Kovu.7560

> @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > @"SmirkDog.3160" said:

> > > @"Mea.5491" said:

> > > But why? Buy 800 Gems for $10 and save the remaining Gems for later so next time you want something from the Gem Store you don't have to spend money again. Ta-da!

> >

> > That's not a solution, and not everyone has $10 USD to spend on the game.

>

> If 5 Dollars is not a problem but ten dollars is, you have bigger problems than the cost of gaming microtransactions and the cost of gemstore currency.

Damn. You beat me to it.

~ Kovu

> @"Strider Pj.2193" said:

> MAYBE (soonish) we will see a true lobby around the arena space which is part of using the arena as a GvG option to allow guilds to fight there like the guild hall options. (Dangit, I can dream.,,,)

Pretty much this.

Its a nice map. Shame it doesn't see more use.

~ Kovu

> @"aspirine.6852" said:

> It was fun when it was good, trapper with trapper runes. Have you ever seen one ince the change?Do not remember why they changed it in the first place. Cannot be because there was too much invis, because the thief and mesmer got that.

I ran into a trapper DH the other day. That very brief stealth wasn't doing him any favors.

~ Kovu

The population difference between server #3 (red, T1) and server #10 (green, T4) generally isn't all that different. That's where most of the volatility is, in regards to different servers bouncing around between tiers. Just look at T2 & T3 this week -- the red servers are winning.

With the exception of the two stacked servers in T1, the biggest reason some servers jump ahead any given week is that people on all of the servers are tired of the politics of the ppt game and would rather just look for fights, and those servers in the lead just _happen_ to be the ones in the lead.

~ Kovu

> @"Dawdler.8521" said:

> There is a soulbeast in that pic. It's faked.

Those scourges can enjoy some Dolyak Stance stab.

Once. Then that Soulbeast will die. It doesn't have the sustain of a Firebrand.

~ Kovu

> @"Strider Pj.2193" said:

> > @"Kovu.7560" said:

> > Oh noes, people could move around slightly more quickly out of combat. The desert map might _actually_ be manageable. Crap!

> > Not to put too fine of a point on it, the less mobile classes could _use_ the help getting around.

> >

> > The result of what _I'm_ asking for would equate to permanent swiftness while out of combat (and possibly within your team's own territories.)

> > Would that really break the game?

> >

> > ~ Kovu

>

> No. But it would neuter the mobility of the classes that build for it. How many non thief and Mesmer classes use their swiftness options?

>

> Few to none because it hurts their class. Revamp all the swiftness and mobility options for thief, Mesmer etc, to more combat power or defense then maybe we could talk.

Er.

> @"Kovu.7560" said:

> **out of combat.**

The only thing mobility-related that would change if we introduced mounts in the manner which I am suggesting is that the classes with _less_ mobility would effectively have perma swiftness whilst traveling from point a to point b. Mesmers and thieves would _still have their teleports_ in addition to swiftness/mounts. Someone on a mount would not be able to keep up with a blinking mesmer or a shadowstepping thief. Or warriors, rangers and (to a lesser degree) engineers & elementalists for that matter.

If you die in a fight and port out, whether you have effective-permanent-swiftness (via the mount) or have to slot and rely on a movement signet while running back wouldn't change the fact that the fight would likely be over by the time you got back, or still going for quite a while if you managed to get back to participate further, slightly sooner. You'd have to hit quite the sweet spot in terms of how long that fight lasts for that 8% difference in movement speed to actually matter.

As for combat itself, this wouldn't change anything in combat at all. The classes designated to provide swiftness would still do so and those without investments in personal mobility could still potentially be screwed during the fight.

Why are you so worried about the "power creep" of being able to get around maps ever-so-slightly more quickly, sometimes, on some professions?

~ Kovu

Edit- This isn't directed at just Strider. This thread's getting a lot of 'no's, but with very few reasons.

Oh noes, people could move around slightly more quickly out of combat. The desert map might _actually_ be manageable. Crap!

Not to put too fine of a point on it, the less mobile classes could _use_ the help getting around.

The result of what _I'm_ asking for would equate to permanent swiftness while out of combat (and possibly within your team's own territories.)

Would that really break the game?

~ Kovu

> @"ArmageddonAsh.6430" said:

> Nope. Nope. Nope. That would be rather unfair on those of us that cant stand the PvE in this game. I play WvW only. So saying "tough luck" to those that dont have them are the reason why they SHOULDN'T be added. What about those that cant afford PoF or for some reason dont want PoF or like me dont play the PvE???

I think if they introduced mounts to wvw it would be available to owners of PoF who choose to unlock the mastery.

Much like with wvw gliding, I don't think there would be any pve involved.

And actually, looking at the wiki you don't even need HoT for gliding mastery; only Provisions Master and Shield Generator Mastery require HoT.

~ Kovu

They were _somewhat_ viable before the trapper rune nerf when the traps could be thrown and celestial armor was better.

Trapper runes do not work well with rangers in most situations now unfortunately, due to their dealing direct damage breaking the stealth. Actually, thinking about it, I don't think they're that great for guardians or thieves, either. Guardians because their traps deal direct damage and thieves because thief traps are, meh.

Also they take up utility slots which are much more needed for other utilities on the profession that ironically is easier to kill whilst they're running a condition build rather than a power build just due to the way the weapons function.

Traps could still be fun, but you won't be seeing them in any meta builds.

~ Kovu

It would be a nice aesthetic touch.

Just remove the mount abilities, have them move at the normal 33% boosted speed (as if you're running on foot with swiftness) and have them punted if the player takes a hit that puts them into combat.

Heck, you wouldn't even need to restrict them to friendly territory.

If you wanted to implement a mastery tree that gave them versions of their current abilities (far jump, high jump, teleport etc.) then you'd need to restrict their use to friendly territory.

~ Kovu

If Anet keeps calling on Negan to bludgeon Druids over and over again, pretty soon Warriors _will_ be better healers.

Stay tuned, folks.

~ Kovu

> @"Mikeskies.1536" said:

> > @"Kovu.7560" said:

> > If you get hit with the same meteor shower more than once you _deserve_ to be nibiru'd.

> >

> > ~ Kovu

>

> If you get hit with the same meteor shower more than once you are dead.


> @"Stand The Wall.6987" said:

> are you trying to tell me my ranger trap build with pig stealth is obsolete

Yeah that went obsolete two yea--

> @"Stand The Wall.6987" said:

> pig stealth

Wut.

I swapped back to Soulbeast after the Druid & CA nerf on March 27.

This bullshit move coupled with the slight buffs to ranger/soulbeast pretty much solidified my position in that respect.

~ Kovu

> @"Dawdler.8521" said:

> > @"Kovu.7560" said:

> > > @"Dawdler.8521" said:

> > > > @"Kovu.7560" said:

> > > > > @"ZNICK.8537" said:

> > > > > I like a Druid roaming too... played well it can be tough to beat.

> > > > >

> > > > > Z

> > > > >

> > > >

> > > > They gutted Druid [personal sustain](https://i.imgur.com/2oQr2lj.png "personal sustain") yesterday and the damage on Druid has been subpar for a long time. You won't find anymore Druids with the ability to heal themselves significantly whilst also being an actual threat. And even with the outgoing healing buff, they're still #3 or #4 in terms of group support.

> > > > Get used to seeing more Soulbeasts. All of those potential stacked damage multipliers (with the most recent addition of Loud Whistle) make them an actual threat, rather than just an annoyance. (Though they'll still get blown up.)

> > > > I think I know which expansion Anet wants rangers to play right now.

> > > >

> > > > ~ Kovu

> > >

> > > I have seen more soulbeasts the last couple of days yes, then again yesterday I also saw a pretty much unkillable druid that we tried to bring down 3v1 but nope, heals all day long, stealth and pop back up far beyond range to catch him even as a mirage. So meh. Hasnt really changed much.

> > >

> >

> > Yeah, I'm sure that Druid was killing _lots_ of people on a healing build with his staff.

> > 3v1? Get good. Or find better allies.

> >

> > ~ Kovu

> >

> > edit- Full healy roamer druid is right up there with minstrels thief. Ignore, move on.

>

> Get good or ignore? Make up your mind.

With two other people? Get good.

By yourself? Ignore.

~ Kovu

> @"Dawdler.8521" said:

> > @"Kovu.7560" said:

> > > @"ZNICK.8537" said:

> > > I like a Druid roaming too... played well it can be tough to beat.

> > >

> > > Z

> > >

> >

> > They gutted Druid [personal sustain](https://i.imgur.com/2oQr2lj.png "personal sustain") yesterday and the damage on Druid has been subpar for a long time. You won't find anymore Druids with the ability to heal themselves significantly whilst also being an actual threat. And even with the outgoing healing buff, they're still #3 or #4 in terms of group support.

> > Get used to seeing more Soulbeasts. All of those potential stacked damage multipliers (with the most recent addition of Loud Whistle) make them an actual threat, rather than just an annoyance. (Though they'll still get blown up.)

> > I think I know which expansion Anet wants rangers to play right now.

> >

> > ~ Kovu

>

> I have seen more soulbeasts the last couple of days yes, then again yesterday I also saw a pretty much unkillable druid that we tried to bring down 3v1 but nope, heals all day long, stealth and pop back up far beyond range to catch him even as a mirage. So meh. Hasnt really changed much.

>

Yeah, I'm sure that Druid was killing _lots_ of people on a healing build with his staff.

3v1? Get good. Or find better allies.

~ Kovu

edit- Full healy roamer druid is right up there with minstrels thief. Ignore, move on.

Oh, with the thread title I thought this was going to be about streamlining all of the different merchant/bank NPCs at the various spawn areas. I was excited for a brief moment.

No, I don't want to defend the hylek turrets, or stand in the green circles, or CC on the third bite. I'm not in favor of adding more unneeded bells and whistles to this gamemode, (especially when you might be forced to deal with them whilst fending off a defending zerg,) and I'm especially not enthralled with the idea of making things more difficult for solo roamers and people new to the game. (I'm told there's quite the learning curve.) I don't want luggage, I want substance. Some of the pve mechanics in this game make me want to cry already, so if I'm not going to get a fight from the enemy team I'll take my karma and move on.

@"Brother.1504" Lol. Though now that you pull out the hyperbole, I wouldn't be against some of this stuff for gimmick weekends.

~ Kovu

> @"ZNICK.8537" said:

> I like a Druid roaming too... played well it can be tough to beat.

>

> Z

>

They gutted Druid [personal sustain](https://i.imgur.com/2oQr2lj.png "personal sustain") yesterday and the damage on Druid has been subpar for a long time. You won't find anymore Druids with the ability to heal themselves significantly whilst also being an actual threat. And even with the outgoing healing buff, they're still #3 or #4 in terms of group support.

Get used to seeing more Soulbeasts. All of those potential stacked damage multipliers (with the most recent addition of Loud Whistle) make them an actual threat, rather than just an annoyance. (Though they'll still get blown up.)

I think I know which expansion Anet wants rangers to play right now.

~ Kovu

Oh, I forgot to thank you guys for your suggestions.

'V' doesn't really do it for me. I've tried caplocks, but I find if I key anything to that I'm spending more time yelling in chat than I'd like.

Maybe I'll try keying it to my mouse, and see how that feels.

~ Kovu

Oh boy, fam. Here we go again.

~ Kovu

> @"apharma.3741" said:

> > @"Kovu.7560" said:

> > > @"apharma.3741" said:

> > > Com focusing has its own special place in hell with spawn campers and genocidal maniacs.

> >

> > If this gamemode had unwritten rules of the things to and not to do, an entire server wouldn't exist.

> > Com's got to run tankier stats and make sure there's a second FB (or some other healer like an ele or druid) in his party. =p

> > Or abuse stealth antics so the gankers constantly lose target. Smoke fields aren't hard to come by.

> > As it was noted earlier, it takes several rangers for it to become a threat, anyway.

> >

> > ~ Kovu

> >

> >

>

> Not com focusing is about having a fight, that’s fun and gets to play out. If all you do is beeline 20 people onto one target unless those 20 people are so devoid of intellect a zombie can beat them at chess they will kill the 1 guy pretty easily. What this ends up doing is creating boring and uninteresting fights for both sides which leads to everyone ending up worse off in the long term.

You do realize there are (or _should_) also be 20 people helping to keep that driver up? Situational awareness is also a thing for the tag, don't push away from your blob if you're taking heavy single target pressure. Most of the time the fights that are "fun and get to play out" involve two tags trying to drop aoe damage on each other's tag -- because frequently if you drop the tag you win. But by all means, take 20 rangers into a small zerg fight and see how that goes for you. (Spoilers, it won't go well.) Use the resources available to you. Don't rely on unwritten gentleman's rules. And anyway, if this sort of thing (ranger pick) worked well enough, frequently enough to be worth running rangers over the traditional GWEN composition, you'd see it more often.

~ Kovu

Slightly increase the duration of super short duration stealth abilities and effects (like leaping & blasting smoke fields), remove the ability to stack stealth duration by any means, (with the singular exception of Shadow Refuge,) by tacking 3 seconds of revealed onto the end of any given application of stealth.

That would actually _buff_ some thief builds -- the kind that use stealth strategically but don't invest in stupid levels of uptime. It wouldn't really affect druid or engineer, and I _-think-_ it might help to knock down stealth spamming mesmers a peg? (Though that profession has other issues that need to be addressed more.)

I agree that camping stealth is dumb.

~ Kovu

If you get hit with the same meteor shower more than once you _deserve_ to be nibiru'd.

~ Kovu

> @"apharma.3741" said:

> Com focusing has its own special place in hell with spawn campers and genocidal maniacs.

If this gamemode had unwritten rules of the things to and not to do, an entire server wouldn't exist.

Com's got to run tankier stats and make sure there's a second FB (or some other healer like an ele or druid) in his party. =p

Or abuse stealth antics so the gankers constantly lose target. Smoke fields aren't hard to come by.

As it was noted earlier, it takes several rangers for it to become a threat, anyway.

~ Kovu

> @"Ubi.4136" said:

> I mained a necro from launch to PoF launch. Scourge is the reason I switched to my chrono and ranger.

I pretty much switched my main from ranger to necro when PoF launched. Well, I still "main" ranger, but necro definitely gets more playtime.

The designers decided Scourge should be over-potent in large scale wvw. We've got to deal with that fact. In the end, you've got to learn to use the tools you're given, not fight them.

Everyone has access to the spec.

~ Kovu

edit- Everyone with PoF has access to the spec.