Psytharsis.9087

Happy they added a pet too. I'm still hoping they eventually allow pet variations, even if it's just cosmetic e.g. PoF hyena skin instead of vanilla, sun bear from EoD skin for brown bear etc.

Hello, Not a game breaking bug at all, but thought it's worth posting anyway. Replaying through the story on a new character and noticed the section where a ranger is supposed to be able to tame the dog doesn't work, or at least didn't for me, after breaking the defiance bar. I would get Canach's prompt about it, but pressing F would do nothing (i haven't remapped interact either). I originally tried as a Druid, then went back to try it as Core ranger, which didn't work either. I started the instance again as a Druid to see if it was a random bug I created somehow, but it didn't work a second time either.

Appreciate responses all, thank you! I'm planning on starting a new character relatively soonish so will keep all these in mind I get that in terms on build variety, most classes are quite versatile. It's more gameplay variety I'm after that the elite specs provide. Ele elites are okay, but I feel catalyst doesn't offer too much other than an F5 skill, the other two aren't so bad. I'd love a class where the elite changes them a lot, similar to how engi gets a 'pet' golem, or the untamed unleash mechanic changing all the skills slightly, which is kind of similar to ele. I just felt like ele elites didn't change much of the class; we're just adding the extra mechanic into cycling through the same elements. Weaver was probably my favorite but like I said I get bored after a while and like to switch up a lot. This could all change depending on what they had in mind for adding new tools to classes in the next expansion I suppose, who knows 🙂

Thanks all, I'll take a look at these 🙂

Hi all, I love gw2 but the way I play I get bored very quickly. I don't create alts and like to main a single class. I've been maining elementalist for a long time but I'm not satisfied with the game play variety provided by the specializations; I feel like they're all very similar to each other. This isn't a criticism, just a personal flaw I guess, I get bored and like to switch up gameplay as much as I can (without switching base class). What class would you recommend to feed my hunger for gameplay variety? I want to be able to switch specializations and completely change the way I'm playing, or at least, the class that would provide this the most for me. Thanks.

Nvm I was dumb - missed the book among loads of crap in my bags

Hi all, Perhaps I've missed something here. I've finished all 3 tiers of ad infinitum, crafted unbound and spoken to Kelvei in Fractal hub, but the Tier 4 collection is still locked. I've tried re-logging etc. Have I missed a step out? Thanks

I feel like Ele's will for sure get a ranged weapon next (if we do we more especs) as even on the character creations it says prefers ranged; feel like you can't justify that having 2/4 of the possible specs being melee orientated 😂, and even then, tempest overloads require fairly close range. I agree with what people have mentioned about trait reworks and more arcane focused improvements. Those skills have taken a back seat for a bit and could do with some visual updates too (looking at you arcane wave). I like the idea of conjures and it's one of the only unique utilities left as an ele, but I agree that they just don't feel good to use. I'd like to have a reason to use fire axe for example, also why does fiery greatsword have such a high cool down?! Would like to see elites improving, particularly FGS and tornado. I doubt trait reworks will happen though, to a huge extent but I wouldn't be opposed to it. Might sound silly but I wish we had more explicit trait líne categories, like where rangers has beast mastery and skirmisher we just have elements (I understand the general design is the same but it doesn't feel the same). I enjoyed reading all of these ideas, and think they'd all be decent - slotting the elements like a rev as mentioned above i think might be a strong contender if anet do plan on giving us weapon swap, although I also feel like of they give us it, engineers would then protest to do a similar thing with toolbelt (do engineers also wish for weapon swap??) Just something out the box for me, less predictable with how Ele's currently run and I'm good😛.

Hi all, Thought I'd start another Ele espec discussion to look the the primary things we want to see from the next espec. For me, I'm more interested in generalized changes that have been bothering me a bit since catalyst came out. Don't get me wrong, I'm also hoping for a 'ranged longbow pls' espec, but there are other things I want more, personally. I don't want this to become another ele apathy thread: 1. Animations - The animations on ele have always been fairly flashy and fun to use, which makes sense considering the lore behind the class. However, the catalyst left me feeling slightly underwhelmed in this area, compared to other classes. You only need to look at virtuoso and how amazing their utilities look, even restocking blades looks cool, but compared to catalyst utilities, we just have small element balls float around our feet that are barely noticeable, and our ultimate is largely the same, just different colored balls floating down to us. I understand perhaps this is due to the more melee-oriented classes they are accompanying, so I'm hoping future ranged class animations will rival that of the virtuso, because right now I don't feel like a powerful spellcaster. I don't expect too much from weapon skills, but I would like to see improvements in some areas; the air hammer autoattack and skill 5 are unnoticeable and I am often only notified that I've fired it in the correct area (I have cast on mouse location) due to me gaining an aura. 2. Alternative gameplay - I feel like this might be harder to do. Ele is fun, and a lot of the appeal (I think, at least for me) is the piano play, or at least the ability to cycle through a lot more skills, which closely resembles more traditional MMO's having 2/3+ bars of skills to play with. Having said that, the 3 especs to comes out of the game so far, I feel, haven't changed gameplay too much. The added mechanics are fun to use, but we are still cycling through the elements (even more so considering how close weave self & grand finale are to each other). I understand some builds might benefit from staying in a single element, but I would like to see a more drastic change to how ele can be played going forward. Mesmers lost their clones, rangers lost their pet swap/pet, but we have yet to experience a true loss/gain that changes up gameplay, that I'm longing for. I understand this is harder for ele's considering the traits are tied to elements rather than generalized like the other classes, but there are ways around it by how the espec traits are designed or mechanics themselves (e.g. don't have ele cycle through, but give their weapon skills an aspect, and give weapon swap, which I know is a popular request?) 3. More impactful utility - While I enjoy the ele specs, similar to what I've spoken about above, the utilities seems to do the same or very similar things. Generally, it's like: Fire utility - Damage / Burns / Might Water utility - damage/heals / chills / regen Lightning utility - damage/vulnerability/superspeed & stun-break Earth utility - damage / bleeds / protection/barrier Weaver changed it up a bit with unravel, Catalyst started to change it up slightly with water utility being something other than support based, but the rest were vaguely familiar utilities. I'd like to see more useful, impactful utilities. For a strong spellcaster, I feel that vibe is given off to other specs. Take portals for example; mesmers can as strong magical duelists, necromancers can as manipulators of the desert and....thieves can? I understand the lore behind all of these, but you can incorporate it with Ele too, fashion around the air element that has usually been our shadowsteps / teleport element. This isnt a cry for ele portals, but an example of how I feel other classes have a lot more 'wow that's cool, and useful for the group' spells, than Ele, who I personally feel while playing is just mainly: elements, damage, conditions, boons (I realize that's most classes if you boil it down, but you know what I mean!). There's so much potential for ele, which I'll discuss in the next point 4. With regards to the above two, more creative direction - I don't mean to say the last specs weren't creative, but regarding what I've said above, I would like to see ele gameplay switched up a lot in the next xpac. As I said previously, losing our elements (or some) and giving our weapon skills more of an impact would be nice, although I understand the difficulty of this with our traits. Nevertheless, doing what people have said before would work in most cases, e.g. introducing a new element, where element switching doesn't give new skills, just modifies slightly that still uses trait lines. Additionally, I'd like to see cool utilities to really show what elementalists are capable of as primal spellcasters. For example, having the elementalist morph (water element) into an allied party member, gaining all of their currently equipped weapon/utility skills for a short time, but keeping own traits (would probably be a long c/d ultimate, interacts heavily with espec traits). Or creating a lightning clone of yourself that copies what the elementalist does exactly (weapon skills only). Or some kind of fire spell that tethers to allies, superheating their weapons granting them ____ while reducing ele damage, but giving superior healing abilities, and ele can no longer attune to fire (perhaps the mechanic here is the play of opposing elements; e.g. ele dispenses water element to allies, giving them all superior support abilities, increasing ele damage, but drastically reducing eles own support abilities, ele can no longer attune to water until a different element is dispensed (EDIT maybe this could be the main idea of the weathermancer below)?). These may sound stupid and may never work, but are just examples of the kind of 'cool, gameplay changing' skills I'd be looking for, that really shows ele as a strong, versatile caster. Another idea that might be more doable would be some sort of weathermancer, that changed the weather to provide a stronger support / damage, where it actually temporarily changes the weather effects of the current instance (could even have interaction out of combat, a few elementalists get together to cast same spell, changes weather around them for short time, similar to rangers mist wolf? Again, I'm not suggesting these as serious ideas more examples of the extent to which I'd like to see gameplay changing up and more utility/spellcasting capabilities of the ele that make it feel good, and powerful as it should be. What kind of things would you like to see going forward?

I remember that too, it was very satisfying to play, and would like to see something like that in the future maybe. I also hope that ANet stop shying away from giving Ele more utility; I understand that Ele's are the jack-of-all-trades class, but it's a shame to not have access to things other classes do because of this (I distinctly remember in one of the spec showcases that a dev said they thought about a smoke cloud for earth sphere but where quickly like 'No way, we can't give ele invisibility too' or something like that). I understand why perhaps with balancing but I'd rather them give us more options and nerf others in new specs rather than be stuck with the same old tools. Catalyst gave us quickness and some others we haven't been able to offer which is a step in the right direction, I just hope it continues; you'd think "spellcasters that command primal forces" would have more than a few tricks up their sleeve 😛

That's true, and part of the reason I main an ele. I agree with everything you've said, I just hope that the playstyle introduced by the specs make gameplay different enough with multiple weapons to make it distinct from core & fun to play. Weaver and tempest were great for me personally, as tempest gave me a more support role to play in the group, which I have always historically been in MMO's, and weaver was frantic piano play which I also loved. Catalyst is fun in its own right, but It fell off a lot when trying it with core weapons, for me at least. That spec you proposed seems super interesting though, I'd love to see ele get an actual weapon swap at some point, and i'd be interested to see how they do it (if they do)

I think you're right, and I don't think there are too many options left for Ele specs that don't somewhat resemble another class or spec. I feel that going forward they will start to design Ele specs similar to the tempest or by reducing the mechanics like you say. I don't think Ele's will get a weapon swap but I do think new element(s) will be introduced, possibly void as a kind of 'ultimate' element like you say. It's tough though; I do hope they manage to bring some of the identity back in the next spec. Like I said, I am enjoying the Catalyst but I have no motivation to play it with other weapons right now.

Hi all. I've been pondering this question for a while now while I've been lurking in the forum's reading all the reactions toward the new expac and the catalyst. While I am enjoying the catalyst and hammer, I agree with a lot of the posts that suggest the Elementalist has an identity issue - especially with this spec. Looking at the other specs, they seem to be in line with what is expected of a new elite spec (an alternative way to play the core mechanics of the class). For example, mesmer got their clones taken away and replaced, ranger have an interaction skill between their pet and themselves that changes all weapon skills depending on the current target of the mechanic, revenants get a new dodge and a duel legend that performs differently depending on which is invoked. It doesn't seem the Elementalist got the same treatment this time around, which may be understandable given that weaver was a lot of work, needing to add way more extra skills than any other profession. But our core mechanic never changed, we got an extra feature and a new weapon; without playing catalyst with a hammer, the spec does not feel 'elite' rather an addition to the regular trait lines that adds an extra functionality to the class. Whereas other classes and the Elementalist's previous specs got changes to their core mechanics, Ele's didn't, which obviously contributes to the identity crisis when using this spec with other weapons, and also poses the problem of balancing when trying to give specs a trade-off so playing core is still a viable option, when catalyst just feels like a direct upgrade as little has changed. This isn't a complaint post; designing new specs is likely hard to do, especially when the class inherently has more weapon skills than any other profession. But what can ANet do going forward to solve this for Ele's, without forcing them to add new skills to each weapon like the weaver, to avoid extra work and to prevent it being too similar to the weaver? I want to encourage discussion about the future specs for ele and how they can maintain their identity while providing a substantially alternative way to play. Options I've been thinking of is the ability to attune to 1 or 2 attunements only outside of combat (similar to how weapon swap works for Ele's now) and give us the ability to swap weapons in combat. Another alternative i was thinking was perhaps an avatar system where the ele builds up elemental energy during combat which can then be used to turn into an avatar of that element (similar to necro shroud) with unique skills. It's difficult to come up with ideas though that don't start to share identity with other classes (necro shroud) or give Ele's a unique identity in the spec without adding a shed load of new skills; the avatar idea would face a similar issue to catalyst; without whatever new weapon that gets added, it would just be core, with an extra feature. An obvious option would be to add a new element (void?), but that would give the ele even more of a skillset compared to other classes. Okay, so we allow the ele to swap elements outside of combat similar the the weapon swap idea, but then are we delving into other classes too much (rev legend swapping). This is the problem I'm curious about and wondered what everyone else thinks going forward? As a side note, I would personally like to see new specs less focused on elements (ironic given the topic of this post) and more on the arcane side of things; necros are getting elixirs, rangers got spell casting with less focus on pets with druid; can't Ele's get a new quirky spec without disrupting identity too much, other spell schools that can be enhanced with the elemental mechanic?

I believe this may have been available recently but I sadly missed it - the Ice Reaver Cape; the full set of armor is available right now, seems a shame to leave the cape out, I need it to finish off the set!

I agree with a lot of this, and saved me writing a post. I am having a lot of fun with it regardless, but my main issues are the hammer 3 getting cancelled when it's blocked, putting the grand finale skill on cooldown. I'd prefer if it didn't cancel the projectile, but if they want this in for balance, at least do not put grand finale on cooldown and let us fire the other projectiles off. Like most other people, I'd prefer a slightly longer uptime of the projectile, but this isn't an absolute necessity, I'm enjoying the quick playstyle against the slow movement of the hammer. The aesthetics and animations are another main QoL I'd like as you said, lightning 5 is awful and you can barely see it; similar with the augments and ult, there are barely any noticeable visuals, which I'd like improved in the future, even if they're small improvements. Lastly, I'm not sure how I feel about elemental empowerment grandmaster trait. I understand this buff in general is very strong, but it feels like unless you go all out into traits that directly give you stacks of it, it's nigh on impossible to get max stacks. I have no problem in going all in on a specific build, that's fine, but idk, I feel like there's a very limited window and use for this GM trait. I've not played around with the full set of related traits so perhaps if I did, I'd see how easy / difficult it is to attain and there wouldn't be an issue. I'm all for difficulty and the reward for succeeding though, so perhaps anyone who has experimented on this aspect of the catalyst can provide clarity on this?

After playing around with it a little bit, I don't mind the spec in general. It's nice to have a slower paced weapon while maintaining the complexity of elementalist mechanics. That being said, there are a couple of things I noticed that i'm sure many others have said above: - the projectile '3' skill doesn't fit anywhere due to its duration, there was no rotation I used that made it feel worthwhile, unless i cycled through immediately, which just felt wrong - jade sphere doesn't bother me as much, although with it changing attunement with PC, it defeats object of casting on self for utility benefits in ranged vs. melee attunements. I suppose casting the sphere on self/mob will be situational. Having the sphere follow the player like many have said may be a big improvement - Fire skill 5 seems a bit odd, considering it's a mid-range skillset with a close range slam; suppose it acts as bridge to switching to a melee attunement, but regardless, feels a bit off - Utilities didn't have any noticeable animations or effects which is very disappointing; having the double strikes water utility having watery images of the PC performing the extra strikes would be cool as an example. Otherwise they don't feel good to use I'm still unsure what I think on a whole; it's very different and will take some getting used to. Admittedly, at the minute the hammer or utilities don't feel good to use (numbers aside). But perhaps this is because of the comparison between this and the fast paced / fluid nature of weaver and tempest, and will just take some getting used to. I can see this spec being challengingly enjoyable once I get to grips with it (all from PvE perspective).

I'd love to see the unlimited spirits of the wild gathering tools. They would fit my character perfectly however I was unable to play during December and missed my opportunity to pick them up. Would like to see them return if possible. Thanks 🙂

Ahh okay I have some of those but never used so i'll check it out. Didn't realized it propelled you forward haha. Thanks. It doesnt propel you forward. Thats prob just the scanner trailAhh i see so it was just coincidence; perhaps they TP'd at the same time then. Thanks :)

Ahh okay I have some of those but never used so i'll check it out. Didn't realized it propelled you forward haha. Thanks.

Hey guys, was just flying through desert highlands when I heard a weird pinging noise (often used on scanners in the game) I turned around quickly and saw a glimpse of an Asura before he made the noise and darted off again. https://youtu.be/is_vjJtQ3wY IS this a profession skill, or item? Just wondering because it could be handy to have. Thanks

Hello, For the last couple of weeks, me and a friend have been experiencing random disconnects and unusual connection error messages. For example, periodically (perhaps once every 30 mins or so) we will get a message saying the client is unable to connect to the login server; however we can continue playing fine and clicking OK on the dialogue box gets rid of it and all is good. Sometimes, it does disconnect us, and this is independent (i.e. does not happen to both of us at the same time). Yesterday however, we were completing a story dungeon mission and we both disconnected at the exact same time, and were removed from the instance. I don't think this is an ISP issue as we both live in different parts of the UK on different ISP's. I tried searching to see if anyone had similar issues but I could not find any posts, but I apologize if this has already been brought to attention. If anyone knows how to rectify this, I would be greatly appreciative! Thanks

A couple things I remember is ranger pets on release had to be revived like normal players / NPC's. I remember confusion being ridiculously over powered at one stage, where 6+ stacks from a traited mesmer and using a skill would almost down you but I dunno if it was a bug. There was also a time when mesmer fall damage trait was bugged, and when landing onto players insta downed them (i think)

I don't think they would add a shapeshifter class as Norns are technically shapeshifters and soulbeast is almost like shapeshifting in a way. I think the recent changes to shouts is perhaps a clue to the next spec; my take is that the current elites are aimed at making 1 aspect strong with a trade off for the other; druid gets good support/heal ability at 20% pet attribute tradeoff, soulbeast gets strong attributes, beast abilities/ condi dmg etc at the expense of a pet. Both of these target pets as the tradeoff, so I think the next elite will perhaps focus on strengthening the pet and using shouts as the new utilities, perhaps having two pets at once, or like some previously said, summoning much stronger beasts perhaps? No idea what weapons we'd get, but i'm excited to see what happens

This is what I meant, they don't know how to fully utilize their builds to their full potential, or lack the ability to play core mechanics making ANY build redundant at higher level play. I understand a true support player could easily keep up a DPS player when they're decent enough to know their class mechanics, boss mechanics and timings, i didn't mean to come across like I was undermining support roles at all. I do usually fully spec into specific roles, hence choosing logical trait builds, but like I say it's never going to be as good as meta or a more improved build. I know how to play druid, I played it a lot during and throughout the time of HoT release, but I have no doubt you will know their capabilities more than me. Like I say, I've never played it meta I don't think, but I know the core mechanics and have an idea of what their capabilities of through forums, chats with people in-game ect. Saying that, I haven't touched it for a while (wanted to come back to it after crafting nevermore as a refreshing change) so right now I'm pretty clueless for sure. It's just my play style I guess; sure there are specific builds which really shine on certain classes which really bring out their true potential, but I personally love to to try out new things everyday to stop my play style becoming stale, so sticking to a particular trait which would be fitting for a meta build for example, I'd run for maybe 3 days, then try something new as it keeps it fresh for me. I love building my own builds with what sounds fun and logically decent to play but this isn't always great for optimal frac or instanced play. I understand that, all I'm wishing for is a higher frequency of relaxed groups, looking for a laid-back, chill and fun run. Yeah, I understand that even for my playstyle i'm gonna need to make certain changes. I play a variety of roles so i'll have to adjust as needed. Thanks for the tips :) If i'm truly honest, I haven't YET been kicked based on DPS info. There was just 1 particular situation where someone asked me what build I was running and I explained how I like to play. I asked him if I was under performing, and he just said he looked at that last boss and said a little. So I'm not too sure about this yet. I think I exaggerated, I was having a nightmare at work that day and while the person in question was really amicable in it, with everything that happened that day it all added up and felt like people were on my case that day. So ignore the extent of that statement xD I don't hate the meta so to speak, it's more just adopting pre-made builds, idk it just feels mundane to me. Perhaps I do run something that isn't far off sometimes, I wouldn't know, but there's just something about slotting every skill in turn and creating a build that I really love in this game. It was the desert frac with the high priestess sunspear and the different god phases. The fight didn't take 2 hours per se, it was more like some left, others joined, which kept happening. I could try it solo but the build I ran for that particular time didn't have enough CC for the CC phase pre-mob / transition thing for just me. That and I'm probably not that good xD. I understand the problem with having a less than optimal build, but like I said to squallaus, I'm just wishful for a higher frequency of laid back frac players and teams. I don't mind so much about killing a boss in a quick time or having a quick run, a lot of the time I actually really enjoy the challenge of being in a less experienced party as there's the extra difficulty of trying to rez people, while dodging AoE's, and sustaining yourself through a long boss fight, I enjoy stuff like that! Ehh, smooth is subjective I guess, your smooth isn't probably my smooth true haha, but I've had seamless and swift frac runs, in t3 at least as I havn't quite been able to break into t4's yet for the reasons discussed. This is exactly what I'm trying to say with my post. I apologize to the others if it felt like I was slating DPS, roles in general or meta, I didn't intend to, I just mean that frequently I'm in groups which use supposedly meta builds but do not adhere to the mechanics of the fractal and blindly follow their meta rotations without any thought for dodging ect. If we have the DPS which should be noticable within the first couple seconds of the ice elemental, sure go for a quick DPS burst kill, but if not, adapt and use what the frac provides and indeed intends for you to use Not sure if this was a general comment for directed at me, but I generally do not mind longer runs. I wouldn't ever join a party with requirements though, I do respect those who wish for quick and effective runs, and I understand when specifically asking for chrono - druid etc that is going to entail an optimal build, gear and knowledge of how to play as such, and I wouldn't join because that's outright disrespectful.

Yeah I understand that completely. It's just hard to find non meta groups right now within the time frame I get to complete my dailies, and right now I don't have much time to work through the t4 fractals to be able to raise my personal frac level. It's funny, just the other day, I was in a daily t3 group, we were doing fine, finished 1 frac then they asked me to switch druid, which I was fine with but I said I don't know the meta build to pre-warn, and one just said 'google does' so I just said I'm not really about that so If you guys are set on using a meta druid then I'll leave, and they just said ok bye. It's just disheartening the slow lack of faith in anything but meta slowly creeping down fracts it seems. I am hoping to be able to start working through my fracs soon to start my own groups and maybe find a decent guild to frac with. Appreciate your post, I half expected some angry elitist responses, but yours was refreshing to read, thank you!