[Lets be honest, there is no logic to ranked mode. (Lets compile findings here)]

On 4/27/2024 at 1:07 AM, Invoker.5462 said:

* Teams are determined by the order of ready clicks - thus making it easy to 5 stack a ranked match (by having your boys click ready last)

Any evidence? 

[Relic Options]

Hi, I would like to see a discussion on synergetic build combinations with specific relics. My picks are as follows so far. 

Defender Relic + Virtuoso: heal per block (1 sec ICD). Carrion numbers: 1st heal @ 5%: 1250, 2nd heal @ 4%: 1000, etc. Has diminishing returns but rarely are the negligible numbers reached. 

Unseen Relic + Most Thieves: superspeed uptime via stealth usage seems reliable. Stacks with SA trait. Deadeye can dodge once for 5 seconds of superspeed (1.5 entry + 2 entry + 1.5 exit). 

Antitoxin Relic + any warrior (fast hands + brawler' recovery traits). 2 conditions removed per 5 second weapon swap. Possibly more useful on AoE cleanse builds? 

Speed Relic + any swiftness heavy build. 

Any good combinations you have found with particular relics? Also, is it fair for lynx and traveler runes to still have a +25% movement increase whereas all other runes (I think) seem watered down into simple stat modifiers? 

[SotO will bring some pretty putrid PvP builds...]

1 hour ago, shion.2084 said:

I know a Virt player who is positively drooling over what she's going to get.   Not sure what it was exactly... but something that super synergises.

Mirage and Chronomaner's Axe/Shield (extra evade and block for Virtuoso's block and evade traits). They also come with a double CC, a detarget, and blade generating skills too. 

[Roaming Mesmer builds]

On 8/3/2023 at 9:05 AM, Lincolnbeard.1735 said:

I mean just play inspi and/or chaos and pretend you're good at mesmer. 🤷‍♂️

I mean just consider all Mesmer builds but the one you play less relevant as a defense mechanism. 🤷‍♂️ A bit like saying you're the best fighter but only ever participating in Karate tournaments. Then you get taken down in a real fight and all you do is scream "this guy isn't good because he doesn't do it like me!" 

[why isnt willbender nerfed in wvw? ​​]

On 7/23/2023 at 4:13 PM, Junkpile.7439 said:

No idea why anet let players use elite specs in WvW when it's clear that elite specs are made for bad PvE player who can't do new PvE content without newest elite spec.  🤦‍♂️

Good post. Game would be easier to balance in the competitive lanes if they left all elite specializations to PvE. 

[The Virtuoso nerfs were motivated by spite, not balance]

It is because of the reliable unblockable confusion in between the solid defenses, which was a good answer to the current elementalist problem. Elementalist is a high APM class with projectile hate that constantly gets buffs, and CMC the knowledgeable but slow elementalist saw that good virtuosos had the sauce to handle the case so he handled it first behind closed doors at dev city. Glad I barely play this dumpster fire game anymore. P.S. I used to pull CMC through the old holes in skyhammer so I'm okay with him getting the last laugh. 

[There Were 5 nerf Hits On Virtuoso]

You can now dodge nothing at all and still trigger unblockable shatters, not much but better than having to always interact for it. It does open up new offensive doors and openings though. The requiem is now useable while cc'ed due to having no cast time, not much but better than having to use distortion when low on blades if all you need is a quick aegis. The channel time on renewal reduces defensive uptime but in return lowers the time needed to full stock for more aggressive offense. Again, just little silver linings. We will probably see work on requiem soon (tm). 

[Up to date mesmer build?]

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PiwAs+ZlJwUZJsLGKeOXvxKA-zZoOjMVB9KFc8AA Been using the same favorite main build since EoD beta and have had no issues with anything or anyone. Similar to a metabattle build but I prefer mirror heal for regular reflects (you can cast it for the reflect and cancel the cast if you don't need the heal). Possibly swap to rabid if facing glass power teams, sinister if facing bunkers or easy teams, or just stick to Carrion in general (especially against condition heavy teams). Biggest counter: inspiration signet virtuoso but it is not very common and only a threat if you get overzealous against them. They can bypass all your blocks as you can theirs but then they can also clear your conditions applied much more so you end up losing trades and have to kite more or disengage which isn't hard given condition virtuoso's poor chase ability. Thankfully they aren't as good at surviving outnumbered or rotating in general. 

[Make a proper free to play duel zone in PvP. "Gladiator" is too small and full of noobs interrupting duels.]

12 hours ago, JusticeRetroHunter.7684 said:

Maybe you are new, but the reason this public arena even exists is because players asked for a 1v1 dueling environment (carrying over the servers system) to be inside of HOTM because the duel server environment was probably the best thing socially about pvp. Anyone that has ever been in a duel server from those times, knows what I'm talking about. Everyone knew each other, there was codes of conduct, people learning, people teaching, people watching, people just having fun talking about whatever. It was the "Old Ascolon Crew" of PVP. 

The problem with the server system was the fact that the server system itself is poorly implemented...stuck in the corner of the games universe, closed off from random public accessibility, so it was always population starved, and looking at it today it's quiet obvious the effects of having it isolated...it's practically non-existent anymore.

About 8 years after launch and people asking for something like a public version of 1v1 dueling servers...they finally implemented it, and what we got was almost right except they messed up one thing which was that everyone is hostile to each other...

Making everyone hostile was a big mistake and its the only reason you have this ganking selfish nooblike behaviour going on in the public arena. If you played duel servers, you would know exactly why. In dueling servers, trolls were dealt with by players coming together to dispatch "duel interrupters." A pseudo police force to actually enforce a sense of order to the place. Both teams could in theory fight each other (and on rare occasion trolling did spur into server wide wars which was fun sometimes, sometimes not) but the point is that on both sides, the moral agreement is decided by majority ruling...(the unspoken consensus where the majority wanted to watch duels), therefor most of the trolls teammates would not help the troll, and the trolls enemies would enforce order by just farming said trolls.

The public arena has everyone hostile to one another and therefor "teaming up" to dispatch duel interrupters, gankers and trolls is pointless and order can't be enforced (without inadvertently hurting the teammates around you, causing more chaos).

As someone that designs systems...this is the most annoying thing about arena net...The above problem is very obvious to someone who designs things...aka user interfacing and how users interact with the system you made.  The ironic part is that Arenanet managed to take the worst aspect of the dueling server system : trolling and ganking, and turned it into the NORM in the public implementation. it's a joke...comical....embarrassing.

I know i said only one thing was wrong with it, but there is another issue... which is the size of the arena, is too small. A little knowledge about studies like Universe 25 would have been enough to realize that space is an important aspect to social behavior, but even without science, it should just be obvious. The smaller the arena, the more friendly fire there will be, the more liklyhood of gankers and trolling to ensue. You also just need space, for people to duel, and for people to watch them duel. If you played in the dueling servers, you would notice the spread of players. Players would first go to the central hub (mid node), where the most activity was expected to be. When someone else comes in and wants to duel, they asked, and they would go to another area, far enough away but not to far, to do that...a crowd would then grow there too...and this would spread to around the map. The size of the map, would house maybe 7-9 logical dueling area (close, mid, far, red base road, blue base road, close-mid road, far-mid road , blue base kings room, and red base kings room). Compare that size, to the public arena...which is about slightly bigger than middle node on Foefire...so do the math: There can be only 2 -3 separate duels maximum before the arena becomes chaotic. Comical design decisions.

Maybe I am new, maybe I have more experience than you, or maybe we just hold a different view or two. Internal debate to leave it at that or to equally partake in shenanigans commences. 🤔 😈 Speaking of comical decisions, you assume random things about someone you've never met without any evidence other than your own perspective and experiences. Hmmm. Anyone who was familiar or part of the dueling servers has to know what you're talking about and agree with you? Negative, oh great center of the world. Everything I said I stand by and all of what you said can exist as a separate and lesser view in the background for that matter. Also, make the arena bigger than the whole of Uranus for all I care, but I'm still going to backstab you in the front mid-duel while ignoring your basic buzz insults (troll, griefer, new) and move on to the next duel to interrupt. Does that mean I have no honor, that I am hostile, or that I know nothing of the old ways your sentimental trip down memory lane just noted? No, rather I am just enjoying the current game for what it is. No complaints here, as I see value in the way things are. To you, a smaller arena is grounds to complain because x, y and z won't stop touching you and your personal views on how things should be. To me, a smaller arena enables more variables to improve player flexibility to better handle variety. Anyways, as someone who does not care what you do, I wish you well in your hunt for justice sir assumes-a-lot. Meanwhile, I'll continue to thrive in any and all chaos. 

[ele has too much projectile denial]

Have you literally tried using unblockable projectiles? 

[Make a proper free to play duel zone in PvP. "Gladiator" is too small and full of noobs interrupting duels.]

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius... People are complaining about one of the coolest updates PvP has ever seen. HoTM used to be boring. Now we have a legitimate free-for-all arena in the game where everyone can hit everyone with no barriers to entry. You can dive bomb in and portal out, and even surrender to avoid the inevitable downstate process in situations where people jump you. It has pillars (also used for LoS) that healers can stand on to practice various skills on the fighting players below. You complain about people ruining your duels but that is exactly how sPvP is supposed to be and is just another variable for you to practice upon whether +1ing or getting +1ed. It has a cliff you can jump off of so you can say you did not technically die when fighting your bestie rival. It has something for everyone, and is perfect exactly as is. All in all, it is meant to make practice fun and queue time pass quicker. Meanwhile, traditional dueling is boring more often than not unless it is very skilled players showcasing class skill ceilings. How about, just ask for a 1v1 mode instead of trying to take away something so accessible, cool and unique? Otherwise welcome to a Guild Wars MMO, where communication and social skills may be required to experience the full game (in your case the uninterrupted 1v1 experience). 

[Which elite speculation would you remove from SPvP?]

Harbinger, because self-harm instead of a whole second health bar is not worth what you get in return. 

[So anybody else noticing suspicious games and PvP hacking from the minority of people in games straight up not even trying to hide it?]

Back when SA thief was able to actually maintain stealth easily, I enjoyed hackers. Just wait for them to teleport and speed hack to a safe place only to eat a 10k backstab into quickness combo followed by many smug body jumps. 

[Rune of the Trapper is terrible gameplay]

Still a few runes that have unique impacts on builds unlike others. Trapper is one of them. Rune of speed is another. Runes like these either get heavily nerfed or deleted from PvP. Remember thieves running around with rock dogs in PvP? It got deleted, just like sigil of air and fire, quickness sigil, etc. Both these above noted runes (trapper, speed) have been nerfed yet the overall utility they provide is still game changing (but not game breaking). If anything, they should have never made superspeed stack in duration in 2021 like swiftness does (which impacted this rune in a positive way given it gives 3 seconds of superspeed per trap used... so you ended up with racecar rangers and dragon hunters). Still, the viability of trapper builds are of little concern given how some basic techniques are all it takes to render them fairly ineffective. You said it is not about being overpowered (mostly objective and defined by measurements and evidence), rather it is just "terrible gameplay" (mostly subjective and measured by personal experience and opinion which varies depending on the person). The variable in this case seems to be a learn-to-play issue (not an insult and obviously just one opinion). Good luck. 

[Virt question]

Staff for conditions, as phase retreat has a high skill ceiling in regards to combat mobility on various terrains (so much that it used to be a primary pick for even power builds). Scepter for conditions, as the block and auto-attack generate blades more efficiently. Sword for power, as it has an altered leap when using Virtuoso. Builds basically use all tops on virtuoso line and it is easy to see why. Then most builds use Illusions (general bladesong improvements) paired with whatever other line fits your play style (passive defense for chaos, reactive defense for inspiration, aggressive offense for the other 2). And as another poster said, expect changes soon. 

[Bloated EoD specs need nerfs.]

Hard to take this seriously when you are also the player who thinks virtuoso is contesting points while in distortion. 

[Disable laying traps on points]

How about we elevate capture points and make them accessible via jump puzzles? Then trap random PvE bosses in them that contest the points towards neutral. 

[My dumb idea for a PvP game mode rework. Thoughts?]

Good post. Except top stats as is do no not always equate to quality play and should stay vestigial in their current form. To add incentive on acquiring these is to change what goes from a wining play style to one where roamers go around tagging kills for the sake of numbers, to bunkers and bruisers capturing and holding points in pairs in pursuit of top offense and defense, and healers roaming out of their way to heal players not in need while shooting for every revival despite 5% downed enemies being 2 meters away. The list goes on. Also how is it fair to lose nothing when you lose a match? Even in a perfect game where all possible metrics for being skilled are adequately documented, if you lose then you still lose. Rating loss should only be reduced when a team loses a player for a substantial time. Even then, the lost points should still remain to an extent to prevent top players from begging their way into no points lost ("please leave and I will pay you gold so I don't lose rating"). A reduction in loss per top stats acquired would be possible if many more top stats were added, maybe. Least deaths, secondary objectives completed, most crowd control applied, most attacks landed, least damage taken, most damage taken, most conditions applied, etc. Basically just over-saturate the match with top stats so nobody feels the need to redundantly compete amongst teammates for them, which will still bring incentive to always try without destroying the selfless fundamentals that get an actual win. Although, since this company refuses to embark in the most trivial of competitive endeavors, I would say just remove top stat symbols completely. They currently inaccurately paint a picture which inflates the egos of toxic and unhelpful players, often enabling them to continue losing trends. Stats also diminish the spirit of newer players who may or may not be on the right track regardless of their numbers. It is a shame when someone with top stats starts spamming nonsense at fundamentally efficient teammates because they have less symbols beside their name. 

[disable stealth for first 10 seconds at the start of 2s and 3s - OR - limit stealth duration stack per class]

9 hours ago, Trevor Boyer.6524 said:

However in 2s and 3s arenas, there are no nodes and no mechanics to keep ultra perma stealth from being seriously exploited and abused.

At the timer end, 2v2 and 3v3 mode does not allow stealth at all. This makes it easy to win if you are a bunker team against a stealth based team. If it is two teams without support trying to burst each other and the deciding factor is stealth then maybe one team should adapt given it gives you time between each round to do so. Stealth is fine. 

[[sPvP] WB Struggling in ATs & Top 100]

Have you tried speed runes on WB? Sacrifice slight damage to be faster than everyone who does not have high superspeed. Then Sword mainhand + Sword offhand both have mobility tied in them as well. Greatsword has a leap. Hammer has a teleport now. Think WB needs a bit of sustain sure, given it seems to have fallen off when it lost the double F2. But again, I've found with speed runes I can engage and disengage all major threats except superspeed scrappers (but they cannot teleport so usually just out port them-sw2/JI tricks). 

[Massive bot problem in pvp]

To the forum moderator coming to lock this thread: may you live forever. 

[[Conquest PVP] DD zerker Ele : Zero **** given]

"Entirety of the game existence" is an exaggeration whether through ignorance or misleading purposely. DD core elementalist was at the height of the meta for a good chunk of time in core GW2 PvP. Now every profession has lots of diversity with specializations so you can find something that fits you similarly if you get over yourself. But if you're so tied to a specific combination of weapons and traits, then have fun in the whambulance with all the other crippled one-tricks on their way to the nerfspital forum. 

[Just took 29k burning dmg in 29 hits and died instantly]

Permeating wrath trait. Applied an AoE burn per 3 strikes delivered. 1 AoE DOT on multiple enemies (especially when the damaged group brings NPCs such as pets or clones) has potential to mimic what you describe. So 1 strike from the damage over time area of effect red circle would hit multiple enemies and trigger the trait multiple times per second. Scepter 2 (symbol) hits 2 times per second for example. So each second of strikes from that symbol paired with the trait listed above would count towards applying multiple AoE burns. So in 4 seconds if 8 AoE strikes hit 5 targets on a point, then the area of effect burn applied to that area would equal 13 burns. Now if they put other symbols on top and you didn't notice, it increases further. If they used purging flames (utility skill), which hits 8 times AoE too and also causes another AoE burn per second (8 extra) then you and nearby allies would take 21 burns from a single AoE skill. Excuse the math, but as you see it is quite easy to quick stack huge burn damage as a guardian with little to no effort (depending on enemy skill, etc). 

[What is a good class for solo queue?]

Instead of what metabattle builds you have tried, list the builds and specializations you were most comfortable playing in WvW. Then maybe someone with extensive knowledge on similar stuff in PvP can help connect the dots to get you on track in the most effective way. Otherwise you'll just get lots of "play this spec because I get beat up by it lots". 

[having tempest support in a match]

I used to feel similar until Virtuoso got the unblockable bug fixed recently. Now I just roll up with a drive-by, swirling winds or randoms aura bubbles ignored.