachodragon.8159:

Healing Rain is not limited to 5, nor is the blast finisher of Arcane Wave with a water spell. I don’t have screen shots but I definitely saw a number of heals during the Ancient Karka fight when I laid down some Healing Rain.

Can someone confirm whether this is correct or not?

Because that whole area was renamed Plinxville in honour of its most famous inhabitant.

Be careful, people have actually died trying to do this kind of stunt and it gives all of gaming the wrong kind of publicity.

Drink, eat, take vitamins and do take bathroom breaks. You’ll need a lot of stuff to keep you awake, don’t overdo it.

Boloth.6879:

Birdrock.1697:

So your idea is 1v1 with only damage, mitigation,and heals?

My idea of PvP is a game system that promotes interaction between players not solely the game mechanics. The things I listed always seem to remove or reduce that interaction to the point where the game is no longer interesting to play.

Your idea is not well thought out.

Change your mind.

I have no issues with ascended gear.

It’s a minor boost for people who want to go that 3% further with their stats.

Personally, I won’t be getting ascended gear, and it literally makes no difference to me, because I know for a fact that PVPing in rares/exotics is very similar, it’s more about the right choices of stat combinations than about a few extra stat points.

This is a horrible post.

You literally mentioned everything that makes PVP good as “things that should not exist.”

You are actually advocating a 1v1-only PVP system where people bash each other with auto-attacks.

I honestly hope it was sarcasm.

Always be in a group when doing large scale events.

Columba.9730:

Avengersoul.8256:

Columba.9730:

Avengersoul.8256:

Despite people complaining about the ascended gear being just another grind to get… you know the usual whining that people do….

By running difficulty level 2 fractals I had the item needed to craft the ascended back piece, Just from very casual play I had all of the skill points and ectos and most of the tier 6 mats needed, the rest I bought from the TP.

As for the rings, you get your first one at difficulty 10-11… I’m only on difficulty 4 atm and the dungeon itself is not difficult in comparison to other dungeons in this game and it’s actually fun and easy to find groups since everyone is doing it…

People will complain about anything, heck they even complain about handouts/free stuff that is given to them… this is definitely no exception. It doesn’t take loads of money to get this stuff, it takes playing the game the way you normally play. The only reason it’s going to take your life away or all your gold is if you’re so impatient you have to have the gear “RIGHT THIS SECOND” In which case you need to look at your own personal faults, not ArenaNet for adding something to the game.

Goodie for you. Some of us hate dungeons and will never do them. Why didn’t they make these available in wvwvw right away? It can’t be that hard. Yes, they added mandatory dungeon grinds to be competitive. thanks.

If you honestly think that the few stat increases from 3 items is going to give someone the edge or “ease” to kill you and stop you from being competitive… you must not be very good at pvp and suggest you stop.

Yes 20%+ better stats are minimal. Lol.

It’s 3% overall change in your total character stats.

Get the maths right. You have innate stats at 80 alongside stats from gear. Do the maths properly, hint: taking items in isolation is not accurate.

Don’t blame a 3% change in stats for why you would lose a fight, that’s just weaksauce.

Daendur.2357:

xiv.7136:

[cut] not so much (or really at all) in WvW where exotics or ascended gear make really no difference to the outcome of fights

this is only your opinion and it is badly false

Funny.

I do a lot of WvW, and have done so from level 1-80, and at varying gear levels at 80.

I can tell you, WvW is about group tactics and large scale armies. Whether you do 10% crit damage or 15% crit damage does not change the outcome of whether you live or die, or whether you get that kill or don’t. It’s about your positioning and objectives, about where your server buddies are, and what the enemy is doing.

Even when I’m soloing (which I do a lot) gear has not been a factor. I have done WvW as a lowbie and still did fine. Now I’m in full exotics and switch sets depending on what I’m doing, and I still do fine. Just always be in Rare+ gear and use the right stats for your build, and a few % of stats difference has zero impact.

People would like to blame 3% in gear for why they lose. But really, in WvW it has literally no impact. Position yourself, be mindful of what is going on around you, and use the right ability at the right time. That’s the way to win.

WoW was a good thing for the industry early on, it innovated and set new standards in 2004-2006.

Now however WoW acts as a dampening effect on innovation and sets lower standards due to people being “stuck” in its ego-massaging rat race gear treadmill.

I have nothing but pity for people who are still stuck playing WoW. They are like people still using video cassettes in the age of DVDs… or DVDs in the age of streamed content.

They are just behind the curve, desperately sticking to what they know.

I am not going for ascended gear and I’m not going for legendaries.

I don’t need them at all, to do anything, be it dungeons, WvW or PVE.

Someone having +3% stats compared to me is not going to change the outcome of fights.

WvW is actually intimately linked with PVE.

Every time you make a character, it has 2 “sides” to it:

- one is the PVE+WvW side where your character is persistent there, with levels, gear, and where you can craft and gather materials, buy things off the trader and participate in the economy etc

- the other is the sPVP side where balance is paramount and all characters are evened out for competitive small scale play in a controlled environment

It actually works out very well, small scale competitive play needs perfect gear and level balance, WvW and PVE retain that MMO flavour of gear, potions etc.

This is what some of us have been saying to all those “2 people” comments, it’s obvious there’s a lot of you working on the pvp side

Please do continue and add the spectator mode and ladders/rankings, we need these quick

The game is great, continue!

wow

thanks for listening Jonathan and acting on it so quickly

this is the kind of turnaround we like

if there are still issues with the timer, that means you would continue to look at it, which is great to hear

phooka.4295:

xiv.7136:

Xpiher.5209:

There isn’t any YET. New content will require you to be geared in agony resistance to do it.

So you’re concerned about something that hasn’t happened, that hasn’t been announced and is clearly not going to happen?

Sigh.

When the new gear was announced, it was said that there would be a point beyond which you won’t be able to advance without it. You choose to ignore what’s been said and written just so you can pretend that what troubles others is a non-issue. No good style.

There is a point beyond level 10+ FOM where you will need the new gear.

But you can always do level 1-10 and play the whole dungeon, every fractal, in multiple difficulties no less, and an infinite number of times.

There is nothing that you cannot do in the game with just some cheap Rares from the trader, and exactly 0 ascended items. No content is off limits for someone is level 80 with 2g worth of items on their back.

I am pretty much ignoring ascended items completely. I don’t need them, at all, for dungeons, PVE or WvW. They are only needed for people doing level 10+ FOM.

I have better.

I give you: fat Liam Neeson

Chlorure.9763:

Yes it should. People are now getting turned down from group for not having full exotic gear.

No they are not.

Stop making stuff up.

No one can even see your gear, there is no inspect method.

And on top of that, exotics are ridiculously easy to get.

In a dungeon however, no one will notice you’re wearing a bunch of 5 silver level 80 Rares.

And no one cares, it’s not at all required to complete even the hardest explorables or even FOM up to level 10+

Kill stealing is directly a part of the competitive scene. It’s there in lots of MOBAs.

Or would you like it so you can’t steal the mob once tagged? Make it like PVE? Come on.

Xeph.4513:

I would have to say that the new system for lack of better words is pretty kitten and really poorly thought out; I have no clue why Arenanet thought that the previous system needed changing.
The only way I see this system working is if the timer starts from the second that you go down, meaning that if you stay in downed state for more than 20 seconds than your given an instant respawn, thus discouraging players from keeping the person in downed state for too long, and bringing back an element of control over the rez time, or we could simply go back to the old system that worked perfectly.

I understand Arenanets approach with this new system, but I hate the fact that they are trying to dumb the game down; its nice that people can’t filter into a point constantly to keep it neutral, but I believe this problem could’ve been addressed in a different fashion to the one Arenanet chose to take.

All in all, I hope that the system is reverted or changed at the soonest time possible.

What if respawn time was set at 10 seconds instead of 20.

Or maybe making skills work differently in PVP and PVE is the best way to achieve balance.

Oh yeah.

People who are bad at PVP complaining that it’s the game at fault rather than their own inexperience, well this is new!

Thieves complaining about balance always makes me laugh. And I play a thief.

EDIT:

BTW, the PVE daily can be completed entirely in WvW. I know, because I do that quite often.

That’s why the PVP achievement is entirely in sPVP.

Xpiher.5209:

There isn’t any YET. New content will require you to be geared in agony resistance to do it.

So you’re concerned about something that hasn’t happened, that hasn’t been announced and is clearly not going to happen?

I’m concerned all the bananas in the world will turn into spiders that eat everyone.

Because I am an expert in things that have literally never happened.

Luchifer.8026:

Why do prople cry that the game has some elements that they dont like and say it suck, i played alooooot of mmo but this one is one of the greatest

I agree.

There is no fee to play. Just play if want to, don’t if you don’t.

Play something else on your PC. You’ll be back to GW2 in no time.

Fozzik.1742:

Please find me the person who thinks it is fun to be ineffective in groups, to be useless in dungeons, and to get stomped repeatedly in WvW? Find me the person who enjoys sitting for hours trying to find a group? In what way is it fun to get left out of new content or the best rewards?

Part of having fun in a game is being effective and useful and sometimes successful. You can’t do any of those things if you are left far behind by the stat treadmill. You won’t get groups and you will be largely ineffective in PvE content. You won’t be useful and will constantly get defeated in WvW. This game requires gear and stats in order to be effective and successful…and ArenaNet just added a huge grind to that requirement with their new tiers of gear and infusions.

I’m sorry you don’t understand what’s happening, how the game works, or what other people are saying, and that it causes you to be annoyed.

We’re TRYING to play the game for fun. ArenaNet is requiring a stat grind of ever-growing proportions in order to reach that fun.

This is completely and utterly untrue.

Level to 80, buy cheap rares off the trader and you can do anything in the game. You don’t even need exotics.

You do NOT need even exotics

There is no content that is off-limits to you as a fresh 80 with nearly free rares from the trader.

Stop being emo-kittens.

For real:

- The best gameplay of any MMO

- The most balanced PVP of any MMO

- One of the prettiest games out there – of any genre

People are doing the FOM dungeon because it’s new.

It’ll calm down and WvW will be #1 prio again, as early as this week I bet.

Gotta be for balance reasons. Knowing the timer was a major advantage before and could largely mitigate the death penalty, this evens it out and makes deaths more meaningful.

JonathanSharp.7094:

Dueling is not currently in development. Some of the other things mentioned, however, are.

How about dueling only in the mists? That’s where most people would do it anyway and that avoids the duel spam in PVE or WvW areas.

In any case, good stuff and thanks for the reply

Can I suggest though that you guys do state explicitly what we can expect and how soon, and to really get cracking on it so we see some ladder/spectator stuff right away.

We want this game to be well along the esports path by Xmas.

I don’t grind at all in GW2.

I do WvW when I fancy it, sPVP when I fancy it, or just run around in Orr or do a dungeon by joining a pug from LA, when I fancy it.

I have never once even been asked about my gear tbh. Not like people can even tell, since they can’t inspect me.

My gear is all exotics on 2 chars. Multiple sets. I don’t have fancy skins, but working towards Arah corrupted orrian skins and CoF one, using the Orr karma ones otherwise.

If you call just playing the game “grinding”, that’s your problem.

Do what you want.

use the keyword “spineguard”, there are 80 and level 45 green backpieces on the trader