Cromx.3941

> @"Cuks.8241" said: > > @"Cromx.3941" said: > > Elitist idiots demanding Snowcrow's builds literally turned me off from strikes. > > I have cleared all strikes repeatedly for months after the release and have never seen anyone demanding snowcrows builds. Yes, they will try to get the essential supports but rarely have I seen demands for specific DPS builds. > > Count yourself lucky. I experienced it a few times and my builds are generally high DPS or support, (I have 5 or 6 for guard for instance)...so it usually is not aimed at me, but I have seen people insta booted because of non-meta builds. Huge turn off, because I actually like the play the encounters the way they were meant to be played and not have OP meta builds essentially break the mechanics of the encounter. I feel most people are just playing everything to RUSH RUSH RUSH RUSH....and to what end? I enjoy a challenge and to actually experience the content. It's nice to require teamwork and not just faceroll builds.

Elitist idiots demanding Snowcrow's builds literally turned me off from strikes. The content is not that hard for starters and secondly it's getting pretty hard to find any content in this game that is not steamrolled by a few meta builds. Zero complexity in this game. Max power, max precision, max ferocity + cheese meta build and that is all this game is. Its a borefest as 75% of armors are irrelevant and the same percentage of traits and builds are as well.

I think shatter has become to limiting for Mesmer. YOu almost have to do it and it's not really that enjoyable of a mechanic since its slow and fails a lot and really doesn't do anything but get you close to par with other classes who do not have to go through all that krap. Shattering should be OPTIONAL and not something you feel compelled to do all the time. I think the next elite spec should just have a negative trait that reduces shatter damage by 50% in it so that they can buff the elite spec in other ways to compensate so there is some variety with Mesmers.

Run dungeons with appropriate leveled toons without the OP builds and the downscaled stats. It's plenty challenging at times just running people through with your high level. It can actually be comical if they are inexperienced. Having a party of 100% offense oriented "meta" builds face roll mobs in .5 seconds is not fun and speaks more about how ANET has dropped the ball making any stat other than power/ferocity/precision meaningless completely pointless. I only play this game because the characters are nice to look at and the artwork is quite good. As far as balance goes this game has never had any from day 1 and it's only gotten worse. It's quite boring in all honesty and I just tend to play around open world most of the time.

I will say weaver is particularly overly complex for mediocre results. This game has a lot of classes like that though where simple classes with no skill requirements are balanced on par or even better than well played very complex classes. The elementalist is fairly complex in the same way that engineer can be.

So the OP is basically saying that we have too many OP "meta" builds that are trivializing content? Ok lets fix that.

How about non annoying? The problem with "difficulty" in this game is it is merely mob trolling and ridiculous mob density. I'll pass on that thanks. With HoT every mob will CC you FIRST THING. So its a gauntlet of constant cripple and knockdown. And with mob density (much worse in PoF) you are essentially avoid the CC spam constantly if you want to by pass anything and just get something done. I am sorry this is not difficulty this is annoyance. And having mobs easily one shot or two shot you is also just more of the same trolling. EoD needs: 1) Reasonable mob density so you can find a place here and there to park yourself to tab out of the game and look up stuff online. This game demands this sort of approach due to its overly complex way of doing mundane things. And this means mob respawns also need to be more than 15 seconds. 2) Stop the abusive CC mechanics. It seems ANET's difficulty is a one horse show with CC followed by enough damage to essentially kill you while you are incapacitated is the only means by which they know how to make anything "difficult" and for me it shows a severe lack of creativity and talent when this is your go to over and over. Not only that the game becomes over saturated with CC and it loses it's "uniqueness" if every mob can do it. 3) End the The-Floor-is-lava. I want to make a new genre of mmo called "The-floor-is-lava", and GW2 would be the father of the genre. The endless red circle spam with DoTs that kill you inside 3 seconds need to stop. The real issue with the floor is lava krap is you have no idea which red circles (since they are literally everywhere) are really deadly or not so bad and are intended to kind of be "weathered". It gets out of hand and looks quite sad honestly very fast. It's the same with particle effects and special abilities. Because ANET wants to make every ability BLING BLING there is no way visually to determine if the fire effect that one mob is creating is really going to burn you or just singe you. Because God knows you have to BLING BLING every effect no matter how minor. These are the things that I consider annoying and NOT difficult. Just annoying. And its gets very trolling after awhile and makes the game a chore to play. If ANET was smart they would use mob density, deadly abilities, and CC more sparingly. In this way when you do use it you can tell a story or create a world that has some sense of real danger when warranted and not just have everything from a ant to a dragon be able to CC and kill you. It is a real problem with this game other then the insane damage going to and from players and mobs.

Yep this game chases away tons of new comers because of the abusive CC mechanics and ridiculous amount of one shotting that goes on. There is way too much damage going back and forth between mobs and players and it completely destroys the entire defensive side of the equation, which dumbs down the game dramatically. The only thing that really matters is active defenses and dodging. Which comes off as gimicky. Either you get with it and stack only offensive stats and try to burn enemies to the ground before they do this stuff or you find another game. Its a huge problem with this game. All of this stuff makes the game very shallow and eliminates most stat combinations and many build configurations as a result. A lot of wasted time ands effort went into designing things that will never be used.

Art work is top notch in this game. Whatever faults there might be otherwise this game hands down has the best artwork of any MMO i have played. And I'd argue its for this reason that the graphics look fresh even today. Many developers mistakenly believe that technical graphics options are what makes the game look get but in reality its always the artwork that makes the game look "good". Character art in particular is phenomenal. To include the animations. Its the main reason I play this game despite the numerous balance issues with OP and Meta builds in PVE trivializing the game.

> @"Noodle Ant.1605" said: > > in fractal public groups might is in abundance... > i feel like this is a dodgy statement, common pugs do not have might in abundance because usually one person takes care of most it (e.g. the healer). i dont think pretending to be a hb but actually being a hybrid one helps either > > > This is not a raid group and things tend to be messy, likely needing to pick people off the ground. > youd be playing full/proper hb at this point tbh Oh good God this stuff really gets silly. People arguing for at best 15% more DPS (I am being generous here) under ideal circumstances is somehow the pivotal moment in GW2 gameplay need to get their heads examined. I see larping theory crafters with no practical application in mind. For all that vitality I get synergy with more healing from a talent and the 10% health boost from balth runes. It's a no brainer. But the weak brained among us will argue that +40 crit % on a condi build is with 1000 power or just above it and next to no ferocity is the thing to have. I understand what people are saying here, and I reject it outright. I just played a slew of fractals and everyone has personal sources of might or they are sharing might. I can keep up 15 stacks on everyone myself if need be. Keep in mind people are actually fretting over 15% "theoretical" extra DPS on a character that could very well spend half his time healing or supporting. By the way hard to do much if you are dead from next to no HP. I pick up glass cannon builds off the ground all day long in fractals. But please continue. This is quite amusing.

> @"ollbirtan.2915" said: > > @"Cromx.3941" said: > > > @"ollbirtan.2915" said: > > > > @"Cromx.3941" said: > > > > > > > > I run plaguedoctor with Balth runes. I have like 90% burn duration, 28k HP, (30K with quickness) 700 healing (1000 with quickness), and like 1300+ condi damage...not to mention permanent quickness and around 70% boon duration. I run axe and torch and then staff as secondary to heal. I can do high DPS, high healing, permanent quickness, around 50% stability, 100% regen up time, condi cleanse spam...and so on. > > > > > > > > If you ask me there is no better fractal build for Firebrand. Especially for public groups. I can routinely get fire damage alone to tick 15k on its own. > > > > > > Just my 2 cents --- for your average T4 PUGs the best FB is still the hard-carry healbrand _(Honour, Virtues/Valor)_ with memestrel/harrier. For better performing PUGs that don't need to be hard carried and don't facetank, I find Seraphbrand a much better choice. Plaguedoctor is just inferior to seraph because vitality is a wasted stat on a guardian. You can sprinkle 1-2 pieces on a Frailty day, but that's about it. > > > Here is the build if you are interested. Keep in mind the bonuses you get from mistlock. > > > It still has that safety net of healing, does impressive burn damage _(100% crit chance, 100% burn duration)_, and provides perma quickness, might _(~22)_, perma fury, regen _(~90%)_, some protection. _SoW can be swapped for SYG or any other utility depending on the instabs/comp, and you can use healing food instead of boon dura/cdps._ > > > > > > http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PWABc6t/lRweYSsKGJW0SvPbA-zRJYoRPfZkQFkeK4wBJI2DvlHF2A-e > > > > http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PWwAc+ZlRwwYSsHmJWyS3PVA-zRZYdREgGE2b0wdWIJUCVHBpnAOcQCiFwbxvzN-e > > > > This is the build I run. The vitality gives me something like +23% outgoing healing. 100% quickness uptime and a dumpload of stability. Also regen is up almost all of the time as well. Swap to staff for healing, it has +10% more healing on it. And then go into the F2 tome if needed. I mean I guess you are pulling maybe 15% more damage or so from the extra crit change with seraph but for me adding the torch in off hand makes it so zealots flame is able to be tossed over and over adding up to huge stacks of burn (this likely more than males up for the 15% there). > > > > I was only worried about enough crit to get radiant fire to proc when off cooldown, which is easy to do. I never see why I'd care about shield in off hand. If I am going to heal I swap to staff. I never use my mantra's to zero. I always keep them on the short cooldown so I can maintain 100% quickness and rev it up instantly. And I try to time the mantra heal so that I make the 10 sec cooldown. > > > > Personally I think the vitality giving me the % healing offsets the DPS loss from precision. Mostly because if you are multitasking and swapping weapons and going into tomes its much much easier to load up burn stacks and then do something else and come back to it. Precision is mostly wasted in these cases. And since I carry offhand torch I can spam zealots flame and then do the number 5 blue flame breath thing and have a fairly nice burn going. You can semi range DPS like this, use axe 3 and 2 and toss zealots flame with torch 5 and then get out of the way. Kind of like drive by DPS. Then go heal peeps or what have you. > > > > > > Shield offhand is not mandatory - you can run torch + sceptre and axe for more damage. As for your build, I see two major problems assuming T4 PUG EOTM > 1. You provide might only with staff 4 and some fire field blasts here and there which won't get your party anywhere close to even 20 might stacks during a boss encounter. > 2. Quick-fire over Lore-master is a peculiar pick. I know that Radiance resets your F1 - but that only works during encounters with adds. Losing your main source of damage in favour of a dribble of quickness is a big no no IMHO. in fractal public groups might is in abundance. I am not terribly worried about it. You chose 15% more DPS I chose 13% more healing and survivability. Nuff said. This is not a raid group and things tend to be messy, likely needing to pick people off the ground.

> @"ollbirtan.2915" said: > > @"Cromx.3941" said: > > > > I run plaguedoctor with Balth runes. I have like 90% burn duration, 28k HP, (30K with quickness) 700 healing (1000 with quickness), and like 1300+ condi damage...not to mention permanent quickness and around 70% boon duration. I run axe and torch and then staff as secondary to heal. I can do high DPS, high healing, permanent quickness, around 50% stability, 100% regen up time, condi cleanse spam...and so on. > > > > If you ask me there is no better fractal build for Firebrand. Especially for public groups. I can routinely get fire damage alone to tick 15k on its own. > > Just my 2 cents --- for your average T4 PUGs the best FB is still the hard-carry healbrand _(Honour, Virtues/Valor)_ with memestrel/harrier. For better performing PUGs that don't need to be hard carried and don't facetank, I find Seraphbrand a much better choice. Plaguedoctor is just inferior to seraph because vitality is a wasted stat on a guardian. You can sprinkle 1-2 pieces on a Frailty day, but that's about it. > Here is the build if you are interested. Keep in mind the bonuses you get from mistlock. > It still has that safety net of healing, does impressive burn damage _(100% crit chance, 100% burn duration)_, and provides perma quickness, might _(~22)_, perma fury, regen _(~90%)_, some protection. _SoW can be swapped for SYG or any other utility depending on the instabs/comp, and you can use healing food instead of boon dura/cdps._ > > http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PWABc6t/lRweYSsKGJW0SvPbA-zRJYoRPfZkQFkeK4wBJI2DvlHF2A-e http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PWwAc+ZlRwwYSsHmJWyS3PVA-zRZYdREgGE2b0wdWIJUCVHBpnAOcQCiFwbxvzN-e This is the build I run. The vitality gives me something like +23% outgoing healing. 100% quickness uptime and a dumpload of stability. Also regen is up almost all of the time as well. Swap to staff for healing, it has +10% more healing on it. And then go into the F2 tome if needed. I mean I guess you are pulling maybe 15% more damage or so from the extra crit change with seraph but for me adding the torch in off hand makes it so zealots flame is able to be tossed over and over adding up to huge stacks of burn (this likely more than males up for the 15% there). I was only worried about enough crit to get radiant fire to proc when off cooldown, which is easy to do. I never see why I'd care about shield in off hand. If I am going to heal I swap to staff. I never use my mantra's to zero. I always keep them on the short cooldown so I can maintain 100% quickness and rev it up instantly. And I try to time the mantra heal so that I make the 10 sec cooldown. Personally I think the vitality giving me the % healing offsets the DPS loss from precision. Mostly because if you are multitasking and swapping weapons and going into tomes its much much easier to load up burn stacks and then do something else and come back to it. Precision is mostly wasted in these cases. And since I carry offhand torch I can spam zealots flame and then do the number 5 blue flame breath thing and have a fairly nice burn going. You can semi range DPS like this, use axe 3 and 2 and toss zealots flame with torch 5 and then get out of the way. Kind of like drive by DPS. Then go heal peeps or what have you.

> @"zethra.8491" said: > > @"Noodle Ant.1605" said: > > ill just repost this interesting finding that i posted elsewhere (and will probably spam whenever theres a new thread on frac cfb/burn guard, sry) > > > > > Mist Offensive Potion applies 2 different bonuses to condi dmg (see notes section). One is the obvious +3% outgoing dmg per stack; the other is a +3% increase per stack to the condi dmg stat... > > > > > > This means that condi builds have a naturally higher virtual (fractal) bench, including burn guard... > > > > > > ...what makes burn guard special is... it is the least condi-like of condi specs... which, along with this additional bonus, makes it potentially the best (#1) dps unless ab/using full power setups with competent players (so #1 at least with pugs). > > > > though burning is a factor, other condi specs (eg burn ele or zerker) are either more reliant on (1s) ticking aoe fields to apply their condis, or long duration condis applied through an entire list of skills, effectively making them DoToT or D(oT)^2 builds vs burn guard. condi mirage is an example of another quickstacking condi build, but is held back because what it stacks quickly is confusion, rather than something that would probably break it like burning > > > > cfb supposedly falls apart at cc (i guess when talking about something like artsariiv clone phase) but is otherwise only outperformed if your group uses a full power burst boss-phases-in-seconds strat (usually complimented with precasting, PI, OWP stanceshare, etc, stuff cfb cant use effectively because its not power) > > while it’s noted Viper/ Sinister mix is ideal,…. > **for survivability in T 4 pugs**, as Roul said in his video,… > > Is using Plaguedoctor/ Trailblazer gear a good idea ? > if not, What gear mix is advised for Survivability ? > > Thanks ! > I run plaguedoctor with Balth runes. I have like 90% burn duration, 28k HP, (30K with quickness) 700 healing (1000 with quickness), and like 1300+ condi damage...not to mention permanent quickness and around 70% boon duration. I run axe and torch and then staff as secondary to heal. I can do high DPS, high healing, permanent quickness, around 50% stability, 100% regen up time, condi cleanse spam...and so on. If you ask me there is no better fractal build for Firebrand. Especially for public groups. I can routinely get fire damage alone to tick 15k on its own.

> @"draxynnic.3719" said: > > @"Brokensunday.4098" said: > > > @"draxynnic.3719" said: > > > > @"Yggranya.5201" said: > > > > > @"Linken.6345" said: > > > > > > @"Yggranya.5201" said: > > > > > > Guardian? How about warrior hammer? By the time you've used all CC abilities on a group of enemies, any other melee weapon would have killed them and the next group, maybe even more. Same for maces. In PvE, they have no purpose except to break the defiance bar. Good? I guess, but i would rather use them exclusively. Besides, warrior has more than enough CC utility. Not like the bar is high enough to require more than that since they are designed for groups, and the cooldown is so long on the bar that you'll have the skills ready again before it can be broken again. > > > > > > > > > > You havent played fractal 100 cm I see. > > > > > > > > Yes, i have not, and never will. Still, if it's good in one thing, that doesn't mean it's any better in the other, now does it? > > > > > > Guardian has the second highest number of weapons after Warrior. It can afford to have one or two that have specialised uses rather than competing for the role of top glass cannon DPS. > > > > Staff is utility, shileld is utility, focus is combo damage and utility, mace is utility mostly, hammer is supposed to be damage and utily but is lacking the damage excluding the skill 2. > > Guarian need a change on gammer because even as an “utility” weappon as is right now is mostly useless outside of some super rare ocassions. > > > > Hammer is tanking and crowd control. With Writ of Persistence, you've got pretty much permanent protection and healing, which makes it very useful for situations when running sword, greatsword, or axe will mean you don't have the durability to remain in melee with whatever it is you're fighting. Problem is I can get protection from other sources, and the same for healing.

Objectively its pretty bad. I tried to make this weapon work but I fail to see where the offset is for the dismal damage it does. It really only has two damage skills on it. The knockback is decent but for PVE dps that is more annoying than helpful. It has some utility I guess has PvP weapon. But if you ask me the greatsword has much more going for it. Better AA, better damage skills, and even a KD that pulls to you and not blasts away. To begin with the third attack on the hammer should be at MOST a 1 second windup. That is really the heart of the matter.