Dao Jones.6720

As someone who played at beta/launch, and then took a break from 2013 until 2021, I can’t say I’d be a fan of this concept.

“Fistils”.

Reflection piercing bullets. Or projectiles that explode on contact, dealing damage in a small AoE if reflected or blocked.

Swordfeet; like Gazelle from the first Kingsmen movie. Plus sword arms, and the sword clenched between the cheeks.

No one is having a problem comprehending this. It's just not a good idea. Anything that removes player agency is a game killer. People do not spend money on games that do not allow them to play the characters they want, when they want them, in the way that they want them. This would massively magnify the existing problems with blobs, would kill roaming, reduce pug play in WvW, and allow large guilds to basically lock down entire servers. This idea has literally only downsides. Now, if it were an entirely different game mode? That might be interesting to explore. But as a standard wvw feature? That's a no, dawg.

What a strange argument. "Sameweapon/sameweapon" isn't a weaponset - it's two weapons you're using together, so the notion that similar weapons in both hands is anything other than a choice is just odd. It's like saying "I can't have CC, damage, and mobility using just Banners". Yeah - that's why you're not in any way required or expected to use only one type of utility skill on your skill bar. Axe/Axe lacks CC? Yeah - so swap in a Dagger, Mace, or Sword. Mace/Mace lacks cleave? Yep - add an Axe, Dagger, or Sword. Like... that's why you're using two different weapons, rather than one two-hander. I think we can all agree that Greatsword lackluster for a Warrior compared to, say, a Ranger. (Hell - I'd even argue that Reapers and Mesmers get better mileage out of GS than Warriors.) But Warriors have such a wide variety of weapon combos that you're absolutely able to set up combos effectively within one weaponset, and can chain damage just fine without needing Fast Hands.

What I find funny about ALL of these types of situations (I.e. needing to prove yourself to some randoms) is that the game seems to forget who you are. ”Hi - I’m a living legend, and easily one of if not the most recognizable person on Tyria. I’ve led two separate armies in war to save the planet, and am best known for being the first person in the known history of this world to have beaten an Elder Dragon. You can *literally* thank me for your continued existence. I need info you have, so let’s dispense with you even wasting my time with details about your weird knitting circle, and just give me what I want. And toss in some tea and biscuits while you’re at it.” It’s like the Avengers making Captain America submit a job application to join the squad.

Warriors aren’t quite as clever as Thieves; we’d literally just throw guns at people. So maybe it could be called the “Gun Hucker”? Our skills could just be a progression of larger and larger guns to throw. Like, one skill is a flurry of zip guns thrown like shuriken, whereas the Elite would be flinging Charzookas like javelins at some fools.

Why would Zhaitan bother to make himself immortal? The Elder Dragons don’t die of old age, don’t fear death, and - prior to the Pact Commander’s shenanigans - had never once in their existence met a force on Tyria that could beat them. You don’t need to be “immortal” when you have no concept of your own mortality.

I’ve never perceived my Commander as necessarily “powerful on a scale beyond mortals”, but rather surviving via a combination of tenacity, luck, skill, relationship building, and a healthy dose of Mary Sue-ism. We didn’t defeat Zhaitan and Mordremoth because we were powerful, we defeated them because we exploited their weaknesses. And we beat Balthazar, Joko, and Kralkatorrik with the help of a dragon (and in Balth’s case, his own god sword). What makes us dangerous isn’t that we have the power of the gods; it’s that we’re legitimately bad-kitten heroes who don’t back down no matter what. And we have an army of other bad kitten at our disposal who may have us beat in power, but they’re nowhere near our equals in tenacity and determination.

This post has so much salt it cured my goiter.

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I main a Sylvari Warrior, and I think there's no doubt it was hugely more influential to play as a sylvari than any other race for not only the Personal Story, but Seasons 1/2 and HoT: In personal story: Your intro story *literally* has you fighting a shadowy dragon, and you are given a Wyld Hunt to slay a dragon. The Sylvari is the only race whose intro story is actually relevant to the larger personal story of the core game. You meet Trahearne and establish a relationship with him early, which removes that whole "who is this guy and why did he just usurp my primacy" thing. You also (depending on story choices), wield Caladbolg before Trahearne does, too, and set up the whole reason why Trahearne even gets it. You *also* set Caithe on the path to trying to reunite Destiny's Edge. So you're the entire reason every dungeon exists, and why they ultimately get back together at the end. As a Sylvari, you're the only race immune to Zhaitan's corruption, so you can go and do things (in theory) the other races couldn't. In Season 1/2 You're working against another Sylvari to prevent the destruction of the world, so the stakes are a bit higher for you. You learn that maybe Zhaitan *wasn't* the dragon you were meant to slay. You get to fight the actual dragon you fought in the Dream back in your intro story. The Caithe who steals Aurene's egg isn't just "that weird plant chick from Destiny's Edge who is following you for some reason", she's your mentor and your friend who betrays your trust. That makes the subsequent long road to restore the friendship make more sense. The Pale Tree getting injured is a much bigger deal to a Sylvari, and her asking for your direct intervention and help makes more sense when she's been doing that since the day you came out of the pod. (I.e. - she's asking one of her children to help - not some random from another race.) In HoT: Obviously, the entire thing interweaves heavily with the Sylvari. You learn your origins, you're fighting against your god, and you even hear Mordremoth whispering in your head. It becomes your first big test as a solo leader - moreso if you're Sylvari: Trahearne disappears, and everyone mistrusts you. you need to lead the Pact recovery while trying to rebuild trust in your entire species. Killing Trahearne becomes a bit more personal, because you knew him that much longer. Bonus: the Knight of the Thorn sidequest is *immensely* personal if you were a prior wielder and a Sylvari. This is the only weapon the Pale Tree ever made, and it is the weapon of Sylvari heroes. After that Sylvari obviously fall out of the limelight, although as you remain uniquely immune to Dragon corruption you're a safer bet to fight against Kralk than other races. And as a bonus, you're *also* immune to the Scarab Plague, unlike humans. (And you don't really have a dog in the fight with Norn and Charr civil conflicts, so you can be an effective neutral third party.) On top of all of that, here's the best kicker: you're the only Sylvari in Dragon's Watch, so by playing one you're keeping the "one of every race" theme intact from Destiny's Edge. The fact that Destiny's Edge had every race as a member was actually a really big deal, and keeping that concept intact is lore relevant even if it has no impact on the story. Really, every race finds its time to shine (except the poor Asura), but I'll confess that my Sylvari became my new main over my Asura Ranger and Human Necro specifically because of how much better the story felt to play through with him.

I can't speak to every class, but I solo 100% of the time, and can speak to that experience on three classes: Rangers, Necros, and Warriors. I'm also a very casual player, which means (a) I don't focus on perfection, and (b) I'm not very good. So view my comments through that lens. 😁 Ranger: Having a pet vastly simplifies a lot of encounters. Many of them can be incredibly tanky, and unless you aggro a whole group onto yourself you'll find it very simple to take on most open world content (and even some dungeons and Champions). And they benefit from having very solid weapon choices; longbows are powerful and give good utility, as are greatswords. Axes and swords are a mixed bag but both find their place in various builds. While the Druid elite is generally not useful for a solo character, a Soulbeast is basically a direct upgrade to everything Rangers do: it makes your pets more powerful, and it makes you more powerful when you merge with them. Rangers are an incredibly common solo class specifically because they're tough, well-rounded, can self buff effectively, and get a pet for a sidekick to take the heat off. Plus, you get to travel the world and find pets! Necromancer: You've played it, so no need to expand. I will say that I grew annoyed with my Necro, and she's now mostly shelved and kept for crafting purposes. Warrior: My current main. While it's not going to win any awards for being the most OP class in the game (that'd be Guardians and Revenants), what I appreciate about my Warrior is that he's incredibly reliable, survivable, and functional. He has high sustain and moderate damage the way I play him, but it's just as easy to build for high damage if I wanted to go that route. They have some solid weapon choices (for melee; range is kinda meh) which means you're not stuck playing one weapon forever. And the Adrenaline mechanic is simple and easy to use; I'm not much of a keyboard wizard, so I tend to suck at classes that require you to play the piano on every fight. I haven't experimented with the Berserker Elite yet, because I honestly like Spellbreaker so much. Dagger mainhand is fast and fun to use, and Full Counter is a great ability; while you don't boonstrip much in PvE, it's damage mitigation, damage, and it resets your F1 skill at the same time.

I'm on the last legs of the Skyscale journey (currently collecting mats for the saddle), and I will readily agree that it was definitely not fun and absolutely too grindy and repetitive. However, an observation: "repetitive and grindy" basically describes 75% or more of the activities in this game. Everything beyond basic exotic gear requires farming some custom map-specific material in ridiculous quantities, or running time-gated events, or both. So it's par for the course for "end game" activities in GW2. And there are really two meta-categories of people that play this game: People that are prepared to do whatever it takes to get an edge (whether it be in raid DPS, WvW/PvP dominance, or Fashion Wars) Casuals who just want to fart around and play People in group 2 (of which I'm one) need to decide their tolerance level for "forever grinding", because if they hate it then their experience in GW2 will be somewhat limited. (Unless they are eternally patient and willing to spend months accumulating things.)