draxynnic.3719
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Posts posted by draxynnic.3719
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I was thinking myself that the cartridge skills felt a bit Engineer-like...
What about embracing that and replacing the Command skills with (thrown) elixirs? That way they could each generate a field as well as buffing allies, so the player isn't necessarily locked into using specific weapons in order to set up combo fields. Could also open up the possibility of a rune type that enhances elixirs.
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> @"Cyninja.2954" said:
> > @"Lucy.6529" said:
> > and that doesn't appear to be something I can find on this server.
>
> Without wanting to sound rude, but since this has been pointed out multiple times by now:
>
> **There are no servers in pve.**
>
> The server you pick has NO bearing on PVE whatsoever. It's purely for WvW purposes. The only difference is between US and EU servers because those are separate from each other (meaning US and EU players can not play together) and obviously the difference in prime time player numbers. Within those area groups though, there is no distinction as to which server you are on for pve. There is one huge mega-server for US, and one huge mega-server for EU.
>
> As was suggested, the best approach is to advertise in main hub cities (Lion's Arch, Divinities Reach, etc.) during prime hours that you play in hopes of connecting with someone playing within a similar timezone.
I think it can still play a role in which megaserver instance you get put into, but it's a pretty minor effect that you probably won't notice (it generally tries to put you into a megaserver instance with people you're likely to know, and I think it takes WvW server into account for that). If you're seeing empty maps, though, this probably isn't a major consideration.
My experience as an Australian playing on NA is that there's usually at least some people around, although for things where you need a lot of people, you may want to try on weekends and/or when there's a relevant daily if playing US primetime isn't practical.
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@"Kossage.9072"
The possibility that the GW1PC (or at least _one_ of the GW1PCs) became Balthazar's replacement is one I've certainly considered myself.
One possible way they could address the identity thing if they took that route is for the PC to have chosen to continue to go by the name Balthazar, out of a sense of continuity and respect for what he represented. That could still leave it open for everyone to imagine their GW1PC of choice filling the role - even if the PC was originally female, as the God of War they _present_ as male because they chose to. If they ever show up in the game, it could be an opportunity to drop a "Who I was doesn't matter any more, I am now Balthazar. Not Balthazar as he was, but Balthazar as he should have been." type of line.
Or they could make the new God of War a composite (similar to Lyssa) who goes by the name Balthazar for similar reasons as above.
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> @"Jimbru.6014" said:
> 3. Abaddon, before coming to Tyria, supposedly took his power from a previous deity named Arachne. But the line between history and legend regarding anything pre-Tyrian is blurry at best, so we'll just say the reference is there in game and leave it at that.
While the previous deity being called Arachne is only present in game files and thus are secondary canon at best, it _is_ explicitly stated in a quest that Abaddon had a predecessor whom he took his power from. With that particular quest probably being intended to foreshadow that Kormir would be able to claim his power in turn, I'm inclined to think that this part at least is solid.
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Last giant-king, first giant-king, the giant-king that was in charge during the last dragonrise, the giant-king that did something else particularly impressive... doesn't really matter. Any of them could potentially have an interesting playstyle _and_ open up lore we might not get otherwise.
I wouldn't necessarily say Asgeir eclipses the GW1 PC, particularly given what we found out in episode 1. However, unlike Jora, Olaf, or Egil - or, more recently, Forgal and the two havrouns - he _is_ the central figure in his story (apart from Jormag) who had a significant impact in his own right rather than someone who showed up at some point in the PC's story.
Broadly speaking, too, I think the cup is beginning to run dry on mining GW1 for legends. All of the original set are essentially GW1 callbacks, and even Kalla could be said to be finishing what Pyre started in EOTN. Now, Svanir certainly is a potential candidate (although I'm inclined to consider him to be on the weaker side still) but it would be nice to see some legends from other time periods (sure, most of the original set of legends predated the events of GW1, particularly Glint, but let's be realistic, they were used because we saw them in GW1).
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Thanks for the clarification! I was wondering if there'd been something ingame that I'd missed...
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Proof that Tyria is round. If it was flat, the giant cats would have knocked everything off by now.
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One of the rules I tend to apply towards proposals for the legends is the "then why isn't the GW1 PC the legend?" rule. Anybody who's eclipsed by the PC is probably not powerful enough to be a legend.
As one out-there possibility that isn't technically norn but which could be viewed as norn-related... what about a legend based on the last giant-king before jotun society collapsed?
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> @"Justine.6351" said:
> > @"LucianDK.8615" said:
> > You know, CoR got Smiters booned clearly.
> > For those whom doesnt remember, in gw1 the skill of the name existed, and they gave up on balanceing it. So they nerfed it into oblivion to discourage people from using it at all.
>
> Nah it's way different.
>
> If CoR got smiters booned it would be the same skill with 25 energy cost and 25 sec recharge. But they actually thought they were doing good things with CoR last fall and now this spring. That's just scary but also not limited to CoR or even Rev.
Plus, Smiter's Boon was only nerfed out of existence in competitive, it still worked in PvE thanks to skill splits. A closer fit would be all those passive traits which were given 5-minute recharges in competitive modes.
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> @"Diak Atoli.2085" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > @"Diak Atoli.2085" said:
> > > > @"Dawdler.8521" said:
> > > > The flamethrower is a hybrid weapon, not just condi (AA does ~ 2x the damage of the "power" rifle in the same amount of time I believe). I hope you're running vipers or similar, or it's gonna be really lackluster in PvE.
> > >
> > > I think Grieving stats with Runes of the Flame Legion would be the best option for camping flamethrower.
> >
> > Not sure about that. You can build up a lot of Bleed stacks with flamethrower, so you can still benefit from general condition duration rather than just extending the duration of Burning. The scrapper/juggernaut build also has the potential to stack up boons - getting +100% boon duration can mean you self-generate 60% Quickness uptime.
>
> The Runes of the Flame Legion are good for the additional power damage. I'm not sure it's worth trying to get 100% condition duration unless you're going full conditions.
>
> As for boons, Diviner's would work with Juggernaut, but you lose any sort of condition damage. I don't remember any condition-focused gear that includes concentration, either.
Seraph's and Plaguedoctor's give you CD and concentration, but you give up power, which is (at least currently) still useful for a flamethrower. Particularly scrapper flamethrower.
I think for solo play, Diviner's would be worthwhile. It means you self-maintain more Might stacks, so you get some condi damage that way, and the Quickness means you make more attacks and can get more condi procs (although lower Precision might offset that unless you mix things up or find some other way to increase crit chance). For situations where you're reasonably confident of getting plenty of boons from other sources, though, then you'd probably switch to something more directly damage-oriented.
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And as I commented, the Prophecies Manuscripts never actually says that humans are native. It says "birthed upon the world", which can be read as _implying_ it, but could actually be a poetic way of saying that they were brought to the world with wherever they were immediately beforehand being the metaphorical womb.
Now, I'm personally pretty sure that the _intent_ in GW1 was that humans were originally created on Tyria, but that's been retconned just as the gods creating the world instead of simply terraforming it was retconned.
Either way, even in Prophecies, there's pretty clearly a moment where humans were not present, and then suddenly they were in large enough numbers to tip the balance. Other races have long histories on Tyria, even if they've forgotten most of them - there are no written histories going back that far apart from what the 'elder races' left behind, but every race with even an oral history has some reference to the last dragonrise except humans and, curiously, asura (as far as I recall). Kodan, norn, charr, and tengu all have some manner of legend referencing the last dragonrise.
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The intent of the question was "did you come up with the hints yourself".
Also, there's a seventh, perched on the gate of another cat's arch.
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> @"hugo.4705" said:
> Yup, one in each city ^^
> LA = Seek for the Lighthouse.
> Hoelbrak = A good view from the mountains.
> Rata Sum = Do I see a shiny box?
> Divinity Reach = Attack of the ~~Titans~~ Cats.
> The Grove = I can see the whole tree here!
> Black citadel = The witch cat is present where the blood prince appeared.
Are those hints you came up with, or are they ingame somewhere?
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And we can see that release in game mechanics - soul reaping by necromancers is pretty much harvesting that energy release, and other necromancer abilities are essentially making use of the magic tied up in life force in various ways.
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> @"googel.3278" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > Honestly, what ticks me off is how the daily sales nowadays require you to check _every single day_ to see if the thing you want has come up. I had something I was waiting for the entire sale for, and then I missed it because it came up on the one day I didn't think to check. Guess ArenaNet isn't getting those gems until the next round... assuming I don't forget to check on the wrong day again.
>
> well it IS your fault for not checking , not theirs. Hence the word, ‘daily’
>
You could say that, but I only had a handful of days which I didn't check, it just happened to be one of the four or five in which I did forget. It gets a bit tiring remembering to do the same thing _every single day_ that's outside of your normal gaming routine, particularly when there's other things going on.
It's the sort of situation where even just making each sale last for two or three days instead of just one would make a big difference.
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> @"BunjiKugashira.9754" said:
> While the result of this process is a new god, I can't really call it "becoming a god". Magic is not just some form of energy, it has specific properties and concepts attached to it. We've seen this when Zhaitan died and the other elder dragons started turning the dead into their minions. Every god has magic with special properties. Abaddon for example was the god of knowledge and water. Kormir adopted the knowledge part, put a little twist on it and became the goddes of truth. Just like Kormir put her twist on Abaddon's magic however, the reverse is also true and the magic put a little twist on Kormir. Therefore it is difficult to decide whether the human Kormir and the goddes Kormir are the same person. We still don't know what happened to Abaddon's water magic though. There might be some unknown god of water or the magic got absorbed by bubbles, who knows?
Lyssa apparently has water according to GW2 sources, so it seems like some of that power got shuffled around a bit after Kormir ascended.
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> @"Stephen.6312" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > @"Stephen.6312" said:
> > > > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > > A lot of it is basically 'we don't know', although in my mind, references to humans coming from somewhere else along with the gods are common enough to be persuasive.
> > >
> > > It's certainly a common opinion in this forum. Do you have any references to help us ascertain whether humans are natives or immigrants?
> > >
> >
> > The strongest ingame off the top of my head is the [Orrian History Scrolls](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Orrian_History_Scrolls). I think it's been said more blatently in some out-of-game sources, but they're often hard (and in some cases impossible) to track down these days.
>
> Yeah, that seems to be the go-to source. It's at odds with the Guild Wars Prophecies Manuscripts, though.
>
> I don't know what to make of the whole "Humans are aliens on Tyria" thing these days. I held that belief largely because others here do, long before I formed my own opinion.
>
> I have nothing against the idea, but the in-game sources aren't clear about the origins of humanity and the OHS is open to interpretation.
Deliberately so - ArenaNet has stated that the Prophecies Manuscripts were an unreliable narrator, and the truth is that humans came from elsewhere. Even _in_ the Manuscripts, it's just the word "birthed" that implies being native - what's actually stated still indicates that humans were newcomers that tipped the balance that had previously existed on Tyria.
There's a lot of other stuff in the Prophecies Manuscripts that have proven to be... not precisely _untrue,_ but only true from a certain point of view, just like the claim that Darth Vader killed Anakin Skywalker.
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> @"Lily.1935" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > @"Lily.1935" said:
> > > > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > > > @"Thornwolf.9721" said:
> > > > > Also I want to bring up and bring to your attention, paragons are spellbreakers. Spellbreakers were given to the warriors as the E-specs as they had shouts and stances, and as it stood were the closest in terms of theme to the paragon. So we will never see the paragon because it exists as an E-spec of differing name to the Warrior who shared themes, and commonality with the the paragon. (Paragon in guild wars 1 always felt like a ranged warrior, same gold aesthetic and same shouts/stances.) This introduced mediation's to the warrior and gave them full counter.
> > > >
> > > > This is something I strenuously disagree with.
> > > >
> > > > Yes, there is a thematic link with the daggers being symbolically formed from the heads of broken spears, but there is nothing in the antimagic focus of the spellbreaker that comes from paragon - it's a completely different fighting style. Based on skill names, it seems to draw mostly from the anti-magic and interrupt-oriented side of the dervish, albeit replacing the scythe with weapons carrying different symbolism. Even some of the names that are off still seem similar to some dervish skills - for instance, compare and contrast Full Counter with [shield of Force](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Shield_of_Force).
> > > >
> > > > Remember that we do see actual Paragons in season 4, they're just not _playable._ Weapon choice aside, they're probably closest to guardians in behaviour.
> > >
> > > Could you show me the paragons? I must have missed them. I saw Dervish, but not paragon... And I was jelly.
> >
> > There are Loyalist Paragons as enemies in Istan at least, and Sunspear Paragons both as general NPCs and summonable as an ally through a consumable. Spearmarshal Zaeim is also clearly a Paragon.
> >
> > Sunspear Paragons seem to use Anthem of Flame (functionally very similar to the Justice active or Ashes of the Just on firebrand) and Song of Power (grants quickness and vigor - I don't think there's a direct equivalent, but granting quickness is often a guardian thing). Loyalist Paragons trade Song of Power for Song of Restoration, which provides regeneration and a heal (so similar to popping a traited Resolve active).
>
> Mind linking it? I don't recall. Not that I don't believe you, I do. I would just like to see it.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Loyalist_Paragon
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> @"Stephen.6312" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > A lot of it is basically 'we don't know', although in my mind, references to humans coming from somewhere else along with the gods are common enough to be persuasive.
>
> It's certainly a common opinion in this forum. Do you have any references to help us ascertain whether humans are natives or immigrants?
>
The strongest ingame off the top of my head is the [Orrian History Scrolls](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Orrian_History_Scrolls). I think it's been said more blatently in some out-of-game sources, but they're often hard (and in some cases impossible) to track down these days.
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A lot of it is basically 'we don't know', although in my mind, references to humans coming from somewhere else along with the gods are common enough to be persuasive.
A common theory regarding the Six is that they were essentially the equivalents of the Elder Dragons from where they came from - living (or at least sapient) reservoirs and regulators of magic. Evidently, it's possible for a human to reach this state by absorbing power in the correct manner (although Kormir seems to have done so with the assistance of the others) - whether this means they were all originally human is open to interpretation. Certainly, there were indications in the Realm of Torment that there might have been a previous generation of gods that weren't even vaguely human, but the associated text was never formally implemented and therefore might not be canon. Certainly, there does seem to be indications that whatever the gods have become can absorb more magic safely than a regular human (or other mortal), but there is circumstantial evidence that this does have limits (for example, the gods didn't just split Abaddon's power among themselves but imprisoned him until Nightfall provided them with a suitable replacement).
Regarding humans and their connection to magic:
It was specifically stated at the end of Nightfall that the blessings of the gods were in all of humanity. Exactly what this entails is left open, but it probably does explain why things like the human racial skills exist despite the gods no longer answering prayers - use of such skills are not actually calling on the power of an external deity, but drawing on the blessings of the deity inside the human (which is why, if you're feeling particularly contrary, you can set the Hounds of Balthazar against Balthazar - something Chronomancers are particularly good at).
However, there does seem to be something that points to humans being particularly adept at magic... although their social structure means that they don't always have the chance to learn that other races do. There are indications, for instance, that while the asura know more about magic overall, humans seem to have more natural talent for it. An ArenaNet representative way back commented that humans have a more intuitive approach to magic, while asura are more logical, and there are some examples floating around of a human doing something and an asura not being able to figure out how they did it, including one case (in Sea of Sorrows) where the human is trying to explain it to the asura and the asura just can't see how the human is going from one step to another. (To be fair, though, that might be a distinction between mesmerism and elementalism rather than between human and asura.)
Certainly, there does seem to be a trend towards most of the truly powerful magic users being human... while particularly threatening asura tend to be threatening due to the technology they've surrounded themselves with rather than their own magical power. Of course, other races also have some fairly powerful practitioners (Flame Legion charr in particular) but humans seem to create more of them than other races, and humans seem to be less dependent on external power sources to achieve that level of power. Mind you, it has to be noted that this _could_ just be that there are more humans around than other races to begin with, which means that there are naturally going to be more truly exceptional humans around just because of the statistics.
On that note, it _is_ worth noting that Gaheron Baelfire, the Flame Imperator at the start of the game, was trying to get himself ascended to godhood. We stop him at the Citadel of Flame, so it's hard to say for certain whether he would have succeeded if not interrupted, but he _certainly_ achieved a pretty significant power boost.
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> @"Lily.1935" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > @"Thornwolf.9721" said:
> > > Also I want to bring up and bring to your attention, paragons are spellbreakers. Spellbreakers were given to the warriors as the E-specs as they had shouts and stances, and as it stood were the closest in terms of theme to the paragon. So we will never see the paragon because it exists as an E-spec of differing name to the Warrior who shared themes, and commonality with the the paragon. (Paragon in guild wars 1 always felt like a ranged warrior, same gold aesthetic and same shouts/stances.) This introduced mediation's to the warrior and gave them full counter.
> >
> > This is something I strenuously disagree with.
> >
> > Yes, there is a thematic link with the daggers being symbolically formed from the heads of broken spears, but there is nothing in the antimagic focus of the spellbreaker that comes from paragon - it's a completely different fighting style. Based on skill names, it seems to draw mostly from the anti-magic and interrupt-oriented side of the dervish, albeit replacing the scythe with weapons carrying different symbolism. Even some of the names that are off still seem similar to some dervish skills - for instance, compare and contrast Full Counter with [shield of Force](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Shield_of_Force).
> >
> > Remember that we do see actual Paragons in season 4, they're just not _playable._ Weapon choice aside, they're probably closest to guardians in behaviour.
>
> Could you show me the paragons? I must have missed them. I saw Dervish, but not paragon... And I was jelly.
There are Loyalist Paragons as enemies in Istan at least, and Sunspear Paragons both as general NPCs and summonable as an ally through a consumable. Spearmarshal Zaeim is also clearly a Paragon.
Sunspear Paragons seem to use Anthem of Flame (functionally very similar to the Justice active or Ashes of the Just on firebrand) and Song of Power (grants quickness and vigor - I don't think there's a direct equivalent, but granting quickness is often a guardian thing). Loyalist Paragons trade Song of Power for Song of Restoration, which provides regeneration and a heal (so similar to popping a traited Resolve active).
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> @"Diak Atoli.2085" said:
> > @"Dawdler.8521" said:
> > The flamethrower is a hybrid weapon, not just condi (AA does ~ 2x the damage of the "power" rifle in the same amount of time I believe). I hope you're running vipers or similar, or it's gonna be really lackluster in PvE.
>
> I think Grieving stats with Runes of the Flame Legion would be the best option for camping flamethrower.
Not sure about that. You can build up a lot of Bleed stacks with flamethrower, so you can still benefit from general condition duration rather than just extending the duration of Burning. The scrapper/juggernaut build also has the potential to stack up boons - getting +100% boon duration can mean you self-generate 60% Quickness uptime.
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> @"Thornwolf.9721" said:
> Also I want to bring up and bring to your attention, paragons are spellbreakers. Spellbreakers were given to the warriors as the E-specs as they had shouts and stances, and as it stood were the closest in terms of theme to the paragon. So we will never see the paragon because it exists as an E-spec of differing name to the Warrior who shared themes, and commonality with the the paragon. (Paragon in guild wars 1 always felt like a ranged warrior, same gold aesthetic and same shouts/stances.) This introduced mediation's to the warrior and gave them full counter.
This is something I strenuously disagree with.
Yes, there is a thematic link with the daggers being symbolically formed from the heads of broken spears, but there is nothing in the antimagic focus of the spellbreaker that comes from paragon - it's a completely different fighting style. Based on skill names, it seems to draw mostly from the anti-magic and interrupt-oriented side of the dervish, albeit replacing the scythe with weapons carrying different symbolism. Even some of the names that are off still seem similar to some dervish skills - for instance, compare and contrast Full Counter with [shield of Force](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Shield_of_Force).
Remember that we do see actual Paragons in season 4, they're just not _playable._ Weapon choice aside, they're probably closest to guardians in behaviour.
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> @"Dustfinger.9510" said:
> > @"draxynnic.3719" said:
> > > @"Dustfinger.9510" said:
> > > > @"Mars Balearicus.7138" said:
> > > > But is all of that confirmed? (Referring to both of your guys' posts)
> > >
> > > The book about the founding of lions arch did confirm that the mechanical engine was specifically invented by the charr to defeat humanity who only had sailboats and the rare magic powered boat but mainly depended on the rising tides to be able to launch their ships. Luckily, peace had begun to blossom by the time the engine was thoroughly tested.
> >
> > The impression I got was that it was a combination of the port that the Charr were using also getting flooded, and by the time they recovered from that, Kryta had already lost most of its sea trade and coastal possessions _and_ getting from Ascalon to Kryta by sea required going past Orr. The idea of attacking Kryta from sea with a powered ship went from "this could be an effective way to hurt them and divert resources from Ascalon" to "this is no longer viable".
> >
> > There was an attempt at a peace overture in the period covered by the book, but that was ruined by the protagonists unknowingly intercepting the peace offerings, and the war was back into full force later in the book. The war is largely presented as similar to the Hundred Years War in real-world history - there are periods of high-intensity conflict and there are periods where there are lulls between major campaigns where people might start thinking about peace before something stirs the pot yet again.
>
> That might have been how it went. Im going on years old memory here. Though, it wouldn't explain why the charr didn't become the preeminent ocean power from then on since they were the ones who had the only mass producible engine that didn't rely on the tides. For all intents and purposes, they had the ability for modern warships vs wooden technology that would've been comparitavely ancient and obsolete. Either way, it is confirmation of advanced tech that was specifically built for the war in the absence of relying on magical solutions of the Flame Legion shamans.
Geography, pretty much. Ascalon itself is landlocked - the charr port was probably somewhere in the general vicinity of where the Labyrinthine Cliffs are today. Presumably it's possible to get there from Ascalon even if a direct route wasn't available to players in either game, but it's probably a difficult enough trip that the logistics to supply a significant fleet operating from that port would be a nightmare. Furthermore, any attempt to set out from there requires passing through the Straits of Devastation, which probably wan't practical once Zhaitan had locked down that area, until the Pact founded Fort Trinity.
(Even then, the Straits of Devastation have some pretty narrow spots for taking an ocean-going vessel through, to the point where if what's shown in-game is genuinely representative, portage is probably required to get a ship across.)
So it seems to be a matter of having the technology, but not having the ports necessary to form a viable fleet.
Which, to relate this discussion to present events, might be part of the reason why Bangar is interested in the Verdant Cascades - it provides a more practical base from which to attack Kryta from the north, either by land or across water.
Norn legends for possible future Elite Specs
in Revenant
Posted
Well, going outside of GW1 references also opens up more possibilities for legends that aren't connected to human history...
I think ArenaNet has already set channeling Joko up as being a one-off. The PC says 'okay, I'll do this once, but NEVER AGAIN because channeling Joko just puts a bad taste in my mouth' (not a precise quote, but that's the gist). I could see it being a thing where channeling Joko is a thing that theoretically could happen, but just never does within the timespan covered by GW2 because all revenants are only a couple of degrees of separation from Rytlock and they all agree that channeling Joko is inappropriate.
That, and a hypothetical Legendary Lich Stance would probably just result in pretending to be a necro anyway.