Arklite.4013

Relax, we're just going with Logan Thackeray to Northrend to kill the source of the Risen and then we get to come home to our families.

Still waiting for 100% discount on a Novelty Item Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

> @"Interpretor.3091" said:

> > @"Dawdler.8521" said:

> > Hm, I always considered the "problem" in this the regard to the fact that players want to do 360-no-scope 10-man killstreaks in 10 seconds so they can feel cool, when in fact GW2 sPvP is far more complex on a tactical and strategical level because they need to control an entire map, requiring people to think. And thinking hurts.

>

> I wouldn’t boil it down to this, Mmo players want a challenging learning curve, thats why they play Mmos. People want to be challenged and a good learning curve is important and keeps people invested for long periods of time too.The players that have PvPd from the beginning stick with this game because they have invested so much time to learning.

> Similarly, League of Legends has like what, 40-50 champions now? 100s of different items, runes, and skill trees. Learning curve is just as hard imo. Difference is population and lack of resources to learn for new players. LoL (riot games) provides a plethora of tutorials and also has the population to back it up. MM is better also much better due to population, community tutorials are more available, etc.

>

> People want to be challenged and learn, but they need the resources to do it. Anet needed to take the first steps years ago to provide this, and then the playerbase would make up the rest. Riot games was constantly making tutorials for their new characters. Now community content creators and sites like Op.gg and proguides.com make up the rest. Who do we have in Gw2 that actually makes tutorial/learning content for PvP? Shorts? Jawgeous? They both quit doing it I think.

Side note: League of Legends has well over 100 characters now. I know they released the 100th one like 4 years ago.

My $.02 - I think sPvP is kind of "blurry" unless you reach a certain skill threshold. Most players can't really tell what's happening aside from "I'll go to this point and fight these guys here". Dying/going down is a huge setback but the game doesn't really make it feel like one. To compare it to League, as you previously mentioned, the game has a very isolated laning phase, with clear determinants of how well you're doing, well-defined, timed, objectives, and a distinct transition to a teamfighting phase. Granted that stronghold is an abomination, I think sPvP lacks in both the initial attraction and player retention because for a lot of players you may as well be sitting in the FFA pit without a clue.

> @"Abyssisis.3971" said:

> No, we get recycled skills of other professions..

>

> Berserker’s major master trait

> Dead or Alive 30 second cooldown

> Receiving fatal damage while in berserk mode ends berserk and heals you. Incoming healing is increased.

> Healing 5,220

> Incoming Healing Increase 10%

>

> Vs

>

> Souldbeast major grandmaster trait

> Eternal bond 60 second cooldown

> While in beastmode, if you would be downed you instead fall out of beastmode and recover health.

> Healing: 3,924 (1.5)?

> Protection (3s): -33% Incoming Damage

>

> Only somehow we get a worse off version despite being a higher tier trait. Rangers cannot have nice things haha

Worth noting that there are fewer restrictions to get into beastmode than berserk. It requires the initial adrenaline investment and has a time limit. Beastmode is indefinite (granted you will want to hop in and out)

Would love to see more of these. Please keep the thread updated!

I really enjoy this concept - I hope I can run into one of you someday

Not sure if this is better posted on the Guardian or Mesmer forum, but I think I'm more interested in the Mesmer answers.

I play Core Meditation Power Guardian - GS + Sw/Focus, high burst, medium sustain, medium mobility. I'm in Gold 2 currently so I'm not totally dumb at PvP but I feel like I haven't been able to improve at this matchup very much since getting back into the game. Granted I'm pretty unfamiliar with how Mesmer works (I've made one and looked at the builds, played a few PvP games but I'm quite the novice), but from my observations on the matchup, it seems like there's a lot of evades with animations that are pretty difficult for me to distinguish (especially among GW2's obvious visual clutter). I think most Mirages I run into usually run scepter/x + staff. I have a lot of condition cleanse, but you guys have a lot of conditions. I'm rarely able to land my burst and I can't keep up in longer fights.

Whenever it's convenient, I'll try to pull/cleave some of the clones down. Is this a waste of time? Should I make a greater effort to kill the clones?

Is there a big condi application window I should be saving contemplation of purity for (or my condi cleanse in general)? I typically try to save it for when they start piling up (using smite condition almost off cooldown) but I'm wondering if there's a specific skill/set of conditions I should be saving it for and I'm getting baited into wasting it or something, but if I don't cleanse aggressively enough I die too quickly. It seems like this fight is kind of a race against time before I run out of condition cleanse and slowly die while being kited.

I think it's called chaos storm - the skill that creates the big pink bubble - is it worth entering/staying inside the bubble to try and fight? I've tried staying outside of it but it just gives them free time to hit me while I can't do much back.

If I start winning, I'm usually unable to chase, and if I lose, I'm rarely able to escape (though this is just an innate guardian passive). Should I run scepter and try to play more defensively?

Accepting any and all advice.

Thank you!

Warrior has ranged weapons that are almost usable as is. Hambow was meta for what seemed like forever. Rifle has been in and out of playability. I think most players would just prefer they allow these to be viable ranged alternates rather than giving us Revenant hammer 2.0.

On my phone so I can't type a whole lot, but people are probably going to suggest:

Firebrand Guardian

Elementalist (All three types have viable support options, but the non-core specs will probably perform better)

They're the most "support-oriented" (mostly firebrand) and it's less of a "rotation" and more of "adapting on the fly based on the situation". I'm assuming you already know that GW2 adheres to a design philosophy that stays away from the "dps/tank/heal" trifecta and kind of makes each class self sufficient in all three aspects. I would say that firebrand is probably closest to what you're looking for, though.

Edit: Forgot Ventari Rev existed

Hello,

As the title states, I'm a total amateur at WvW. I have a good amount of sPvP experience under my belt but I'm still mediocre at it. I'd been avoiding WvW because of how overwhelming it is, and the insane amount of visual skill clutter GW2 generally has. I own HoT, but not PoFso I don't have access to mounts. Is it worth spending the time and effort to try and learn the mode, or should I just stay away?

Edit: fixed typo

> @"Eurantien.4632" said:

> If you're playing power for dps reasons, such as pairing something with longbow, greatswords is the best option. Sword and anything just doesn't have the ability to pressure/defend/counterpressure in the correct ways. In this way you are opting for more control in the fight instead of pew pewing, running away, and pew pewing again - cause you're not doing kitten with sword which means you're giving up a lot of control with the fight.

>

> Greatsword is all about getting a big hit in and staying close yet playing defensive until an opportunity for an another big hit is available. You have GS auto evade, swoop, and gs 4. To handle this. It's also a great weapon when someone is on their backfoot. That being said, GS 5 is useless against people running away. Pet swap quickness helps gs a lot however.

>

> If you're running it with axe... like a gs and axe build it can work... but I find it a combo thats just worse than having a longbow, and worse dueling than sword and axe builds.

>

> If you're running longbow and axe and warhorn... that can work if you always keep good positioning and run away the moment someone looks at you and run back when they peel off of you, but if someone wants you dead you really have no defense with that set up.

>

> I am moving and have my fingers crossed that I'll have a good enough Internet connection to be able to stream a bit. If I do, I'll try and stream a GS guide...

>

> In the end, if you know the match ups, I'd argue GS is the best weapon we have.

Following for aforementioned GS guide. I work, so a recording would work great.

After looking at an adjacent thread, it turns it out it's just classic Acro Staff DD.

Thanks all.

6 people and 5 points? Everyone's a sidenoder now!

I'm in a somewhat similar boat - granted I play core because I don't own PoF. Whenever I switch to GS and engage in melee, I find myself missing some mauls, and especially hilt bashes. Swoop doesn't seem to stick very well if your target moves, either. But my biggest issue is I just get blown up whenever I'm fighting anything in melee. Once I use up Signet of Stone and GS 4, I feel like I just die too quickly. Granted I'm not expert and some of the more subtle stuff (like positioning GS 3 to leap out of smokescale's ability). It seems like it's just safer to camp in LB all day unless I really need to kill something quickly. I'm a pretty amateur ranger so I would appreciate all the advice one could offer.

I'm talking about you 295 mastery players.

Who is your go-to?

Your old faithful?

The first character you log onto after not playing for a few weeks?

The one you bring to unfamiliar content?

One of my favorite things in large in-game events is to click on people and see what profession people chose to get 100% world completion on. I'd love to hear what everyone's choice is. From observation I've seen mostly Guardians and Mesmers with the badge.

> @"Sir Vincent III.1286" said:

> > @"Arklite.4013" said:

> > > @"Sir Vincent III.1286" said:

> > > > @"Arklite.4013" said:

> > > > Thanks to the people writing legitimate responses. The circus clowns have a place too.

> > > >

> > > > To clarify on my original post, yes, 90% evade uptime was an exaggeration, as @"babazhook.6805" and others mentioned, he dodged almost all of my attacks, which isn't indicative of his actual evade uptime. The 6 minute estimate was not an exaggeration, and I have no doubt it could've gone on longer had the game not ended. I was core warrior, which doesn't have that many attacks, and he was spamming jump, which made it visually confusing. However, I was making a conscious effort to land my attacks between his evades and was totally dumbfounded by how many were constantly evaded. We were pretty much on top of eachother the whole time and I was aiming to have a hitbox out as often as possible. He used a signet or two FWIW. I know there are DD builds out there with lots of evade uptime but this seem absurd as someone who's seen a lot of absurd things in my 6 years on this game.

> > >

> > > Well, first thing, 90% evade uptime is what's absurd since it's not reality. Evasion windows ranges from 1/2s to 3/4s, with the exception of Instant Reflex and Daggerstorm. Even if you factor all the evasion in, it will not grant a 90% evade uptime. The math don't lie.

> > >

> > > Second, in any PvP games I've seen and participated in not once that someone was left alone in a point fighting 1v1 for more than 1 minute. I'm not sure if your team mates were laying eggs somewhere on the map that they didn't bother rotating, or maybe they're just sitting around eating popcorn watching you struggle against a squishy Thief. The fact that players are constantly rotating, your claim of fighting 1v1 for 6 minutes is implausible.

> > >

> > > Now it seems to me that this is a perception issue. Just like many complains about Thief, they are based on what they think they saw instead of what actually had happen. In this case, we have an unreliable witness.

> > >

> > > So here's the challenge; Try to replicate the DD build and see if you can get 90% evade uptime and last for 6 minutes on a point. Don't forget to jump around to confuse your opponent -- it's very important. Only then you'll find your answer and realize that none of what you've claimed here is plausible.

> >

> > See above on the aforementioned 90% figure. Evidently I made the mistake of believing people would see a figure like "90%" and understand that it is an exaggeration. I will not make this mistake on the thief forums again.

> >

> > I had other players come and fight on the point with me but I asked them to leave and do something elsewhere. The point was under our control at the time and I was more interested in the thief I was fighting than in killing him.

> >

> > I do not know what build he was using. I am neither creative nor skilled enough to recreate it. I am not concerned enough to attempt it. I was intrigued enough to ask the thief forums about it.

> >

> > Thanks.

>

> Your mistake is presuming that people will believe your exaggerations without data to back it up...and it's kinda insulting, really.

>

> If you're curious about the build, then ask about it without making things up.

>

> Just like everything else, the only real and substantive way to know for sure about a build is to play the build yourself. Or at the very least, do yourself a favor of researching the build so the next time you find a Thief with similar build, you'll know how to beat it. Everyone here conducts similar research. I personally have level 80 character for each profession. I play them so I'll know them.

>

> Back before the Elite Specs, there was a build called Endless Dodger which is more bunker than the current iteration because Feline Grace was so good.

>

> You claim that you're playing GW2 for 6 years and know nothing about Thief builds? That's another thing that makes your claim even less credible.

>

> EDIT: typos

Well considering I don't record my matches and the results screen doesn't really include any helpful information, I'm not sure what kind of data you would expect me to present. This wasn't a researched post. It wasn't a comparison to an attempt I had made. I only asked with the information I had and the assumption that users on the forum would be familiar enough to point me in the right direction.

I have been playing for longer than 6 years I believe. I leveled a thief to 80. I just don't enjoy the class very much so I haven't touched it since. To quote my previous comment, "I do not know what build he was using. I am neither creative nor skilled enough to recreate it. I am not concerned enough to attempt it."

> @"Pterikdactyl.7630" said:

> Since you are playing sw/sw sw/sh I am guessing you are running power and Mallyx/Glint? A link to your build would be helpful. Here are some personal recommendations:

>

> -Drop Mallyx for Shiro. In theory Mallyx will help you manage conditions well, but IMO the mobility from Shiro helps you kite much better, allowing you to avoid them in the first place. I don't really think Mallyx is very good at managing conditions unless you take Corruption for Pulsating Pestilence.

> -Drop an offhand for staff. I know the damage doesn't feel as good, but staff is a godsend for sustain. Having a mobile block allows you to kite defensively and gap close aggressively, staff 4 will help you manage condis, and staff 5 is good for not just CC, but also evading and kiting. The damage on staff 2 is actually quite good too. The weapon helps quite significantly with sustain. It is an incredible utility weapon.

> -If you decide to keep shield, trait it if you haven't. It is a very good trait and will help you handle condis much better.

> -Drop some toughness for more offense. I know this seems counterintuitive if you are having trouble surviving, but you need to have some good kill pressure.

> -Master your Glint heal. In WvW the upkeep cost is so low and you can basically have it on permanently, which will allow you to more reliably eat your enemies' burst since Infuse Light is instant cast. This is a huge key to sustain.

> -Learn to abuse distance and LoS. Sword skills have a range to them and it is good to develop an instinct for where that max range is so you can abuse and kite. Understand how no-port spots work and how Phase Traversal functions (what causes it to fail). Shiro helps so much with this because you can port and evade around, and it has a natural synergy with Glint because it will allow you to kite better while your heal is down.

>

> This is from a PvP/WvW perspective, but you can apply some of it to PvE as well. In PvE and WvW you can get busted damage with permanent 25 might, and can often just mow kitten down. If you don't like the feel of power Herald in PvE you can play condi and use Tormenting Runes, one of the most sleeper busted runes in the game, and watch your sustain go through the roof. It has awesome AoE damage too, my personal favorite open world build.

>

> I'd write more but I'm just on a lunch break. Again, a link to your build would be helpful.

Not a revenant player here but I've taken an interest in it lately. This is a really nice write up, thanks for it.

> @"Sobx.1758" said:

> > @"Arklite.4013" said:

> >and he was spamming jump, which made it visually confusing.

>

> So literally what I wrote:

> "*Seems to me like you just saw a few evades and vaults, didn't know what is happening because you don't know anything about the class and typically went with OMG BROKEN CAN'T TOUCH HIM FOR WHOLE MATCH.*"

>

> And yet here you are calling people "clowns", good job. Claiming that DD "kept evading 90% of the time for 6 minutes and could go longer but the match ended" is laughable. If you want constructive and serious responses, how about not making up false statements like you did from the very start of this thread?

Confusing reply. The 90% claim was an exaggeration from the beginning - I even spelled it outright in my previous reply because apparently that wasn't made obvious enough in the OP.

This is not, nor has it ever been a rage post or claiming the build is OP. I was just awestruck by the amount of evades I encountered, so I came here to ask about it. Deliberately blowing things out of proportion is an odd approach to take on someone else's post.

Because you'll point it out in your next reply if I don't type this - again, the 90% figure is an exaggeration.

> @"Sir Vincent III.1286" said:

> > @"Arklite.4013" said:

> > Thanks to the people writing legitimate responses. The circus clowns have a place too.

> >

> > To clarify on my original post, yes, 90% evade uptime was an exaggeration, as @"babazhook.6805" and others mentioned, he dodged almost all of my attacks, which isn't indicative of his actual evade uptime. The 6 minute estimate was not an exaggeration, and I have no doubt it could've gone on longer had the game not ended. I was core warrior, which doesn't have that many attacks, and he was spamming jump, which made it visually confusing. However, I was making a conscious effort to land my attacks between his evades and was totally dumbfounded by how many were constantly evaded. We were pretty much on top of eachother the whole time and I was aiming to have a hitbox out as often as possible. He used a signet or two FWIW. I know there are DD builds out there with lots of evade uptime but this seem absurd as someone who's seen a lot of absurd things in my 6 years on this game.

>

> Well, first thing, 90% evade uptime is what's absurd since it's not reality. Evasion windows ranges from 1/2s to 3/4s, with the exception of Instant Reflex and Daggerstorm. Even if you factor all the evasion in, it will not grant a 90% evade uptime. The math don't lie.

>

> Second, in any PvP games I've seen and participated in not once that someone was left alone in a point fighting 1v1 for more than 1 minute. I'm not sure if your team mates were laying eggs somewhere on the map that they didn't bother rotating, or maybe they're just sitting around eating popcorn watching you struggle against a squishy Thief. The fact that players are constantly rotating, your claim of fighting 1v1 for 6 minutes is implausible.

>

> Now it seems to me that this is a perception issue. Just like many complains about Thief, they are based on what they think they saw instead of what actually had happen. In this case, we have an unreliable witness.

>

> So here's the challenge; Try to replicate the DD build and see if you can get 90% evade uptime and last for 6 minutes on a point. Don't forget to jump around to confuse your opponent -- it's very important. Only then you'll find your answer and realize that none of what you've claimed here is plausible.

See above on the aforementioned 90% figure. Evidently I made the mistake of believing people would see a figure like "90%" and understand that it is an exaggeration. I will not make this mistake on the thief forums again.

I had other players come and fight on the point with me but I asked them to leave and do something elsewhere. The point was under our control at the time and I was more interested in the thief I was fighting than in killing him.

I do not know what build he was using. I am neither creative nor skilled enough to recreate it. I am not concerned enough to attempt it. I was intrigued enough to ask the thief forums about it.

Thanks.

Currently messing around with solo builds myself. Switching between Guardian and warrior, I've found that either core or SB warrior seems to be my favorite. Guardian is just too squishy - in longer fights you'll run out of active defenses or you'll spend so much time playing defensively you won't kill anything that doesn't die to GS 4 + 2 and the blade trap.

I've been using GS + mace/shield on warrior, which provides high damage via GS, and tons of survivability with the other set. One thing to note with warrior, is even without utilities, it has a ton of access to breakbar damage, and it's all more convenient than guardian's (you aren't wasting the damage from GS 5, bane signet, or F1's pull to do it). With Adrenal Health and your choice of heal, plus your blocks and evades, it makes soloing tough guys a breeze. Utility skills are pretty free, but I've been running Bull's Charge and Stomp for the mobility, CC, stunbreak, and high damage.

Rifle isn't great, but it's not as bad as everyone says it is.

I'd recommend checking this out: https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Warrior_-_Strength_Greatsword

I just ran into a daredevil who I sat on the point and fought with for maybe 6 minutes or so. I don't know very much about thief or DD but it seemed like he just jumped around constantly and had evades up maybe 90% of the time. It was ridiculous. He never killed me but I also could never kill him. What exactly did I run into?

I'm not great at picking the armors and dyes for this sort of thing but I'd absolutely love to have one. If you happen to have a Lucina cosplay laying around please share it with me!

This is coming from someone who mostly plays Guardian and Warrior but has recently started playing a ranger.

I'm using GS/LB and would prefer not to compromise on the weapons. I can get a decent amount of fury up by landing disables and I know there's a pet out there that gives 5 might with its F2. Is our primary method having our pet crit/critting and using heal as one?

Same boat. Commenting to follow because I am looking for an answer as well. The few times I've won where catching them off guard with a big maul crit. Usually I just get blown up in a few seconds.

I am not complaining that the Guardian's utility skill choices are bad. This is more of a flavor/enjoyment post, and this is mostly from an open world perspective. I've been spending a lot of time on my warrior, using skills like Bull's Charge, Stomp, Endure Pain, Frenzy, etc. I really enjoy what all of these skills do because not only are they helpful/powerful, pressing the button immediately rewards you with a noticeable effect, often visually. It feels great to run around the world with skills like these in your back pocket.

My Guardian, on the other hand, a character I really enjoy for other reasons, doesn't feel like they possess utility skills that are nearly as impactful. While some of the shouts aren't bad, often the only payoff is "you do thing x a little better." Post-rework spirit weapons aren't terrible, but the effects still feel minimal and relatively passive. The effects of traps aren't bad, especially the elite, but I think the inherently reactive nature of traps holds them back from a satisfactory standpoint. Aside from Sanctuary and Wall of Reflection, which are both very niche, the skills as a whole feel inconsequential. Maybe it's due to Guardian's very reactive kit and playstyle, but the only skill that I felt really happy with was Judge's Intervention.

Is this completely useless information? Is this rant from one player's perspective and is likely to be disagreed upon by most people? Both are very likely.

If I'm missing something and there's some hidden way to make these skills feel great, please let me know.

> @"Yasai.3549" said:

> Bear Stance vs heavy condi.

>

> Troll Unguent vs anything else.

>

> Point is not to get chunked as a ranger, or if yu do get chunked, use anything in yur arsenal to back out and recover.

>

> Ranger also has alot of ranged pressure to kite people and have their ridiculous GS3 Evade Swoop and 1200 range pet Yeet to disengage in a pinch.

>

>

Very new Ranger player here - curious about the 1200 range pet Yeet.

I've been playing some sPvP lately and find that when I get jumped on I often don't have the time to get the entire cast time off and need to dodge in the middle of it. I've been avoiding We Heal As One because of the longer cast time. I'm too used to Guardian's Litany and Warrior's Signet so decent cast time heals are new to me.