Zin Dau.1749

Determine the elite spec that you want to dedicate to. Unlocking a spec will grant you an exotic weapon unique to that spec; it will also unlock a collection that rewards an ascended weapon of the same type. PoF specialization collections are much easier to fulfill than HoT (frankly the latter are not worth the trouble or costs). Fully training all the spec's traits and skills will give you an armor piece.

Therefore, if you have chosen a PoF spec, you can fulfill much of their weapon collection while completing the story. PoF story also unlocks a collection for ascended back item; half the collection is completed by simply finishing the story. Stories will reward a lot of mastery points, besides providing a backstory and most of the map completion for their respective regions. Follow the story closely, and you should have ample MP to unlock all the mounts smoothly.

In conclusion, doing the PoF story will provide a smooth progress in terms of elite spec training, unlocking mounts, and some ascended gear. Parts of the story take place in the open world. You can take this time to do the events, HP, and MPs along the way.

> @"Roda.7468" said:

> ranged gameplay in high-end encounters. (drastically increasing buff/heal range, increasing the potential damage / serious viability of builds using ranged weaponry (a staff, scepter, or gun is not the tool of a coward, it is a tool of a tactician!), and rewarding a mix of ranged and melee builds in high-end encounters via mindful mechanics)

>

> I can't speak for anyone else, but I choose primarily caster classes because I want to stand back and observe the whole encounter. Where I position myself in a boss fight is a puzzle; something I can optimize that isn't how fast i can hit my buttons in the right order. I want to clearly see both my character casting her cool spells, and each boss's animations that I'm sure had a lot of work put in them. I was severely disappointed when I went into my first learning raid and was expected to form an eldritch blob of arms, swords, axes, and staves and sit under the boss's nether bits only shuffling slightly as a group to handle mechanics and avoid hazards. 0/10 will not try again until the game cares enough about non-melee gameplay.

true. there's no reason the range of fields and effects are so tiny, when they're already limited by amount of allies they can affect.

you can already go fishing. they even give you awesome weapons, like spear, harpoon, and trident. just go underwater and spear those marine lives to your heart's content.

one or two months ago, saw one during Jormag world boss.

Suggest a new storage, called Armory, that stores unlocked account bound equipment (armor, weapons, trinkets, unlimited gathering tools, including ascended, legendary, leveling equipment, rewards), so that items can be checked out by your character super quickly, without inconvenience, frustration, and tedium of swapping items back and forth between characters. Similar to wardrobe where any character can check out any skin, multiple characters can check out the same equipment without the hassle of moving the item around, no need to use vault/bank to swap items between characters. Characters will remember which items are currently checked out, so no need for the long tedious process of 1. Going to bank 2. Put items in inventory 3. Equip items 4. Play 5. Stop playing 6. Unequip items 7. Go to bank 8. Put items in bank. on every login and logout when switching characters, it becomes very tedious.

The Armory will avoid this tedium. The point of account bound gear is to share gear between characters. Right now, the process of sharing is unnecessarily inconvenient, tedious and repetitive.

Repercussion for other systems. Vault/bank/bag space will be freed up, less need for buying additional bank slots. If items are virtualized like wardrobe, how are skins and dyes applied?

Probably easiest solution then, is to make vault/bank the Armory, whereby characters can equip directly from the bank without actually moving the items back and forth in and out of characters' bags. Kind of like shared bag item slot, but remember you can only access bank at bank NPC or crafting station; unlike shared bag items which is always available by opening your bag.

Nevertheless, a new Armory that is always available regardless of your location is most convenient and desired. Especially for changing builds on the fly. A suggestion is to extend the inventory, to faciliate moving items in and out of Armory. The items should obviously be seen in the Hero window where you see the paper doll of your character, and be available to be equipped.

Perhaps the Armory is like a bank/inventory in that physical items are placed there (not like the wardrobe waiting for virtual skins to unlock). Like the bank, it comes with certain number of slots, which can be enlarged by purchasing additional slots (with gem). This solution then offers the convenience for players, while offering developers opportunity for revenue.

Tl;dr a tandem to the bank, the Armory stores items so that multiple characters can equip and use the same account bound items without hassle to unequip/equip upon login/logout, and the Armory items are always available from the Hero window.

> @"Steve The Cynic.3217" said:

> > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > On the one hand I really like how original GW2's mounts are, the fact that they're not the same generic animals most games give you (even the starter mount is a raptor!)

>

> While I agree that GW2's mounts are unique (particularly their mechanics) and so on, I'd point out that when patch 4.0 of Runes of Magic came out, there was a pre-order bonus that included a permanent "Torex" mount. What was the Torex? Um. A small raptor-style dinosaur. They also had a wide variety of animal mounts, including Mammoths, and a cool thing called the Rune Disk, a sort of hovering oval skateboard without wheels. (The Rune Disk was also the fastest mount in the game.)

>

> Of course, RoM mounts were little more than fancy-looking running shoes - all you could do with them was go faster, with none of the special mechanics of GW2 mounts.

>

> EDIT: RoM 4.0 came out in mid-2011, more than a year ahead of GW2.

Please. Asheron's Call 2 came out in 2002, and their mounts were similar to raptors.

If you try to deny people to use tools that measure objective, public data, then you leave them no choice but to measure you by prying into your actual personal data, including AP, gear, etc.

Outfits are only available from Gem Store. That's not going to benefit the vast majority of the customers.

Quests are already everywhere in GW2. Just about everything you do is a quest.

Neither. I'm moving back to 3 core trait lines.

I tried Deadeye, Marking seems pointless and unintuitive.

Daredevil is just poor man's Mirage. In fact, Mirage does thief playstyle better than Thief in every area--offense, defense, mobility, sustain, CC, stealth, dodging, even flow between skills. Daredevil just feels clunky in comparison. Hence why I'm returning to Dagger/Dagger instead of staff.

If constantly changing gear isn't for you, then you should try prefixes with 4 stats that will cover more stats, enabling multiple play styles, with negligible loss of performance. These include Viper and Grieving.

4-stat will also let you cover a defensive stat without losing too much of the offensive stats. Marauder could replace Berserker for extra vitality. Marshal looks okay for hybrid damage if you rely on heals. Even Trailblazer if you're fully condition based (but the latter loses advantage of switching builds).

Mirage can shatter like crazy, probably better than before. Axe 2 creates a clone, is 2-charge ammo, and recharges every 6.5 seconds; i.e. creates clones just as fast as scepter AA, but much better skill overall. Then the traits create even more clones. Every Deception skill creates clone if a clone already present. Not even mentioned the core traits. Dueling GM (Deceptive Evasion) creates clone with every dodge; for Mirage, that means every ambush creates a clone on top of ambush attack. Illusions line Mind Wrack becomes 2-charge ammo, which is huge burst damage along with how fast Mirage can create clones. You can even trait to create clones when you stealth. Perfect since Mirage wields torch, and torch 4 stealths you. Signet of Midnight also stealths when activated; passive is perfect for condi builds since it increases condi duration.

Overall not only is Mirage huge DPS boost for Mesmer, it gains superb sustain and clone generation.

But your complaint is contradictory. The core stats are cheapest on the TP, and easiest to unlock in crafting. Berserker, Assassin, Rampager are widely available. More defensive there are Carrion, Knight, Zealot, Rabid. Yet you're implying none of these seven widely available, high performance choices are good enough for you. I would not recommend gear with two defensive stats, unless you're pure support in group-focused content (raid, fractal).

Gear with stats from expansions are intentionally designed for dedicated players. If you desire these, you really must focus on grinding gold, mats, and rewards for them. They're not just going to fall into your lap.

It's not the gear; it's the player. Change your play style. Learn to embrace glass cannon. Train some defensive traits and skills; wear fully offensive gear. The right traits and skills, and player skill, will get you a lot farther than measly toughness or vitality.

If they wanted easy way out, just stick with 2D games, and never touch 3D. There, much less work for your artists. But if they want to keep making 3D games, they just have to suck it up and put in the effort to make items that players want.

Yet there is no excuse to blame hard work, when they can create such extravagant maps and levels. The effort they put into these maps is just as time consuming as gear.

Elite Name: Arsonist

Class: Thief

Weapon unlocked: Torch (off-hand)

Weapon Skills:

:Torch 4: Combo field: fire

:Torch 5: Combo finisher: whirl

:Dual wield: all core main-hand weapons (dagger, pistol, sword) will have a finisher move (e.g. whirl, projectile, leap) when paired with torch

Skill Category unlocked: Bomb

Utility/Elite:

:Flash Bomb: Combo field: light

:Viral Bomb: Combo field: poison

:Pipe Bomb: Combo finisher: blast

:Bomb Thrust: Combo finisher: leap (knockdown AOE + you leap back + evade)

:Fire Fiend: Transform into fire fiend for 15 secs. Cover yourself in fire shield, burning foes and gaining might when attacked. Take no damage from enemy fire field or burning condition. Instead, standing in any friendly or enemy fire field and burning conditions heal you instead.

Traits:: TBD

Role: Combo field and finisher

Mechanics:

:Profession mechanic: every combo field also counts as fire field for Arsonist combo finisher, for two combo effects (fire field counts twice).

Others:

crafting HoT (exotic) gear is for suckers. sell the pearls and flax, and save up for ascended.

when in doubt, just go with mesmer.

Depends on the class. I'd prefer fast, mobile class for leveling. So far, D/D Thief has been the most fun to level. Mesmer most interesting to figure out. The other classes can use the level skip boosters.

Craft leveling equipment so you don't have to worry about gear. I used the level 60 gear until 80. (This game has issues with huge gap in 70+ level range.)

OP wanted to know before PoF came out. Now with mounts, travel is faster and should be more enjoyable to level new toons. Four days should be enough time to complete the personal story.

Mirage. Endless streams of dodge, evade, teleport, stealth, CC, heal, and of course, clones for taking aggro and misdirection. And Mirage kills hella fast on top of avoiding getting hit, because every action simultaneously does both offense and defense. Oh yea, in full offensive gear.

I'd say tanking is staying in melee range for extended periods, or even entire boss fight, without dying. Sure you can have high toughness, health, and damage-mitigation shields, but how long do they last and how often can you get them up? Are they one trick ponies?

yea i was just thinking to have ships be the masteries for the next expansion. ships, airships, and submarines. build them, sail them, decorate them, travel between maps, fight in them.

this game doesn't favor tanking. hence defensive stats on gear are moot in PVE. so it's better to have active defense and control to prevent damage. including dodge, blinds, CC, etc. also consider traits and utility skills to get out of jams. also the faster you kill them, the less risk to yourself. since skills are hampered by recharge time, you need to make the best of each action, since it will be a while before you can reuse that skill. i.e. maximize the damage of each attack. find the right timing for CC and dodge.

For 'Many Man' build, could consider replacing Staff and Chaos line, with Scepter/Sword and Illusions line. S/S will give two great burst damage skills, two blocks, and clone generator AA. You can stay at mid to long range in fights.

Illusions traits 1-1-3. Mind Wrack shatter becomes ammo, so you can do more shatter bursts. Create clone when you stealth (e.g. torch 4 and signet of midnight). Then faster recharge on scepter (more blocks and burst).

Dueling traits 1-3-3. Phantasms gain fury. Illusionary Swordsman hits 8 times, so 8 chances to crit and cause bleed from Sharper Images. Faster recharge on sword; cast iSwordsman every 12 seconds, twice as often as iMage from the torch.

Without Chaos, you lose passive protection, but rely on blocks that may also return damage. Fits the MO of offense and defense with a single action.

When your class depends on vigor, and don't care for other boons, you really want it to stand out. Most of the time, boons list is pointless anyway; it's basically just random icons flashing in and out. How is searching through a random list for a specific icon going to help for any class? Problem is further exacerbated by the poor choice of color combinations, it very difficult to tell boons apart.

**[suggestion] [GUI] Better strategic placement of boons and conditions icons**

Boons and conditions icons flash in and out, and pushing each other, it's hard to tell what you (the player) gained or lost. So various icons should be placed at more strategic locations.

Vigor icon should be placed above the endurance bar. It should come with a visible timer to signify the seconds left on the boon, without having to move the mouse over the icon to tell how much time is left.

Regeneration and conditions icons could be placed inside the health bubble. So you can tell right away if you're gaining or losing health.

Moreover, boon icons need a different color combination, to easier see the emblem. White on orange is hard to tell the boons apart. So too the timer digits should not have the same color as the boon's emblem or background.

Different background color for different categories of boons. e.g. offensive red, defensive green, other orange.

This topic inspired me to try Axe Mirage. So I'm brewing my own version, aiming for high synergy between various mesmer and mirage traits, namely illusions, shatter, critical hit, conditions, and endurance.

First my experimental build for reference:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAnfWnELDVohNoBeoBMMjFcjycBitRqMAWtfxP9n/6H-jBCBQB+TfjDV/JCnABA8kCa3hEgLK/ky+DUSJYAAEgN2it4FDsxNuxLexL2114G34Fv4F34F34FLDQ1aA-e

Now explanations:

- Trait lines are Dueling 113, Chaos 233, & Mirage 131.

- Gear is somewhat budget and more fitting my style (e.g. I don't like to swap between axe and staff regularly, so the on-swap proc is unnecessary to me.)

- Endurance and vigor: obviously Mirage's main attraction is to keep up endurance for continual dodges, evades, and ambushes. Coincidentally, Dueling line grants a free trait (Critical Infusion) that gives vigor on critical hit; thus incentive to raise precision to very high. Mirage also has a free trait (Nomad's Endurance) that when vigor is active, you also get bonus condition damage. Thus, more critical hits lead to renewed vigor and more condition damage without extra effort.

- Precision: Dueling line partially involves improving and benefiting from critical hits. These benefits are passed on to your illusions. Free trait (Sharper Images) allows illusions to inflict bleeding on critical hits; if they crit a lot, that's a lot of stacks of bleed. Dueling trait Phantasmal Fury will grant additional 20% crit chance to phantasms; in this build, it's close to 100% crit chance for your phantasms.

- Illusions: unique to mesmers, I think any mesmer build should consider a reliable method of generating a stream of illusions due to their versatility and importance to mesmer's game plan and survival. In this build, illusions will be useful in both offense and defense. As mentioned above, illusions will get to stack a bunch of bleeds on critical hits.

As for defense--besides illusions naturally taking aggro and tanking for you--Chaos trait Illusionary Defense grants a buff that negates 5% of incoming damage whenever an illusion is summoned. This includes when a phantasm expires and is replaced by a clone; thus a phantasm would create two stacks of this effect over time. This trait stacks up to five times, for up to 25% less damage taken by you for 5 seconds. If you can keep making new illusions, theoretically that's permanent -25% 'shield'. Note you don't have to keep the clones around, so you can shatter without worrying about diminishing this defense.

The steady stream of illusions will be generated by weapons skills, Signet of Illusions (every 10 seconds a new clone), Dueling trait Deceptive Evasion (makes a clone when you dodge), and Mirage trait Self-Deception (activating Deception skill creates a clone if another clone is active). In particular, Jaunt (Deception elite skill) has three charges, so practically full squad of clones at will; hence Jaunt single-handedly begets +2 clones and +10% damage reduction. (Moreover, Jaunt also removes one condition from you; perfect, since you definitely want some cleanse.)

- Shatter: the main reason for clones to exist. Shattering clones provides various effect, including burst damage, CC (daze), and defensive buff (distortion). Furthermore, shatters can be improved markedly with traits. Dueling trait Blinding Dissipation adds blinds, Mirage free trait Nomad's Endurance adds vigor, Chaos trait Bountiful Disillusionment adds boon.

With steady generation of clones, you should have plenty of clones to shatter at all times.

- Survival: between dodge, evade, illusion tanking, healing, blind, distortion, interrupts, damage reduction, lose targeting, shadowstep, and even stealth, Mirage's survival is through the roof. Without losing any offense due to the high synergy as laid out above. Every action is both offensive and defensive in some way.

Conclusion: Just played this for a few days, and I can already feel this is the most overpowered solo class I've played. I've soloed champ, vets, group of mobs--all at once--without trouble. I don't even fear anything any more; just rush headlong into any situation and mobs just drop like flies. I got burst, sustain damage, survival, CC, mobility, etc. Top notch offense and defense simultaneously.

Reminder to self: I should also record my gameplay for post-game analysis. e.g. check dps, vigor up-time, etc.