Glacial.9516

I really liked the HoT theme, although I found it a bit loud at first. Ironically I didn't even realize there was a PoF theme on the character page because it's so quiet. Only after I'd taken a minute to select a character did I start to notice it. I definitely prefer the HoT one, but an option to choose between them (and others) would be fantastic.

I see many people say the mobs in PoF are considerably easier than HoT. Myself, I find the HoT mobs to be a good bit easier than PoFs, although the attack and aggro range in PoF is certainly a factor, adjusting to mob mechanics as well. In a few months I'll have to reevaluate my opinion.

The HoT maps are faster to navigate once you have masteries (and now with mounts should be considerably faster), however they are confusing and the map isn't as helpful as in a flat map. PoF maps feel too mob-dense for me. I get frustrated traveling across them because there are mobs everywhere so you can't stop to explore the little areas or gather nodes without being unable to mount again.

I don't recall a great deal of platforming in HoT. I don't know where this complaint came from. Maybe adventures? Or if you were trying to navigate without masteries? Getting into VB Canopy during the day? Certain mastery points/jumping puzzles? I think PoF is similar there's only a few places that really require platforming, but most of it -does- require a mount so you'd best be sure not to get aggro'd in between mount switches (thankfully some of these locations don't have mobs).

Now that's not to say I don't enjoy PoF or that I dislike PoF. Not at all. However I do think a lot of people are comparing their first experience with HoT with their first experience with PoF. Not an unreasonable thing to do, but remember we had an elite spec going into PoF (sometimes both), we had already adjusted to the significantly increased mob difficulty. HoT was a shock in the increase in difficulty, while PoF maintains about the same.

Hm. Taking a shot in the dark here as I haven't experienced this problem - Did you do the story in a party? Specifically a party where you were not the leader? I've seen other threads where players said they didn't get rewards from completing story chapters in a party (while the host did) so I wonder if the mastery point unlock could be similar. When you look in your achievements, is the achievement for that story step completed?

I like the idea.

I think ranks are fine too, but if rank sounds too formal they could be called titles, groups, roles, or what have you. Sometimes it's nice to be able to differentiate people within a group so you can see at a glance who is available. ie. if you have a raid group you might list some as Trainees when they are learning, and some as Teachers who they know they can go to for advice or help. Or a WvW circle some will be listed as Roamers, some as Commanders, some as Zergs, etc. Alternatively if they let us set up a small personal message for ourselves, that would suffice and actually be better in many cases. I've often wished Guilds had this feature.

I agree the Jackal feels clunky because of the teleport design. I understand why it works that way and I'm not sure I'd like to see it changed, but it seems a bit counter intuitive given its evasion passive too. When mobs are attacking me from behind, I like to turn my camera so I can actually see the attack and evade it. But you can't do that with the jackal because you'll teleport backwards/to the side instead. So I feel like its design is a bit wonky. Still it's quickly become my most-used mount because it's more versatile than the others.

Yes, but primarily for outfits. Many outfits need a different dye scheme to work, so it's a shame that they all use the same one. Either multiple presets or saving each individually would be wonderful.

I don't think it's as important for armor because it's already possible (while not terribly convenient) to carry another set of armor with different transmutations and dyes and to swap on the fly. Still, it would be a welcomed feature for both.

> @Vladish.3940 said:

> This kitten mount (20g Jackal, if it indeed as people implied prevents at a certain point from continuing the story) will effectively PREVENT ME from able to continue the story for at least 1 to 2 weeks, and THAT IS a bad design. Not taking under consideration people with very limited time who only ever picked up their game because of the story itself, is a MAJOR oversight.

You don't need the jackal for the story (you do need Raptor, Springer, Skimmer though). In fact the only places I've found that 'need' the jackal has been those sand portals and sometimes there are alternate routes anyway (and sometimes it seems not). So there are things you'll need the jackal for, Specialization collections for example but you'll likely spend far more than 20g while doing them anyway.

Personally I'd rather do questy things, even if they're a bit grindy to earn a mount over just paying gold for it (while also having the gold option isn't bad for those who'd prefer not to). I know gold is the universal resource of GW2 that everything can be converted to in some fashion, but grinding for gold somehow feels bad (imo) compared to targeting what I need, even if it's a bit less efficient.

Exact same thing happened to me. The moment Balthazar spawns eligibility disappears. Tried it twice as well. Both times I checked to see if I got credit (assuming I had) and both times did not. I assumed it was bugged, but it sounds like some were able to complete it.

I experienced this last night. I believe it occurs when you jump and use the mount attack ability. I can't get it to happen all the time, but often. Sometimes I'll find one of my arms is also twisted.

Did you equip the Scourge trait line? You can only use the scourge weapon and abilities when you have the trait line equipped (and it can only be equipped in the 3rd slot). The same applies to reaper so it would be impossible to use both Greatsword and Torch in the same build, for example.

Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but many of the exotic accessories for the specialization collections are Soulbound instead of Account bound. I'm genuinely unsure if this was a design decision or an oversight (but I lean toward oversight because all of the HoT ones were account bound). Of the 36 items needed for the collections (4 per collection), 4 of them are Account bound while 32 are Soulbound. This makes it difficult to use most of them, even on alts, because you can't trade them to other characters.

Also, the Riddle of the Mirage has no stats. At first I thought it might have been an easter egg; hide the stats because it's a mirage, but when equipped it doesn't increase stats either.

The list is... (Taken from the collection pages, though I have confirmed a few so far).

**Account bound:**

Lost Ring of the Order (Firebrand) (Ring)

Djinn Ceremonial Ring (Weaver) (Ring)

Glowstone Amulet (Weaver) (Amulet)

Awakened Soul (Scourge) (Accessory)

**Soulbound:**

Mercenary Band (Deadeye)

Forged Seal (Deadeye)

Riddle of the Deadeye (Deadeye)

Bullseye Medallion (Deadeye)

Petrified Forgotten eye (Firebrand)

Riddle of the Firebrand (Firebrand)

Engraved Pectoral (Firebrand)

Solar Circuit (Holomsith)

Eerie Zephyrite Enigma (Holosmith)

Riddle of the Holosmith (Holosmith)

Emergency Release Valve (Holosmith)

Chains of the Unbound Djinn (Weaver)

Riddle of the Weaver (Weaver)

Stone of Silence (Spellbreaker)

Mordant Crescent Pommel (Spellbreaker)

Riddle of the Spellbreaker (Spellbreaker)

Sunspear reliquary (Spellbreaker)

Hollowed Fang (Soulbeast)

Sharpened Flint (Soulbeast)

Riddle of the Soulbeast (Soulbeast)

Sand Eel Jaw Necklace (Soulbeast)

Cipher Ring (Renegade)

Infernal Device (Renegade)

Riddle of the Renegade (Renegade)

Solidarity Band (Renegade)

Convict's Ring (Scourge)

Riddle of the Scourge (Scourge)

Pillaged Offering (Scourge)

Delusion Loop (Mirage)

Vial of Enchanted Sands (Mirage)

Riddle of the Mirage (Mirage)

Mirror of Disenchantment (Mirage)

I think the gold cost for the mounts is pretty silly. They're mastery tracks, they really don't need to be gated behind gold. I know, 20g isn't -that- hard to get for a one-time purchase, but it's still a very strange place for a gold sink. And I think 250g for the griffon is completely absurd. I doubt I'll even buy that, hopefully there's no area that only the Griffon can reach! I wouldn't pay 250g for any of the HoT masteries except gliding, and even then I'd do it reluctantly after months of being bitter over the design choice. So. Who knows, maybe that's precisely what I'll do with the Griffon.

I loved The Departing mission. I wasn't very fond of some of the previous story steps (particularly the previous encounter with Balthazar, it felt rushed. Reminded me of Eir. Should have been built up a bit more) but I reaaally loved what they did with the Departing and hope it continues! It's definitely in my top 3 for story instances.

Overall I felt the launch went very smoothly. It could have gone better of course. I ran into only a few problems myself (a few dcs, a small rollback, moderate lag, one crash) but I was pleasantly impressed. However based on the forums, it sounds like some couldn't even log on, or were dcing repeatedly and couldn't play the new areas. That's much worse than anything I faced so my perception would certainly differ from theirs. I'm hopeful it will be functional for everyone soon enough.

Did they nerf this boss? I just did it and its break bar was breaking quickly without even using my primary CC skills. I was actually a bit confused by it. I'd swap to hard CC and before I used them the few soft CCs that cast along with other skills had already broken it. Maybe I got lucky, but I was confused more than anything. Now I almost want to do it again to see if I get the real version. Was using Staff Weaver.

Trying it again now.

It's very very vulnerable to CC. I didn't CC it, and it killed me in two seconds flat (when it started channeling). However one chill broke its breakbar, and then afterward one immobilize did. I suspect it has 100 defiance bar power solo. You may not even be interrupted by its pull attack if you have the CCs ticking when it starts channeling.

If they had Canyon jumping as the Rank2 mastery it would have been more than fine. I was 3 points short when I was ready to do my next story step and I had to backtrack and find 3 that I could get (some of the ones I had come across didn't yet seem obtainable). There's 2 really easy Mastery points near Amnoon (one underwater, one in the bazaar). The third one I obtained was the Chef, but that's understandably frustrating for a lot of people. I'm not sure if there's a third suitably easy map MP at that point. There's at least 3 more easy ones in the second map after you get the second mount though so that combined with story MPs should set you up for the rest.

I haven't been to the last 2 maps yet, but so far I agree. The maps are fun for exploring because they're so big and there's a lot of neat little things, but I feel little reason to want to be in the maps. The events are fun once or twice. The heart quests once, if that. I think it'll be a one-time thing for me where I explore and enjoy the map, and then return just for achievements and HPs on alts.. Then again, I feel similarly about most of LS3 - I only return to those for achievements and currency collection.

While I understand (and agree with) the opposition to HoT being all on timers, most of the suggestions I saw were not asking to get rid of metas, but for more Silverwaste style metas that are event driven. Ones we can actually work toward instead of waiting. Tangled Depths could have been perfect for this if the Gerent spawned when all outposts had finished their event chains, instead of some arbitrary timer which makes the event chains pointless outside of farming map currency and getting the achievements. VB and Auric Basin could also follow suit.

> @"Cloud Windfoot Omega.7485" said:

> Basically, Make some fun meta's but keep them OUT OF THE WAY. No blocking important things. Keep everything else running normally. That way no one feels obliged to play them like the other maps.

> Let people who want to play bounties do them while a meta goes on.

> Let people explore unimpeded!

> Let people do their story without the meta.

I agree with this. The new maps are so big that you could easily devote a portion of them to a Meta and not interfere with most of the map while it's in progress.

To be fair, it's called Malnourished, says "Consume a food item to regain nourishment." and it has a purple debuff icon. So it's understandable to think it may be weakening you. I had to wait for it to end to confirm that it didn't deduct any stats (at least, from the character screen) and when I asked, I was told it was just a reminder. I definitely notice it now and find it helpful, just a bit confusing at first.

Unless I misunderstand, this already exists. We have custom emotes and a chat filter that can toggle emotes on and off. If RPers wish to hide their chat from those with emotes disabled, they could use the /me (or /em, I forget off hand which). On the flip side, emote range is so ridiculously long that many probably opt to use /say instead to bother less people (and others use both because /say makes sense for dialog while /me for actions).

Bunji gave a lot of good advice. I can second Glyph of Storms in Earth as a defensive measure, it works quite well in core Tyria. And the Earth Elementals as well (I prefer the Elite myself).

I often take Lightning flash for moving around quicker and for getting out of the way of dangerous attacks. I use it most with Staff so that I can reposition without interrupting Meteor storm. Arcane shield is good for emergencies as well. If you find mobs aren't a threat you may consider a more offensive option like Signet of Fire for the precision.

For Heal you have a lot of options. My current favourite has been the Glyph because in Water it provides regen for more total healing and in Air it provides Swiftness for moving around. If you're using Staff, Arcane brilliance has a blast finisher which can be used in Static field for aoe Swiftness. (Swiftness uptime is a big focus for me in a leveling build because a lot of my time is spent running around doing map completion, if you feel otherwise you can totally ignore it).

Traits are tricky because I think they often depend on which weapon you want to use. Fire is usually a good start though. GM traits can be swapped around to provide more offense or defense through blinds on burn.

I know this may not be the best solution and it may not even fix the problem (and has probably been suggested before), but what if we could equip the same legend in both slots? Effectively working like weapon swap with the same weapons in both? Your cooldowns wouldn't change but you'd get all of the benefits of a legend swap whilst using it.

If they removed all of the additional items they could probably bring the cost down significantly.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Level-80_Boost

According to the wiki you get...

5 Teleport to friend

2 gold

Celebratory dye pack (Value of up to 220k, ~800 to1100 gems)

Dye pack (~160 gems)

Mystic Salvage kit (~135 gems)

A bunch of assorted other items (worth ~3g) plus a full set of exotic armor and a few waypoints unlocked.

Now I realize you can't turn most of this into liquid gold, but it certainly has an impact on the cost of the boost. 2000 sounds very expensive to me, but 200-400 gems would be outrageously low given the items included. If they removed the items I'd expect it to be around 800-1000 gems.

This would be nice. I notice it a lot in DR. Sometimes I don't even realize it and think I'm lagging because an NPC keeps intercepting my interact commands. I'd vote for lesser priority than bank/MF/TP NPCs so that they can still be interacted with elsewhere but removing their interact or adjusting their patrol route would also suffice.

My first impression of Engi was "Ew backpacks."

My second impression was "I really like these tool belt skills!"

Today I'm a bit mixed on my feelings toward Engi. It never became one of my main classes and I wasn't overly fond of scrapper. Hammer and Gyros just didn't do it for me. I'm very excited for Holosmith. I love the concept so even if it underperforms (not saying it will! I'm hopeful it'll be good) I'll probably still play Engi more than I have in the last few years.

I've only had this happen when I dc and a rollback happens. Even then it's very rare. A week or two ago I recall doing an HP in Tangled Depths (The Mushroom adventure one) and strangely I dc'd after getting the HP and completing the adventure (I completed the adventure after acquiring the HP). When I came back, I still had the bronze chest but I'd lost the HP. Others in the map reported similar occurrences.

Oh! On the super off chance that you're brand new, are you logging onto different characters? Each character's map completion is separate.