[The Warclaw]

Warclaw is useless in PvE, one small dash and that's it, worse then then a base Raptor, don't feel pressured to get it.

But lets say you do want it anyway, but you're on the fence about WvW and maybe PvP, read it wasn't your style of play, I was on the fence too, but then I tried it, and once you get the hang of it, WvW can actually be really fun! Maybe you just had a rough start, could be a whole bunch of reasons, no activity on the map, playing a class that's not set up for WvW (That being a 1200 range weapon with a bit of AOE, and a mobility skill or two, least for zerg play), your team got steamrolled, etc.

My advice is to try at peak hours, 5:00 to 11:00 PM typically in NA, join a large group, and just follow them and kill things and cap points. Do that enough, read the chat lots, and you'll eventually start learning the in's and out's of WvW. Those being cap points and keep them protected and kill your enemies, it's that simple tbh. Mukluk also has a WvW beginner guide that's a great watch if you wanna learn about the basics before you start playing.

TL:DR: Warclaw is useless for PvE, but you might've just had a rough start in WvW anyway, try again during peak hours with a large group you see roaming the map, and don't get discouraged if something goes wrong, it happens in WvW with there being so many people.

[GW2 = best game of all time????]

This is a bait thread, but it gives me a opputunity too say there's only like, 7 truly good games ever made:

Dark Souls 1 

Earth Defense Force 2025/4.1

Final Fantasy Tactics

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite 

Fallout: New Vegas

DMC 3 

Armoured Core, uh, something, idk both the PS2 and PS3 games are good in dif ways I just haven't played any in bloody years, at least I have played the PS2 games unlike the mouth breathers who were all like "OMG New AC!!!!!1111 Can't wait to play a game I've only just heard about but I'll pretend I knew what it was for years when it comes out in 2027!!!!!!111"   

Also ARK is a good game but in a janky memey kinda way, I still have 1k hours in it and counting but still, janky and memey.

TL:DR: There are no good games, only games that suck less then others, GW2 in this case just sucks less then WoW and FF14 and thusly it makes it good, Yoshi "just play ultimate if you wanna feel engaged while spamming ONE BUTTIB as a healer lol" P is a f**king fraud and you can't tell me otherwise

[Thieves]

Holy crap this is the most obvious bait thread I've seen on the forums so far and people are still falling for it a month later

how

[Ele a good choice for a main?]

I can't give specifics cause I haven't played Ele in months, but lemme go over a few things you're gonna ask yourself if you do start playing ele to give you a idea of just how memey the class is:
"Why is Staff a huge meme weapon a Wizard of all classes?"

"Why do all of my Elite Specs require me to be in melee if I wanna play optimally? I'm a Wizard not a Fighter!"

"Why does my Wizard class incorporate "Cutting edge Jade Tech" into it's EoD spec? Why was this not a bow mage? Again, I'm a Wizard!"

"Why do I need to play the piano on my Keyboard to do what other classes can do with half the effort and double the fun?"

"I have pets, they're cool, but why do they not stay around when I mount up? Every other classes pet's do."

I'm oversimplifying this a lot and not going into as much detail on this as I would like but that's less of me being lazy and more me just not remembering those specifics, just me when I say that Ele doesn't feel great to play, the whole class is riddled with issues down to crap weapons, specs overly complex to the point of uselessness, and these insane rotations.

Please, if you want a class that's fun and Viable in all 3 modes, stick with Rev or Guard.

Would say to try Thief too cause all it's elite specs are good in PvE and PvP, but it SUUUUUCKS in WvW and it makes me sad as a Thief main : (

 

[Which Race do you resonate more with, Culture Wise?]

Slyvari easily, not even a question for me.

Play Charr exclusively, and while their background lore is interesting with the whole dieselpunk militarism stuff, I prefer Slyvari lore cause it feels more natural and less "aggressive."

Charr are this hyper militaristic society where the military is above all, not militaristic as in they go out waging wars, but just how it functions on a general level y'know? It's not quite SO bad where it's from the moment your born you go off to start training ,but rather from a young age you get sent to the Fahrah to go train to become a soldier. Only in recent lore is it starting to bite them in the kitten with the Charr Civil War. (how kitten-poorly IBS was handled notwithstanding) 

The Sylvari on the other hand feel very "human," (yes I know lol) as in they lead more natural lives, sure, they're born of the Pale Tree, but they don't owe her anything, some cut themselves off from her in fact, with the Charr, most of them are gonna end up as a cog in the military, barring those you see in Lions Arch and adventuring. Slyvari are free spirited, they can do what they what and go where they want, learn what they want, Ventari encouraged (Encouraged, not forced) them to go out and explore the world and live lives of virtue, but it doesn't feel forced like it does with the Charr,  it feel's like the perfect race for a MMORPG. 

Slyvari are literally born adventures, and from a lore perspective, I think they're the best.

[Deadeye or Daredevil for open world?]

Deadeye for general open world with lots of mobs, but DD works too

TL:DR: Here is a link to my own Deadeye open world build, it is best suited for lots of mobs rather then bosses, perma quick uptime depending on the amount of mobs.

Why Deadeye for open world? Be Quick or Be Killed is why, grants you quickness for 4 seconds when you steal, AND +200 extra power while under quickness. If you're in open world killing and stealing from lots of mobs, you're gonna have perma quickness uptime with no concentration, and 25 might, and fury, and vigor, and swiftness, and have a insta recharging daze on kill, you'll also gain initiative on steal too, steal has 1500 range on Deadeye too btw, oh and this is without allies too btw, but you'll be able to share everything but the quickness with them too cause lol.

How you ask? Purely with Deadeyes traits on full 'zerker, no sigils or runes required. Here is a link to my build that lets you accomplish this. This build relies on trickery and mostly camps rifle, you're looking for perma boons rather then building up and spending malice, I also bring a Shortbow for when rifle doesnt cut it for tagging.

I take deadly arts over the meta critical strikes for Mug, Mug gives you loads of HP if you're able to mark lots of mobs, and it does decent damage too, around 4k ish on the setup listed, kept me alive in HoT maps easily, but if you wanna stick with Deadly Arts you might be able to get away with Dagger Training for a little bit more power at the cost of some sustain. I could see this build working with critical strikes over deadly arts, but you still manage insane damage in dense packs of mobs with deadly arts,

Trickery is used to augment Deadeyes Mark, Bottom - Top - Middle like a lot of power Trickery builds. Mark recharges when your marked target dies and applies the boons on initial steal, so if you're in a meta constantly marking mobs you'll have perma steal boons and quick, plus a daze and more initiative, the more initiative from steal lets you spam weapon skills cause you can potetially never run out of initiative.

In Deadeye I take Burst of Shadows over the usual Malicious Intent, mobs are gonna die stupid quick with this build so a lot of times you won't be able to spend the malice on stealth attacks, Silent Scope gives you 100% crit chance thanks to it and perma fury, and Be Quick or Be Killed gives you and you only perma quickness in dense packs of mobs.

Now I'm embellishing this build a lot, and while it works very, very bloody well in packs of mobs in open world, it's not as great in places where's there's not many mobs, think bosses, bounties, etc, you won't have perma boons cause you won't be able to constantly mark targets, just the one boss, and you'll usually be able to have perma fury and might from allies anyway. I usually swap off to Malicious Intent and Maleficent Seven as those traits are better suited for bosses, so if you do decide to give this build a try pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease keep this in mind when facing bosses.

 

[I am shocked in the best possible way that Anet listened to our Deadeye patch feedback]

4 hours ago, Doctor Hide.6345 said:

Well, the pierce/penetration for all attacks won't happen. I took a two year break from the game when they decided to remove the penetration from Death's Judgment for all modes which pissed me off royally. So, I highly doubt they would add it to other attacks. I am surprised they even brought it back for Death's Judgement to an extent because from my understanding they didn't like it. 

I understand your frustration and skeptism, I main Thief and while I don't know whether you main it or not but you clearly have been burned at least a little by the constant ineffective and backwards changes, and I have too. But we need to appreciate every victory we get, and we need to show Anet that things like these changes are a step in the right direction.

Cannot put into words just how bad the Deadeye changes were, they could've killed it at a fundamental level, it's whole shtick is being a sniper and they almost got rid of it being a sniper. But instead they listened and changed it for, imo, the better, they didn't need to give rifle 4 this update but they did anyway.

I'm saying that we need to stay positive, it's too early to tell how CmC will compare to the old balance team, we gave Anet our feedback and they listened, not only that, they went a step further and gave Deadeye a new skill. But I will reiterate that it's important to be constructive if we think Anet is missing the mark, people saying the range changes suck are likely a big part of what got it reverted.

[I am shocked in the best possible way that Anet listened to our Deadeye patch feedback]

Just played Deadeye today cause I was so bumed out from the preview patch notes I didn't want to when the patch went live

Not only did they keep the 1500 range while kneeling, they also added a whole new skill to kneeling rifle 4! You can shadowstep if you step into the cover, that you can now place further away! It doesn't have to in front of you now, it makes the RP walk in kneel more useable cause you can use it to shadowstep away from danger! 

I know it's a small change, but the reason I'm so happy about it is that it's telling us that Anet listened to us, the 1500 range change was HORRIBLE, it killed Deadeye thematically, it's made to be a sniper and they were gonna gut what made it a sniper, but now we get to keep it, on top of Deaths Judgement piercing and the new kneeling skill, it makes me so, so happy, it keeps Deadeye fun and helps make it just a liiiiiitle bit less memey, haha.

Are there issues still? Of course, I still think the kneel initiative increase is silly and rifle could really use piercing on all it's attacks, and keeping with guns on Thief it'd be awesome if they brought Ricochet back to give us another tagging weapon other then Shortbow, but I still think this is a step in the right direction. 

My only issue is how they said nothing, when they were gonna nerf Mirage a while back they made a post saying they were gonna revert it, checking the dev tracker and don't see nothing about this change to the patch notes, only in the notes themselves are they listed, ideally they wouldn't have to make a update cause the patch would be perfect from the get go but more transparency would be apricated in cases like this.

[Equality among the races of Tyria]

50 minutes ago, TOAD.4718 said:

Hello,

 

My name is Toad and I’m with the E.R.T. (Equal rights Tyria) movement. I am here to discuss equality among the races of Tyria and more specifically the Hylek Tengu.

 

As a representative it is my duty to bring up a discussion about why the Hylek Tengu is not a playable race in GW 2. This must happen. Ranidaphobia Ornithophobia must stop! Our amphibious feathered friends deserve playable representation in this game.

 

Who’s with me?

 

Fixed this for you 😉

Real talk, I mean no ill will to Hylek, but if Anet were to add a new playable race Tengu would be the best bet. Putting aside my love for birds so I'll try to be objective. They got new models with EoD and iirc I think I read somewhere they were planned as a OG race but didn't make it. They have a presence in both Tyria and Cantha, they're treated more "equally" (idk how to say this without it sounding racist to other races) in Cantha, you'll see Tengu NPC's working alongside humans everywhere in Cantha, the lore and the ground work for Anet is already there and imo I think it'd be a natural fit. 

There's also the issue of race change and actual feasibility, if a new race was added, people would want to try it, but some people might not have any open character slots, some people may have a character with lots of gear and map completion and it'd be a waste to replace said character, so Anet would, imo, have to figure out a way to make race change a thing and I also read somewhere that I don't think they even can if they wanted. And what if a new race gets half a-s-sed? What if it's like FF14's new race where they're restricted to one gender and can't even wear helmets? What if there's other way's Anet cuts corners for a new race that ends up making it worse then the OG races? There's a lot of things to think about when asking for a new race, do I still want Tengu? Of course! I'd swap most of my chars to Tengu, I love birds, but sadly, I don't think it will ever happen.

Also, inb4  a certain forum user comes to this post and tells OP it's a repost, yes, we get it. We also get that bumped threads get deleted, too, thanks

 

[QOL: Stop the trolling of Objective Chests and NPCs]

Good lord, am I the only one who finds the Aviator Box and Bobblehead Factory a little funny even if I'm on the receiving end? Keep in mind too the whole reason someone will place it is to get a reaction out of people, like the Chaos Gods in Warhammer, they feed off your emotion and reactions, ignore it, brush it off , and go about your day and the people who do this will "starve", a la the Chaos Gods I mentioned. Sure while its fun to me it can be a bit annoying at the same time, but it's not annoying to the point I'd write a forum post about them!

[The Confused Button]

I'd rather them do away with all the emotes and just have the blue heart or purple trophy a-la the FF14 forums. imo it'd give people a quick way too say if they like or dislike a post, lotta likes, its a good post, no likes, might not be a good post.

[Can't use Electromagical Pulse during Drakkar and other events]

You can still use the EMP, it just gets overwritten by the essence until the essence is used. Drakkar isn't always vulnerable to them iirc so you can use them on mobs to get rid of it

[CMC should have been main balance dev from the beginning]

This thread reeks of bait to try and get others banned for taking bad of the devs

but I'll take the bait as I think I can make some good points. In short, it's too early to tell definitively if this new balance team will improve things, but from the patches we got the future is looking grim, Thief being changed in ways it doesn't need to be changed, power berserker still hasn't had any buffs, untamed is still the most clunky spec to play in the game, power willbender underperforming still, Ele's, uh, everything, I'd list other issues but you get my point. 

Can things be turned aroud? Course they can, but so far, the only patches we've gotten have ranged from "ok" to "literally killing a spec thematically"  (Deadeye) so I'm still not sold and I'm starting to get worried we won't see change for the better.

[Been a nice ride...but it had to end sometime...]

"Babe! it's time for your Bi Monthly class gutting balance patch"

Thief Mains: "Yes Anet ;(" 

Real talk though, the changes to Deadeyes range are what got me reeling here the most, it's designed to be a Sniper, sure it's the most meme-y class in GW2 because of that but you can still have fun with Deadeye. Anet reducing it's range to 1200 just feels like a spit in the face at a fundamental  level for Deadeye, the 1500 range gave the class flavour, made you feel like a Sniper cause you could pick people off from farther away then almost almost anyone, and now that's gone for three of it's abilities, and not abilities you never use like Staff 3 and 4, you actually use those abilities in day to day content, it feels like Anet is stripping away a part of what made Deadeye unique.

Other then that the other changes aren't great, not as bad as last patch but still not very good, increased imitative on Kneel is unnecessary and I don't see the limited movement speed being useful, Deaths Judgement pirecing is nice and helps make rifles rifle better at tagging, but then they juuuuuuuuuust had to reduce it's damage on unmarked targets.

Specter taking a third less damage after entering Shroud is ok, but I don't see this being better then buffing the coefffient back up in PvE or increase shadow force gain so you can enter shroud more, Spelter 2 is still useless and Specter STILL has reduced initiative.

Guess Daredevil got ok changes, not sure if it's gonna be enough to make it's elite more preferable then others, esspec with the massive CC you get from basi venom, not sure if it's gonna be enough to make it bench higher then 34k, and for a melee DPS class that locks you in place with its main damage move, that's not a great benchmark. 

[Aviator Box Poll]

1 hour ago, kharmin.7683 said:

Nope.  Poll irrelevant.

Looks like someone pressed the aviator box when they meant to get a chest 😉

[No Canthan music in Canthan guild hall wtf ?]

I'm not in a guild and likely never will be but this has to be a bug, I can't see them adding a Cantha guild hall with no EoD music

If it's not a bug then it's a shame then, EoD music is killer, like I'll crap talk things like EoD's story and performance, especially performance, but the music is just SOOOOOO good.

[Guild Wars 2 Balance Philosophy]

8 minutes ago, TheGrimoire.4039 said:

You keep asking for feedback but there's YEARS worth of feedback on the Elementalist forum, and nothing.
Sad to see.

I get it, I main Thief and I got burned pretty bad from the October changes to Specter and I know Ele has been shafted for like, ever, but we just got a new balance lead, balancing things take time, especially with how AWFUL it's been prior to Cal coming in.

Will he improve things overall? Who knows! There were good and bad things about the October patch, but we need to wait and see for more patches to form a good opinion. The communication in the form of this stream is a very good sign and them saying the read the forums is very good too.

[Maguuma needs dealt with.]

Yep, fighting Mag is preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty bad, my server is against them and they've always been in 1st place, sometimes reaching 50% score, it's crazy, they're like lemmings with how hyper fixated they are on EBG.

Tbh, I'm not sure how the issue could be fixed, maybe remove their link? They seem to have plenty of people already, idk though, just throwing some stuff out there.

[November 29 Balance Patch Wishes/Suggestions]

Ele pets stay after mounting up, Weaver is streamlined to be more accessible OR it's damage is buffed to give more incentive to memorize it's insane rotation (Condi DD does more damage, is much simpler, and EVADES CONSTANTLY during it's rotation). Add back Eye of The Storm trait on Tenpest, it was such a HUUUUUUGE QoL trait, what we have now feels a underwhelming.

Also streamline Untamed a bit, 7 class actions and 2 sets of weapon skills is a bit much, it feels so, so clunky

Specter's HP coefficient is brought back up in PvE, maybe 1.0 if anet is worried it'd be too much if was reverted to the original 1.69. Or if they do not wish to raise the shroud coefficient, allow specter to generate more shadow force, the thing that lets it gain shroud HP, more shadow force generated, less time to enter shroud. Daredevils staff skills 3 and 4 get reworked to make them more usable over spamming staff 2 and using staff 5 sometimes. Get rid of the 5% damage reduction on Deadly Aim, or BETTER YET, replace it with Ricochet to give Thief a dif tagging weapon that isn't Shortbow.

[Torch]

Torch might work for Ele, could easily come up with some magick BS that makes it so water form shoots vapor and earth shoots tiny grains of sand or rocks, and lightning causes fire so that wouldn't be much work.

But I think the reason why it doesn't have it atm is Ele is meant to be the bread and butter magic user, I get GW2 is Science-Fantasy to the MAX but even here we have professions that keep tech/science and magic/fantasy separate, Engi for tech, Ele for Magic. Anet when making Ele and it's elite spec's might've thought Torch veered too far from traditional mage.

Though imo though I think Ele with a Torch wouldn't look out of wack, you can still feasibly make it about manipulating the natural elements, hell a torch is fire on a stick after all.

BUT, I think for Ele's next spec would be best with a Longbow or Shortbow, I know bow's aren't traditional mage weapons but bowmages CAN work, I've played a bowmage once in Dark Souls 2. Plus, while it might not make sense from a tradition point of view, it's definitely a fantasy weapon so it sure works from that perspective. 

And man, Ele needs another ranged weapon too, I can't see torch being a ranged weapon, meanwhile bow would be ranged.

(could also rework staff to make it not a massive meme for a new-ish ranged weapon tbh)

[Yearly reminder to bring back ricochet]

Looked up this trait as I joined GW2 before it got removed, and it looks really cool. Gives P/P more AoE capability, right now Thief's only ranged AoE is shortbow, and while it is a good weapon with amazing tagging potential, it can get a bit old, a trait like this might make P/P a viable alternative to shortbow.

Another thing about this trait, it might make Thief not trash in WvW zergs, wiki said it boosted range by 150, that combined with bouncing between targets might allow you to get a lot of damage off with pistol 4, or daze multiple people with pistol 4, you NEED ranged in zergs, if you go into the enemy you insta die and Thief having no good 1200 range options (I said G O O D 1200 range option, rifle is a meme in wvw) kills it in wvw zergs

[Mechanist is dividing the Community]

Unlocked mechanist today, been doing some HP's so I can unlock holo and scrapper, I only leveled mech for the gloves but thought I might as well use it to get the HP's

Holy crap it's like cheating, the pet itself regularly hit's for 10k with the middle arms if you spam abilites, and has 50k HP with 2000 toughness, meaning it will always tank for you if you are solo. 

And that's just from me doing a few HP's and events, been reading it's builds online and this thing can heal and give alac too! Like, kitten anet! Vindicator can ONLY DPS, it's not even the best DPS, it's better now with the patch but Vinci sure as kitten can't fulfil 3 roles on one spec.

It's the fact that mech can do everything with seemingly no downsides, like you don't need to worry about specific toolbelt skills like other specs, you can camp rifle for consistent high to middling damage at 1200 range, and if you want, you can heal or give alac too! It invalidates other spec's by existing.

[Your PVP changes have ruined Specter]

I saw Teapots opinions on the changes and I'm glad he's bringing attention to it, but I don't think it's all doom and gloom, overall, Specter is still fine and viable

That however, doesn't make the shroud nerf in PvE any less asinine, I've said this in like 3 bloody posts by now but Shroud is to Specter what DD's dodge uptime is and Deadeyes Rifle 4 and Stealth access is to them, it's what makes all those specs survivable despite Thief's low HP.

Say you're fighting a group of tough mobs, maybe in HoT, but use whatever example you want, to survive the fight, a DD will dodge through, combined with Escapist's Fortitude for potentially ludicrous healing if there's lots of attacks going out. A Deadeye will go into stealth or Rifle 4 away, allowing them to kill the mobs from a safer distance, and Be Quick or Be Dead (quickness, extra power, on steal) plus Mug (Heal on Steal) can help with sustain. Specter will go into to survive, and depending on the first trait taken, either come out of Shroud with Barrier or automatically use Shroud when they would've been killed.

See the issue? It'd be like nerfing Rifle 4 or DD's dodges. something core to their kit that helps them survive.

And that's just my perspective from generalist open world play, in Stikes, where I mostly play Specter, it hurts even more. You can have easily have less then 10k HP in Shroud even with Partial Cele, try giving barrier/healing in something like Boneskinner or KO when it drops your shroud to nothing due to unavoidable mechanics or someone messing up. 

The well of bounty changes hurt too, it's not major, but Siphon already gives Full Fury Uptime without 100% boon duration, Might, and Vigor, the only thing good about the new well of Bounty is the stab and that's it. 

What can be done? They could change the coeffect to maybe something around 1.0 if they're worried, but imo, I think just reverting it back in PvE ONLY it'd be fine too. Well of Bounty could also be reverted without issue too, but if they wish to keep it as is, they could maybe add something like protection too it to make it more viable instead of giving it the same boons Siphon gives.

If they wanna keep Shroud as it is, perhaps they could increase the rate at which Specter gains Shadow Force, allowing you too keep going in more frequently. 

What makes this nerf so bitter and uncalled for people is just how unwarranted it was, Alac Specter wasn't the best healer, wasn't the best Alac DPS, and as a general healer without Alac it def wasn't the best, it was good, very good in fact, but it wasn't OP. 

[Feedback: Maid & Butler Outfits]

idk what too say, is this the Gemstore Team baiting the entirety of GW2? Is it purposefully trying to agitate people? Or are there people who genuinely want their dudes to wear a maid outfit? Not like even a androgynous looking dude that JUST EVER SO SLIGHTLY M I G H T  work with a maid outfit, but just some beefy af Charr or Norn?

Also should edit in that the butler one is at least a little cool, but the thing with these outfits is that it doesn't change the fact outfits as a whole are just lazy.
 

[Wishlist for the November balance patch]

Delete Cata and replace it with a Bow Mage as Anet SHOUDLVE done when they were first coming up with EoD specs


Ahem, for a more serious take, I'd like too see summons persist after you mount up, Ele is the only class who's pets they need to resummon, it can make them a pain in open world where you need to go from place to place 

Maybe bring back Eye of The Storm on Tempest, it was a such a nice QoL trait, what we have now feels useless, I think you can already give protection on Earth Overloads too.

And Weaver is overly complex to the point of uselessness imo, I'd love too see them either give people some incentive to memorize a insane rotation, or maybe streamline it a little.

Like really, why would I bother with a intricate almost (iirc) 100 button rotation if I don't even do the max DPS out of any class in the game AND my Condi DD does more with a rotation that uses 5 buttons on a simple loop? Or my Vindicator that also does half decent DPS with a not super complex rotation and having a evade built into it?