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[GW2] Bi-weekly updates to living story continue. Lots of good stuff coming!

REG RyskREG Rysk Lord Rageface RageingtonThe Exploding ManRegistered User regular
edited August 2013 in MMO Extravaganza
For guild invites to [NICE], contact an officer or post in the thread that you are looking to join and include your account name and 4 digit code.

Periodic culling of our guild numbers will happen as we approach or stay near the 500 member cap. Please check the thread, MOTD in game, or hop into TS to find out if this will be happening. We will give you lots of time to get in before we start actually removing players.

IF ANYONE AT ARENANET READS THIS; PLEASE RAISE GUILD CAPS AND ALLOW US TO SEE PLAYER ACTIVITY TIMES/TIME SINCE LAST LOG IN STATISTICS, SO AS TO MAKE THESE PROCESSES EASIER. THANK YOU.


Welcome to the Guild Wars 2 Thread! (Wherein is discussed ArenaNet's font of gold plated awesome, their sequel to their original MMO hit, Guild Wars).

Vivixenne is so awesome she made a place for us to discuss various things!

Guild Wars the Original
As you might remember, Guild Wars was an interesting hybrid multiplayer RPG game with MMO elements released during the early years of WoW's dominance in the MMO market, a stylish, robust offering most notable for being free to play without any restrictions or item shops with the purchase of the retail box. It featured six core classes, PvE content containing 25 storyline missions of epic scale and scope, and a PvP component, the fondly remembered Guild vs Guild and World vs World style combat. With the level cap at only 20, players could reach it rapidly or even start new characters for PvP at the level cap and fully trained. Since 2005, it's gotten 3 expansions and countless patch updates. It's still going strong on it's own and is one of NCSoft's most successful forays into the MMO market.

182577.png

Important Videos:
Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em0Sd60iI2w

Guild Wars 2 Design Manifesto: (The real reason you should have a boner for this game despite past MMO genre failures)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJJA_veYQ5s

Behind the Scenes Retrospective Video: (Another reason to have a boner for Guild Wars 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GwKGbNKQHE

Various ArenaNet devs talking about the game and the community it has already built around it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZMJ3sw_IcY

Need more? Angry Joe has a review of every important aspect of the game that's got you covered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax-_06Acj8Y&list=UUsgv2QHkT2ljEixyulzOnUQ

Those videos sure are great, but how about a bit more detail on what makes GW2 different and awesome? Here's the straight poop you need to know, and if you want more details, read on!

- No monthly fees. GW2 requires only the box purchase to play, and has a microtransaction store in game that sells optional consumables and cosmetic stuff; no pay to win items.
- Dynamic Events, or, imagine actually looking forward to running into other players in an MMO world. The dynamic event system replaces traditional questing with a system of events, some independent, some tied together, that play out in the world independent of player action. You automatically enter and leave them at will, and do not need to ask a quest giver for them or return to one after it's completion. All you need to do is participate, and everyone involved is rewarded based on how much they participate.
- A Truly Personal Storyline. Be a hero, make choices, learn about the overarching situation in the land of Tyria, Save the World, etc. Your character can experience a tailored, GW campaign style story in addition to the dynamic event system that you shape with your choices.
- Epic-scale PvP. Love sieges, keeps, chaos? Want blood for the Blood God? WvWvW, lovingly nicknamed wuvwuv, is three servers pitted against each other in vicious combat to dominate an inter-dimensional battlefield known as the Mists for glory and for the benefits victory brings to one's server. Think DAOC Borderlands skirmishes and sieges, but with no factions. Servers are unified against other servers.
- We also have Small-scale E-sport PvP. Think WoW battlegrounds/arenas, but more finely tuned and balanced.
- Sidekicking allows you to always be able to play with your friends, no matter what level you are.
- No Holy Trinity means you will always be able to play with anyone and not need to spam chat looking for tanks and heals for hours. Players need to be more skillful, self-sufficient and work as a team to succeed at challenging content.
- No grind. Thanks to the variable level sidekick system and dynamic event systems, the devs have little reason to drag out the leveling process. It follows a linear progression of about 1.5 hours per level up to a max level of 80.
- No gear treadmill. As in GW1, max-stat gear will be readily available as soon as you reach the max level. The challenge of dungeons, PvP and other high-end content will provide your character more awesome looking equipment and give marginal upgrades to stats and some unique abilities, but you can’t out-gear your problems in GW2.
- Beautiful graphics, smart user interface, extensive Armor-Dye System, and more! Such as:
- Useful and convenient Crafting system,
- Multiplayer Skill Combos,
- Complex Trait System for Character Skill Customization,
- A Fully Featured Auction House known as the Marketplace, with buy orders and other economical trend reports (like EvE) and,
- For quick fixes of fun and bar brawls, Fun Mini Activities. Think carnival games and tests of skill.

If any of this has piqued your interest, continue reading, watching and checking out the many links and articles.

Playable Races Section:
The 5 Races: (It isn't just humans anymore!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEdr8HHJ-zU

NOYxD.pngThe Humans:
hero-human.jpg

The resiliency of the noble human race has been tested many times. They have paid a dear cost for their security and liberty, yet their spirit remains unshaken. Only through courage, will, and unity can the humans retain their storied culture and reach once more to rise above. The characters you played in the original Guild Wars won't be able to follow you here, but the human race still struggles on in their name to find a place among the new scheme of things, and this time they will need your help. They have also gotten a lot of upgrades in the last 2 centuries, which will be interesting to see when compared to the original game.

ESRJ1.pngThe Charr:
hero-charr.jpg

Ascalon's conquerors, the charr are ferocious, warmongering creatures--the intractable foes of humanity. Now, as greater dangers threaten their conquests, charr legions and their war machines prepare for battle. Think steampunk meets bipedal sabertooth cats. With guns! These guys are no joke, and guaranteed to be the most rolled MMO race since the blood elves.

3pVjv.pngThe Norn:
hero-norn.jpg

The norn are towering brawlers from the frigid northern lands who can shape-shift into mighty bestial forms. Driven from their homeland by a force beyond reckoning, the norn have regrouped among the dwarven ruins of the Shiverpeaks. The Vikings have nothing on these guys. If you ever wanted to become a polar bear and tear your opponents limb from limb, this is the race for you.

sj6Iv.pngThe Asura:
hero-asura.jpg

The asura, who once ruled the caverns and tunnels below Tyria, are an advanced race of small size and great intellect. Now that they have risen from below, the asura aim to rule the surface world with their powerful golems and ingenious plans. This aesthetic feels similar to many a small yet smart race from other lore (Gibberlings in Allods, Gnomes in WoW and elsewhere, Halflings from LoTR and D&D, etc), but what these big eyed fellows lack for in originality they more then make up for in technology and and having enough differences in viewing the world around them to make them unique among those who love being small and mischievous.

BMCFU.pngThe Sylvari:
hero-sylvari.jpg

Not much is known of the sylvari, save that they are a race of sentient plant-beings, newly blossomed into the world. The sylvari are the youngest of the races, bound together by a common dream and awesome power. They are a race that was created at the end of a long quest in the original Guild Wars involving a peace loving centaur who planted his dream of a better world in the form of a tree which is now a forest from which this race has been born. I think this was a great idea for a new player race and i'll definitely be interested to see where their story goes.

Professions Section: All classes are now revealed. We all agree they are all awesome and alt worthy; the big question is, which one will you play first? Klyka has a helpful chart to get you started:
TGAMN.jpg

3 Scholar Professions:
hero-elementalist.jpg
tqCkb.pngElementalist. The Mage/Shaman-esque caster class who calls upon the four traditional elemental powers of Earth, Air, Fire and Water to do everything from nuke things to healing allies, buffing their abilities, modifying their attacks and generally making things explode. They use an Attunement system to focus the elemental powers to the element most suited to their needs in any given situation. GW2 Site link: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/elementalist/.
hero-necromancer.jpg
Sx0Cn.pngNecromancer. Anyone who knows anything about time honoured fantasy IPs, like D&D and Everquest, know that Necromancers are feared, dark magic using spellcasters, who create vile diseases with their evil spells and summon up terrifying undead minions from the very earth to smite their enemies. In Guild Wars 2, they are very much akin to this ideal, and can be seen as a WoW warlock turned up to 11 with more AoEs and, in this game's case, a monopoly on fear mechanic skills, as well as many deadly attacks that hurt opponents while healing allies and giving the Necromancer an exclusive energy type known as life force, with which they can fuel their most potent skills. Another fine, and certainly scary, addition to the profession list. (Now officially confirmed after the Gamescon reveal.) GW2 Site link: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/necromancer/
hero-mesmer.jpg
InHYG.pngMesmer. Do you like being FABULOUS? How about shooting laser beams? Teleporting around the battlefield and fucking with your enemies? Then mesmers are for you. These masters of illusion and charm can change the flow of a battle and distract and fool enemies with a wide variety of cool abilities, including splitting into mirror images that shatter and damage close foes, AOE invisibility and mantras, abilities which can be charged up prior to an engagement and then used in conjunction with other skills at any time for powerful combos. They are among the more complex classes in GW2, but are sure to delight anyone interested in a unique magic profession that can do some pretty incredible fakeouts and tricks. And look great while doing it! (Officially confirmed after a short pre-reveal by some European game journalists who linked the skill trailer (in French) to Youtube two days early, thus spoiling Arenanet's humorous "Minstrel" class reveal stunt, which still went ahead and was still full of fun and bad vocals. The first of many Mesmer tricks to be sure). GW2 Site link: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/mesmer/

3 Adventurer Professions:
hero-ranger.jpg
EbM65.pngRanger. The bow and arrows trailblazer, a survivalist of the wild who is the master of the lonely places of the world and nature, calling forth a loyal animal companion and the spirits of the elements to aid them and their party in any situation. Versatile and awesome, think WoW's hunter with less retarded pets and more interesting skillsets. This profession was a fan favourite of the original and promises to be all that and more in GW2. GW2 Site Link: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/ranger/
hero-thief.jpg
nfecm.pngThief. This is the trademark rogue style class, a sneaky and stealthy assassin who sticks daggers in mans and dances around the battlefield picking enemies off at will. This incarnation of the rogue style class structure comes with some marked differences over a WoW style rogue, among the biggest being the limited, tactical nature of stealth, the use of small firearms as active weapons, and the ability to steal generic objects from a target (and not their inventory) which creates new, powerful skillsets on a whim to be used against the target with devastating results. Thieves are all about being subtle, graceful, ambushing from the darkness and keeping an enemy preoccupied, as well as setting traps, and will fit in nicely with support groups in need of a backup plan. GW2 Site Link: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/thief/
hero-engineer.jpg
7ICQK.pngEngineer. Engineers are a sexy departure from regular MMO class conventions. They throw down turrets like Team Fortress 2's beloved practical problem solver, concoct grenades and alchemical healing potions among other things to aid in battle and help allies, and generally control the tactical situation of the battlefield with mines, traps and a good old fashioned firearm at their side. This class, the much hypothesized gun class of GW2, as well possesses tool kits and other useful skills to further customize their role in the field, making Engineers that much more expert at what they do. These guys are no joke, and are sure to be the bane of many a foolhardy player in PvP. GW2 Site Link: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/engineer/

2 Soldier Professions:
hero-warrior.jpg
46faY.pngWarrior. The typical damage sponge plate wearing melee fighter. Warriors have a variety of skill and damage options related to the variety of weapons they can use in game. They use an adrenaline system, similar to WoW warrior's rage, to build up the energy nessecary for performing a variety of cool abilities, including burst abilities for quick attacks. They also use a variety of buffing abilities related to Shout commands and the use of banners to target enemies and buff allies on the fly in combat. (Now officially confirmed, this class was in the previous Guild Wars and has been mentioned in various Guild Wars 2 Combat and Gameplay articles released so far, side by side with the released Elementalist. It's safe to say Warriors will be returning to GW2, and their combat videos attest to not only their awesomeness, but to the fluid appearance and natural flow of combat gameplay in GW2). GW2 Site Link: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/warrior/
hero-guardian.jpg
kS5QE.pngGuardian. The penultimate paladin-esc class described aptly by Ravious of Kill Ten Rats as "a warrior steak with a side of monk potatoes and a small helping of ritualist carrots all covered in paragon gravy". Guardians excel at battle control, defence and support of their allies without the need to make red health bars go up or hold aggro on big scary monsters, preferring instead to think more like a tactician and leader. They can put up wards and shields, buff themselves and allies, and put the hurt on enemies as good as any other. Roll this profession if you want to play Guild Wars 2 as a more support minded character, minus the strict role settings of the Trinity design. (Confirmed by ArenaNet, this class is the second Solider plate wearing class in GW2 as well as the noteworthy first major game reveal of 2011. Grab your popcorn! It's only going to get better as the months pass). GW2 Site Link: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/guardian/

Dungeon Section:

In a bold move, Guild Wars 2 features dungeons. How about that.

Dungeons are entered for the first time in a setting known as Story Mode, where your characters interact with one or more members of the adventuring group known as Destiny's Edge. These characters will guide a group through their personal story and connect it to the overarching plot as well as what's going on story wise in the instance, and aid the player in combat.

Explorable Mode unlocks afterwards for when you return each time to the instance once you've beaten it in Story Mode. Explorable mode is a random generation dungeon type where the actions you took with your group in Story Mode have consequences to what enemies will spawn and what events will occur within the instance. This is intended as being a replay friendly mechanic, so that dungeons remain vibrant and fun after the first few runs.

Both modes will have loot, including sets for each profession, and grouping is reported to be very easy, in lieu of as of yet unreleased game systems for grouping. NPC heroes like those from GW1 will not be returning, so expect to group like in other MMOs with players for GW2, which is arguably better anyways.

Dungeon Name Story Mode Level (Explorable Mode Level)
Ascalonian Catacombs 30 (35)
Caudecus's Manor 40 (45)
Twilight Arbor 50 (55)
Sorrow's Embrace 60 (65)
Citadel of Flame 70 (75)
Honor of the Waves 76 (80)
Crucible of Eternity 78 (80)
Arah 80 (80)

REG Rysk on
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  • REG RyskREG Rysk Lord Rageface Rageington The Exploding ManRegistered User regular
    edited March 2013

    PvP Section:

    Clash.jpg
    I considered writing something thoughtful and provocative here, but really, all you need to know about how amazing this game's Player versus Player components are can be found in the below image:
    gw2-beta-8.jpg

    The WvWvW map. 3 server territories and one neutral area in the bottom middle. Takes about a half hour to walk from one end to the other, for size scale, though you probably will never need to do that as there is plenty of fast travel waypoints between key areas available.

    And some videos:

    You got World versus World versus World, which is three servers fighting over an inter-dimensional battlefield filled with castles and stuff to capture, and you have more structured PvP formats like the Battle of Kyhlo, where the focus is smaller and more traditional and very skill based. All of this is separated from the PvE experience to prevent griefing and factional server splits. ArenaNet is committed to creating a PvP experience that is both accessible to the wider playerbase found in PvE and making it exciting and engaging for them to try from time to time, while also making the system balanced and deep enough so as to support competitive E-sports style PvP on both a large and small scale.

    scaled.php?server=856&filename=mmunclesam.png&res=landing


    If you haven't got the patience to play EvE's PvP scene or you missed out on DAoC's borderlands skirmishes and keep sieges, or you are simply bored of WoW's stale format and want something different, here is where your server pride will be resurrected in a crucible of fire. Get ready to kill some mans.

    A long time ago Yougottawanna wrote this to help people in wuvwuv
    IMO we ought to WvW more, since it's awesome. The problem is that WvW can seem intimidating to people who aren't naturally inclined towards pvp, and there's a certain level of experience you need before you feel like you know what you're doing. For someone without that experience, WvW can be frustrating. You wander around the map looking for something to do, find nothing for a while, then outta nowhere a group of like 70 enemy dudes just rolls over you without even breaking stride. It's enough to make you lose interest.

    What's more, many people don't have a sense of what to do in a big fight of like 20 vs. 20 or more; they don't have a sense of how to be effective. This block of text is intended to help you find your feet in WvW – and hopefully realize how much damn fun it can be. Reading and understanding what's below should accelerate your WvW acclimation process if you're new at it or haven't done it before.

    Hot Zerg-on-Zerg Action

    I want to talk about large, open-field group fights, both because they're one of the most common types of engagement and because they're the type that has no analog in other parts of the game. Nothing in PvE is comparable and structured pvp only has smaller fights, with the largest possible one being 8 on 8. A fight of 20 vs. 20 follows different rules and requires different habits. These are habits that experienced WvWers have developed an intuitive grasp of, but which new players sometimes don't yet have.

    In my opinion, the key component to understand is the importance of range. Take a hypothetical large fight, for the sake of the example we'll say 20 on 20, on flat open ground with no major terrain features. Here's a picture of what this fight might look like:



    Blue dots are your allies, red dots are the enemy. As you can see this is mostly a ranged fight, because WvW fights tend to be mostly ranged fights due to the danger of focus fire. I'll illustrate what I mean with this picture:



    Here, blue dots are allies and red ones enemies, and the circle around each dot represents that player's range of fire. The blue dot with a 1 next to it is in a dangerous area, since it's inside the range of several enemy players. The blue dot with a 2 next to it is in a relatively safe area (edit: I put the 2 in the wrong place, sue me), since it's only inside the range of one enemy. The #3 dot is outside the range of all enemies, so he's safe – but he can't damage any enemies either.

    The most basic method of staying alive in WvW is to move back and forth between dangerous areas, where you can damage the bad guys, and safe areas where you can recover. Because of this it's useful to think of a zerg as having two “lines” - the front line and the back line. In the picture above, #1 is on the front line and #2 and #3 are on the back line.

    Obviously a real zerg won't have players arranging themselves into recognizable lines – instead it'll be a rolling clusterfuck of people constantly milling around. But amidst all that chaos you can think of there being two lines kind of like this:



    Any given player will start out on the front line attacking the enemy, and then, as his or her health drops and conditions stack up and so forth, retreat into the back line to recover before rejoining the fight. The opposing players will do the same – any player who spends too long in the range of too many people will be overwhelmed by focus fire, even with a very defensive build. At this point you may be thinking “duh, of course.” You're right to think that, this is pretty simple stuff. But the language I'm using here – the “lines” - is going to be useful in understanding how zerg-on-zerg fights are won, and how they can be reliably won against equal numbers and even against superior numbers.

    How to Break the Zerg

    If you've WvWed even a little you've probably seen what it looks like when a zerg breaks. First one guy starts running, then two, then two more guys see those two guys running, then it's four, then everyone figures that the fight is lost and bails. This begins the mop-up phase of the fight, where the victorious side tries to snare, down and dunk as many people as possible. Basically the way to win a large-scale open-field WvW fight is to try to make this happen, and in order to make it happen it's good to examine how it happens.

    A zerg breaks based on a mixture of practical and psychological effects, which happen on an individual level and lead to defeat when translated up to the group level. One is a lack of a safe place – the absence of a “backline,” to use the above term, to which a player low on health can retreat. If there's no backline, the player has to spend his or her time and attention defending instead of attacking, and starts to use up his limited defensive resources (dodges, heals, and skills). Another is being forced to turn around. If you have to turn and run away from the enemy, you're giving up nearly all of your offense, since very few skills will work without line-of-sight.

    It follows from this that the simplest way to break a zerg is to push. By “push” I mean everyone goes to the frontline, everyone gets more aggressive and begins fighting as though they expect to win. When your whole zerg pushes forward, it pushes the opponent's backline – their safe place – backwards. It's harder to get to, and they may have to turn and run to get to it instead, and you've accomplished the double goal of taking away their backline and making them turn around. From there the psychological effects kick in, more and more enemy players start to think they're losing, causing a feedback loop of “shit bail” that leads to a full-scale retreat, and from there to the mop-up phase.

    For these reasons, given equal numbers and individual skill/gear, it's usually the more aggressive and confident zerg that will win. A push like this can backfire of course – if too many players run into too much enemy fire, they'll die (especially if their allies don't push with them), and the numbers advantage will swing to the other side. But for the most part, it's the zerg that expects to win that will win. This expectation is often a byproduct of server culture. A server that expects to win its fights will win them, creating a self-reinforcing confidence even in its pugs. I'm happy to report that Fort Aspenwood seems to me to be above average in this respect – our zergs often push confidently, and even when things are going badly they tend more towards a fighting retreat than to breaking.

    The Spoon

    Of course you were probably looking for more useful tactical advice than just “be more confident.” So another way to get an edge is with the spoon. Spooning is something NICE started doing back in week two or three or something after release. It's kind of hard to describe so I'll use a couple pictures:





    If you want to sound all militaryish you could call this a flanking maneuver or rolling up the line or something. We call it the spoon. It works because it takes away part of the enemy's backline, so they have nowhere to retreat to. In the second picture above you can see that the enemy players inside the spoon can't retreat backwards – they'll just be retreating into more damage. So they start to roll up, retreating out of the spoon, and when the spoon follows them you can get the entire enemy zerg inside it, with fewer and fewer options for temporary retreat. This works even better if you can spoon them away from their escape route, meaning you'll get more dunks in the mop-up phase. Note that spooning isn't always a good idea, and in some cases it's impossible anyway due to terrain. But it can help in many fights.

    Remember above all that when you're spooning an enemy zerg, they may never have been spooned before. They may be nervous or frightened. So when you spoon, the most important thing is that you do it gently, and with love in your heart.

    Melee

    So far I've been talking almost entirely about ranged combat, because most WvW combat is ranged combat. Relatively few players have the temperament to pull out a sword or something and charge into a mass of red names. For this reason melee is (IMO) one of the best-kept secrets in WvW. Even just one guy charging in can singlehandedly break a stalemate. The single biggest reason it works is that, again, it takes away the backline. A guy in the midst of the enemy zerg means that when you retreat away from the frontline you're retreating right into a dude trying to smack you with a hammer (or whatever). Melee characters also draw a lot of fire, which means they draw it away from their teammates, and they're often best equipped to survive it since a good WvW melee build is focused around survivability. Then there's things like knockbacks, cripples, fears, aoe blinds and so forth which will get the most use here. Finally there's the psychological effect – having someone up in your face hitting you makes opposing players feel like they're losing, and makes them concentrate on defense more, freeing up your ranged teammates to push forward and apply pressure.

    Furthermore, with the right build and a bit of practice you're less likely to die than you think. I haven't played every class but I have played five of the eight and WvWed (and meleed) with all five of them. My guess is that they're aren't any classes that can't melee in WvW at least part-time. However, surviving in melee requires some knowhow and practice. You basically have to alternate skills and dodging to make yourself “invincible” for as long as possible. Also with only one or two exceptions (Punchdance's build and maybe a bunker guardian) meleeing full-time is not really possible. You have to go in, burn your cooldowns, disrupt the enemy as much as possible, and then bail when things start to get too hairy, run to your backline and resume from ranged.

    Roles

    As we know GW2 doesn't have the so-called “holy trinity” of tank/healer/dps, and there's more fluidity between who's supposed to do what. However that doesn't mean there aren't rough roles to fill, and here they are:

    The Line Fighter, named after the front and back lines, is the bread-and-butter ranged guy. Most people you see in WvW have taken up this role. Examples of a pure line fighter could be a longbow ranger or rifle warrior.

    Melee is what it sounds like. These are those few brave souls who get right up in the face of the enemy and disrupt them as much as possible. Hammer warrior for example, or any number of classes which can weapon-swap, run in, melee for a bit, then run out.

    Support is also what it sounds like. Boons, heals, condition removal, as well as putting crowd control on pursuing enemies in the case of a retreat. A supporty necro, engi, guardian or elementalist for example.

    You shouldn't feel like you have to pick only one role. There's only a couple classes and builds that can melee full-time, and few people will want to support full-time because it'll mean a lack of tags and bags. So most people are going to be a mix of line fighter and either melee or support. The build I use on my main (a Mesmer) for instance alternates between line fighter and melee.

    tl;dr

    The point of all of this is to start seeing zerg-on-zerg fights differently. A beginner at WvW looks at a zerg-on-zerg fight and sees something like this:



    A more experienced one starts to see the order in the chaos and sees something like this:



    Ideally, NICE should see something like this:



    Giving specific and detailed orders about positioning is rarely practical in WvW. So taking the shape in the above picture is something that has to be done kind of through group instinct. If we get in the collective habit of doing this, we should win basically all of our open-field fights (we already win most of them) unless we're outnumbered 2 to 1 or more. Even if there's like 10 of us fighting alongside 20 pugs or something, if some of us melee and some spoon it'll give our side a real edge.

    That only covers open-field fights, which are like one-quarter of WvW (the other three quarters are small group stuff, siege, and defense). I might write a thing on small group stuff soon. Yougottawanna out.

    REG Rysk on
  • REG RyskREG Rysk Lord Rageface Rageington The Exploding ManRegistered User regular
    edited March 2013

    OCD Guide to GW2's economy and resource system:

    VIrYg.png

    Gems = Currency bought with real money which can be traded within the in game economy for gold and services. Gems are used to purchase in game store vanity items.
    Gold = In game currency, acquired through various means, such as selling in game goods and services, WvW and PvE dynamic events. It is used for the majority of in game item and service purchases, much like in other games.
    Karma = A resource procured along with gold and experience from dynamic events and completing personal story objectives, among other things. It is used to purchase the PvE versions of gear upgrades and essential in legendary weapons.
    Glory = PvP currency earned through sPvP and tPvP.
    (Note: All gear acquired in PvP and PvE, regardless of how, is useable in both WvW and PvE without any serious handicaps, and both can be upgraded using crafting skills as well).
    Supply = A WvW exclusive resource acquired from various control points and resource nodes found across the WvW maps. After they are captured for your server, players and caravans must transport limited amounts of supply from them in waves to keeps and other strong points to build up the defensive structures and traps of said areas, as well as hire NPC guards to defend them. They must also transport supply as well as a schematic (acquired at any large keep from a quartermaster for gold) for the specific type of siege weapon they wish to build at the site of a keep siege as an attacking force. Siege weapons include battering rams, catapults, trebuchets and Asuran siege golems. Supply cannot be used outside of WvW.
    Laurels = An additional resource earned from completing achievements. At this time only daily/monthly achievements net you rewards, but you can use this to purchase additional gear or vanity items.
    Another resource, Renown, exists for guilds and helps us purchase upgrades for our guild, boosters to increase return on various types of income/costs and lets us run guild missions. Log in, do stuff, and you earn it for us automatically.

    Press/Media Section:

    pax-gw2-logo.png

    Video Compilation Section: See previous OPs for video of 2010 video releases, primarily PAX Prime 2010 and Gamescon 2010 videos). Also check Google and Youtube.

    PAX East 2010 Guild Wars 2 Designing Dynamic Events Panel Playlist!: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...69292ECAAB7B5E

    PAX East 2011 Demo Videos (For 2010 PAX Prime Demo videos, see Youtube and the previous thread OP, linked at the top of this one; this Demo focuses on the norn, the guardian, the thief, and various gameplay systems such as crafting and has an improved gear stat system in place over last year's Demo):

    Guild Wars 2 PAX East Panel, Parts 1- 4:

    Alienware Booth Presentation of the Thief Class in the Demo at PAX East (Long video from a streamed original, the good parts start at 14 min in and end at 45 min in, good quality): http://www.justin.tv/alienwarearena/b/281335903

    Gamescom 2011 Video Compilation: (Featuring Cynical Brit Totalbiscuit, PvP first looks and Playable, Redesigned Sylvari and Asura)
    New GW2 Gamescom Game Trailer:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x83sQfGJBmg

    Totalbiscuit's interview with Izzy Cartwright on GW2 PvP:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvHV7HB2BDc

    ArenaNet faces off in 5v5 Battlefield PvP with a Pro e-sports German team on the demo feature map, the Battle of Kyhlo:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXc1JwHGNik

    Tequatl the Sunless, presumed Dragon liutenenant of ethier Zhaitan or the unnamed sea based dragon, battles a demo raid group:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1JfSbKjHHI

    Totalbiscuit's WTF is Guild Wars 2 Parts 1 and 2:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ttfOuxB6Gc&feature=BFa&list=WLFB28825DDA3768FC&index=19

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnVGEYGE8hs&feature=BFa&list=WLFB28825DDA3768FC&index=20

    Work in Progress Revealed and Detailed Character Customization Compilation Video (Shows all Race appearence customizations for both genders currently available):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhPMysnqFwc

    ArenaNet showcase of the Tequatl fight and related mechanics and scaling:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNtwF6UjkR0

    Asura Character customization (In German, no sound):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtN3ncmDIjk

    Asura Guardian Gameplay:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cobq3Z4KOmo

    GW2Live's Youtube Demo Videos in HD (good quality and played by people who played the first game extensively and know what they are doing, shows off skills and other gameplay features in some videos):
    Elementalist Showcasing the Fire, Water and Air Attunements Tactically to great effect:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW4sGjWJK_0

    Charr Ranger with Pet Action:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofUCav0GTww

    Dye System Demonstration:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sBvWMF44JA

    Elementalist and Thief General Gameplay:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDEwfWHiXis

    GameSpot Norn Interview/Customization Video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFTSv4CSTAI&feature=related

    10 Minute General Combat Montage Video:

    GameSpot 10 Min Combat Video

    A Q&A Video from June 2011's Fanday chalk full of interesting tidbits:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Los-MliDhY

    GW2 Fan Trailer Contest:Winners got to go with a friend to ArenaNet's new Seattle Development Studio and play the game with the developers.

    Winning Entries (First one is better then second but they are both good and informative):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wm9NMZDN-A

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtAREKLnyzI

    Art Section: (Some of the most beautiful fantasy artwork I've ever seen, watch in HD.)

    Relevant Site Links Section:

    http://www.guildwars2.com/en/ The Official Game Site.
    http://www.arena.net/blog/ Official ArenaNet Blog
    http://twitter.com/#!/guildwars2 Official Guild Wars 2 Twitter Feed (Best place for updates and FAQ clarification).
    http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/473/Guild-Wars-2.html MMORPG.com's GW2 Page, (With frequent updates on the game.)
    http://www.guildwars2guru.com/ MMOGuru's Guild Wars 2 Community Site.
    http://www.massively.com/category/guild-wars-2 Massively.com's Guild Wars 2 News and Updates Page.

    Be sure to check the thread as links with new info come in all the time as well!

    gw2_arch_blogheader.jpg

    And to tie up the end of the link roundup, a really weirdly awesome comic shared with us courtesy of reVerse, creator unknown:
    reVerse wrote:
    zYo0X.png

    To conserve OP space, and because the FAQ has changed somewhat in the years this thread has been following the game, I'm providing a link to it rather then a wall of text from now on. Read the official site's Frequently Asked Questions here: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/game-faq/

    Also (as a outsider opinion piece attachment to the somewhat old FAQ page), a really good article you should read which eloquently details various innovative design systems and functions which will be in the game, why they are innovative and awesome, why they will most likely be pulled off, and why you might not like them now, but might learn to love them later:
    sidhaethe wrote:
    I don't like much about mmorpg.com, but this article by a regular forumer (and GW2Guru denizen) really nails, in exquisite detail, what has me so excited about GW2:

    The Tao of Arenanet

    If you have any suggestions for the OP/info that should be in it, let me know here and i'll get it updated.
    A big thanks to reVerse, Sidhaethe, Loki, Enig, zZulu, Arthil and everyone else who has contributed to the OP and the thread, and our resident ArenaNet insider, World as Myth, for providing us with art assets, up to date info and kind words. Let the WE HATE LOGAN THACKERAY discussion re-commence!

    PAthread.jpg

    Because it's just as much about the people you're with as it is about crushing skulls and storytime.

    The Venerable Wall of Erections (now located here to conserve OP space. Bask in it's swagger!):
    God... Every time I come in this thread I need a change of pants.
    Joshmvii wrote: »
    Every time I come in my pants I visit this thread.
    Zzulu wrote: »
    I feel I don't even need any more info on the game. I've been sold for many months now and I just want to buy it and play it already.
    Klyka wrote: »
    I have to be completely honest here:

    I would pay double price if I could have the game NOW.
    I can't look at this topic any more. I'm so hard I can't even breathe.
    Avynte wrote:
    GW2 is going to force me to see a doctor because I don't think holding an erection until Q1/2 is going to be good for my health.
    Sarksus wrote:
    DROP THIS GAME INTO MY MOUTH ANET I WANT IT
    naengwen wrote:
    Coming into this thread is like Christmas.
    The most important thing I've gotten out of this thread is that ice cream is god damn delicious. So I went out and got some.

    Thank you.
    Enig wrote:
    I'm getting pretty concerned that GW2 will just be too much fun, and people won't be able to handle it. This could really hurt the game long term.
    YOU'RE A LOOSE CANNON, COREHEALER
    ironzerg wrote:
    I know nothing about GW2 other that what I watched a couple hours ago. The manifesto video. My body is still trying to recover from the sudden explosion of blood that rushed into my penile extremeties.
    Caedere wrote:
    There is no other game coming out that I am excited for more than Guild Wars 2. In fact, there are no entertainment properties that I anticipate more than this game—no book, movie, TV show, videogame, nothing.
    Rend wrote: »
    I'M STILL NOT ON THE WALL

    We aim to please.

    This post is reserved for guild(s) information/how to get in/PA community stuff.

    LAUNCH/POST LAUNCH STUFF:
    Official PA Server is FORT ASPENWOOD. Overflow server is KAINENG. Please go to Fort Aspenwood if you wish to play with the main PA peeps guild, and contact Draygo if your unable to get on Aspenwood due to overpopulation and wish to play with PAers on Kaineng. Our guilds are all cross server and account/character wide anyway, so once you join, you'll be able to chat with people regardless of server. Server transfers are available now, but it will take some time to certify transfers and you will be locked into one server at any given time for PvP WvW purposes.

    Guide for switching Servers:

    In character select, right after login. In the Bottom left corner of the screen.

    Select "World Selection" > Select "Transfer World" > Select "Server you want".



    OFFICIAL PA GUILD(S):
    - What A Nice Guild [NICE] (GM: Rysk, various officers including Geod, Mordroth, Draygo, Enig, Vivixienne, etc.)
    - Chaps Wot Guild (EU Guild on Gandara. GM: Thorrhel, Officers are Kafka87 (Dedryr) and Fantasyrogue (Mellan). Website: www.tpreview.co.uk/cwg)
    - The Merch [MRHI] (Fort Aspenwood PA Guild, small EvE Corp based guild. GM: TheKoolEagle (Gorhir/Mr Fuzzywhiskers), Officers are Anehii (Anehii) and Fiatil(Fiatil).
    - I Require Frozen Treats' [IRFT] (On Fort Aspenwood, Just Bri's Guild of Fun times and Frozen goodies. GM: Narawen Blake).
    - The Candymancers (Basically the continuation of the WAR guild, our official overflow guild on Fort Aspenwood, ask myself or Entaru Phenyhelm here on the forums or on TS3 about it or refer to Entaru's sig).

    Guilds are trans-server and account wide; as long as you select to represent a specific guild on a specific character, you will be able to chat with and see the status of anyone on any server in that guild. You will not lose membership in your other guilds, you will simply not be actively representing all but one of them on a given character .

    NEW NICE GUILD BANK INFO:
    NICE Guild Bank Rules
    Hi, Vivixenne here. If you have used, intend to use, or think you may be interested in using the Guild Bank, please read this section all the way through.

    - WHY THE GUILD BANK EXISTS -
    It is basically a guild storage for hard-to-find, useful items that people have generously donated to the Guild Bank instead of selling them. It is not a place for you to stick stuff (food) you've made but don't want and can't sell.

    I cull stuff that is not meant to be there, keep the Bank tidy, and keep track of how often people withdraw as opposed to how often (and what) they deposit.

    I don't keep lists or databases. But if I check the log and see that you've withdrawn a lot of items and have not deposited anything within a few days after that, you may receive a message from me just as a friendly note that I HAVE MY EYE ON YOU.

    - WHAT TO DEPOSIT -
    Stuff that is appropriate to deposit are hard-to-find or useful items.

    Hard-to-find is any piece of equipment that is
    - rare
    - exotic
    - legendary (if you are just MADE of money)

    Useful is the following:
    - crafting materials
    - sigils
    - seals
    - talismans
    - (most) potions
    - dyes
    - silver jewelry or better (for alts and just-turned 80s).

    Useful is also any food containing the following buffs:
    + Gold Find
    + Magic Find
    + Downed Health
    + Critical Chance or Damage

    - WITHDRAWING -
    You are free to withdraw from the free-access parts of the Guild Bank (Deep Cave, Treasure Trove).

    Stash items are by request only, but you will generally be able to get whatever you request from the Stash. This is purely to prevent people joining the guild and grabbing a bunch of stuff and bailing - not likely to happen, but a possibility I would like to avoid.

    To withdraw something from the Stash, you will have to go through me - via /g, /w, or in-game mail. If I am not online and you absolutely NEED that item RIGHT NOW and it can't wait until the next time I log, you may approach another officer.

    - RULES AND PENALTIES -
    If you fill the Bank with trash that I have to tidy up, you will lose access to the Bank for as long as I think is appropriate - usually scaled to how annoyed I am at you.

    If you withdraw something, you HAVE to be doing so to use it yourself - not to sell or pass on to a friend that is not in the guild. If you are caught, you will lose access to the Bank. Maybe worse, like a kick from the guild. I haven't decided because this hasn't happened yet - it may go to a case-by-case in consultation with the other officers.

    VC INFO:
    For VOIP communication we will be using the following Teamspeak 3 server provided by Draygo (seriously, look at how much effort he put into this thing):

    totallyawesomets2.png

    Server IP: 66.135.59.185:9999
    Password: pa
    Admins: Rysk, Corehealer, Entaru, Draygo, Enig, Geod, and others not listed


    The below spoiler contains the Penny Arcade Guild Wars 2 Teamspeak FAQ, written by Draygo for everyone's convenience. Please refer to it for any queries regarding the GW2 PA TS3 setup. Server seats 100+ people and everything you want to know about it can be found below or by asking Draygo, as he put it together and has been hosting these servers for years.
    Q) Where do I get it:

    Download teamspeak here: http://www.teamspeak.com/?page=downloads
    You can get teamspeak for windows, mac, and linux. As well as your Ithing and your android, if you so prefer.


    Q) Cool, I installed it, now what?

    Now you must connect to our totally awesome server. In order to do that you must first run teamspeak. Then hit Connections at the top. Select Connect.

    connections.png

    Now you must enter the server details:

    Server Address: 66.135.59.185:9999
    Nickname: Your forum or In Game Name
    Password: pa


    server.png

    Q) What does the banner in the top right do?

    PAthread.jpg

    The community thread banner when clicked on will open the most recent guild wars 2 thread on penny arcade.

    Q) How do I add a class or race icon next to my name?

    You do this by right clicking yourself, put your mouse over server group, then left click any of the categories named with the race or class you want to choose. You can uncheck them at any time to remove the icon.


    Q) Who are the server admins?

    They are Draygo, Corehealer, Entaru, Geod, and Enig.

    Q) So is there a skin/theme for this?

    totallyawesomets2.png

    Yes and you can download it from our lobby. Right click the lobby, and select open file browser. You will see the installer file at the top. Download and run that file to skin your client.

    filebrowser.png

    In order to activate the theme/skin you need to go to settings->options, and click design on the left.

    theme.png

    Then select Theme and change it to PA Guild Wars 2.

    Q) Who made the theme?

    Draygo did.

    Q) How do I change my name?

    Right click yourself and select change nickname. You can do this at any time. Do not change your name to impersonate an admin.

    Q) What rules can I expect?

    Don't be a dick. No personal attacks except 'silly goose', forum rules apply. If it is not appropriate on the forums, it is also not appropriate in teamspeak.

    Q) Someone is breaking the rules, or is being disruptive, but no server admins are online. How do I complain.

    First, I hope you can all be gentlemen and resolve disputes by yourselves. If someone is being a dick, you can fill out a complaint. Right click someone and click make a complaint. Do not abuse this feature. If 5 people complain about one person in a short amount time, that person will be temp banned from the server. Do not abuse this. Admins will see the complaints that lead to the temp banning and will be unhappy to fix it.

    Q) Can I make my own channels?

    Yes!
    Teamspeak is setup that you can make your own channels in any of the major channels (Except Admin HQ, Lobby, and Afk, for obvious reasons) First enter the channel you want to make the sub-channel in. Right click the parent channel and select, create sub channel. You can enter a name, even a password, as well as set any description you want. After you create the channel, make sure the Audio Codec selected is high enough audio quality.


    Right click the channel you created and click edit channel. Click the audio tab and increase the Quality slider. Also decrease the latency slider to reduce lag time. Quality 7, latency 1 are the recommended settings.
    These channels are temp only, when the last person leaves them they are automatically cleaned up.


    channel.png

    channel2.png

    The person who created the channel is the op of the channel and can kick people from the channel (not server). So if you created your own channel and want to remove someone, you can password protect it and remove the troublesome individual.


    Q) Is there an overlay plugin?

    Yes. There is a built in overlay plugin. To enable it, select settings then plugins. Check the teamspeak overlay plugin and then click settings on the bottom to configure it. Here you can configure any color of each of the elements, as well as transparency settings. I recommend you change the input settings to enable mouse polling, and change the initialization mode to minimal. Minimal mode only displays the one person who is talking, the other mode displays everyone in your channel even those that are talking.

    Q) Does teamspeak work with my G15 keyboard.

    Yes. There is a plugin for that. Pretty easy to configure again settings->plugins, and enable the G15 keyboard.

    Also:
    Geod wrote: »
    TS3 Overlay for GW2:

    Here's how to get the overlay working without graphical glitches:

    1. Go to Settings->Plugins in TS3.
    2. Select GW2.exe in the Profile dropdown.
    3. Uncheck all the Direct3D options, except for Direct3D 9 (which is what GW2 uses).
    4. Switch to Input tab
    5. Check "Enable Mouse Poll" and "Use in-game" cursor
    6. Switch to extended, and check "Used ID3DDevice:Present hook..." (This is what fixes the animations not showing in GW2)

    REG Rysk on
  • DraygoDraygo Registered User regular
    This thread smells like rich mahogony.

  • AlazullAlazull Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.Registered User regular
    And is also in possession of many leather-bound books.

    User name Alazull on Steam, PSN, Nintenders, Epic, etc.
  • VivixenneVivixenne Remember your training, and we'll get through this just fine. Registered User regular
    It's kind of a big deal.

    XBOX: NOVADELPHINI | DISCORD: NOVADELPHINI #7387 | TWITTER
  • BethrynBethryn Unhappiness is Mandatory Registered User regular
    People know this thread.




    Also,
    Colin Johanson might've just given away the sixth "jungle" dragon in an interview with Eurogamer.
    http://www.eurogamer.pt/videos/entrevista-game-designer-guild-wars-2

    So for those not familiar, there's six dragons. Some of the jotun texts recovered refer to a sixth dragon; the Infinity Coil is a hexagon, with the blue (Bubbles) and green (Mordremoth; the sixth) sections empty. When you fight Subject Alpha, the ability he gains from 'earth' is Teeth of Mordremoth.

    And if you haven't heard about it yet, one of the cooler theories about the Sylvari is that they're essentially the minions of the dragon, and the Pale Tree is an equivalent of The Destroyer, but for Mordremoth. If you recall, Ronan found a bunch of 'white eggs' in a cave; not that dissimilar from the molten eggs of Primordus during EotN. This would explain a lot about the Sylvari; why they have a hive mind, and why the Nightmare Court exist, as they're essentially trying to get back in touch with the dragon, but it is the effects of Ventari's Tablet upon normal Sylvari that keeps them separate from Mordremoth. Also, double spoilers if you haven't done the Sylvari storyline:
    There's more than one Tree, it seems

    ...and of course, as always, Kill Hitler.
  • Lucid_SeraphLucid_Seraph TealDeer MarylandRegistered User regular
    Bounty on the old thread, eh?

    *flamethrower*

    See You Space Cowboy: a ttrpg about sad space bounty hunters
    https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
  • AlazullAlazull Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.Registered User regular
    Bethryn wrote: »
    People know this thread.




    Also,
    Colin Johanson might've just given away the sixth "jungle" dragon in an interview with Eurogamer.
    http://www.eurogamer.pt/videos/entrevista-game-designer-guild-wars-2

    So for those not familiar, there's six dragons. Some of the jotun texts recovered refer to a sixth dragon; the Infinity Coil is a hexagon, with the blue (Bubbles) and green (Mordremoth; the sixth) sections empty. When you fight Subject Alpha, the ability he gains from 'earth' is Teeth of Mordremoth.

    And if you haven't heard about it yet, one of the cooler theories about the Sylvari is that they're essentially the minions of the dragon, and the Pale Tree is an equivalent of The Destroyer, but for Mordremoth. If you recall, Ronan found a bunch of 'white eggs' in a cave; not that dissimilar from the molten eggs of Primordus during EotN. This would explain a lot about the Sylvari; why they have a hive mind, and why the Nightmare Court exist, as they're essentially trying to get back in touch with the dragon, but it is the effects of Ventari's Tablet upon normal Sylvari that keeps them separate from Mordremoth. Also, double spoilers if you haven't done the Sylvari storyline:
    There's more than one Tree, it seems

    A lot of that would make sense, as there seems to be a dragon tied to each "element".

    User name Alazull on Steam, PSN, Nintenders, Epic, etc.
  • DraygoDraygo Registered User regular
    Good news everyone!

    If you stealth you will gain the revealed debuff when you come out of stealth, regardless if you actually attacked something or not!

    Tricksy thieves will be much more killable.

  • CondimentsCondiments Registered User regular
    Draygo wrote: »
    Good news everyone!

    If you stealth you will gain the revealed debuff when you come out of stealth, regardless if you actually attacked something or not!

    Tricksy thieves will be much more killable.

    Also for future balance changes(I don't know how applicable this is to PvE/WvW), they said they wanted to reduce thief's overall burst in exchange for more mobility and sustain within fights. They're also one of the classes considered for the introduction of the "boon hate" role, where your damage will scale upwards depending on the amount of boons on the target. That'd be perfect for the trickery trait line which already has boon stripping as one of its major traits.

  • KazitronKazitron Registered User regular
    Condiments wrote: »
    Draygo wrote: »
    Good news everyone!

    If you stealth you will gain the revealed debuff when you come out of stealth, regardless if you actually attacked something or not!

    Tricksy thieves will be much more killable.

    Also for future balance changes(I don't know how applicable this is to PvE/WvW), they said they wanted to reduce thief's overall burst in exchange for more mobility and sustain within fights. They're also one of the classes considered for the introduction of the "boon hate" role, where your damage will scale upwards depending on the amount of boons on the target. That'd be perfect for the trickery trait line which already has boon stripping as one of its major traits.

    I think I kind of like the idea of the thief being a swift and debuffing pain in the ass.

  • fyastarterfyastarter Registered User regular
    Draygo wrote: »
    This thread smells like rich mahogony.

    Smells like, um red iris to me. but there is an woody undertone of richness.

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    Some NICE people decided to start up a CoF Story run last night and I joined them because I hadn't done that one yet.

    In the end, we succeeded, and I was entertained. So, thanks...whoever you are.

  • REG RyskREG Rysk Lord Rageface Rageington The Exploding ManRegistered User regular
    Bethryn wrote: »
    People know this thread.




    Also,
    Colin Johanson might've just given away the sixth "jungle" dragon in an interview with Eurogamer.
    http://www.eurogamer.pt/videos/entrevista-game-designer-guild-wars-2

    So for those not familiar, there's six dragons. Some of the jotun texts recovered refer to a sixth dragon; the Infinity Coil is a hexagon, with the blue (Bubbles) and green (Mordremoth; the sixth) sections empty. When you fight Subject Alpha, the ability he gains from 'earth' is Teeth of Mordremoth.

    And if you haven't heard about it yet, one of the cooler theories about the Sylvari is that they're essentially the minions of the dragon, and the Pale Tree is an equivalent of The Destroyer, but for Mordremoth. If you recall, Ronan found a bunch of 'white eggs' in a cave; not that dissimilar from the molten eggs of Primordus during EotN. This would explain a lot about the Sylvari; why they have a hive mind, and why the Nightmare Court exist, as they're essentially trying to get back in touch with the dragon, but it is the effects of Ventari's Tablet upon normal Sylvari that keeps them separate from Mordremoth. Also, double spoilers if you haven't done the Sylvari storyline:
    There's more than one Tree, it seems

    That's actually really awesome, nice writeup Bethryn!

    @Thief_Changes - I approve of the stealth change. Future changes...I guess could make sense but I feel you'd need to appropriately reduce burst capability of other classes as well.

  • JoiryJoiry Registered User regular
    Bounty on the old thread, eh?

    I keep clicking on suspicious links in Gendarran to look for the old thread, but I just get some asura claiming he has an "enhancement" elixir...

  • Lucid_SeraphLucid_Seraph TealDeer MarylandRegistered User regular
    REG Rysk wrote: »
    Bethryn wrote: »
    People know this thread.




    Also,
    Colin Johanson might've just given away the sixth "jungle" dragon in an interview with Eurogamer.
    http://www.eurogamer.pt/videos/entrevista-game-designer-guild-wars-2

    So for those not familiar, there's six dragons. Some of the jotun texts recovered refer to a sixth dragon; the Infinity Coil is a hexagon, with the blue (Bubbles) and green (Mordremoth; the sixth) sections empty. When you fight Subject Alpha, the ability he gains from 'earth' is Teeth of Mordremoth.

    And if you haven't heard about it yet, one of the cooler theories about the Sylvari is that they're essentially the minions of the dragon, and the Pale Tree is an equivalent of The Destroyer, but for Mordremoth. If you recall, Ronan found a bunch of 'white eggs' in a cave; not that dissimilar from the molten eggs of Primordus during EotN. This would explain a lot about the Sylvari; why they have a hive mind, and why the Nightmare Court exist, as they're essentially trying to get back in touch with the dragon, but it is the effects of Ventari's Tablet upon normal Sylvari that keeps them separate from Mordremoth. Also, double spoilers if you haven't done the Sylvari storyline:
    There's more than one Tree, it seems

    That's actually really awesome, nice writeup Bethryn!

    @Thief_Changes - I approve of the stealth change. Future changes...I guess could make sense but I feel you'd need to appropriately reduce burst capability of other classes as well.

    Agreed, that's an awesome writeup. I hope it's true, for Reasons Below
    There are elements of the Sylvari which have started to really annoy me -- I know that Sylvari are meant to kinda take the place of humans in this 'verse as the Noob Race and Chosen People, while the humans are supposed to be elves, that is, an ancient society on the decline. While I initially liked that idea, the Sylvari actually made me realize that it's not actually humans that I dislike in most fantasy settings, but the whole concept of The Chosen People in general. If it turned out that they were actually dragon minions, that'd be a really, truly interesting twist to add on top of this idea that humans are, for once, not the n00bs but the ancient magic guys in decline.

    See You Space Cowboy: a ttrpg about sad space bounty hunters
    https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
  • ProbadProbad Registered User regular
    Magister Sieran is a pretty cool Sylvari!
    Or was until they killed her and gave me Trahearne.

  • EidolonOrpheusEidolonOrpheus NoatunRegistered User regular
    Hoping then
    It turns out Trahearne's dream (and I guess all ours too then) and rise to leadership were machinations of Mord to cripple Zhaitan's influences, aspect of growth vs. aspect of rot and unlife

  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    Sylvari story:
    Who was that guy again who you saved early on in the Sylvari personal story who had lost his memory and said he had a dream with a different tree? I remember that he used engineer skills. He disappeared after Treesus takes the main stage in the Sylvari story..

  • JoiryJoiry Registered User regular
    Are the spoilers about the sylvari personal storyline, TA dungeon story, or both?

  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    Joiry wrote: »
    Are the spoilers about the sylvari personal storyline, TA dungeon story, or both?
    Personal Story line.

  • Lucid_SeraphLucid_Seraph TealDeer MarylandRegistered User regular
    shit you guys I didn't give a damn about the Sylvari or the Nightmare Court and now you've grabbed my interest. Where do you get Guy In Question? Is he only part of one of the paths?

    because I might have to go back and play my Sylvari Necro now :\a

    (Where's that necro guide?)

    See You Space Cowboy: a ttrpg about sad space bounty hunters
    https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
  • DacDac Registered User regular
    Awesome change to Thieves. Any word on when WvW "progression"/leveling is going to go in? With that and the end of culling coming up, I'm pretty stoked.

    Steam: catseye543
    PSN: ShogunGunshow
    Origin: ShogunGunshow
  • FeldornFeldorn Mediocre Registered User regular
    necro guide for PvE: stack power, dagger mainhand, well of suffering/corruption + 1 other utility that you like.
    this has served me well in pve until lvl 68 now.

  • AldoAldo Hippo Hooray Registered User regular
    shit you guys I didn't give a damn about the Sylvari or the Nightmare Court and now you've grabbed my interest. Where do you get Guy In Question? Is he only part of one of the paths?

    because I might have to go back and play my Sylvari Necro now :\a

    (Where's that necro guide?)
    The Sylvari from a different tree: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Malyck
    Necro condimancer guide: https://lopezirl.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/a-condition-necromancers-guide-to-pve/

  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    edited March 2013
    Probad wrote: »
    Magister Sieran is a pretty cool Sylvari!
    Or was until they killed her and gave me Trahearne.

    I agree with this.
    After the battle on Claw Island I sat there for a moment, and then logged out. I think it took me a couple of days to log back in.

    All the characters in the personal/faction stories are pretty cliche, but I was still enjoying Sieran's part. Losing her drained some of my motivation to continue with it. And in reality I haven't gotten a whole lot farther. I remember reading people's opinions on Trahearne, and thinking it couldn't be that bad. And he's NOT bad, he's just...boring. I have no real interest in completing that part of the story now, except to just say "I completed it".

    citizen059 on
  • JoiryJoiry Registered User regular
    So it looks like you had to have choosen "Where life goes, so too should you" for your most important tablet bio answer.

  • Lucid_SeraphLucid_Seraph TealDeer MarylandRegistered User regular
    Aldo wrote: »
    shit you guys I didn't give a damn about the Sylvari or the Nightmare Court and now you've grabbed my interest. Where do you get Guy In Question? Is he only part of one of the paths?

    because I might have to go back and play my Sylvari Necro now :\a

    (Where's that necro guide?)
    The Sylvari from a different tree: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Malyck
    Necro condimancer guide: https://lopezirl.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/a-condition-necromancers-guide-to-pve/

    Ah, bummer, it's the "Where Life Goes" one. I think I took "Act with Wisdom." That's FASCINATING though.

    See You Space Cowboy: a ttrpg about sad space bounty hunters
    https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
  • HugglesHuggles Registered User regular
    Don't conditionmance in PvE unless you hate yourself. Throw caution to the wind and dagger/dagger your way through everything always. Glass cannon works well when you have a spare emergency health bar!

  • cptruggedcptrugged I think it has something to do with free will. Registered User regular
    I really liked both Sieran and Tybalt. Vigil old fella was kind meh.

  • TrynantTrynant Maniac Brawler Rank 20.100 and full WildRegistered User regular
    I'm at what I'm assuming to be the final part of my personal story, and I'm looking for some help. Just in case anyone doesn't know or cannot guess where the game ends, I'll spoiler the next part.
    I'm at the part where I have to go into the Arah dungeon to kill Zhaitan. In other words, I need to find a group to do Arah story mode.

    Would any of you fine folks be willing to help me in this regard? Being so close to the end of the personal story is excruciatingly tantalizing.

  • FeldornFeldorn Mediocre Registered User regular
    Huggles wrote: »
    Don't conditionmance in PvE unless you hate yourself. Throw caution to the wind and dagger/dagger your way through everything always. Glass cannon works well when you have a spare emergency health bar!

    conditionmancer is ok in pve if you're solo, or in an organized group with no other player who focuses on conditions, but you will have to deal with other classes who naturally apply bleeds with popular weapons/specs, but it would take a degree of masochism.

  • HugglesHuggles Registered User regular
    Feldorn wrote: »
    Huggles wrote: »
    Don't conditionmance in PvE unless you hate yourself. Throw caution to the wind and dagger/dagger your way through everything always. Glass cannon works well when you have a spare emergency health bar!

    conditionmancer is ok in pve if you're solo, or in an organized group with no other player who focuses on conditions, but you will have to deal with other classes who naturally apply bleeds with popular weapons/specs, but it would take a degree of masochism.

    It works, but it's a choice between doing something in half the time or not. The bleed stack max isn't even the issue, it's the general drudgery into which conditionmancing turns PvE. Save it for PvP where it is much more effective.

  • cptruggedcptrugged I think it has something to do with free will. Registered User regular
    Feldorn wrote: »
    Huggles wrote: »
    Don't conditionmance in PvE unless you hate yourself. Throw caution to the wind and dagger/dagger your way through everything always. Glass cannon works well when you have a spare emergency health bar!

    conditionmancer is ok in pve if you're solo, or in an organized group with no other player who focuses on conditions, but you will have to deal with other classes who naturally apply bleeds with popular weapons/specs, but it would take a degree of masochism.

    Agreed, It conditions was great while running around leveling. The aoe ability of scepter / dagger was great for event tagging. And it was always hilarious when I would drop to a group of strong mobs, but then they all died a few seconds later and I would rally.

  • HugglesHuggles Registered User regular
    I ran a conditions build up to lv60ish, and it works just fine. Ruining one guy with conditions then Epidemic-ing it across all its friends never, ever gets old (especially in PvP against real people). It just took forever to work through any level-appropriate area compared with the glass cannon necro build I subsequently ran. I moved on to a defensive/support build for pre-patch Orr and dungeons, but that's another story.

  • doomybeardoomybear Hi People Registered User regular
    You don't necessarily need to choose. I go Power + Condition Damage and it works pretty well for me, although I lean more on CD than Power and am a bit squishy against high burst.

    what a happy day it is
  • NyhtNyht Registered User regular
    Aldo wrote: »
    Sylvari story:
    Who was that guy again who you saved early on in the Sylvari personal story who had lost his memory and said he had a dream with a different tree? I remember that he used engineer skills. He disappeared after Treesus takes the main stage in the Sylvari story..

    Malick maybe?

  • Lucid_SeraphLucid_Seraph TealDeer MarylandRegistered User regular
    Huggles wrote: »
    Don't conditionmance in PvE unless you hate yourself. Throw caution to the wind and dagger/dagger your way through everything always. Glass cannon works well when you have a spare emergency health bar!

    Huh, ok. Suggestions on how to build that? This could be fun, actually, I haven't done a glass canon build in a LONG time (I am usually a tank n heals guy)

    See You Space Cowboy: a ttrpg about sad space bounty hunters
    https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
  • FeldornFeldorn Mediocre Registered User regular
    you guys gave it more effort than i did, i was conditions until ~12, then went daggers and wondered why anyone would use sceptre at low levels.

  • doomybeardoomybear Hi People Registered User regular
    Hm, actually at low levels I think Power builds are probably a superior choice for pretty much every profession. Mobs (especially open world mobs) aren't threatening to an experienced player, so mowing through them faster is just better. Bleeds take a while to build up, but on my Necro I could easily bleed out higher level stuff that would otherwise be annoying due to glancing blows.

    what a happy day it is
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