Urud.4925

Hola, some additional details:

The crafting booster I was referring to, is this one: [item Booster](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item_Booster). I thought it was one of the selectable rewards for completing a chapter of the personal story, but I mistook. You get an [Heroic Booster](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Heroic_Booster) as reward for the story, that also grants _+50% Chance of Critical Crafting Experience Gain_. (So 1 per character) Otherwise, there is the [crafting booster that you can buy with 1 Laurel](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item_Booster_(masterwork)): same bonus, but only for 30 minutes. In addition, there is also the +20% Guild Crafting Boost provided by guilds. But I understand here, not all the players should be forced to join a guild for a bonus (it's not vital, but in case you belong to a guild, there is also this perk, just as note).

You don't need 6 crafting professions for 2 characters. I suggest you to level up only the professions to craft the gear, not the weapons (after the trinkets: they are more important and don't require any crafting). There are many other ways to find an ascended weapon as reward, and the box lets you select the weapon you prefer. There are also the [specialization collections](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Specialization_Collections) (1 weapon for each elite spec, account bound), Knight of the Thorn (you can find a[ list here](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ascended_weapon)). However, I should say that the cost to complete such achievements is often around 30-35 gold, the same than level up the crafting, so... (but you spare the mats to craft the weapon). The first weapon of Knight of the Thorn is cheap though, and the story is cool, so I'd go for that.

About PvP, there are [merchants that sell also the gear](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ascended_Armor_League_Vendor), not only the recipes. Since you said that you did some competitive PvP, you should have already some ascended shard of glory. But you also need Grandmaster Marks, and to gain these... you have to play a lot of WvW (just stay in the game mode and capture something, for hours). In this case is very grindy though, I must say. It's an additional way for players that dislike the PvE and like to play PvP/WvW. I got some marks, but I never bought an ascended gear this way, so idk how many days you need. Probably still the same amount, 1 month.

I think the fastest and cheapest way nowadays are the [strike Missions](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crystallographer_Smoxxi#vendor50): you only need some gold (half of the cost of the mats, if you had to craft it) and crystal shards that you can farm from these missions. Quite easy. If you didn't do it, unlock Eye of the North, you can start these missions from this hub.

And no offense taken about mesmers and thieves :D They are frustrating to fight, I agree. Inside arenas you can usually chase a thief, but when I see a thief running away in WvW, I usually give up, too lazy to run after them (and I also play as thief in WvW...).

In general I would avoid to give feedback for an MMO (about end-game gear for example) after only 1 week, but it's also true that a fresh eye can be useful to realise something that many other players don't notice anymore.

- The crafting is not very expensive if you already have around 40-50 gold in your inventory and you know which guide to follow. It's cheap for most of the players, but I remember that when I started I wanted to craft (you know, you get exp also from that, so... why not) and I realised that it was very expensive for me. I didn't know about discoveries or guides though, so I wasted a lot of my precious gold. A crafting boost is also useful. If you buy all the mats in advance and know what to craft, you should be at 500 points with 1 single boost (2 hours) and 35-40 gold (depending on the profession). I wouldn't call it a lot of investment in time, but I agree it's expensive for a new player. But in general crafting is always something you do towards the end game, in many MMO. I would add some tutorial for the discoveries though (maybe they did it).

- The ascended gear is the same for all the game modes. I mean, you can get the gear through crafting, doing competitive sPvP, playing a lot of WvW, farming strike missions, doing fractals, farming world bosses (and praying for a box drop). They all have the same stats, so (unlike other MMOs) you can choose which game mode you like the most and play that. If you like the PvP, you don't need to learn the crafting for the ascended gear (and the gear is account bound). Also, as other players said, the exotic gear is only 5% less powerful than the ascended one, so you can have a good gear with around 15 gold (that's 1 week of dailies). You only really need the ascended gear for #20+ fractals.

Just out of curiosity, which MMO has less grind (less than 28 days) for a permanent end-game gear? (I might be interested :D )

- I only play 1 PvP match per day, as daily, so I'm not an expert. The 3 points to cap always active are quite fine for me. And yes, it adds a small level of strategy (even if you said don't say it!). Other maps have 1 capping point at fixed time (like the bell or in skyhammer) but often players don't even bother for those. If you had only 1 point, then all the players will simply camp there. No one would play thief for example. Everyone would play necro/scourge and support. I think it would be more boring (I always play solo queue).

- I got the champion title only on my thief and my mesmer (well, and a core warrior)... so yeah, I understand your point. The mesmer was very easy to play honestly and annoying for the enemy. But it was way worse before. It has been heavily nerfed (especially the condi mirage). Thieves are also annoying but I'd ask you to play it one before, to see if they are really easy to play. They can die very quickly. The condi thief has been also nerfed months ago. In general ArenaNet delivers balance patches quite frequently, so I wouldn't cry loud if some class is too strong. There are so many specs, traits, and I think they honestly do a good job in trying to balance them.

I've just noticed that we have Charr medics with a face mask...


There's no need to wear an aquabreather on the ground, so... did ArenaNet do it on purpose?

They are geniuses.

So if the game has meaningless loot "meh, I have nothing to do, the farm is so poor, we need better rewards for our time and efforts". If the loot increases "meh, now mats' price lowered, I cannot sell my stuff at high price".

Idk, what do ppl want? Increase **only your loot**? It's an MMO, if we get better rewards, everyone will get them. And I don't think it's something bad.

Hi @"Khalisto.5780" , you might look at this [chart](https://external-preview.redd.it/ZtN38dVmARiH4FxnRPpX40qrIj4BEXL35QN2XuQHepM.png?auto=webp&s=e89fa389c9d7871432b1626a64928e0d6780abee).

Have a good time! (ArenaNet really put several paths)

A Total Makeover Kit can do wonders, even making an asura cute (almost). This wouldn't change the fact that they kill other species for their experiments, but at least the appearance could be improved.

I suggest you to keep 1 of them (there are some achievements that require an asura - Hero tab) and delete the others, if you can't stand them. You can also cover their head with a big helm, like I did (the flame helm you get after few AP).

I forgot exactly in which episode, but I remember the commander suggesting Smodur as replacement for Bangar, since Smodur has been always (the few times we saw him) more diplomatic and rational. I guess Anet decided to get rid of Smodur as well, in favor of Crecia and (probably) Ryland as her young right-hand man/esquire (but as @"VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.3618" said, he killed Almorra, and he's just a puppet, so no sympathy for him).

But the change of personality was quite out of the blue for me. I've been surprised as well.

I'd really like another MMO where I could sail, taste the adventure of very long travels, using raining water and fishing to survive weeks.... without the fear that my ship is sunk by some other player.

I would probably require too many effort to just use it as new game mode and I think ANET doesn't want to add any new profession (9 classes and carting professions seems definitive).

BUT... I'd use it for an expansion, eventually. For example when we'll explore the Unending Ocean. It could be a good way to fill the maps with something new that it's not only underwater combat (that could be boring for a lot of players).

> @"Marcelo.4210" said:

> > @"Urud.4925" said:

> > Any new use for the Bjora's ice shards? (I still didn't play the new episode) I have around 10k shards and I don't really like to fill the guild hall with small shrines or hundreads of giant ravens. These trees look like a good way to spend a map currency.

>

> You can't use the Ice Shards to make the new one, but they are pretty cheap and easy to farm. Trees cost 100, you have a few mobs around the map that drop them so no worries! But, the smaller shrines(Unlocked with the Drakkar meta event) stay great near those trees, using the fog machine that Op talked about, and snow makers, you can make a snowy, cold forest norn themed zone!

Hmm, I already have 6 shrines and a dozen of ravens. I was thinking about a long race track with 100 giant raven statues, but the norn forest with several shrines is a good idea to spend these ice shards. Thank you!

Any new use for the Bjora's ice shards? (I still didn't play the new episode) I have around 10k shards and I don't really like to fill the guild hall with small shrines or hundreads of giant ravens. These trees look like a good way to spend a map currency.

I had the other problem: I wanted the achievement for the dolphin path and I always got the deep path in T1. After trying many days (several times per day) I finally got the dolphin path. It seems true that the path changes everyday, since when I had the deep path, it remained the same path, even after 5 attempts.

I don't know if something changed recently, but I can confirm that also in T1 the path changed daily.

EDIT: oh wait, the previous answer was recent but the thread is old... never mind

Yeah this also may work. I've already told him to try the opposite of what you said: skills with the left hand (I never told him there's a dodge yet) and the arrow keys on the right to move (I removed the strafe). The only problem to play only with the keyboard is that you can have some motion sickness after a bit, since the screen doesn't move smoothly (also the more you hold left/right, the more the speed increases).

It's a matter of getting used in the end. Both gamepad and keyboard-only, don't allow to adjust the camera, so they are good options. Let's see what he prefers.

Thank you Hannabil :)

I liked the OP's presentation! I believe you :)

Seriously, it's a bit annoying to switch continuosly tab when you look for a squad for forging steel. What's here? And there? They could merge the tab somehow.

Didn't they add new specific skins (both armor and weapons) for Drakkar? You mean something that spawns without a fixed time, like a dynamic event?

Idk, if we only talk about skins... ok, why not. But GW2 was meant to let the people jump-in without having to really farm a gear. Also bounties (legendary) drop Elegy Mosaics, and they are the only way to buy the funerary weapons. We already have some exclusive skins from bosses in open world.

Damm, I completely missed them. Thank you to the ppl who posted pictures: they are very funny :) And applause for ANET!

Thank you all for the tips (also to the ppl who sent me a private message). I don't think I stressed him particularly (I hope so, at least). I'm well aware that it's difficult to understand the controls when the only videogame that you played is Wii Fit. It takes time, it's normal.

Yesterday I found an interesting discussion on reddit, about the gamepad in GW2. I remembered that I have a Logitech WingMan Rumble somewhere and I tried it: it worked surprisingly well. I only enabled the left stick, so it's not possible to move the camera with the right one (you can't watch your feet, even by mistake). For me something was missing, as I kept trying to use it to move the camera, but for someone who never played RPGs (and in general videogames) should be much easier. It works with the camera full zoomed out, so it's easy to see what happens around you, like with a keyboard + mouse.

I set the 6 right buttons for the skills #1 ~ 6, the triggers for jump and dodge, and the directional pad for switching weapon/F1/F-talk/0-Elite. I've read you could use a trigger for shift/control, to enable a second layer of input, but I didn't want to complicate things (I'll go full signets). I wouldn't use it for a strike mission, but for central Tyria it was quite fun actually :)

Pity that I didn't find any new gamepad with 6 buttons on the right. They all have 4 buttons nowadays. oh well, I can ship him mine.

I'm looking for some addon to make (veeery) easier to control the character in game. A couple of years ago I asked my father to try GW2 and after so much insistence, he tried. But... he's extremely noob obviously. He couldn't walk. Like... at all. He managed to get stuck in spots that I never imagined, to reach Shaemoor for the first mission (like between the wall of a house and its yard, or falling from the precipice nearby).

I told him that he could also press the left and the right mouse buttons, but he always ended up watching his feet or up to the sky. He killed some grawl, so at least he can use the keyboard, but only when they went to him. Staying in front of him and jumping continuously to lead him towards the way didn't help.

Is there some addon to move the character with a click-to-move/mouse walk? Or something to lock the height, so he could only move the mouse to left and right?

I know that it's a desperate case, but... we live in different countries, and especially during these times it would be nice to spend some time "virtually together".

Yes, this can also be a reason. But why don't tell it? If I see a single person with a post LF help, I think that it's yours. Wouldn't be easier to say "we've done, ty" rather than wait 3 minutes (non AFK), say even "hi" sometimes and just after disband the group, when I already teleported to your map? If you don't want to waste 10 seconds to type something, just disband as soon as I type, so I understand that you forgot the group up.

This already happened several times, usually in the tabs Story and Achievements, so small groups (there's never a tag).I only join when I see a single person, if there are 2 ppl I think that someone is already helping.

It's not the end of the world eh, I'm not crying over it. Just annoying behaviour. Sometimes that are really ppl that need some help, and I'll think twice next time.

I happened several times that I joined a group to help someone for some achievement/story, when I see a group in LFG. The problem is... most of the times the person simply ignores me (although I see him/her moving on the map). Fine, I think, maybe he's busy fighting, I'll wait a bit. But then they disband the group without saying anything.

Sometimes they even reply to my greetings (after a couple of minutes) and still disband the group shortly after...

What's wrong with these guys? Don't post a group in LFG with exclamation marks and emotes if you don't even want to say "hi" to someone who wanted to spend his time for you. If you already completed your stuff and forgot the post in LFG, just say it.

I'm sorry for the ppl who really need some help, but this (repeated) behaviour really makes me leave these requests there forever.

> @"Nevra.5489" said:

> Baubles collect time trial or speedrun the worlds. with a daily and monthly(weekly) leaderboard with rewards like in gw1 for the challenger missions. this could be added to all the challenges and races in the hole gw2 universe.

Please don't add any reward for the best times. I can agree with the rest of the post, but don't put any reward for the top scores. There are too many cheaters in SAB (I remember several people - also in my guild - that completed the course in 5 seconds). New rewards would only increase the cheaters. Then ANET will ban again thousands of players (like a couple of years ago) and ppl will start crying because it's unfair.

I only remember one recent achievement that required to complete any path of Arah (I forgot which was). But yeah, in general dungeons can be completely ignored if you don't want to play with other people. They only provide skins, and the exotic gear can be bought from the trading post with less effort.

EDIT: Ah, I think Arah was for a skin of the Mad King. Yeah, useless, just few AP.

I saw that now it's also possible to buy ascended armor at a cheap price, farming the strike missions. There's an asura near the gate of Eye of the North: he sells armor boxes for gold + crystal shards. The price seems quite low. So it should be a good alternative if you prefer to farm strike mission over crafting.

I like SAB but I don't care particularly for additional worlds or even more weapon skins to farm (on the contrary).

I'm happy that you decided to postpone it a bit this year (we still have recent content to play/farm... sadly).

Just one beg, in case you will start to work for additional stages: don't use too dark colors, like in W2Z3. We can always change the gamma settings in Windows, so it's not even more difficult, just annoying to revert them when we finish to play.

Lol, last character is not "yay"! Ouch, that neck must hurt.

Ahaha, nice collection. Yeah, also my character was flying in that spot, I think there is some hidden texture you can walk on, from that garden with potatoes..

But I've never seen a flying carrot :D

Also the UFO is a nice screenshot!