Kovu.7560

I mean all of the above are cherry picked fights, those gimmick/one-trick-pony builds are fun when they work but easily blown up. Boonbeast is more potent overall, even if the individual numbers are smaller because they can often tank for quite a long time in a 1v1 scenario.

That said, one-shotting the odd opponent with winter's bite on full power is both fun and satisfying.

~ Lpvi

I don't think the system is awful. You're going to get a lot more bags whilst mindlessly spamming your AoEs on necro than any build on other professions as it is; whether you're healing allies with the other professions or not doesn't change that. (I'm not taking a shot at necros here, those AoEs are counterbalanced by generally being individually less threatening. Don't hate me, internet!)

About the only step I could see them taking is lowering the threshold on _how much_ damage you need to do to something for it to count as a tag if that target dies -- and I could see them not wanting to lower that bar _too_ far.

Somewhat related, I still find it amusing that my participation resets to 10 minutes whenever an ally I have healed dies.

~ Kovu

The changes were intended for pve.

Spirits stopped being relevant in competitive play (especially wvw) when they removed the spirits ability to, you know, move. I will _on occasion_ see a ranger with a single spirit in pvp, but they're probably just messing around at that point.

I can't speak to the balance in pve, but I'm told that because now the already powerful Druids can more readily heal their spirits for additional CA generation its a sizable buff.

~ Kovu

> @"sostronk.8167" said:

> We need more PvE in WvW as well. I would love some mini bosses like Wyverns to fight with unique mechanics. Maybe throw in some of the raid bosses like Gorsevaal and Vale Guardian!

Vinewrath as SMC's boss. Need to take that place from all three sides, one at a time. The defenders can have access to several variations of Mordrem tonics, complete with overpowered mechanics.

Get some agony in there whilst we're at it. =)

~ Kovu

> @"Kolisch.4691" said:

> Please make torment damage proportional to the distance traveled.

Heh, an interesting idea, actually.

Damage-for-moving has always been a dumb mechanic as it discourages active play, changing it to a don't-run-too-far-away condition would still allow people to combat it by continuing the fight, rather than trying to run away.

As for the topic at hand, people are correct in asserting that the potential for both spike and ongoing damage in this game is high, complaining about a 10k health bar or someone's health while in downstate is kind of silly.

~ Kovu

I mean mesmers, soulbeasts and teleport-spec'd revs can keep up with the warclaw for quite a while, and thieves can keep up with them indefinitely. While I haven't tested it, I'm sure holos can keep up for some time as well.

Normal swiftness movement speed isn't the only indication of mobility and the cats don't have _that_ much health.

If there's one aspect of the mount I'd remove it isn't the dodges -- its the passive immunity to control effects.

~ Kovu

#Gondor calls for balance!

(nice vid~)

~ Kovu

> @"Dawdler.8521" said:

> > @"Kovu.7560" said:

> > So its a bit faster.

> > Thanks for the math.

> >

> > ~ Kovu

> Its quite alot faster than 33% swiftness actually.

>

> 15% in enemy territory and 35% in friendly (give or take a few percent, cant be kitten with math), without the mobility skill. The fact that it exceed hardcap makes it even worse (ie it doesnt matter if you have 50% superspeed or 66% swiftness, cant run faster than 400).

>

> Runners have been left obsolete. Warclaw is mandatory for WvW.

Forgive me for not feeling bad that the lower mobility professions have a tool to help them not be ganked.

~ Kovu

So its a bit faster.

Thanks for the math.

~ Kovu

Cat on a cat on a cata! =D


I'm not experiencing that on Fort Aspenwood. Many of the longtime players are very helpful, posting tips for unlocking the cat in team chat, tips to avoid the helmet bug and answering any questions they can.

_#JoinFortAspenwoodToday_

_#TheQueueIsOnlyTwoHours_

I completed the achievements and unlocked Warclaw in less time than it took for me to get through the que. About 15 minutes. This in part due to the aforementioned ktrain.

... and to think it took two months of off-and-on grinding involving a lengthy timegated achievement to get Aurora.

Even if I didn't pop potions for the reward track that would've been, what, 6 hours of "effort"? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

I wish the pve content was as quick, straightforward and easy to complete as this achievement.

Damn thing should've required 100 keep captures. It wouldn't even need to be retroactive.

~ Kovu

edit- Oh, and 250 gold.

I was saving [this helpful training video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfxpQWUJ4Y4 "this training video") for the next longbow ranger thread, but it applies here too. =)

~ Kovu

> @"XenesisII.1540" said:

> Mostly for the pve community...

You don't have to be a dedicated pve player or a veteran of the game(s) to at least know of the work she's put in for the community.

Its a big hit for the whole game. A real shame.

A little more related to wvw, I'm kind of gritting my teeth about the gamemode's future more than I have in the past. If we were concerned about lack of substantial updates _before_ you can only imagine how apprehensive many wvw'ers will feel now.

Hate-or-like it, the new mount is a rare piece of new content for this gamemode -- you have to wonder in just over a week when the patch hits, how many of the people who worked on that mount are no longer employed by the company. It also makes you wonder how far along alliances really are.

~ Kovu

> @"Gaile Gray.6029" said:

> Goodbye, beloved Guild Wars 2 Community. I love you all and wish you well in the future.

I'm sorry to see one of the few employees who talks to the players go.

Good luck on future endeavours.

~ Kovu

Overall positive, though I understand some of the many concerns players have with regards to wvw team resource allocation, potential dropped fps/lag and general gamemode balance (both player vs. player and player vs. structure).

I think its neat. Though I'm a little sad I won't be able to use the skins I have for my existing mounts in wvw, seeing as its a new mount entirely.

We'll see how it plays out I suppose. We've been down this road before with the introduction of gliding.

~ Kovu

I win matches where we lose over half of our fights because the team's thief has map awareness, knows when to and has the tools to run away from a lost cause and knows how to rotate and decap. People hate on thieves, but to me they seem like the most proficient +1'er, can be pretty potent 1v1 and they move around the map far quicker than anyone else (especially with being able to teleport up ledges.)

... at least that's how they operate in pleb (gold) tier where I like to hang out. Not sure if that's obsoleted up in the tiers where the pvp nobility hangs out.

~ Kovu

Inb4 warclaw related thread merging.

~ Kovu

Can it use catapults?

Can I be a cat on a cat using a cata?

Please? ... =3

~ Kovu

Awh. Not even a mention for CREW. I love farming bags with them at late hours -- on the off chance I log into the game after midnight.

I guess "at late hours" is part of the problem, nobody knows what happens when the important continent is asleep.

~ Kovu

edit- Oh, I guess this list is a little old now.

I do agree wvw could use some advertisement and incentives beyond _that update that might happen down the road_ to get people into playing the game. I feel increasing the number of things inaccessible to wvw-only players now would be a start (such as legendary trinkets or neat fashion equipment,) would pull in some fresh blood. As it stands regardless of the state of the gamemode there isn't a whole heck of a lot going on incentive-wise to pull people in that they simply can't do (often with less time investment) elsewhere. A fancy update without more of the long term incentives would ultimately be a band-aid solution.

That said, clearly the gamemode is, at worst, _okay_ if we're all still here playing it. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

~ Kovu

"You're fine." .... lol

I'm impressed you caught that warrior on ele. They're generally pros at running away.

Interestingly, on Soulbeast, elementalist is one of my better matchups. I can generally kill them or at worst run away from the bunkers.

~ Kovu

So basically fast paced large scale pvp?

Nothing wrong with that. A solid idea for a beautiful map that doesn't really see any love.

~ Kovu

> @"subversiontwo.7501" said:

> Words.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and I pretty much agree with your take on it.

~ Kovu

If the goal of downstate is to delay a stomp or being cleaved out, the professions punished the most are those that don't have the ability to _move_ while in downstate as anyone who's a sitting duck is basically automatically killed by being blinded or stomped by someone with stability (or cleaved more quickly). With that in mind ele > thief > mesmer > everyone else. Not allowing Vapor Form to pass through portals into towers or keeps would be a _start_ -- eles get away with so many dumb antics because they know they can blow themselves back to safety.

~ Kovu

edit- That said, with the exception of elementalists that vapor into towers the onus is on you or your team to _finish_ the person who's downed. On the whole they can't do much to stop it.