AliamRationem.5172

Poor luck, I'd say. I find WvW is generally low toxicity, as far as competitive games go. A couple of nights ago I fought a condi core engi that did a pretty good job with a not so great build. So I whispered him just to tell him respect on the build. He was totally polite, despite me ganking him in the middle of a fight he was holding his own in. He gets it. Just helping the team. No need for salt.

> @"javier.9786" said: > I'm comming back to gw2 for a leave of 2 years more or less, and lately I was maining shaman in wow so when came back to gw2 I try elemental since its the closest to shaman. I saw this I wanted to try it but I'm not 80 yet. > Btw it would be great for the new exp to give ele some sort of totem or banner skills like warrior's > Also I was wondering since I can't tank with my shaman, can I cant with my ele? Is it possible/viable? There's no real "tanking" here. The closest thing GW2 has are raid encounters where the boss just fixates on whoever has the most toughness stat. But you can build tanky with any class, including ele. For example, here's a clip of the Verdant Brink boss trio done solo on sword weaver: That's the more traditionally "tanky" version of the build, relying on barrier and stability/stunbreak to survive the frequent CC + burst in this fight. I rarely run that, however, as it's unnecessary. A better strategy in most encounters is to use the powerful defensive kit on sword/focus to outright avoid most of the damage. In this clip I only get hit twice. I happen to be using tanky stats, but they're a complete waste in this case. I'm still going toe-to-toe with a boss that can kill me in a matter of seconds. But since she isn't able to touch me, that doesn't matter!

> @"javier.9786" said: > So sad, I was comming back for a leave of 2 years of gw2 and lately I was playing shaman in wow so when I came back to gw2 I start a new character as elemental since its the most close to shaman and my 1st impression was "why do I die so fast? Maybe I'm doing my rotation bad" so I came to the forums and this is what I found. > > Btw I read on another post that heavy and light armor can get the same damage output but they have a huge diference in armor, is it right? > > Also, I wonder (but already have the idea) can elemental play as tanks? I love the idea of an earth theme tank The difference between 19k health with 2.3k armor and 11k health with 2k armor is significant. I definitely feel that squeeze when playing at buildcraft with ele. I don't think it would kill GW2 to just make medium health and armor baseline for all classes at this point. The disparity feels unnecessary. Having said that, this is GW2 and no class is just one thing. You can build tanky with ele.

> @"Cuks.8241" said: > > @"Firebeard.1746" said: > > ... > > So we went completely offtopic here. Would just conclude that I agree with most of what you said. My initial point was just that what we call in gw2 support is nothing new to most other games, it's just that this nomenclature of what constitutes a support role is a bit different here than what I am used to from other mmorpgs. Usually, they are just called dps. Most likely because if there is holy trinity you want to put them somewhere in there. It's not a tank or healer? Well, it's DPS. That's it exactly. WoW doesn't have a "support" role not because support doesn't exist, but because all classes have some form of support tied to their primary trinity role. I do agree with the poster who noted that "support" in WoW is more of an afterthought (i.e. some buff you passively supply as opposed to a dedicated build and rotation for the purpose of providing support), but in that comparison the same can be said for GW2's take on healing and especially "tanking" which bear only a superficial resemblance to the well-defined and supported roles of a trinity game like WoW.

Agree on Kourna. That meta and map definitely felt rushed, but it did bring us the roller beetle, at least. Jahai, while not one of my favorite maps, is part of one of the more ambitious story episodes. I really appreciate all that went into that one.

I wish they'd spruce up arcane trait line a bit. The boon uptimes seem so stingy for the range of boons it provides. Some thoughts/suggestions: Protection uptime on earth attunement swap is strong, but I think vigor, swiftness, fury, might, and regen could all be increased. Ideally, this should come from improvements to arcane prowess, renewing stamina, and elemental attunement. Change elemental lockdown to grant 3s quickness on interrupt instead of boons based upon attunement. Add boons to evasive arcana and a 1s chill to the water dodge. Increase boon share radius to allies. Add a passive 5s protection on a 60s icd to Final Shielding. Drop weakness from arcane precision and replace with some other non-CC condition, but reduce the icd from 3s to 1s.

> @"Trevor Boyer.6524" said: > Eeeeeeeh > > You don't "always push far" or "never push far", it's more complex than that. You need to know when it's a good idea to open an initial split with a far push and when it would be a bad idea to open the initial split with a far push. It's all situational. It's almost like you'd have to spend a lot of time actually playing PvP in this game before making the right calls becomes obvious to you. I was led to believe that only total noobs make the wrong decisions!

> @"Firebeard.1746" said: > > @"sorudo.9054" said: > > all i can say is, welcome to guild wars 2. > > a place where stats are linear and roles are reduced to 1. > > Not sure you could argue this. In OW you can build whatever you want and get away with it, in PVE there are specialized roles way more than other MMOS (quick, alac, might, bs, spirits, healing, tanks, DPS) some builds can cover multiple bases sure, but comps in this game are way more complicated and support buffs can take skill to have to apply based on class (chrono specifically). At top end PVE, this game is FAR more difficult than anything I'd done in WoW. You're pretty generous in what you consider a class "role" in GW2. For instance, alacrity is a class role now? I'd call boon application a support role. However, in games with better class balance, every class also brings unique support. Thus "support" is not considered a distinct role so much as something a tank/healer/dps does in addition to their primary function. Far more difficult than WoW? That's hilarious. You honestly believe that guilds competing for world first in WoW would struggle with GW2's one-size-fits-all raiding? I love GW2 and my WoW days are over, but this is just not consistent with reality.

> @"Curennos.9307" said: > I like them as a concept. I think it was a terrible idea to require so much effort for an emote though. One run through the content I can understand. Sure why not. But three? **Five**? > > I don't like that they're adding timers to things, either. If I wanted to play mythic+ in WoW I would be over there. > > We need a Deldrimor PvP/WvW reward track!

Players have asked to revisit core maps, while observing that irrevocably changing them in open world is perhaps not a great idea. Adding sequential story events that oddly occur simultaneously in open world is also not ideal. Instanced content that revisits core maps is a workable solution. There are numerous issues in the execution, but I think it was an attempt to give us something we've been asking for in terms of content delivery. It's not enough to carry the story on its own, though. We all know why it was handled this way. It's still a disappointing end to a story that started off strong with the prologue/Grothmar episode.

> @"TheThief.8475" said: > What if DRM are actually instanced story chapters that you play in party? Everyone says they suck because lack of rewards, maybe they are not meant to be repeated, if not for achivements. > > I completed all DRM yesterday, and I a have to say I enjoyed em a lot (**except the metrica and caledon**). > > Imo they are a GREAT way to play the instanced story chapter that you used to play alone. They are not repeatable content (or even end game content), they are just great if you play each of them one time to advance the story. I would like to see some instanced story chapter in this format in EoD. > > I've played gw2 for a very long time, and this is the first time i have really enjoyed the instanced story, wich were much more boring even in HoT and PoF with no exception for living world season 3 and 4. > > But yes, there is no content added in the game in the "champions" releases, no one can deny it (no maps, no strikes, no meta events ecc). > But no, DRM are not as bad as everyone says, they are just a fun way to push instanced story (imo). Not a repeatable content, but not bad content. > > What do you think? "I knew it! I knew it would be bad news. Wait, I have an idea. Maybe if you tell me the *bad* news in a *good* way, it won't sound so bad." They aren't repeatable content at all. That's why they have...dailies. There's no content, of course. But at least you don't have to repeat DRMs. So, you see DRMs are a really great method of content delivery! I'm glad you're enjoying them, but to me they feel like copy/paste content that does not stand well on its own. Icebrood Saga started off strong with the prologue which had a map full of personality and a pretty solid story episode associated with it. It's unfortunate that we're now approaching the finale trying to justify to each other how little the story is delivering. This is a sad franchise that could have been so much more if it had been managed properly.

> @"KidRoleplay.3615" said: > SAB World 3. Yeah, let's have some more of that!

> @"taara.3217" said: > > @"AliamRationem.5172" said: > > Mordrem Flower is not a good test ... > If one a LOT more damager than other, I will see it, that is enough and that is all that I want to see. Mordrem Flower is good only because it simple enough not to spend much time in defence, but cause damage + there are not many people around and you can fight solo much time - only those reasons. > > > You can test damage on a training golem, too. But as this is a discussion of the relative strengths of builds for soloing legendaries/champions, it is relevant to know how these builds perform under heavy pressure.

> @"taara.3217" said: > > @"Nephalem.8921" said: > > Yes. Renegade comes with vigor and perma 25might and a 10%mod. 25%vs bleeding. Also range and easy vuln access. Even a 15% condi dmg mod if you can melee and stack a bit might with mace. > I have tested both in Mordrem Flower Hero Point (Auric Basin) and found not any significant distinctions in time to kill it (the same equipment, stats, runes - all the same, except for, of course, Short Bow and Renegade trait). If Renegade were a LOT more damager, I would've seen this, wouldn`t I (say, 2 min to kill as Herald vs 1 min as Renegade)? > > On the other side, sure, I have not much experience playing Ren (I tried, but found nothing interesting to me), that is why maybe I did something wrong... Can you make video with Ren in Mordrem Flower Hero Point ? It will be interesting to me to look at real Ren they're talking about. Or somebody can? Mordrem Flower is not a good test of sustain because it's too slow to hit you if you just keep circling around to its flank. Both builds should survive just as well in this environment. I'm sure you know how well you perform with these builds, but I'm not you. This test doesn't shed much light on the relative strengths of these builds.

> @"Wisely.4819" said: > I watched your videos before, I found the quad healing combo quite difficult to pull off! > Also, that sword weaver trailblazer is very durable is nice, but it still doesn't do anything against bosses that can't be damaged from melee :/ I did manage to solo the chak challenge in your video with scepter weaver with little difficulty, though. > Do other heals than signet offer better survivability? I saw lord Hizen used the glyph heal in his solo weaver videos. If you feel more comfortable having a large active heal for recovery, then the glyph heal is a good choice. Many players like the signet heal on sword weaver because you use so many skills that it ends up healing for quite a lot and you have that excellent backup heal with riptide combos for rapid recovery. Don't worry if you can't manage to squeeze in 4 combos. You'll still get about as much healing out of a double combo as you do from a heal like the glyph and that should be easy to pull off (remember leap combos like air or fire 2 heal you for just as much!).

> @"Touchme.1097" said: > Hi Wisely.4819, I don't have a direct experience with marshal stats but you can watch Cellofrag on youtube to get a good view at how they perform on your sword weaver. The difference in DPS is not too much of an issue either and you can play WvW and PvP with those stats. I love Cellofrag's videos and I'm a subscriber to his channel, but for several reasons I can't recommend Marshal stats for PvE solo play. You'll deal majority condition damage if you run Marshal with a sustain build like Cellofrag's, but condition damage is a minor stat on Marshal. That translates to poor damage output. That situation is exacerbated by running healing stat primary with no passive mitigation or additional health while also running the healing signet. The signet is great for healing over time, but terrible for recovering from spikes. Marshal is setting you up to have to heal via rotating to water far more often than is necessary which results in even more damage loss. It's also worth noting that sword weaver's baseline healing via riptide combo chains is amazing as it is. Why run low-damage power-forward hybrid builds when you can deal 23.3k DPS over 7 seconds with 94% damage from burning and a peak burn tick of 32k with 0 power/precision/ferocity stat? Why take healing power when you can combo riptide for 12.5k heal chains with 0 healing stat? You can visit my channel from the video links here and in my thread the others linked if you want to see more including plenty of boss solos. Here are a few build variants to try. The fire/earth versions are stronger and easier to play. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PGgAw2lZwmYXMJmJOKPnvbA-zRJYkRD/YkIB6UA6nFfl2A-e http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PGgAw2lZwmYXMJmJOKXevaA-zRJYkRDfZkQCkZBo3sUl0G-e http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PGgAw2lZwmYXMJmJOKXevaA-zRRYcRBnHZkgCLjMLgeTAHmlqk2A-e

> @"Senteliks.2360" said: > > @"Zaraki.5784" said: > > > @"sniperman.1738" said: > > > > @"Konrad Curze.5130" said: > > > > > @"Mortifera.6138" said: > > > > > So DRMs are continuing in the new Champions episode > > > > > > > > of course they are. we'r in the age of absolutly minimum effort on ANet's part > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I wouldn't say Minimum effort, remember they are trying to finish up a living story while working on an expansion. > > > > So are you implying "minimum effort" could have been getting nothing from here to new expansion? > > Because nothing is the only worse thing than these pseudo-episodes. > > Why are you still playing? I think it's rather ignorant to give statements like this, without directly having had a bitter taste of being sucked in position like this. > > You literally nothing have to do to keep this game in library (expect optional purchase you may make from time to time, likely not) and login in from time to time to get the latest LS chapter, I mean I would understand this attitude if this game has model like ESO and I personally would find in unacceptable but you are literally awarded with whatever content (at least it's some content) by just playing. The most complaints come from people who invested not time, but their life in this game, over couple thousand hours, so perhaps a little stop to catch a breath won't hurt It's a good thing they did invest that time! The more time you spend, the more value you see in putting money into the endeavor. That's what the game ultimately needs to survive. Free content is a double-edged sword. It is free, so what do you have to complain about? But that won't pay the bills when players shift from putting in thousands of hours to maybe showing up 3 or 4 times a year to play some patch content. If you're a 2k+ hours kind of player, what are the chances you don't just seek the next big thing at that point? Edit: Also wanted to note I have pre-ordered Amazon's MMO. I don't like the look of it, but you know what? GW2 is getting boring and the direction of this game is going down the tubes. I await EoD with every hope that it will revive this game for me and there is no question I will purchase it, but this current method of content delivery will kill the game for me if it continues and I am definitely keeping an eye out for that next big thing. Yeah, it's free content. It's also not holding my interest at all.

It isn't dead. You're just showing up at the wrong time, so you end up on dead overflow maps. That's how DS has always been and these same complaints were being made from the beginning. You have to show up a little before map reset so you get on a map that is filling up and preparing for the meta. Since the meta is long and requires 3 squads, people rarely leave once the events start, making it difficult to get into a map once it is already full.

What kind of sustained DPS do you typically see using these power sustain rev builds or the tanky condi variants? How about bursts (5-10s window?)?

> @"Randulf.7614" said: > > @"AliamRationem.5172" said: > > > @"Vayne.8563" said: > > > > > > But sure, logically, if you have more maps you'll have less people in each map, particularly if each map as a meta. And some metas being less profitable will suffer. I don't really see how anyone can disagree with that. > > > > Sure. But are we there yet and are DRMs the preferred content structure? In my opinion, no and no. > > DRM's themselves aren't a huge problem for me (although they rush the story along far too fast in order to check off salient points rather than explore them), but I don't think they are anywhere near strong enough to lead the content from Nov - Spring and maintain a long term population for newer players after everyone moves to EoD. It needed something with them - a map (even a core style map), more visions of the past or perhaps the DRM's could have existed on phased maps instead of instances. If it was one release drop, then it would probably be OK, but 3 back to back ones is a strange decision to have made - and we know this was the plan way back in the early part of IBS when they hinted about it last Feb. > > Being Guild friendly is a huge positive given how poorly Guilds have had it the last few years, I just feel the depth and variety continues to ebb away and is laid barest with Champions I can agree with that. If DRMs had been part of something more I probably wouldn't feel like they represent a distinct low point for story releases. I've been playing since a little after HoT release and I can't say I've ever been less excited about the story content or spent less time on it than I do since we switched to this format.

> @"Vayne.8563" said: > > But sure, logically, if you have more maps you'll have less people in each map, particularly if each map as a meta. And some metas being less profitable will suffer. I don't really see how anyone can disagree with that. Sure. But are we there yet and are DRMs the preferred content structure? In my opinion, no and no.

> @"Svarty.8019" said: > > @"Ikya.2469" said: > > The real barrier is time. A lot of people just dont have the time or desire > > > > * You just said it's time, but then you hit the REAL reason ... DESIRE. > * If I desire raids, I'll play "That Blizzard Game". That's the raid game. They specialise in raids, they've done them for over 15 years. > * I don't want to raid, that's one reason I'm here and not there. > * How hard is this to understand? > * This game has OTHER unique features that attract me. I get it, it's easier/less risky/cheaper to be a follower than a leader, but you don't become a business owner if you're not into gambling. I guess this is what happens when the business **owner** isn't anywhere near their end product. I happen to agree that WoW is a better game for group PvE content, in particular raiding. However, I also agree that time is a factor for a lot of people. But more than that there is an implicit obligation when you must rely on 9 other players also committing their time. One thing that defines "hardcore" play for me is not so much time spent playing, but that obligation. Current and former raiders from any MMO can probably relate, but sometimes it can begin to feel like a job. Ever been in a guild that has the latest content on farm, you're equipping alts you never play, and you show up for hours each week basically just so the guild doesn't kick you before the next big raid release? Would casual players ever tolerate anything like that?

> @"Infusion.7149" said: > For fractals you want to refer to discretize and not random youtube videos generally. > https://discretize.eu/builds/guardian/condi-firebrand > > Condi FB is the only condi build viable for general usage. That's because the ramp time on burning is extremely low (~70-75% of the damage is burning and most of the other damage is derived from power) and the bleeding damage is 5% or less of the total damage in the Condi FB build. This is versus other condi builds that have conditions where it's 50% burning and 20% bleeding or other ramping conditions. Just wanted to note that while I agree with your advice, that isn't really some rando in the video. It's Roul from SnowCrows and the build he's using is pretty much the same as the one discretize has listed for condi firebrand. They consider it "off meta". Viable = Yes!

> @"Dark Red Killian.3946" said: > > @"AliamRationem.5172" said: > > > @"Dark Red Killian.3946" said: > > > Everyone doesn’t always have to like the new content, but that’s what it is, new content. Like it or not it adds more to the game to do. We now have 7 replayable missions and counting. Rewards are getting added as more factions come. Missions will get easier as masteries progress, and rewards will get amplified. It’s not complete yet, and there’s still room for improvement. They implemented starting the mission once the preevent was finished. At least they’re taking some suggestions and implementing them. People have been so ungrateful for new free content. > > > > You're welcome to your opinion and so is everyone else. ANet should be grateful for the feedback. The alternative is for players to find something better to do with their time without saying a word. > > I get that and everyone is welcome to their opinion as well. I just wish the boards were more full of constructive critisim, suggestions for improvements, etc, and not just a place where people kitten and complain. > That's cool. I get a little tired of people white knighting anything the company does as if it were a gift to us. To each their own.

> @"Dark Red Killian.3946" said: > Everyone doesn’t always have to like the new content, but that’s what it is, new content. Like it or not it adds more to the game to do. We now have 7 replayable missions and counting. Rewards are getting added as more factions come. Missions will get easier as masteries progress, and rewards will get amplified. It’s not complete yet, and there’s still room for improvement. They implemented starting the mission once the preevent was finished. At least they’re taking some suggestions and implementing them. People have been so ungrateful for new free content. You're welcome to your opinion and so is everyone else. ANet should be grateful for the feedback. The alternative is for players to find something better to do with their time without saying a word.