Loboling.5293

I'd be happy with the end of HOT meta. Glassy builds with limited support. Twitch gameplay and intense moments that got my heart pumping. Very skill base metal, but without the terrible PvP design that came with pof. (I mean did we really need stealth snipers, aoe spam necros, and even more of a support juggernaut guardian?...)

Pof ruined pvp, but in my opinion, they haven't recovered from it like they did when hot sort of ruined pvp. (Initial mes bunker meta)

I play mostly for the story these days. There are some story elements I disagree with. (I need more dialogue options when speaking with NPCs.) But it's generally fun to see the new story and explore the new maps.

Anyway, don't make your opinion of yourself dependent on others. Not all stories need to be amazing to be fun. I mean, most popular movies have god awful stories, but I enjoy (some) them all the same. I mean Avengers whole plot is the heroes looking for the tesaract. And for some reason Nic fury brought their only tracking helicopter, into pistol firing range, only to be blown out of the sky. No military commander would give up such an advantage for virtually no gain. So in essence, the whole movie is pointless and stupid... but... I love the movie. It's really fun and entertaining, even if it is all based on a plot hole.

Gw2 story may have many similar problems, and sometimes it can be a little frustrating when you're invested. (Like all the players, including myself, that wanted more fitting dialogue responses to Brahn having his blame game directed at you a few story chapters ago.) Many, since they couldn't retort in the game, suddenly felt helpless, and were literally asking for the devs to kill Brahm, because he was violating their vision for their character. He was making their story harder to immerse into.

But theres no reason to not have fun playing a game. And I can assure you, the people complaining about the story, care a lot about the story. Otherwise, they wouldn't waste their time giving feedback. So you're no alone in enjoying the Gw2 story. Most people who play I think do too.

> @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

> He's basically Tyria's Emperor Palpatine, but far less effective.

>

Haha, nice comparison, he certainly seems about as deep.

I was just supposing. And it's not so much the powers she's shown that worry me, it's what mesmers can do as a whole. I mean if any class has the force, it would be the mesmer. One of the story chapters can even have you kill your allies in confusion because of a powerful mesmer. With both the queen and her closest guard being very powerful mesmers, nothing can easily be trusted without a bit of hesitation.

Your explanation though may be right, it would be possible that Alice's father was White Mantle, and his death and disappearance was never reported officially. Would make a lot of sense, based on some of what she believes. She may have heard some of these ideas at a very young age, and clung to them after her father was gone. ("The queen isn't all that. The people should be free of this oligarchy." )

It would wrap things up nicely without needing to cast a dark shadow over the queen, but I'd love a story chapter where we discover that the queen had been using an ancient device to manipulate the dragons, maybe she even helped send scarlet and bengar where they needed to go. ;P

Anyway, I doubt it, but it's fun to imagine if Queen Jenna actually turned out to be the Palpetine of the story.

> @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

> > @"Loboling.5293" said:

> > I was just replaying the street rat human story line, and got to a conversation with Riot Alice where she talks of her father's disappearance during "The collapse", and how the Queen and her Shining Blade won't let anyone near "the fissure".

> >

> > What the kitten is she talking about?

> >

> > https://imgur.com/xgVplEE

> >

>

> https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Crown_Pavilion#History

>

> Originally, there was six full districts in Divinity's Reach. The sixth, now known as The Crown Pavilion, was [the Canthan district and also the district of Arts](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:2010_May_Divinity%27s_Reach_Canthan_district_Polished.jpg). Shortly before the events of the game, however, the district collapsed in the middle of the night. The Shining Blade showed up on the scene moments before the collapsed and evacuated the place - official reports say there were no casualties, but Riot Alice, as you say, claims her father died in the collapse. After this, the district was dubbed ["The Great Collapse"](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:The_Great_Collapse.jpg) and was prominent in a couple original release teasers, [like this one at ](

>

> During Season 1, Queen Jennah had the Great Collapse renovated into the Crown Pavilion, there [was even a brief preview](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/File:2013_July_Great_Collapse_Tent.jpg) of its reconstruction in the 2 week period of Cutthroat Politics. It was reconstruction for the Queen's Jubilee event, celebrating Jennah's 10th anniversary as queen.

>

> There's several speculations on what caused the collapse - destroyers and White Mantle have perhaps been the largest theories. The answers remains a mystery, sadly. It's also left unknown what happened to those left homeless in the event... or what happened to Riot Alice.

Wow thanks a lot for this! I really feel like I've been pulled into a conspiracy in the land of Kryta. Normally so much of the in-game NPC's are quite favorable to the Queen. But there are so many strange questions that have arisen since I've started playing.

I mean, just realizing the extent of her powers as a mesmer opens up a lot of questions. What happened here to Riot Alice... It even calls into question why Caudaceus was trying to overthrow the current regime. He saw the queen as a bigger threat than the dragons, to the point he'd sacrifice his wife and daughter to fight against her. By the end, he seems absolutely mad, and has both a strange admiration for Captain Thackeray, and distrust of the charr. I mean, look what the leadership of the charr did first time they felt the threat of the dragon's diminish slightly. They aim to tame a dragon and likely use it for war. Maybe Caudacause started his campaign for good reasons?...

All I'm saying is the storyline which seems quite black and white at times, might have quite a bit of grey, hidden under the surface. The Queen may become a threat in an upcoming chapter, and it would mean the commander had helped her ensure her powers in Kryta many times over. Would be a great plot twist! And we already know there is another heir to the thrown, as pointed out by the order of shadows representative during the final human story chapter at level 30.

I just brought a third character through the starting zones and no luck... It's really bad drop rate. I even posted a bug report, because it's so damn annoying.

I'm debating using one of my rangers to afk farm in a low level zone, it might be the only solution that doesn't involve wasting too much more time. Although I still need to be by my computer to keep my character from going afk.

This is so absurd for a new player experience...

> @"Kossage.9072" said:

> It's interesting that it's said how the district collapsed naturally due to being built on an unstable foundation (above vast caverns that housed tombs of some humans who had lived in the area before the Rising of Orr), but conflicting stories from citizens and Shining Blade (and how the Shining Blade were seemingly at the site in advance as if they had expected something bad to happen while not telling concerned citizens like Alice what was going on while odd sounds are coming from the sinkhole) suggests that Riot Alice's conspiracy theory may have some merit.

>

> > **Ree Soesbee:** It's true. When they built Divinity's Reach, they built it rather quickly. Lion's Arch had just been flooded by the rise of Orr. A lot of the land all along the coast line was ruined. The villages had to move. There was no where to build. So they built on a site that seemed to have a strong foundation when the built the city of Divinity's Reach. But because they didn't have a lot of time they didn't have a lot of choice. They didn't realize that part of that foundation wasn't stable. The mountain that Divinity's Reach is built on, the Rise is, it's got caverns in it. It's got holes in it. It was used as tombs by some humans in the area before the rise of Orr. And that area became unstable and has collapsed. [(Source)](https://archiv.wartower.de/forum/showthread.php?t=1038911)

>

> > **Gossiping Citizen:** Dwayna must have been with us that day. If the collapse had been sudden, we'd have lost so much more than just buildings. Still, it's a shame that I won't get to see the Great Symphony Hall again.

> > **Player:** How did it start?

> > **Gossiping Citizen:** I heard that the cracks started near the markets, but that late at night it's usually pretty empty. The Shining Blade evacuated us all before I saw any of that, thankfully. [...]

> > **Gossiping Citizen:** I keep trying to get a closer look at the sinkhole, but those guards won't let me near it. They aren't giving much in the way of answers, either.

> > **Player:** What has you so curious?

> > **Gossiping Citizen:** That whole area's been a mighty creepy since the first cracks appeared. Weird noises and such. My brother used to tease me about drakes in the sewers. I'm starting to think maybe he was right. [(Source)](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gossiping_Citizen)

>

> > **Gossiping Citizen:** I'll tell you what, looking at that sinkhole makes me mighty uncomfortable.

> > **Gossiping Citizen:** Yeah. Imagine how many people would've been injured if the queen hadn't evacuated the area before it collapsed.

> > **Gossiping Citizen:** It's not just that. I've heard strange noises coming from that place, and I doubt it's just the earth settling. [(Source)](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Crown_Pavilion#Ambient_dialogue)

>

> > **Player:** What happened here?

> > **Shining Blade Guard:** The sewer system collapsed in this area.

> > **Player:** Oh dear! Was anyone seriously injured?

> > **Shining Blade Guard:** There were no casualties. The Seraph and Shining Blade evacuated all citizens before the situation became critical.

> > **Player:** I imagine some people lost a good deal of property, though.

> > **Shining Blade Guard:** The queen arranged for them all to be relocated, and most were able to get their belongings out. We had a couple weeks' warning. [(Source)](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shining_Blade_Guard/dialogue)

>

> Looking at the quotes above, the Shining Blade mention there were no casualties despite Riot Alice claiming that at least her father perished in the collapse, and how strange noises are coming from the sinkhole. While the Shining Blade mention the Seraph evacuating citizens too, the citizens themselves only mention the Shining Blade being present. The Shining Blade also aren't forthcoming with answers even though there shouldn't be anything suspicious per se with a natural collapse.

>

> Was something unnatural taking place in the tombs underneath the Canthan and Arts district before the collapse? Are the strange sounds somehow related to the collapse? If something happened down below, what could it have been?

>

> Interestingly we have this bit from Marjory's origin story telling us how something shady is going on in Divinity's Reach, and we even got a later comment from devs that they'd intend to resolve it (but haven't yet due to changing focus in story):

>

> > My voice didn't sound like my own. "We were just supposed to take him in for questioning."

> > "Those might've been your orders, but they weren't mine." Baker had the nerve to sound pleased with himself, as if he'd one-upped me. "It was a need-to-know mission."

> > The Ministry had heard rumors that the boy had witnessed a gruesome crime. My immediate superior had dispatched Baker and me to bring him in. Bring. Him. In. Not kill him. [...]

> > "It doesn't matter anymore. Tell me one thing, and then I'll send you to the gods. What crime did you witness yesterday?"

> > The boy's translucence rippled, and I saw the fear in his face. "I...I..."

> > I directed my magic at him, guided it over him like a mother's touch, and saw him relax. "You can tell me."

> > He buried his face in his hands. "They took a...woman...into a cellar. They used dark magic on her. She screamed, but it was silent. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her eyes..."

> > "Okay. Who did this?"

> > For the first time, the ghost boy looked straight at me, and he said, "Minister—"

> > Energy crackled behind me a fraction of a second prior to the blast. It shot past my left ear, and instinct sent me rolling to the side. But the spell hadn't been intended for me. It hit the ghost boy square in the chest and threw him back, off his feet, into mid-air.

> > The ghost boy screamed as his chest imploded, then was sucked into the Mists through a hole torn in the fabric of the world.

> > I landed on my feet in the next moment, but it was too late for the ghost boy. I shifted into hunter mode. The other necromancer had already turned tail and run, leaving an energy trail I could follow if I hurried. I sprinted. [...]

> > The next day, I turned in my badge. The day after that, I took my first case as Marjory Delaqua, private investigator: I hired myself to unravel the conspiracy behind the ghost boy's murder. I haven't succeeded yet, but I will. If nothing else, everyone ends up in the Mists eventually, and we necromancers come with a large dose of patience. [(Source)](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Marjory%27s_Story:_The_Last_Straw)

>

> > **Q:** In Marjory’s story we also learn of “unusual” disappearances happening in Divinity’s Reach. We wonder how widespread these disappearances are, and whether the kidnapped people turn up one way or another, if they return at all.

> > **Scott McGough:** Well that’s very much part of the mystery. This was the motivating event that prompted Marjory to leave the Ministry Guard, she didn’t want to be part of this corrupted institution anymore. At some in the future we intend to circle back and that will be Marjory’s origin story. How she got to be how she is. The story that Angel wrote, the prose piece, is a hint of that.

> > **Jeff Grubb:** So will it be resolved?

> > **Scott McGough:** The plan is to. [(Source)](https://www.guildmag.com/magazine/issue9/interview.htm)

>

> While it seems likely that the White Mantle may have been involved in the collapse (or the strange sounds coming from below) or at least in the boy Mendel's murder in Marjory's story (given the hints of a minister being behind the crime and hiring a Ministry Guard and a necromancer with a very White Mantle-ish name Kraig the Bleak to kill the boy witness), it still leaves the question of what the White Mantle (if they were the culprits) were hoping to achieve with these macabre rituals. Unfortunately this plot was never brought up in GW2's White Mantle arc, and thus Marjory's first case remains unsolved to this day and Alice's father remains unavenged. While it's understandable that plot priorities change and the originally planned resolution to Marjory's arc was scrapped, wouldn't it be interesting if Marjory and Riot Alice's stories (and the suggested conspiracy within them) could be tied together in the future to resolve those lingering plot threads?

>

> But if the White Mantle can't be used anymore given what's happened in the narrative since the writing of those stories, who could the culprit be then for the sacrifices and rogue necromancers for hire to make sense?

>

> For a fun theory's sake, let's look at Bobby Stein's response to one of the lore questions from the old Arena Forum Chats (which have sadly been discontinued since although I'd love to see them or the old Dolyak Express dev lore answer threads to return one day):

>

> > Verata and his guild (or cult or whatever you want to call it), like many of the side stories in GW1, haven't extended beyond their original purpose. The story was told and then we moved on. Is it possible that part of that society survived? Maybe. **But speaking in development terms, we'd only continue that storyline if we felt it was really interesting and/or it tied into the other stories we're doing these days.**

> > If, for RP purposes, you want to imagine that guild existing in present-day Tyria go right ahead. I bet there'd be some cool themes to explore. [emphasis mine] [(Source)](https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/524153#Comment_524153)

>

> [Verata](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Verata_the_Necromancer) was a member of the Order of necromancers until he went rogue and had a bounty placed on him as the Order didn't want bad publicity from his unprovoked attacks and experimentation on innocent Ascalonians. He escaped during the encounter with the Hero while promising to return one day, and even the Zaishen became interested in stopping him. By this time he had gathered a cult of likeminded people to help him with his experiments, and curiously enough they were found near the Wizard's Tower at Kessex Peak:

>

> > **Necromancer Morgan:** As you've no doubt heard, there have been a number of recent disappearances among the townsfolk. Thus far, we've assumed they fell victim to the Stone Summit or other local menaces. The truth, Grenth forgive us, is something much much worse. One of our Order, a promising Necromancer named Verata, has been experimenting with new ways to enhance and maintain summoned minions. Normally this would be a good thing, however, in his lust for power Verata has been kidnapping Ascalon citizens for use in his experiments! He was also spotted waylaying travelers coming up into the mountains from Ascalon. We must stop him, quickly and discreetly, before anyone can link the disappearances with our Order.

> > **Necromancer Morgan:** Now that Verata knows that our Order is after him, he will be careful not to show his face. This was not the desired goal, but it is a result we can work with. [(Source)](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Renegade_Necromancer)

>

> If we look at the above examples (the site of the Great Collapse having housed many ancient tombs, the strange sounds coming from the sinkhole, Marjory learning about macabre human experimentation with magic while a necromancer in particular targeted the sole witness's ghost, and mysterious disappearances happening within Divinity's Reach), all of these details would neatly connect to a potential resurgence of the Cult of Verata which could've been experimenting on people throughout DR and accidentally (or deliberately?) causing the Great Collapse with their magical interference in the tombs.

>

> While the Zaishen bounty seems to suggest that Verata was ultimately slain, the plot could work either way: maybe Verata was slain and he ended up being buried within the old mausoleum beneath what would one day be DR while his disciples would search for the exact tomb in hopes of resurrecting him, or maybe he survived the encounter or had gotten hold of forbidden scrolls (or whatever other means) to become a lich so he could continue his experimentation beyond the lifespan of his mortal body?

>

> This way Riot Alice's conspiracy theory would have justification. After all, maybe the Shining Blade suspected something foul going on (E certainly seemed aware of stuff as they stopped Marjory from catching Kraig the Bleak while warning about dangers in the city), and it wouldn't surprise me if Anise and Livia (a powerful necromancer with ties to the Shining Blade) knew a thing or two about shady stuff happening beneath citizens' feet, hence that two weeks advance warning of the collapse. The Shining Blade could've erred by believing that the White Mantle were behind the sinkhole while the Cult of Verata would've been the true culprits. Alice could return, having learned something crucial from her bandit contacts in Prosperity in Dry Top before her disappearance.

>

> Marjory's separate investigation of the murders could lead the two women to meet and realize they were after the same source. Verata's cult could've dabbled in Majesty's Rest, perhaps attempting to resurrect the bone dragon Rotscale or be after some magic artifact hidden within the tombs there if the story wanted to take us to a new zone in GW2 with GW1 roots before ultimately leading us to the tombs beneath DR in a unique instance where Alice, Marjory and the Commander would face lich Verata and/or his cult and stop whatever they're hoping to accomplish (which might also involve seizing the Wizard's Tower if it was no accident that they just happened to hang around near that location back in GW1 before being driven underground).

>

> This way Alice could finally unravel the conspiracy involving Verata's cult and the necromancer's secret supporter in the Ministry and avenge her father, while Marjory would avenge Mendel and finally solve her first case to bring some neat closure to both women's story arcs. As an added bonus the writers could even use this potential Verata conspiracy (especially if he became a lich) as a means of finally revealing how liches are made in GW verse as they differ from the stereotypical liches in that they don't always have phylacteries and require specific means to kill them (and how at a few known liches, such as Palawa Joko and Vizier Khilbron, had possessed the fallen god Abaddon's scrolls at some point so there's a chance that Abaddon's forbidden magic may have been involved in the creation of liches somehow unless that's just a happy coincidence). It could lead to lots of juicy story opportunities while also closing the chapter on some of them at the same time. :)

Wow very detailed response, thanks a lot. It gave me a lot to think about. Really makes me wish I could take a sidetrack from the story and investigate this.

This is all very interesting, especially the bit about her father. I'm really wondering if he died or abandoned her. And did the crown prevent people from going to the location, because it was unstable, or was there really some conspiracy to steal his plays?

I was just replaying the street rat human story line, and got to a conversation with Riot Alice where she talks of her father's disappearance during "The collapse", and how the Queen and her Shining Blade won't let anyone near "the fissure".

What the kitten is she talking about?

https://imgur.com/xgVplEE

I'm here to voice my support for a cheaper chocking gas (6), but with a 3-5 second ICD on the daze. It shouldn't be spammed, because spamming it loses value, not because you simply can't. It's a better way to balance the skill, it's more enjoyable, still allows for more liberal poison application, while trimming the skill exactly where it needs to be.

If we assume this isn't just random, then I'd say A-Net believes thief mobility and +1 role is its maintain. However, they seemed to want to slightly shave it's team fight potential as a anti-reser (boonstrip steal daze, unblockable daze). They clearly think that the mechanics work, but they want to dial it back a bit.

It likely won't change much, it will be clunkier in that they are further reinforcing the need for Trickery. Hopefully, they can add that baseline soon or speed up initiative regen slightly. But thief is doing well in MAT, nearly required in fact. FB, Necro, Ranger, Thief, Engie, Rev (slightly less Ele & Mes) all seem to be doing quite well, although the build diversity is not too great within those classes.

Basically, during this partial lockdown stage, it seems their focus is still powercreep management, bringing down the top specs with slight nudges. (like increasing tornado cooldown, or reducing necro rez potential, etc)

Rollerbeettle week would be awesome! I'd play it and see how it pans out.

I agree with everything said, except the potion change. The stunbreak aspect is not something I'd like to give up. Then again, I've never done trib. So I'm not sure how that would work out.

Price will go down when it's back in the loot table of the black lion chest or a new method is added to the game.

Keep an eye here: (on the acquisition section, it's listed as historical, as in it doesn't drop anymore)

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Black_Lion_Exclusives_Chest

Based on a quick scan of the information available, we can see that since 2017, every year in August, A-Net has added the item back into the black lion chest loot pool. So that's probably the safest bet as to when the price will come down.

It's how supply and demand works. A-Net did not, as far as I'm aware, do anything to directly influence the AH prices. However, it no longer drops from the black lion chests, meaning it becomes more rare of a commodity. As it's rarity increases, the value goes up and the price people are willing to pay for it. My advice, if it's something outside your budget, simply wait for it to rotate back into the black lions chests. Then it's value will go down quite a bit, likely below 1k gold. Good luck in your Fashion Wars.

Just ran through all the dungeons in my new character. Some with a group and others solo. Truth be told though, putting my party in the search always worked. However, I wouldn't mind players being more directed to them again. As they are critical to the story. I wouldn't mind seeing them nerfed a bit too, since I needed to be level 80 to solo them easily.

Scourge on Necro.

Never ask Trahearn a mundane question... Ever! He'll kill you.

"What type of paper would you like to use for the invitation we're sending to General Soulkeeper?"

"Use Birch..." (Stabs assistant...) "Someone come clean this up, and use some damn Birch to contact Almora! It's costing us lives for these decisions people, let's not waste them..."

https://imgur.com/ASN8yXB

Hearts and Minds was pretty tough when released. Try as I might, I couldn't jump properly, and debris kept flying at me. I don't think any activity that's success relies on your ability to press the space key has frustrated me more...

But seriously, ya draconis, chalice of tears, and that puzzle by the waterfalls in Orr, where you have to gather all the keys, bleh. So tedious.

> @"Lincolnbeard.1735" said:

> Quickness should be 50% and having the component - you take double damage while quickness is active.

Better yet, turn aegis into a boon that when cast on an ally will cause them to instantly down on the next strike against them. Would be more to the point, but I guess I could settle with only being able to buff a 50% increased incoming damage to other players. Just make it 100% in PvP.

Hey everyone,

I'm redoing the personal story on a fresh character again. (So glad I deleted one pair of gloves during the tutorial achievements, and now its nearly impossible to finish :anguished: )

Anyway, after working with Apatia, we found a strange orb being used by the Krait. The orb would block any new undead from forming, basically stopping the undead dragon from infusing his magics into fresh corpses.

After the personal story, we never once revisit the orb and it's powers... I would think that it's ability to block dragon corruption would be quite useful during a jaunt into the frozen lands of the ice dragon.

Why do you think the writers forgot or threw out this plot device? Such a powerful tool forgotten and never used again.

Thief is definitely the reason for all my loses, and has never contributed to my wins. However, thieves are OP and need to be nerfed. It's not that they are strong per se, so much as this thread requires me to say this right here and now...

Took me over 2 years to settle on a main... 7 to be precise...

> @"Jimbru.6014" said:

(...) I would kill (...)

>

>

>

Maybe you should tell that to the NPC's you're escorting, at the very least, it ought to speed them up....

Edit: I just found this in the patch notes and found it very helpful:

Once you've completed the story, inspect a mysterious message in the Eye of the North to begin a journey to master the Scrying Pool and experience a selection of Season 1 stories once again:

Cragstead

North Nolan Hatchery

Canach's Lair

The Nightmare Incarnate

So it looks like you have to finish all the story chapters first before moving onto season 1.

Edit 2: Looks like it's in the description itself, I just misread it last night.

It's not random cc. It's either an f2 or the first skill they cast when summoned. Then recast every 20+ seconds, with an animation.

Not being able to swap to a pet that has a cc to interrupt a key skill or action will just dumb down ranger even more. If you see a smokescale/wolf/gazelle, etc get swapped in, expect a lunge that will knock you down. A good ranger may keep his pet on passive to control the timer of the attack even better, but it's not random when you are playing as the ranger. Therefore it's not random when playing against it...

I wouldn't be completely opposed to a higher cooldown though, so it's less relevant to be cc'ed a second time by the same let during a fight.