OStork.9534

I was surprised to see Rifle Mesmer I feel like a lot of the elite class requests I made came to life (woo magical scepter specter and hammer ele) but they got this one backwards for me haha I thought Rifle ele would be a stylish direction, being able to pre-load different elemental bullets (water, fire) and then create different reactions based on the order Still, Mesmer Rifle sounds fun too. I guess it will be stylish at least and probably have some trick shot mechanic + Phantasm/clones that don't just park themselves in the enemy's face and die. If this is the last change we get though, then I'll be sad not to see a bow/bard spec for Mesmer..

I've been out of the loop for a few years so I don't know why retaliation was changed (it is gone, right?).. but it feels like Retaliation + Protection could be an interesting boon for this ability. Less of a perfect block and more in that "hurt me and get hurt" idea Otherwise, I like the idea of getting Superspeed with it, if only to chase and stick to targets while doing a whirl of damage Finally, if they were willing to rework the visuals, a team utility option would be nice. Like a wide aoe/bubble - but not sure what would fit Virtuoso best

I only just returned recently so I haven't played enough of harbinger to know how the abilities feel outside of the golem room But as someone that started the game as a necro, the thing that jumps out to me the most about Harbinger's design is how I wish the potions worked more like Engineer's kits or maybe more like Firebrand's book feature I see the dark alchemist fantasy as a character drinking a strange concoction and then transforming themselves and their abilities like some mad doctor experimenting on themselves. Especially when I see shroud not offering the extra life like in Reaper, it makes sense that each vial they drink would be a separate 'fake shroud', almost like they are trying to use science to tap into the 'other side'. Blight as a mechanic would make you more brittle as you 'overdose' but could also up your damage somehow as some risk-reward thing.

If I could make a new elite spec patch (Bard Mesmer, please), I think I'd want a "Bandit/etc" theme for the thief that uses a MH Shield (Note: Only problem I have with mh shield is that most shields in this game are cosmetically huge so maybe it will look silly? Maybe this idea would work better if it was an off hand shield with a "holosmith feature/kit" where you create a mystical shield despite what is in your offhand) I feel like there is a real world reference that the algorithm just isn't showing me but Qadira from the game Indivisible is a good reference to what I'd want visually Small mystic shield that you can juggle ranged and melee shield bash attacks with. Auto attack could be close ranged and brawly or it could be a ranged 'magic strike' (I don't think thief has a non-projectile ranged weapon like Mesmer GS/Necro Axe, right?). Naturally, there should be some cool 'block' weapon skill that grants some effect Ability wise, I'd like something similar to Scourge where you quickly place these disruptive/supportive fields (Aegis? Or some type of Distortion/reflects?). The basic idea would revolve around exploiting your enemy's weaknesses while peeling for your allies

I didn't play GW1 but I think the idea sounds cool. I loved it in Starbound - it really adds to a character's personality and I can imagine a lot of fun things with my alt characters! Still, I want to highlight that a game like GW1 where everyone is human is a much easier place to create things like that than GW2 with 5 different races and many more professions. Today as I was looking at my empty character slot and testing out potential future alts, I realized once again (after years of not playing) that Asura, Charr and male Norns only have 9 faces to choose from. Female norn and the Sylvari has a tiny bit more but human males have twice the amount and females, three times as many. Asura struggles magnify when you realize that most of their hairstyle options have "accessories" that, due to to how old they are, look significantly worse than more recent armor sets (maybe all character creation accessories could use a re-draw? The Elonian update looks great compared to my older dark skin 'noodle hair' Mesmer). I would appreciate any extra customization option, of course but I think there are higher priorities. Fix some neglected races and add more options, throw in some emotes and race specific emotes + new dances and I'd be happy. :)

I'm definitely in that group of players that want the next expansion/mass-explorable-zone to be Underwater. Naturally, the whole area doesn't need to be underwater -- we could have deep sea caverns, islands, small towns floating on the ocean, etc. Deep Sea dragon or a new threat in Cantha could be the perfect thing to lure us over there. Of course, with a direction like this, I would hope for a massive underwater update. Fix the skills, make movement smoother, introduce masteries that improve quality of life under water (leyline-esque currents?) and throw in an underwater mount. Gliders from HoT have changed vanilla Tyria for me and PoF's mounts too have improved the vanilla world for me. A massive and clever change to underwater travel/combat may do the same. :) Some of the most beautiful settings I've seen were underwater so it is a shame to just ignore it and regard it as a terrible part of the game!

Funny request but I get it, OP. I was playing my new Ranger yesterday with only one Pet and realized that after getting my Smokescale, I couldn't swap it into my first slot since the default pet was in it already (and I only have two). I realized that if I had a third pet, I could move smokescale to one but I didn't have an (apparent?) option to deselect it and leave the slot empty, it seems. Not being able to deselect an option and only swap felt frustrating to me! Same thing for un-equipping your weapons - no "brawl" punch moves like in the mini game. There's bigger changes I want to see in the game but it does seem like an odd 'feature' which I'm guessing serves two purposes: As a form of "failsafe" to keep players from accidentally ruining their builds (my friend boosted and hasn't touched their traits, weapons, etc in over a month since doing it. If they were missing a traitline, I'm certain they wouldn't notice/care)Making things easier to balance/assuring that every player in an area should be capable of completing all events, assuming they meet the correct level requirements. If you are in a level 35 area and you are 37 and died, you know it is because you either need to work on your class's mechanics or your approach in this particular battle. If you are missing a whole traitline then maybe you can't beat that enemy/event no matter what you do, despite it being advertised as complete-able.

^ I agree with that idea - I feel like the playstyle of a Holosmith revolves around balancing high heat and not reaching critical levels (unless you trait for it). My build has me constantly popping in and out of forge at red levels so that I keep gaining might. (Not to mention, reaching critical puts you on a much longer cooldown vs other transformation skills) This feels quite different than something like Reaper's Shroud which gives an extra health bar + can earn more "time" due to life force draining skills. I don't think either is unfair, just that they were designed to work differently (and I hope with any future specs that may get a similar mode, the devs continue to make them feel unique rather than just "mesmer shroud"/etc). I think Holosmith's flow feels good right now which is probably why the devs left it at that number. I hope that a decent level of balance could be achieved without needlessly gutting the flow of any particular profession! In my wildest dreams, power balances could be fixed by improving "non meta builds". I was reading a discussion about how bad Guardian's hammer is and how it doesn't fit either a Power or Condition build model and instead does something different (and unoptimal) by trying to be a Control weapon (The main reason I used to love hammers). The game's mechanics don't really support wards in PvE or PvP. The game's mechanics don't really support tanking either. If the only options a player has revolves around high burst or fat stacks of conditions then it will feel obvious when one class can easily dish out big numbers vs another class (or in Elementalist's case, dish out high numbers while avoiding downed state). The only way to break this constant nerf/buff cycle is to give players other tools in fights and buff Utility builds.

Skyscale feels great. By far, my favorite mount - moving through the world feels so fluid! Some notes. Most players, and you possibly, don't realize that there is a descend button on your keybinds. Landing is difficult until you realize that you can make it slide directly down with no hassle. After learning that, I see no reason why it would be a hassle for anyone unless you just want to insta-dive to the ground.I like the "stamina" system for the Skyscale. There's enough objects in this game to bounce on -- I think free flight would have felt a bit boring. Plus, between wall climb jumps restoring stamina, mount endurance skill buff, and the barrel roll dash (the other keybound skill that most players don't know about..), it is ridiculously easy to get higher in the air and stay up there, unless someone wants to hug the skybox the whole way.The collection itself wasn't nearly as bad as many players made it sound when it released. Maybe that is why this necroed thread is a month and a half old -- because all these worried folks just went ahead and got it. :P The biggest flaw with this whole thing was that there was no communication on players needing the map tokens at the end of the collection. I've looked into it and realized that I could take my time and just do events, earning the stuff I need gradually rather than rushing it all at the end of the skyscale collection. If you are farming quartz then yes this sounds massive but if someone would rather do that over spending the gold on the treats themselves, then that sounds more like a personal decision than an issue with the game. All in all, I enjoyed having a big quest to take my attention away for a while. Gave me a chance to explore the LWS4 maps some more and really learn the metas + visit old jumping puzzles/locations. This game needs more stuff like that because it is a shame how many well designed maps/locations are out there that go unused because it isn't a Raid/Fractal/Dragon Stand. I also like that Skyscale doesn't erase the other mounts from existence -- once I set up my mount keybindings (another thing most don't do) I've found great enjoyment in racing forward on a beetle over a cliff only to pop off and whip out my skyscale. These mounts were designed to be used together! Yeah! Took about the same time for me - a week and a half to two, I believe. I had family and my gf visiting right when I unlocked the collection so I pretty much only played enough to hop in, find/medicate/feed the skyscale and do a few hearts/events a day. Really, the only thing I want the devs to do going forward is change the collection interface and make the achievements/etc easier to see and track! Maybe add tokens as a random drop to allow players to get a little bit from events that aren't map metas.

Nope! Personally, I like the clear division between classes. I love options -- three traitlines and two of them are open + your chosen elite. Naturally, I appreciate any off-meta build that breaks away from the "canon" approach to an elite spec but despite all of that, I still enjoy having clear distinctions between elite specs. The unlocked weapons and utilities are that extra flavor that I'd rather not see get spread around needlessly. Just having the choice not to use all of it and rely on the core skills/weapons is a good amount of variety for me. To me, each of these elite classes feel almost like new professions. I remember back in the good days of Ragnarok Online, I had several classes to choose from and over the years, they continued to add more and more-- it was great! After that, however, I've seen plenty of western MMOs that neglect to add any more after the initial batch of classes. This approach feels like an easy way for the devs to create new classes without dealing with the hassle of truly making a new class (or the stress when the playerbase ignores your class because they are already invested in the core group coughs in revenant ) -- just a few different skills and a new mechanic/approach and they are done. (Shortbow Mesmer/Sword Necro, when?) Besides all of that, I do hope that they get creative with future elites. Duel Swords for Necromancer, Main hand Pistol for Mesmer or Warrior, maybe a class with a Mainhand focus or shield?? I think doing that + making sure older elites and core classes still are relevant is the key to keeping this game on track. :)

If we don’t gp to Cantha like I want to then I think this Jackal skin would pair nicely with that future “Second Grove appearing in Northern Charr lands or further West in some forgotten Norn kingdom”. Seeing the dynamic of another race’s homeland being uprooted by an accidentally invasive group of Sylvari sounds like a good time to shove some plant themed mounts onto the gemstore! (Winter themed Sylvari?)

Increasing the cap sounds reasonable! Honestly though, I wish they’d make managing multiple characters less stressful before anything. Give us smaller icons of the characters’ face and show their full body on hover so that you can fit most of them on one page. Sell us an inventory manager so that I can see what my toon has and move their junk around without reactivating their soul + loading screens.Let us pin our favorites at the top of the list so that they don’t keep cycling down as I hunt for that one exotic I’ve been saving and maybe even allow us to group them up by type/organize them!I only have like 8 characters so far but I do love creating alts. Finally geared up my 2nd Ele that I’ve abandoned forever (got caught up making “FFIX’s Vivi” staff ele instead) when I got the dragon bash helmet (Spell Knight vibes!) and I still have a warrior to make - most likely Cantha themed. Also need a Charr something at least (Future alchemist engineer spec?)

I get what you are saying OP -- I think the Dragon icon isn't the right direction, though. It would be better if the background texture just had the hue of the associated "season", like the Story selection page does. Something subtle and not too distracting but clear enough to separate the batches of maps. Outside of that though, I am more interested in a LFG page that highlights/features recent parties or maps that are "blowing up" in population than a graphical change.In LFG, I want to know What events are happening that I want to be a part of.Is the group that I am joining on a full map? Have a lot of people been taxiing into it lately?

It is a bit true that WvW isn't really inviting to new players. The mounts only make it a bit harder to get into it because unless you just really love the mode in your first 10 minutes or have done some excess level research into the simple warclaw acquisition system, chances are you may turn around and ignore the mode. I don't believe mounts are bad for WvW though just that the mode could use some freshening up with its mechanics/etc. On the topic of mounts Entering wvw should introduce you to some quick tips and explain what you need to get started (and get a mount). An NPC should be there to update you and show you where you are at, like Gorrik with the Skyscale. Personally, I would love to see more mounts introduced into WvW! It shouldn't be about speed though but rather utility. For example: Dolyak mount that allows you to bring extra supply or even transport supply from camps to keeps, yourself. Make the mount system feel like a part of the mode and introduce new ways for players to participate, earn their pips and contribute. Warclaw is fine as it is. When I came back, I had to get into the groove of things and work up what I needed to get it. I think players having it as a tool is great but the zerg nature in WvW kind of puts new players at a disadvantage. This is more of a WvW issue than a Warclaw one. (Like, having a mount is pretty much necessary now to do HP trains in PVE but you don't need one for PVE or events in general. Commanders feel necessary for WvW which makes not being able to keep up with a zerg feel more painful than missing out on an HP train) On World vs World as a whole Some people love roaming and group fights, others love the overall meta. Personally, I'd love to see more ways for players to contribute on a smaller scale. It should feel like a big instance where you can look at the map and decide that you want to do some stuff to help your kingdom's east side. Something other than just keeping an eye out for big zergs.More additions to the map - structures/etc. Transportation and mobility, especially to a new player, feels like a massive wall in this mode. Putting more waypoints or giving mounts away for free however don't feel right. I would love to see something like maps designed with more mechanics than our strictly medieval ones. Something like a "Trainyard" camp that you can seize and secure that transports supply could be good, especially if players can hop onto one that is passing by. It lacks the control that a zerg of mounted heroes have but it is an option for players to change up their approach to far away objectives. More realistically, everything I wrote above me could be easily achieved by introducing Ley-lines into WvW! WvW home instance? Better guild halls/home instances overall may be more important but for the people that love WvW, maybe having a place they can stay that connects to it would be better than being booted to PvE? Might feel more cosmetic than helpful, honestly! Champion mobs -- (correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like I remember there being stronger ally mobs that would march to enemy keeps?) -- might be cool to be able to send NPCs towards certain objective. I know the tough part is that any player may be able to send mobs off prematurely and that it may take away from the player vs player vibe in WvW. Random idea to go together with the "more small scale stuff to do on the field" concept! Raiding parties? Keep Lords relocating? Ambush parties waiting in the field? Who knows! Anyway, those are my quick thoughts!

I posted my dream necro build a while back! Necromancer: Count/Death Knight/Vampire One Handed Sword - (dual wielding would be nice too but maybe that is too much to ask for) Necromancers have plenty of conditions in their different specs but this spec would master in stuns and dazes. It would be closer to core Mesmer with a Vampire-y twist.Reaper slows targets and overwhelms them with powered attacks - Countess/Deathknight focuses on interrupting enemies and using Blood Magic to siphon health/boons.Shroud form focuses on mobility but doesn't change skill bar. Shroud levitates naturally giving them some stability and a passive speed increase. Can activate shroud skills to give attacks siphon, something that buffs mobility or enables a dodge, a ranged single target daze (vampire gaze?), and a shadow minion that attacks your target for a few seconds (Phantasm)The idea is that Necros, Queen and Kings of conditions, have always lacked blocks, stuns, counters and evasive skills. Shroud tends to help them tank and mitigate damage and they stack corruptions on enemies that tick away at their hp. I hope to see a Necro spec that buffs their ability to avoid damage entirely with well timed sword blocks/counters and punish enemies for them by eating their boons.