[Virtuoso overworld build?]

You can run Dueling or Chaos variants of Condi Virtuoso in open world with relative ease. You can start with a snowcrows build and modify it from there. 

This is the build I have been running more or less since EoD dropped. OW Chaos Virtuoso

In OW take advantage of Jade Core for extra vitality and Jade Offensive and Defensive boons to pump up your build.  These buffs help any OW player especially when solo, far more than any other buff in the game.

Really as long as you are able to Crit cap and get bleed duration to 100% you can mess around with the rest of the gear and traits in whatever way suits you.   

[why is there no solo end-game content?]

35 minutes ago, RagiNagi.1802 said:

 

Is it only me who sees some opportunities here for new content. Or are you all fine with what end-game content you have available?

The game does have some pretty good opportunity for solo content.
 

There are players who enjoy soloing Champ and Legendary bounties.  This can force you to learn a lot about your profession and build and could be some of the hardest solo content anyone can access. 
 

To a lesser degree you also have some HP and MP that spawn champs or are guarded by elites. You also have some spots where the challenge is to pull multiple Vets such as Temple of Atar in Crystal Oasis. And you can always try and solo events and event chains anywhere in open world. 
 

Now, the rewards are not stellar gold-wise but when you can solo many of the Champ bounties in the game you have probably mastered your profession, the different builds and nuances for each build to help you combat various types of enemies. 
 

After that I’d suggest you try support builds in OW zergs where the challenge is to keep noobs alive and more efficient in taking down whatever event you are doing. 

[Give us option to unlearn masteries]

5 hours ago, TallBarr.2184 said:

I wish, but i need the icebrood saga ones and alot of them are connected to drms and stuff, which i rather not touch. Id rather be able to pay a fee to unlearn a mastery and use those points.

Naw I don't think so.  There are multiple achievements that are connected to IBS Masteries alongside story steps and open world content that require MP investment.  Shifting the MP around would allow players to skip a lot of content yet still farm AP.  If you don't want to play the content, then why should you have access to the rewards for playing it?

[Guild Wars 2 - The Current State of the Game.]

3 hours ago, Xaint.7461 said:

this is exactly what i mean, in which i really dislike, i rather have no new content but stuff fixed than  other way around, not everyone agrees to that ofcourse but to me that weighs / values way more, especially if its things again related to classes etc, bugged traits and skills and so on, content wise i  mainly am a PvP / WvW player, tho i do play PvE too but mainly i focus the other 2 game modes and with that i dont feel i encounter as much bugged  'content' in terms of lets say map broken things, npcs or anything beside what affects a class directly, where as again it weighs way more to me when it comes to such as classes and traits being fixed .

Appreciate ur response,  some good arguments .

GW2 isn't like other games and in part I think that is due to no Subscription model.  GW2 has content releases that 'do the thing' but never have to be perfect because for the most part, the content is abandoned immediately after being released.  A lot of subscription games really refine the content as they have a lot more to lose if a player gets annoyed by the issues and leaves.

Is it frustrating that basically every GW2 release still has bugs and issues that in some cases are years old?  That the base game can still just crash for no reason when loading a new map, or watching a cut scene, or too many flashing blobs are in the screen?  To these and other complaints, yeah, they totally suck.

But given that it's been 7 months since the EoD launch and we still haven't got reasonably balanced professions in all three game modes, what do you really expect from this company?  I mean they have recently admitted that they have been following bad logic for tuning the eSpecs, alongside trying to completely change how boon-sharing works, and now a new change in design philosophy comes with the change of the Profession Balance Team Lead.... I am sometimes surprised that this game is actually playable.

Do I want a subscription model, of course not, but it is obvious that the design team for Anet isn't big enough or funded well enough to actually balance professions in a timely manner, let alone fix their game on an ongoing basis.  We play a basically free game and it doesn't have the polish of other games for that reason because it is basically free.

[What if elite specs were quest/achievement based rather than hero points?]

I do not think this idea is one that could be implemented currently in GW2 but I really do like the concept in general.

Hero Points are, generally, pretty boring.  We do have some interesting ones in HoT and PoF but by and large they are just clickables requiring no other interaction.  We also have so many of them that, it wasn't like we actually needed EoD HP to unlock the new eSpecs before even entering the new content.

The NPC's that talk about the EoD eSpecs were an okay idea, but pretty silly really.  Like, somewhere randomly on a map in EoD is an NPC that will tell you about the eSpec for your profession.  Yippee, that's super engaging and fun.......or not.....

I think the concept of having to run through a series of Quests that focus on the eSpecs/Profession/Class skills would be interesting.  Something simple like having an NPC give you a toolkit that changes your action bar to the 'default' skills/build for the eSpec so you can play with it and complete challenges.  I would suggest the same amount of time/work investment as doing 250 HP points would be fair too.  And nothing taxing, just things like 'use prof mechanic', 'Kill x mobs with eSpec weapon', 'use eSpec elite x times' and the like that is tied to some lore and story about the eSpec.

And for those WvW players who will feel left out, I think WvW shouldn't require unlocking of eSpecs via HP, but rather simply be available within the game mode.  At this point getting into a new eSpec is so trivial why bother asking for the HP anyway?  However, you could do a similar thing to my above suggestion in WvW by having similar NPC and Quests within WvW to 'teach and train' the new eSpecs if the company wanted to.

Again tho, I do not think that GW2 is in a position to add this type of feature as we all expect to insta-buy the next expansions eSpecs with HP we already farmed.  But maybe in another game, or a GW3....?  

[What's the best elite specialization for greatsword?]

Probably some variation of Power GS Chrono

And while you are leveling, you can run a version of Power Mesmer Core

 

[[Suggestion] Class: Brawler]

On 9/21/2022 at 12:34 AM, lezbefriends.7516 said:

Maybe my point was that no matter what a thread starter posts, that is how it plays out here.

Eh, I mean, rehashing an already well talked about topic that is easily searchable here (unarmed/fist weapon combat profession).  Posters already have an opinion having had this conversation in many other forum posts, probably want to cut to the chase and give their final response.

To your suggestion, I would appreciate new weapon types be added to all professions, but at this stage, getting both new weapons and a new profession seem like a really long shot, and I would rather they invest in making the current 9 prof and 27 eSpecs functional before adding more.

I could see a world where in an expansion Anet adds say 3 new weapon types and gives each to 3 new eSpecs.  Since weapons are thematic only (just a skin and a skill animation) locking new weapons to eSpecs would be a nice way of doing it.  As such, your brawler, or martial artist, using fist or unarmed attacks, could be created as an extension of an existing profession.

[Distortion on virtuoso suggestion.]

9 hours ago, Suyheuti.1732 said:

Just because it is not good idea. Why would I accept it which will be nerfed soon after release? We know when patch releases, toxic players will jump in virtuoso and ruin the game like they have been doing with Bladesworn for a long time. 

To you and the others replying to my post, I appreciate that at face value they said 'we are adding distortion to Chrono and Virtuoso' but do you really think they can just add it and move on to the next thing?

Like, F4 Distortion in Core is considered a Shatter, does this mean that Virtuoso F4 Distortion will be considered a Bladesong and have associated Traits updated to reflect this?  Most likely, which means that they will actively have to groom some traits and skills in order to make Distortion work in the first place for both Chrono and Virtuoso. 

This tells me that since they cannot just drop Distortion in, the developers will likely present an attempt at functionally balanced Distortion.  Which is why I said, let them figure it out rather than asking for nerfs and tradeoffs because: this

1 hour ago, Leonidrex.5649 said:

Oh I agree, all im saying is devs will take it as go ahead for another nerf/removal of a trait and that will be that.
No compensation, no reworks, nothing.

This has happened to multiple professions over the years, let's learn the lesson and not give Anet bad ideas.

 

As an aside, I personally do not think Virtuoso needs the F4 Distortion added, but I do not mind having this type of change.  I will be disappointed if they implement in a way that nerfs how Virtuoso or Chrono run currently.

[TP prices r weird]

3 hours ago, PinkTacoLover.7603 said:

Few moments ago potent venom sacs price went up to 27c sell and 20 buy but someone dropped lots at 21c sell making a hole from 21 to 26

Theres 46k in buy at 20 and 79k sell at 27

Whats the point to sell em at 21 ? Forced price drop ?

 

Edit:

Somehow i posted in the wrong section 🤦‍♂️

I tend to think it’s psychological. If I just sell it at the price the buyer wants, then I’m not making as much as I could. If I list it at the same Sell price, I might be undercut and never sell. But I can’t be undercut if I’m the lowest price and I still make more than the buyer was asking. 
 

It can take a a little leap to understand the ebb and flow of TP pricing over days and weeks of time.  

[Please use flavour texts]

I agree with flavor text on items.  It ties the pieces of the world together and gives players more 'story' to be involved in.

Even something simple like where or who created the item, or what purpose it served, why it was created, or who stole it or found it.....

I'd even be happy if say, an entire weapon set had the same flavor text applied to it.  Just 1 line like 'forged by X for Y' or 'carved from precious bits' or 'Used by this type of guard in defense of Z'.  Even to the OP example of the Ears, a simple 'costume ears worn to celebrate X' or the like would be okay.

It feels that there is some amount of this type of flavor text in game, but it appears mostly on trash items we vendor or some quest items.  I'd be happy to see this extended to more items such as armor and weapons.

[Leveling up too fast, any tips?]

1 hour ago, Alexander.5796 said:

So, I wouldn’t be OP if I did a level 10 story mission at level 15? 

To this, no, you will probably be okay.  There are other things to be aware of though.

With the new leveling guide I was able to level a new character to 80 in about 15 hours gametime with no XP boosts or other tricks.  I simply followed the guide (as opposed to traditional following the zones and story) and at the end of Chapter 4 I was already level 80.

The upside of this is that at level 80 you can gear up and go back to the leveling zones and easily clear the content.  The level scaling is pretty good but it does affect gearing.

At level 80 you are likely to end up having very strong gear which even downscaled will trivialize most Core content and Story.  However, while you are leveling, or at level 80, if you do not have matching level gear the downranking can make it harder on you.

This is the primary downside to the new leveling guide and the massive amounts of XP you are getting.  You simply do not get enough gear fast enough to level up with you.  At level 50 (about 6 hours gametime), using only drops and quest rewards I was still using level 10-30 gear in some slots.  It appears that downranking is based on the player level not the gear level so at level 50 wearing a level 20 helm while downranked in a level 30 zone means that level 20 helm stats are squashed very hard and really aren't doing much to help at that point.

However, simple fix, every 10 levels just hit up the TP and buy upgrades for any gear that is more than 10 levels below your level and you should be fine.  I would suggest that you check your gear before doing Story steps as you are alone in those instances and having good gear and build will make it smoother for you.

[Need help picking a profession.]

13 hours ago, Albi.7250 said:

 

Honorable Mention: Virtiuoso Mesmer dagger. Your throw daggers on short range simple rotation and strong, but you are kind of close.

 

Mesmer’s Condi Virtuoso primarily operates at 1200 range. Focus and Pistol might ask you to get closer but you never actually need to be in melee range or closer than 600 units if you don’t want to be. 
 

There is also Power Greatsword Chrono which can spend a lot of time at 1200 range.  And I guess Mesmer staff has 1200 range as well offering ranged play options as well. 
 

So Mesmer has several options for 1200 range gameplay on different eSpecs. 

[Floating islands and underground tunnels]

7 minutes ago, Aodlop.1907 said:

I disagree again. You could design cooperative events which would allow the players on the ground to contribute to what's happening up there, with the end result being a final world boss dropping from one of the islands to be attacked by everybody for example.

So adding new meta events to core maps?  I’m all for it, but why make part of it restricted in such a way?  Assuming that they could figure out how to make it work, what does it really add to the game?  It’s another meta.  How does it enliven older zones for more than 10 minutes every 2-4 hours?

And, take a second to consider what a ‘lower level’ player looks like today in a post leveling guide achievement world. It takes less than 20 hours to level to 80 with the new guide not using any additional boosts. Players won’t be low level long enough to take advantage of more Core content anyways.  

[New Low Intensity Build]

53 minutes ago, Providence.7185 said:

Thank you. I saw that post. According to the accompanying video that is a Raid build dependent on others bringing regeneration. Or did I misunderstand something?

Is there a way to adjust that build to make it more solo friendly and survivable?

Absolutely.

OW Chaos Virt

I’ve been running this more or less since EoD. It can do pretty much anything well enough.  You can use an assortment of gearing as long as you get to the 60% Crit minimum and use the Krait runes to push your Bleed duration about 70%. The rest can go into condition damage. I use a few Celestial pieces to smooth out the experience but with a few item swaps this becomes a meta raid build. 
 

I didn’t get a chance to watch the entire video yet, so there may be some new twist that I’m not aware of, but this does just fine. 

[Distortion on virtuoso suggestion.]

So......is this a case of Mesmer players seeing a buff (Virtuoso Distortion) and deciding that they don't want it?  Suggesting it be removed or other skills changed to make room for it?  I know that no one asked for this change, and I am sure that it will have a trickle down at some point but, take the buff and move on! 

Let Anet figure out their game, and if Virt Distortion is too oppressive, let other professions tell them to fix it.  We should continue to push for changes we actually need like updates to Mirage Dodge and fixing Chrono traits.

I am betting that what we get won't be as impactful as it appears, but if it is, again, let Anet deal with it while we abuse it.

[Floating islands and underground tunnels]

On 9/17/2022 at 6:36 AM, Aodlop.1907 said:

Are the way forward.

Too many maps will scatter the playerbase. However, having new levels of depth to existing map is the better options.

 

Adding expansion features to Vanilla maps would also be the perfect occasion to tease new players about what's to come, since you'd need gliding/updraft or mushroom masteries at the very least to access these places.

I don't follow the logic or goal here.

A 'low level' player gains no benefit from this scenario.  How does having 'high level' players in an inaccessible part of the map do anything for anyone really?  It isn't like the high level players would share any content with the lower level players.

We already have complaints when high level players come to lowbie areas to work on achievements and events.  It makes the game harder for the low level players to actually play or enjoy when high level players are competing with them for the same content.  By bringing high level players into low level areas you could end up with more of these issues.

I also don't think new players need to be looking down the road so much as focusing on the content right in front of them.  Like, sure Gliding and Mounts are cool but right now I gotta win the Snaff prize...  and the game should cater to what the player is doing right now, make whatever it is interesting and engaging.

So I don't think adding now layers to existing maps is doing anything positive.  Rather, I think that new maps designed to have more replayability would be interesting.  Part of the reason many maps are dead is due to a lack of content (ahem, hello EoD maps, you barren wastelands).  Sure slapping mobs and NPC's everywhere is fine but, we live in the age of flying mounts and bypassing that stuff.  Without Adventures, Bounties, Meta Events, Achievements we have no reason to be there.  Even when those reasons are present, most players will only do them a handful of times to complete an achieve and then move on.

Which, going back to your original idea, even if they added floating islands and tunnels to existing maps, once the content has been done, it too would end up dead.

At least with new maps when they make a mistake, we don't have to keep going back there once we are done with it.

[Mesmer - Profession Balance Update]

5 minutes ago, Levetty.1279 said:

Wonder if they remembered to change Master of Fragmentation to work with the new F5s.

Oh now that would be special. Does that then tease at MoF and Bountiful Dissilusionment will get updated as well, or will we see F4 Distortion NOT be a shatter/bladesong. 

[October 4 Balance Update Preview]

'Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again.'
 

Is this what they are doing this week?  Nice change, let’s see what they do for the next PvE pass. 

[Mesmer - Profession Balance Update]

2 minutes ago, Tseison.4659 said:

They didn’t really go in depth which I was hoping to since they sorta did for other professions….not really surprised?

But yeah I was waiting for some clarity on the Distortion. I want to “assume” that Distortion will either a F5 skill? I don’t think it would be that powerful since you’ll have to generate enough clones/blades for a longer duration. Who knows though, we’ll have to wait and see.
 

 

 

they added this. 
 

basically Chrono and Virt get F4 moved to F5 and F4 is new Distortion skill. 

[Mesmer - Profession Balance Update]

1 minute ago, Tseison.4659 said:

Notes from the Twitch stream

 

• Chronomancer and Virtuoso gain DistortioN

Thanks for the update!  Did they mention if this change was global or WvW only?  And how is it being implemented?  And what will be lost to gain distortion?

[What is the most optimal and efficient sequence or to-do-list in Guild Wars 2?]

I get where you are coming from OP.  The way this game is laid out it can feel like you are being inefficient. 
 

What makes you more efficient is usually finding ways to do things faster or more effectively (such as increasing your stats). As such, HoT Gliding, PoF Mounts, LWS4 Skyscale, EoD Jade Bot all provide access to account wide buffs that improve efficiency. 
 

I’d also consider looking at top level achievements and what is tied to them. For example, Aurora and Vision (Legendary Trinkets) require you to basically complete all the content in LW3 and LW4. As does Season of Dragons. And Skyscale also wants a bunch of currency and such in these areas.  You can be massively efficient with these by knowing ahead of time what you will need to have and do to complete them.
 

If you set out to do these open world Achievements you will earn a lot of Gold as a byproduct.  As well you will earn Mastery XP and Points extending your Mastery Trees almost passively.
 

You also get good returns in Fractals while you farm the backpack.  Raiding doesn’t have good returns but is potentially the fastest and easiest (if you can deal with raiding) way to farm legendary armor. 

[Mesmer Zerg WVW]

Wait, I played GW1 Closed Alpha as a Mesmer........

Can I use that to invalidate other players claims about Mesmer?  I kid of course, but GW1 Closed Alpha builds were far superior to what the launched...just saying....or just joking.....you decide

[Mentors and their Role ?]

Mentor tag is something any player can use once they have unlocked the requisite Core Mastery after level 80. How the mentor tag is used today is not quite how it was originally intended. 
 

A lot of times, a mentor tag will be used by a player to get help or draw attention to an event on the map. It is usually that the mentor wants help doing something for themselves and it is less ‘let me help you’ and a bit more ‘I want to do something come lend me your DPS.’  these are usually fast events that do not require much from the players.  

Compared to Commander tags where you find those group leaders are usually more prepared to answer questions and take on larger meta events or multi map trains that require more organization.   Typically Commanders will use LFG to draw players to the map and events. 

[Gemini Mesmer Elite Spec Idea]

46 minutes ago, Forbiben.3842 said:

like I said just an idea but I thought having a pet that used your stowed weapons was a really cool idea for mesmer. And if we treat the pet as a clone it would help alleviate that. maybe boons gained on clone spawn could be applied to the pet on phantasm despawn. I like the criticism though it helps iron out the kinks in the idea.

 

The idea of having your Copy use the stored weapon skills could be leaned on even further. 

Instead of having F1-F4 relate at all to existing Shatters you could simply have F1-F5 be the stowed weapon skills one for one.  Remove the ability to spawn Phantasms and have those skills instead empower new versions that give the Mesmer or the Copy (whoever is wielding the weapon) a heavy attack.  Treat the Clone skills in a similar but lower power manner.

Then tie the Traits by having those that normally affect a Phantasm or Clone instead target your Copy.

For giggles, you could even force no weapon swaps, but use Weapon Swap as a short range positional change with your Copy on a long CD.

[The best spec for all PvE]

56 minutes ago, Moradorin.6217 said:

That said, for general open world anything works fine

I have stopped believing this since EoD.  There are some builds for Mesmer and other Professions which are not viable or fun to play.  Perhaps Condi Virtuoso is a high bar for low APM and high DPS to compare against say, Chrono, which feels sloppy to play currently.  I mean, is anyone suggesting Chrono vs Mirage or Virtuoso here?  Not yet, it just isn't there yet.