kash.9213

If you ever try to break in a friend who's new to WvW, maybe try clouding your sides zerg part of the time. There's a huge difference in the feel of the fight and how oriented or disoriented they'll be moving with a core of a squad or floating around it or weaving in and out of it. There're a few focal points they might zero in on when they're covering their people or running interception for them. I say cloud them sometimes instead of join squad because you'd be a dot and a health bar their commander is wondering about otherwise. They might find themselves scanning the horizon and peripheral in a different way and pick up on creeping stealth signs and all that, and they might tune into the different types of map lag as a heads up (sometimes I can feel the exact moment that I need to drop some stuff and run interception for my side who haven't scoped anything out yet from the type of map lag). That might ease up on some of the pressure they're probably feeling trying not to mess up too bad or have to run from spawn too much. I also think the different vantage points can help tune into body language from all sides more and that might give them better reaction time or be able to get ahead of stuff. I feel like floating in and out and around is the safest way for me to support and get around but there are a handful of commanders who move how I like to move with a fight. I feel super stuck sometimes being totally dialed into a squad where it's do or die by their calls because you've committed to their lane and how far they've driven into stuff already.

I'll leave the rest of that but the cloud driving away new players is a new thing to me. My server has a loose core of regulars and guilds, but we're not stacked unless we get a few quick transfers for a match. Cloud fighting and travel might be one of the major things that keeps our server from tanking entirely and newer players actually have some options on a map, especially in matches when we're not stacked and there's not a lot of large scale tags to get a full rolling blob going. It's also probably a factor in what makes a match against Mag just a normal match because regular and newer players, at least when I'm logged in, have people to link up with to move around the map. I haven't felt a huge numbers imbalance in those matches for a few years and it was never for long anyway, so we're not losing that many on those weeks. I get that it can be largely different server to server and I'm not discounting your perspective, but I feel like if that kind of fighting or team movement was the factor in driving away new players, we'd only have the same old feral pugs sneaking out of spawn every week.

I wouldn't actually bother to get one for them. If I had one sitting in my bag that could be handed over and they were crying in chat I might get tired of that and toss it at them so they get off the map and someone else can get in. I'd definitely just buy one. Making the armor gave me homework brain and I don't think I can wrap up the pve stuff for them. On second thought after you said that, I'm thinking they're just going sell whatever they make after all that crying so I'd swipe my Gift back and tell them to bounce.

If I could give you one I would if it meant keeping that kind of toxic behavior out of this game mode. I'm used to trash talk and people trying to get attention in chat, but you sound like you might be on another level. Leave that in raids and places like that please.

I have a Heal Specter template in WvW and it feels on point with the core of a squad in a moving fight when I'm not being interrupted under focus too much. I don't know how it holds up in raids and stuff though.

I mean I don't know how much I can weigh in or offer since I'm mostly in group to large scale fights and I mostly cover other people. Gotta fill my bags in a short amount of time. I run into smaller scale traveling around a map but I'm not trying to stick around long or set up duels. You're mostly looking for a build to seek out 1v1 and 1v2. You mentioned sword/dagger though and I just wanted to comment on that one. It's my favorite weapon kit but I wanted to be forward about the drawbacks I run into with it. It looks like a good baseline build for open maps. I'd need a little more vitality or toughness but it might be enough for what you're hitting up. I don't know if I'd take s/d with those traits except for Weakening Strikes though unless your weapon swap can generate stealth off target.

You can go ahead and still walk everywhere if you want to. You really trying to make the rest of us walk around everywhere because you think all those lost kills would have been yours if it weren't for those mounts and gliders? WvW maps don't have anything in them. You're not missing anything

Most baseline builds are going to be passable across the game modes. Then you pack your kit a little more personally depending on the matchups your server seems to get. I mostly find large moving fights to cover people because Specter is a vibe so I don't want to give you a bad take. I will say that s/d is great utility for map travel and being able to reach out and reach different topography (it also feels fluid in action cam, especially if you need to stagger evades out of a zerg or something and Flanking Strike can combo with jump to clear some annoying map objects but pathing in places like SMC can induce rage). But it can feel a little limp compared to something like sword/pistol when trading blows under a budget unless you load up a sword/dagger skill or two with compounding damage or effect, like stealing health on Tactical Strike interrupt or whatever to maybe get ahead of their mitigation.

Age of Conan pvp was a lot of fun also but it could get slide show laggy during a siege. I feel like people have said that ESO RvR was laggy and kind of shabby since launch even. I never got to go deep into that mode though so maybe they were all just talking trash. I think you'll find much of the same there because that's another RvR mode that's detached from the rest of the game. Forum people don't want open world pvp though so Boon Blobs are the content like it or not. I don't think GW2 WvW is in horrible shape if not great, but it's playerbase doesn't seem to actually want better when it comes down to it. Make all the balance changes everyone here wants and you'll still have the same WvW for the most part and the same WvW maps entirely.

I would leave Wells alone, but if you had to turn them into a flip skill: 1. They would need to lose their cast time and be tested through and through to be greasy fast and responsive. Our servers matchups have my main template running with 4 Wells along with Roll for Initiative. I can't have a lot of stop and go and Specter isn't supposed to turn thieves into static heal bots. 2. Keep the shadowstep modifier on the movement portion. I use traits that involve shadowsteps. I also have Acrobatics on that main template and I need shadowsteps to feed traits. Those Wells are kind working out right now so it would be a huge hit if I lost that pace all of the sudden.

You're going to change up your look at some point. I would peruse the wardrobe and try a bunch of armor piece combos to see what looks good and then what will cause clipping.

I don't think you're going to find another realm vs realm structure combined with GW2 comparable combat. I only keep playing because I still vibe after work with this game's movement and combat mechanics and animations. I get a similar visceral experience flying around WvW when a map is lit up that I do racing Roller Beatles. You're going to have to hope that your ideal game is being made or hope that Anet has a realistic but inspired view ahead for WvW.

I feel like you missed their point. No one's expecting 3 randos to fight off a blob. Also, no one is expecting their own blob to fold like a lawn chair depending on 3 map slots. On a related note, if your own blob can't get everyone in, they can focus on a kill order instead of trying to square up and flex the same way they always do. The other blob has to keep their composition together in your territory so the snowball is rolling down their side of the hill.

Ya I wish stealth was more about map travel and obfuscation and more about crafting a nice approach or opener, but degenerate is a huge stretch. I've played stealth in other games and this one actually requires steps and maintenance mostly and those steps can be messed with even.

People still getting themselves oneshot from stealth in the WvW forums though. People need to post their builds right next to their complaints from now on there because I feel like there are no parameters to go by when they talk about stealth, damage, mobility, etc. My condi specter templates are really close to baseline raid stats which have some vitality but not a lot of other modifiers to mitigate an opener, and I routinely survived opening sequences to bounce out and collect myself even if some people craft better openers than others. My own stealth doesn't mitigate that either if the cleaves and circles are already in play. I'm more prepared to face an opener on my Marauder Acro template but that's not very tanky either if I do get tagged and I'm still not getting closed out even if they got to prep a heavy sequence in stealth. I'm down for some Stealth critique because I think the visual gameplay and player to player dynamic could be handled better in that regard but it's not all that once I know their lane behavior. Guess I'm just not on that level where I can walk out there in full glass yet but they got me feeling like I should give a go. I'm more afraid of thieves who know what to line up to dismantle my mitigation to keep my Healthbar open and raw which is happening regardless of stealth and that might be more of who they're actually thinking about. I can see some argument for a need to counter stealth more if visual indicators could have given that dismantling away but I'm not sure it would.

I've seen towers and keeps fall while there have been plenty enough people on the maps logged in to fully respond, and they often don't. Juicing up those 20-30 or less defenders to compensate for a scrub server culture doesn't seem like the answer to me. I think the answer is going to be on the game mode scale and not on the player stat scale.

They could give you a one-time choice to replace that upgrade with another one that's within a cost range maybe and put that upgrade back on the shelf so you can decide if you want to go for it again at some point. Cost is one thing, but upgrades also involve build order decision making and time.

I think metabattle is pretty good for baseline templates that have a little bit of built in trouble shooting to cover a range of players and can be dominating against someone who hasn't packed for a moving fight. You staggered out Steal and were able to be surgical with it, where at some other time or being some other player, you might have needed secure follow up utility right away. But then if they survived your sequence, the meta might not have an answer if they're template is custom made for where they're at or for some kind of system they've developed (and if they're just really good and tuned in at the moment). I still have to keep a mostly meta specter raid template on hand even if I'm playing mostly Acro right now in WvW because it doesn't have an answer for everything, but it's pretty solid for its role and if I don't get melted right away then it's got legs.

I agree with that last part. Still, I don't think most of us are going to play WvW for what it is for very long. I can't imagine most people I see a lot in WvW not finding a standup fight somewhere after a few minutes of trying to wait out siege if siege fire and structure destruction happened at a more appropriate pace and boon ball blobs couldn't roll over stuff at breakneck speeds. It's not open world so there's no narrative, setting tone and atmosphere, or actual emergent encounters to make a siege route or even just sieging itself interesting. Those gvg groups are doing the fighting, plotting, and maneuvering we all actually log in to do but a lot of them made it stale and rigid and requiring everyone on the map to add to the mass or leave so now we're in a rut. If we're going to be motivated to really tune into the sieging mechanics and not find reasons to avoid it as well as avoiding fighting under siege fire entirely, then siege equipment and map mechanics and gimmicks needs to be in service of teams working on formations, positioning, tactics and movement (because again, there's nothing else related to the rest of the game going on in WvW) and not an annoyance or a roadblock to the fun part.

Save it. You can drop all that on their post.

Unfortunately, I think Specter is ahead of the class for what I think Anet had in mind to bring combat towards for pace and output. We lost our Alacrity right away and our boon and barrier generation is deliberate, surgical, and bursty. Scepter+?, Wells, and Shroud are designed to get to something or reach out to something else as a deliberate response in the moment and is tuned in more than most to team movement and flow. Specter is the class right now that embodies the dynamic and combat balance people say they want to see in WvW. At least I hope that's roughly their idea of where they want to see combat but it feels like they did a test run on Specter and then forgot where they were going with that.

When your two most celebrated forms of mitigation allow 100% damage to tag you unless you trait deep into modifying those actions at the cost of offense, then you don't need any kind of damage nerf. That's the opposite of safe play style.

Agree that portal is stupid and should be changed at least. Stealth is countered by even just cleaving with auto. It might be annoying to have a target be dropped and I'm not the only thief who has given suggestions to make it easier for the opponent to keep hold of and keep up with the target (I don't like that stop and go play either), but those get ignored in favor of rage screeching delete profession posts instead, so I'll just leave you to it. Initiative system is great. Don't dumb the game down or go play a dumb game that's a better fit for you. Initiative also makes it easy for Anet to quickly nerf a skill by pricing it out. Sucks for me but great for you so quit crying.

That's a good time to bounce and do something on your own or find another tag. You know that's going to be a lot of running across a map or standing around some siege. Unless you know that bunch can move and fight then it can be good aggro but you won't pull as much if they're already pressed.

Don't delete them at least if you're going to shelve them and keep adding to their ascended stat set over time maybe. Blob fights are some of the most fun I have with thief. The Initiative pool and how a lot of our animations move around an area and how many use topography are great to vibe with. Plus, some skill+skill combos and skill+jump/dodge combos add to that visceral feel similar to tunning into the moment and the map racing Roller Beatles. I know that doesn't speak on its effectiveness. Aside from having the options you need in your build on its own, I like to have a frequent leap on hand in blob fights for friendly fields for when I don't have enough of a lane to rubber band out and back in, like in tight SMC fights. I'm digging sword/dagger+scepter/pistol - Specter/Acro right now but I think rifle with DE traits was my second favorite for large fights, Silent Scope or Premeditation with M7, and felt most secure or mitigating to me. Rifle Death's Retreat and Advance are the real staff for me. It just feels more natural to land where I want, especially in Action Cam. I hear you though. Not trying to talk you into grinding with it. Just keep it in the books if you just want to feel the animations and stuff later on.