Infusion.7149

Salvage generally unless you are going to use them. You get a better payoff if you attune them first for an additional roll (i.e. salvage gives you one additional salvage result and will always be worth it).

> @"lare.5129" said: > > @"Nephalem.8921" said: > > Do you know how programming works? > yes. And you know how programming and Market works? > > >Android is > >MacOS does > Android and MacOS is a market. If you not support that this is product problem, but not problem for Android or MacOS. > > > And what I meant with mac hardware was that its not common to have very powerful graphic cards in imacs. Can you even get something like a 3080 or 6800xt inside one? > I don't care about big fps rate. We talk is it supported or not. > > MacOS is not **iOS** (iPhone/iPad).

If you're not that tech saavy and don't plan on doing WvW often you can get Parallels since it supports DX9 and DX12 via Metal. If you're remotely tech saavy you can install Windows via Bootcamp. If you want "free" then install Linux and dual boot that. Buying a PC should be a last resort. Unless you bought a recent Mac with M1 CPU, then best of luck to you.

It costs you **zero** monetarily to install Linux if you (people that have the kneejerk hatred to Arenanet) want to be cheap / obtuse and not use Windows via Boot Camp or Parallels. As such I really don't understand the need for macOS users to spam this sort of thread on the official forum. Cheap (Linux) , Fast (Boot Camp), Easy (Parallels) ... choose one. You can post all you want but you have to realize the decision has been made at the executive level already. There was probably in-house discussion on the ramifications of a change. Given the amount of lawsuits a company as big as Epic Games had with Apple, it is utterly unreasonable to expect NCSoft (and Arenanet indirectly) to put up with that stuff.

Turn down model limit , shadows, and reflections then make sure dx9 is installed properly if you aren't using dxvk or d912pxy.

> @"Touchme.1097" said: > @""Veprovina.4876" You can't take Steam as the only representative of the world gaming market, you are not considering other game stores and Apple has its own game store as well. Please refrain from writing invalid arguments based on your opinions, you have no idea what your talking about. My claim still stands right, your assumption that the gaming market orbits around Windows is a pure old myth based on no evidence. Here is some food for your thoughts: https://www.wepc.com/news/video-game-statistics/ There's nothing on there about MacOS on desktop/laptops that I see. iOS has a sizable marketshare in the mobile space. This isn't a mobile game similar to an iPad app. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/06/gaming-on-apple-platforms-is-set-for-some-big-changes-here-are-a-few/ > In a hugely consequential change for the Mac platform, Macs running Apple Silicon will be able to run **iOS and iPadOS games**. Developers will be able to choose whether their iOS or iPadOS games are listed on the Mac App Store, but if they choose that, the games will run natively, with minimal additional work required. > > This is a seismic shift for gaming on the Mac, and it may represent Apple giving up on a strategy that has never really worked that well in the 15 years since Macs moved to Intel CPUs. Mac games have generally been ports of Windows games. Not all games get ported, and those that do often don't perform well. > > > Here’s what’s happening to Boot Camp amid the Apple silicon transition > The poor performance hasn't been because of any one problem. It's a combination of Apple's emphasis with its video drivers, the comparative weakness of the mobile GPUs used in Apple's Macs versus PC gaming GPUs up until very recently, bad OpenGL support in Macs, a reliance on DirectX-specific technologies and frameworks in modern games, and a **lack of widespread expertise in Apple's proprietary Metal graphics API among PC game developers**, among other things. > > Plus, porting triple-A games is extremely expensive, and the market for them on Macs has always been relatively small. It's been hard for a lot of developers to justify the cost and effort. It seems like Apple has decided that trying and failing to win with that strategy is no longer worth it, so the **Mac's center of gaming gravity is moving from Windows PCs to the iPhone.** > From Apple's perspective, this seems like an all-around win. The iPhone app store dwarfs PC gaming by many metrics, the nature of the Apple Silicon shift means Apple will usually be able to ask for more of a cut of revenue from developers who make the games than they would in the old ecosystem, and the **effort and expense required to make an iPhone game work well on an Apple Silicon-equipped Mac pales in comparison to that required to port a triple-A, DirectX game in Windows to Metal** in macOS. Parallels' macOS marketshare numbers: _As of November 2020, macOS holds a **7.31%** share of the operating system (OS) market, compared to 5.79% almost two years ago._ (https://www.parallels.com/blogs/mac-in-business/) Anti-developer practices: >! https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/news/apple-ends-epics-ability-to-offer-fortnite-save-the-world-on-mac >! > Apple is preventing Epic from signing games and patches for distribution on Mac, which ends our ability to develop and offer Fortnite: Save the World for the platform. >! >! (the aftermath: Fortnite set to return to **iPhones** via Nvidia cloud gaming service http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54825891 , https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/11/19/amid-dispute-with-apple-epic-games-finds-workaround-to-bring-fortnite-back-to-ios/) >! >! https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/368364/Apple_to_revoke_Epics_dev_tools_including_those_used_for_Unreal_Engine.php >! > The fight between Apple and Epic is only picking up steam, and, according to Epic’s latest development, it looks like the collateral damage has begun. >! >! > Epic has now filed a motion with the court to block Apple from retaliating or taking any adverse action against Epic’s business in response to the lawsuit it filed last week. >! https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/08/17/apple-cuts-off-epic-its-tools-endangering-future-unreal-engine-projects-ios-mac/ >! > An Epic Games spokeswoman tells The Post that without that access, all future versions of Unreal Engine can’t be developed for iOS and Mac devices like iPhones and Macbooks. In turn, subsequent updates to iOS or Mac devices could make software running on Unreal Engine unusable. >! >... >! >Game developer Brianna Wu said she already invested thousands for a new Mac to port an Unreal 3 iOS game over to a 64-bit program. >! > “Now that project is dead in its tracks,” Wu told The Post. “**Using Unreal to develop iOS games has always been extremely risky.** All the greatest games of all time, games Apple promoted at iOS keynotes like ‘Infinity Blade’ are gone, lost to time because Apple constantly breaks Unreal Engine with updates.” >! >! https://www.cnet.com/news/apples-out-to-crush-fortnite-and-unreal-engine-epic-games-says-apple-refuses-to-make-exception/ Canalys analysis: https://www.canalys.com/newsroom/worldwide-pc-market-Q3-2020 > Lenovo led the global market with 23.5 million tablets, notebooks and desktops shipped followed closely by Apple with 22.1 million macs and iPads **15.2** million of that 22.1 million was iPads because the chart on the page listing tablets has that number , meaning the total Mac computers (non tablets) is 6.9 million (~5%) Per [Gartner](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-01-13-gartner-says-worldwide-pc-shipments-grew-2-point-3-percent-in-4q19-and-point-6-percent-for-the-year) , 7% marketshare for Apple in terms of Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2019 Also WePC isn't a reputable source for statistics unlike a source such as IDC, Counterpoint research, Canalys, Gartner, or industry publications such as eetimes, IEEE, etc. Even in the mobile phone space, globally Samsung is top at 22% while Apple is 11% and in Europe where presumably half the players are Samsung leads Apple by nearly double. The risk/reward for investing in that ecosystem for Arenanet as a company is in the negative to the extreme. Leave the Apple bubble mentality and you will see _reality_. You have more luck of a mobile payment option with an Apple iPhone app and Android app than a full game on macOS. ---- > @"ASP.8093" said: > > @"Infusion.7149" said: > > Arenanet has not said anyone on Mac OS cannot play the game. They stated they will not **support** any users with issues and it's no surprise given the complaint thread this past month by someone getting support information that was incorrect or outdated. > > They explicitly said they're sunsetting the game client: > > > Starting February 18 , we will be discontinuing support for the Mac OS version of Guild Wars 2. This means the Mac client will no longer work after this date. > > You can still find workarounds for running GW2 but it's not as simple as "we give up on support tickets," they're literally turning off users' current client at a specified date. _Please note that—due to ongoing changes to the game—these system requirements may change over time. In the event that you run into problems playing, you may need to upgrade your system or hardware to continue playing the game as intended._ https://help.guildwars2.com/hc/en-us/articles/201862958-Minimum-System-Requirements They are fully covered on this.

To expand on the above comment, Arenanet likely has zero developers with experience developing for Macs let alone with a _newly released_ M1 chip. Considering the former lead engine developer has left and there hasn't been a port to vulkan (which would allow for MoltenVK to translate Vulkan to Metal), plus no experience by anyone outside Apple working with the M1 silicon consider this "complaint" an exercise in futility. There's only one person listed explicitly as an engine programmer currently (who has 3 years experience at Arenanet in that function) which is why as I stated in another thread complaining about needing a new engine is far less likely than incremental improvements to the main thread (in addition to network improvements that are not clientside). A MMO is built to cater to the most users as possible and any investment is made conservatively. They will not and should not (especially as NCSoft is publicly traded company) develop for an existing player-base of below 3% and an unknown quantity that may or may not be supported in the future. Under NCsoft's leadership Arenanet are more likely to develop for ARM than for an Apple M1 chip given their existing portfolio of products does support ARM (Lineage 2 M for example). Ensuring compatibility would be entirely at their managerial discretion: there's a huge difference between _supporting_ something and simply allowing for compatibility (as opposed to the program shutting down when a certain translation layer , operating system, or application is detected : see games with anti-cheat mechanisms that simply do not run outside Windows). Arenanet has not said anyone on Mac OS cannot play the game. They stated they will not **support** any users with issues and it's no surprise given the complaint thread this past month by someone getting support information that was incorrect or outdated. It's the same as if you use D912pxy, dxvk on Linux , arcdps, Taco markers, etc. A developer even offered suggestions of workarounds (Boot Camp, Parallels, VMWare Fusion, Geforce Now) which are very reasonable and then very generously offered refunds to a portion of affected users. This is quite reasonable considering people are using Autodesk products on Macs via Parallels desktop and Autodesk has a huge budget. I feel as though Apple users are used to the entitlement of iOS on phones because iPhones have a significant marketshare _in the USA_. Outside of the USA, the lion's share of the market is actually low to mid-end Android phones. In the computing market , however, outside of the media and entertainment industry iOS isn't a bulk of the user-base. To put in _layman's_ terms: the Concorde was a supersonic jet that could travel faster than any other commercial airliner. It was discontinued because of _economics_. And that was after being a proven product/service.

> @"Tycura.1982" said: > Instead of 66 you get a mind blowing 132 damage. > > THATS A LOT OF DAMAGE! It's unique per game mode, the base coefficient is higher in PVE (1.5) vs PvP (0.1) and WvW (0.5).

> @"Substance E.4852" said: > Should have just been a third tier of the Storm caller weapons that used either some mat bought with DRM currency or strike crystals > > Locking them behind cosmically low RNG had neither made them achievable for the average player, nor has it done anything to keep people interested in the DRM's themselves > > As time goes on and the content becomes yet another example of abandonware, the cost of the skins will only skyrocket Yep there could have been the same recipe as Charged Stormcaller weapons with a cost of Volcanic lodestones + Prismaticite.

Does PvP really have a better source of Mystic Coins though if you don't do ATs and regularly place in top 8? Assuming your match is around 10-12 minutes each with a few minutes wait it's roughly an hour for presumably a few mystic coins at best. There's none in the PvP league (akin to WvW skirmish rewards but per season) or reward tracks that are shared with WvW. What PvP does have is better liquidity and near zero investment cost once you have wanted runes and sigils unlocked. I play all modes and I have to say that leyline anomaly and fractals are the best source.

I have no idea why DRM thread derailed into talking about BDO... All I have to say is BDO is a typical Asian grindfest with limited "choice" and selectively better visuals along with no level cap. It's essentially the antithesis of GW2 which strived to be accessible and "pick up where you left off".

> @"TamX.1870" said: > Yes, I was wondering if mac users can play with Linux and as pointed out above, it should be possible. I have played GW2 and other games under Linux with Wine for years. It is not always perfect, but it definitely works. Unless you buy a mac with an Apple CPU it's an overpriced computer basically (which is why "Hackintosh" implementations exist). You can install Windows or Linux on them.

Use Parallels desktop instead of complaining. It makes no economic sense for them to continue development for OpenGL.

If you don't understand it likely means you've never run a business or had to manage multiple code paths. Also, Parallels desktop.

You can get a tear for +10 or +15 AR: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Anguished_Tear_of_Alba

Fractal level has nothing to do with agony resistance or AR that you have equipped. If you severely lack the AR for the fractal scale you are doing then you become a hindrance to your party. If you are doing T3s or lower then you should not need gold for agony resistance slots, just get Bjora Marches' eternal ice shards and make ascended trinkets from those directly or indirectly through LS4 currencies. P.S. daily "recommended fractals" are the same for everyone, it does not mean it is based off your fractal level (or AR either).

> @"Halandir.3609" said: > Sure it sucks but don't blame Anet - This was the result of an Apple decision! > Streaming might do it but that could be a budget problem - Emulation (virtualbox/wine) just won't cut it for laptop mac's. > Nice of Anet to offer refunds when it was Apple that screwed their users. Virtualization has come a long way. Parallels desktop has DirectX 9 and DirectX 11 support. Even on Linux you can play GW2 as fast as Windows more or less with dxvk.

It's not an effect so it only applies to the damage from the skill itself.

> @"Chrysline.2317" said: > If you could only choose laptops, is the Ryzen 5000 series preferred? :open_mouth: > > It’s been 10 years since I last did hardcore gaming. :lol: I’m surprised at how far AMD has come now. > > Just to clarify, apps/games don’t have compatibility problems between AMD and Intel CPUs right? Ryzen 5000 series (Zen3) hasn't hit mobile yet, it's still on 4000 series which is most simply explained as a down-clocked mobile equivalent of the Zen 2 Ryzen 3000 desktop CPU series. The reason the 5000 series is superior to Zen 2 is the 8 core CCX structure, in which 8 cores share one core complex. Zen (14nm) , Zen+ (12nm , half node shrink), and Zen2 all had 4 core CCX ; Zen2's major instruction improvement was larger cache size and improved AVX2 to match Intel along with a 7nm process. It's a particularly exciting time in the laptop scene since 15W low power Ryzen chips reportedly perform as fast as desktop Intel CPUs from last gen in single threaded workloads: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Ryzen-7-5800U-thin-and-light-laptops-should-offer-stellar-single-core-performance-as-AMD-s-Zen-3-APU-scores-higher-than-an-Intel-Core-i9-10900K-in-CPU-Z.514047.0.html Just make sure it's a 7nm "Zen2" or 7nm+ "Zen3" chip. Some Intel chips run with Hyperthreading , the AMD Ryzen solution is SMT or "simultaneous multithreading". In the past the "clustered multithreading" / CMT on Bulldozer architecture (FX 8000 / 9000 series) led to issues before. The information is readily accessible on notebookcheck and other sites that cover the mobile PC space. See [notebook check mobile CPU benchmark list](https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmark-List.2436.0.html?type=&sort=b_244_705&deskornote=2&or=0&showBars=1&cinebench_r15_single=1&cinebench_r15_multi=1&cinebench_r20_multi=1&wprime_32=1&x264_pass1=1&x264_pass2=1&cpu_fullname=1&l2cache=1&l3cache=1&tdp=1&mhz=1&turbo_mhz=1&cores=1&threads=1). Back at launch notebookcheck actually did benchmark the GW2 core game: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Guild-Wars-2-Benchmarked.81604.0.html > Guild Wars 2 is one of the few games where the processor can have a fairly large impact on performance. As can be seen in our chart, stronger graphics cards can be found below their weaker counterparts depending on the CPU. I've actually seen more fringe benchmarking sites list GW2 benchmarks but keep in mind the thermal solution affects CPU throttling and power levels in mobile situations and Intel CPUs are typically worse due to the dated 14nm process versus the 7nm process of new Ryzens: >! **Ryzen 7 4800H** inside Asus TUF A15 (FA506IU) , Best appearance preset FPS: min 53, average 65 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2020/05/27/asus-tuf-a15-fa506iu-review/) >! **Intel Core i5-10300H** inside Acer Nitro 5 (2020) , Medium settings FPS: min 38 , average 49 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2020/09/21/acer-nitro-5-2020-review-is-it-worth-the-upgrade) >! **i7-10750H** inside ROG Strix G15 G512LU , Best Appearance preset FPS : min 20 , average 36 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2019/03/05/hp-zbook-studio-g5/) >! ---> same computer Best Performance preset FPS : min 51, average 78 >! **i5-10300H** inside Dell G3 15 (3500) , Medium settings FPS min 22 , average 41 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2020/08/25/dell-g3-15-3500-review/) >! **i9-9880H** inside Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen2 , Max settings FPS min 9 , average 33 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2020/02/12/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-extreme-gen2-review/) >! **i7-9750H** inside Acer Predator Helios 300 15 2019 (PH315-52), Max settings FPS: min 21 , average 62 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2020/03/13/acer-predator-helios-300-15-2019-ph315-52-review/) >! **i7-9750H** inside HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (2019) , "Ultra" settings FPS: min 9 , average 45.8 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2019/12/20/hp-pavilion-gaming-15-2019-review/) >! **i7-10750H** inside MSI GP65 Leopard (10SFK) , Best Appearance preset FPS : min 24 , average 50 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2020/07/20/msi-gp65-leopard-10sfk-review/) >! **i7-10750H** inside Lenovo Legion 5i (2020) , Best appearance preset FPS: min 12, average 27 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2020/10/13/lenovo-legion-5i-2020-review-the-jack-of-all-trades-and-master-of-them-all/) >! ---> same computer Best Performance preset FPS : min 60, average 113 >! **Ryzen 7 3750H** _which is Zen+_ inside MSI Alpha 15 (A3DD), Medium settings FPS: min 23, average 49 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2020/03/31/msi-alpha-15-review-a3dd/) >!**i5-10210U** inside Acer Aspire 5 A515-54G (10th gen) , Medium settings FPS min 15 , average 31.8 (https://noteb.com/?content/review.php?/2019/11/12/acer-aspire-5-a515-54g-10th-gen-review/) >! ---> U donates "ultrabook" or "thin and light" 15W TDP constrained CPUs , it is not advisable Note that even with a new laptop , running high model limit is a strain on the CPU.

There's nothing stopping you from installing a different OS or running it virtualized (via cloud services or in VMs with pass though). This is a cost/benefit analysis on their part due to the shift from Intel to Apple in-house CPUs for some of their future products. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201468 https://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/ https://www.vmware.com/products/fusion.html edit: frankly they're being overly generous. _Mac players can request refunds for client or gem store purchases through the customer support portal. We will be able to refund purchases within a 30 day window of the refund request._

> @"Strider Pj.2193" said: > @"Infusion.7149" > The GoB track is a reward track, not part of the skirmish track. > > Regardless of WvW rank, it progresses at the same speed. > > Rank wouldn’t effect it. Rank affects skirmish tracks which indirectly affects your reward track "per pip" see https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Instant_Reward_Track_Progress

The point of the gw2efficiency references is actual data. It isn't meant to summarize all of the playerbase. A bi-monthly vendor seems more reasonable than a weekly one ; a utility recipe using emblems would be far more usable than a weekly vendor for people that play WvW competitively. That especially holds true for new support players that need to foot the bill for monk runes, minstrel armor/weapons/trinkets which isn't used in PVE generally, and food/utility which is more niche than power food and utility ( https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bountiful_Maintenance_Oil ) . If you're a new player on a power build you can use essentially free food (because steak is dropped often at spawn points and even in PVE) if you're broke and fruitcakes/potent sharpening stone. Emblems rewarded on captures statistically have lower amounts and are timegated by Righteous indignation. This is true even if you look at the amount of people that completed either emblem one time since their introduction (it's about 64K vs 40K which is a factor of over 1.5X). I also forgot to mention karka potion, which should outright be disabled in WvW.

1 Mystic Clover for 1 GoB is rather stingy considering you have to be very high ranked, playing WvW diligently, and running boosters to even complete it in one day. The going rate for a Mystic Clover is around 8g (cost-wise) and in fractals you can purchase 2 per day on top of whatever else drops including any bonus drops from Fractal titles. So the major benefactor would be those who have been hoarding GoB. On grey market legendary sales (i.e. not on TP) I believe GoB is several hundred gold. --> Note less than 10% of players enrolled on GW2efficiency play more than 3 hours a day https://gw2efficiency.com/account/statistics/statistics.playtimePerDay It's also important to distinguish between emblems , because the 100 caps is much harder than 100 kills especially at primetime. There's a legitimate concern people will not defend anything if emblems are wanted and ktrain _which already happens in offhours_. By adding a skirmish ticket faucet, skirmish tickets devalue so I'm not so sure about that. Memories of battle would make sense though (many older rewards balanced around a much lower value than it is currently) and I believe mystic clovers to be healthier overall for the economy rather than a blanket increase in mystic coins given out. Maybe instead of monthly it should be on every relink (so bi-monthly) so that maintenance of systems is simpler. Thematically it would make sense, "memories of battle" ... would be throwing a bone to WvW players in the sense that they are not accountbound so the gold gain is still going to be lower than PvE anyway. I believe I have mentioned before instead of giving stuff away the emblems should be incorporated into recipes that WvW players will use, for sharpening stone stations or whatnot. That is a far more effective way to reward WvW players because you would not ROI in PVE with it. _Net_ income is defined as income after expenses, so decreasing expenses incurred would result in a similar net effect. Similarly, there are rewards that are essentially PVE only, such as easily accessible ascended backpieces. There is no mist backpiece yet ingame (Warcry doesn't count due to the massive timegate) and there is no way to get Eternal Ice shards into a backpiece. Likewise, there's 32 slot bags craftable via Eitrite Ingot but there's no 32 slot siegemaster satchel which would be a trivial addition to the game. Even something as simple as adding the ascended foods' ingredients into synthesizers would be a step forward. As far as addressing "rotating capture farms" as you call it, there should be incentive to capture Tier 3 structures (i.e. not camps) when they are defended. These would be nearly impossible to ktrain due to the time investment for T3-ing. If both sides have even numbers (i.e. not outnumbered for either side engaging) there should be a minor amount of memories of battle or something similar rewarded on capture (or for successfully defending by actively killing players contesting the ring and/or resurrecting the lord _as opposed to repairing walls_) per skirmish which limits the k-train potential. A QoL change pivoting off this would be not enabling the use of EWP (emergency waypoint) by trolls when the keeps aren't contested. P.S. Ultimately there's still an accessibility problem in that we have had WvW mastery creep without any reduction in the required ranks to attain max masteries in WvW. Given a typical repeatable track has 2 Mystic Clovers in it, I would say a bi-monthly reward system could include Kegs of WXP (25K = 5 WvW ranks) and WvW potions which would be far more universal and assist newer or more casual players trying to obtain Monk runes for example. ---- The way I see it, instead of just giving stuff out there should be a look at what sort of resources a person needs to be competitive in WvW. **Utility** - still not addressed fully **Food** - addressed partly by ascended food update but the ingredients still require purchase off TP or PVE **Siege** - partly addressed by Skirmish chests and portable provisioner , guild siege could be cheaper however (guild golems also could use a supply cost rebalance as mentioned in earlier threads) **Weapons** - ascended from the vendor for skirmish tickets and such : noting that minstrel is a stat select option **Armor** - largely addressed by Warlord armor boxes and reward tracks, ascended from the vendor for skirmish tickets and such noting that minstrel is a stat select option **Trinkets** - addressed by Mist trinkets (Mist Band, Mist Talisman, Mist Pendant) as well as Conflux which was a notable addition in 2020 **Backpiece** - while level 78 backpieces have an infusion slot, this is partly addressed by Warbringer : there could be an additional avenue for ascended backpieces **Sigils** - never were an issue **Runes** other than scholar - requires reward track completions for monk runes ; testimonies of heroics cover Durability runes **Additional Inventory space if you are carrying siege/extra armor/weapons/trinkets/food/utility** - essentially not addressed , I have purchased templates as a stopgap measure in addition to making larger bags : there's a financial incentive to remain in this state of affairs **Tactics** - partly addressed by Skirmish chests **Guild levels for claiming** - this is a macroeconomic problem rather than at the player level , it rewards larger guilds more regardless of quality due to a larger pool of players **WvW +5 infusions** - remain a problem if you are min-maxing because they require separate infusions for fractals and templates , there's a financial incentive for Arenanet to keep these separate from agony infusions so that players buy templates I think ---- Statistically speaking , off GW2efficiency : * top 1% of players enrolled is 4,365 WvW rank , while the 90th percentile / top 10% number is 744 WvW ranks _which is too low to max masteries_ * top 1% of players enrolled have 12,774 skirmish tickets , 90th percentile / top 10% is 1,026 skirmish tickets * top 1% of players enrolled have 47,450 badges of honor / top 10% is 8,389 badges * top 1% of players enrolled have 9,765 testimonies of heroics (similarly , 1,471 proof of heroics) * top 1% of players enrolled hoarded 1,417 skirmish chests * top 1% of players enrolled have hoarded 723 WvW potions , meaning reward track rewards should be made with this in mind * top 1% of players enrolled have 19 Gift of Battle , which increases to 55 for top 1% of 4K hour players ( https://gw2efficiency.com/account/statistics/statistics.giftsOfBattle ) * top 1% of players enrolled has 6 of the 32 slot bags _across their entire account_ ; for top 10% of 4K+ hour players it's 2 of the 32 slot bags

> @"weaponwh.9810" said: > > @"Linken.6345" said: > > Why not power warrior? > > is power warrior easy? all i see is bannerslave in raid, so wasn't sure its desired compare to other pdps It's worth noting the bar for not being yelled at is lower if you have profession specific boons. If your role is "DPS" you will not be spared that leniency. Power BS is relevant more so than power soulbeast or power holo. Power chrono is a special case in that only the StM variant is considered a support. In that sense semi-afk players (i.e. auto-ing) can achieve higher damage on soulbeast than holo because you'd only get ~15K DPS outside of Photon Forge on holo (~22K in PF assuming only vulnerability) , while dagger on soulbeast does ~16K (sword = 17K, greatsword = 18k) , warrior axe is just under 15K. Where holo excels is cleave off of Photon Forge, grenades, and bomb kit.

Honestly scholar rune + sigil of force has been meta in fractals forever, which is the only place that ascended **armor** is necessary. Sigil of Impact used to be only 10% vs stunned/ controlled foes rather than 3% always and an added 7% vs CCed foes. If you want a shakeup then scholar rune would need to be detuned a bit (maybe drop to 3% damage bonus similar to sigils). 225 ferocity = 15% crit damage if you have 100% crit chance , plus the additional 5% if you have close to full health (>90%). Other contenders outside of scholar rune include eagle runes (10% damage modifier and the same 225 ferocity , but with 175 precision instead of power) and thief runes which are used for precision (10% damage multiplier as well). Rune of the Ogre has a 4% damage mod and 100 ferocity (~6.7% crit damage) but the rock dog summoned is impractical most of the time. There's golemancer runes with +300 ferocity bonus and that's the only thing with a higher ferocity bonus, keeping in mind you give up power to gain that bonus so it isn't viable most of the time. Numerically if you punch a typical fractal build such as Banner BS through **discretize optimizer** with food/utility , assuming the defaults (sigil of force , sigil of impact and no spotter because soulbeasts run marksmanship in fractals): >! Thief = 4615 , with 10% flanking bonus presumably >! _Scholar_ with >90% bonus = 4615 >! Eagle = 4613 , the 10% damage bonus only applies vs <50% health targets so it's less useful for boss fights and raid/strike scenarios >! Spellbreaker = 4552 , which isn't great when there's _No Pain No Gain_ or _Vengeance_ instabilities >! Flame Legion = 4456 , keeping in mind you need a guardian to output burning for you if you're on a power build generally >! Ogre = 4438 >! _Scholar_ sans 90% health bonus= 4395 >! Strength = 4372 , generally would only be running on Tactics warriors >! Pack = 4277 For merged soulbeast >! _Scholar_ with >90% bonus = 3452 >! Eagle = 3422 , the 10% damage bonus only applies vs <50% health targets so it's less useful for boss fights and raid/strike scenarios >! Spellbreaker = 3416 , keeping in mind you have no boon rip yourself >! Thief = 3401 , with 10% flanking bonus presumably >! Flame Legion = 3334 , keeping in mind you need a guardian to output burning for you if you're on a power build generally >! Ogre = 3320 >! _Scholar_ sans 90% bonus = 3288 >! Strength = 3272 >! Pack = 3212 For power DH (not sure why you would run this over condi FB most of the time) >! _Scholar_ with >90% bonus = 3460 >! Eagle = 3382 , the 10% damage bonus only applies vs <50% health targets so it's less useful for boss fights and raid/strike scenarios >! Spellbreaker = 3377 (you generally would not use this on a DH) >! Thief = 3332 , with 10% flanking bonus presumably >! Flame Legion = 3312 >! Ogre = 3312 >! _Scholar_ sans 90% bonus = 3295 >! Strength = 3250 >! Pack = 3156 On snowcrows gear optimizer it's even more apparent in FOTM mode because if you turn off spotter it spits out Scholar Runes straight down for warriors, power DH, soulbeasts, power chrono, power tempest & weaver , power holo, daredevil, reapers , and the lesser used power herald. Runes tend to be the most boring part of power builds. You can look at builds sites and almost always it's Scholar Rune unless you can't reasonably hit crit cap of 100% crit chance. I have to disagree with people getting 1 shotted in openworld in berserker gear. You can swap trinkets or change a build slightly if it's that much of a problem. In addition there's a mystic forge recipe to swap stats on ascended gear so stat select isn't necessarily a requirement for power builds. The only amazingly expensive stat right now is Trailblazer. Diviner requires time investment for the serpentite ; harrier ascended recipes are expensive so mystic forge tends to be cheaper. Minstrel used to be more pricey but now that it has fell out of favor for PVE , WVW players can have an easier time with obtaining it. Generally it has been much more stressful for WvW players by the way, which is why I made legendary armor. Durability runes , leadership runes, antitoxin, monk runes, etc all have fallen in and out of favor.