[Need Help to Decide between Engineer and Ranger]

Can't tell for engineer (will be my next char) but I do play Ranger often in pvp, wvw (boonbeast mostly) and open world.For open world ranger is the easy mode character. But I don't say it in a bad way because it is also a lot of fun for me. You have a pet that can tank for you or offer a lot of cc and help kite so you can solo pretty much anything out there including the hardest champs. You can do incrediblee burst dmg and performs just as well at range as in melee. Simple but very effective skills. Elite specs are a bit boring though. Druid just never clicked for me. Soulbeast is nice but it is really nothing special compared to most other elites. Definitely check different weapon options as ranger has various effective combinations.

[[Suggestion]Put The 3 Strike Mission Bosses Together and Make it a Raid]

Anet is all over the place with instanced content and imo doing it wrong. They keep adding and changing formats so now we have 3 active and one discontinued format which takes a huge amount of development from all aspects. And consequently updates for all of them are slow and quality is lower.

Anet, it is not the format that is the issue. It doesn't matter if it is 5 or 7 or 10 or 20 man, it is not the length of the dungeon, it is accessibility.

What you should do is have one or 2 format with several difficulties and making them accessible to everyone via Wow like LFR system on lowest difficulty. This way you have quality content which everyone can enjoy regardless if they just want stress free environment or hardcore guild runs.

Learn from Wow and their LFD, LFR systems. Casual players dislike making groups manually and sooner or later it always comes to gear/achiv/dps checks even if content is completely trivial. I remember people arguing dps in dungeons I could solo. You need LFR where you queue, play whatever you are playing and suddenly a raid pops up. No dps/geart/achiev checks, just hop in and play. And it is easy difficulty so checks should not be required and 10-20% of group size can carry.

[Stun, Knockback etc etc .. no way i keep playing melee]

@Dante.1508 said:That said yeah op play ranged or melee that can telelport in and out of combat, the mechanics in this game vastly side to ranged characters, every boss needs a ranged option, melee is just a death sentence most times.. The game mechanics have only gotten worse in the last four years, every character i own has a ranged option as a backup because this games mechanics are terrible on melee.

Instanced PVE heavily leans towards melee. Stack in melee even if ranged.Story I don't know really. Never had a problem with anything. My first class was a warrior and I played through the whole content (including hot and pof) as a melee noob with rare gear. Story bosses have really visible telegraphs.Open world PVE if you like to solo post HOT champions you have to adapt. Most can be soloed but there is really no overall rule that applies to all. Some needs to be kited and have really deadly melee attacks that will eat half of your hp bar or just plain one shot KO you. For those you need ranged kiter. Some are attrition battles that are best face tanked with a tank/heal build (I bring my melee Sword/Dagger tank weaver), some you just need to break that breakbar or you die for which I bring my melee cc monster warrior ...If you want an overall one to fit all open world PVE build for some relaxing play a ranged weapon is nice which is fine imo. It is not mandatory though.

[Why run as a 3+ gank squad when other teams only have solos running around ?]

gank or be ganked

[Dead Game? Population decreasing!]

@Antycypator.9874 said:

Istan (rewards from Palawadan were heavily nerfed)Bloodstone Fen (again it's mostly about Flax, but there is only 1 big event, not popular though).

Completely disagree, especially about Istan. I haven't had a problem finding at least one group doing the pala + GH + some filler events ever. I really like those 2 metas and do them regularly. Also often I see people meteor hunting.Bloodstone Fen is just a map I like for its verticality and go there to do some events and glide around for unbound magic. It's not a fully packed map but for a map that doesn't have a big meta with huge rewards it doesn't feel empty. There are always people around to help with events.

[Sky-scale - Acquirement]

I only found the very first part in Dragonfall a bit boring. Looking for a bunch of hidden items on one map is not my cup of tea and I don't enjoy content that much if I feel I need to resort to guides to tell me where that super hidden item is. I like exploring but not pixel hunting every little bit of a map if perhaps there is an item behind some rock that is only seen from a narrow angle.But from then on it was a joy. A nice mix of everything; events, jumping puzzles (loved those) and collecting items. Even the last part was fun for me, revisiting LW4 maps and just doing random stuff for currencies. I had most of them already in the bank so it wasn't tedious for me.

[Essence Manipulation Mastery]

I like map specific masteries. They can go over the top with new mechanics and not break balance on other maps.

[Stop with the camera auto zoom already!]

In other mmorpgs I could remap the zoom in/out to some obscure buttons for that once a year moment when I wanted to zoom in. I could than remap mouse wheel to something useful. I really like mouse wheel for controls.Here this is impossible. The camera keeps zooming for god knows why. And it's not just the zoom out at boss battles, that would actually be fine if it would return me to an original setting afterward.Just give me an option to lock camera zoom forever and that is it.

[Is Svaard Gear worth it?]

It's not hard to make and it is generally very useful set especially if you play WvW for exactly the reasons you want it - a nice increase in tankyness with not much compromise in power dmg. It will not go to waste.

Is it worth it or will it be useful for you? Only you know this. Game mode, profession, your play stile and skill...

[Use or Salvage unidentified gear?]

Always identify before salvage. You have a chance of getting rares and exotics even from blues. And from greens you will probably get more gold from ectos from rares than everything else. If you have enough bag space and salvage o matic its a breeze.

I don't know about selling outright. Like the poster above me said, they removed the magic find from identification process. The prices on TP dropped a lot since than.

[Stun, Knockback etc etc .. no way i keep playing melee]

You say same old skills and boring powers. But what is more boring than face tanking mobs with permanent stability?Just picking a few defensive utility skills solves the issue if dodge is not enough for you.But yeah active defense is the name of the game and in open world this usually just means moving out of the big yellow mark on the ground or behind the enemy when he is channeling his cc.There is another solution. CC them first.

[Returning Player- Can't Decide On a Profession]

I would really not bother to much with what is viable and what is not and play what I find fun. All the professions are viable in most plays, some more, some less. If your goal is a little bit of everything, you will be fine in any case.It is really easy to lvl up and gear multiple professions in GW2 so by the time you will want a very specific build for a specific goal you will have so many tomes of knowledge you will be able to get insta lvl 80 several times over (especially if you also play WvW).

[New player, hit 80 the other day.]

Hot maps are in the far west part of the world map, jungle maps beyond Rata Sum or Silwerwastes. First map is Verdant Brink.Pof maps are desert maps in the far south east of the world map. First map is Crystal Desert. You can always go to Crystal Desert with an air ship from Lion's Arch where the Pof Story begins.Off course you can always teleport to any way point in any of the maps once you unlocked it.

You can also freely change between the stories (core personal story, hot, pof, living world stories) you have available in you hero panel. Find the story chapter and start it. You will not lose any progress while changing them. So you can play Hot one day and freely change to Pof the next.

If you are new lvl 80 I would recommend to play the stories. Core personal story is easiest. Hot and Pof are harder but shouldn't be so hard once you learn (content quality is a big step up from the core). You will get different rewards, explore maps and way points and learn about the game in general. Open world play is really good in GW2 and is not just a filler to instanced group play like in Wow. It offers big group events that are easy raids without the player restrictions like in real raids (well up to the point when the map is full).

Explore lfg and trading post. You probably have more gold in your storage than you know.If you join a group and it is in another instance of the map just right click on a player in a squad and press join instance.

[Returning player, have questions concerning HoT/PoF, Living World and ascended gear.]

LW4 S6, Dragonfall is imo the best map for ascended trinkets. At least one of the pair since you can't equip duplicates. Map is one big constant meta event so it is more fun for me than gathering winter berries or such in LW3 maps. It is also generally a really good map and trinkets are really just a byproduct of fun. I haven't played in a while but it should be populated.

Both LW3 and LW4 are worth it.LW2 I only started recently and it is really not up to par with Hot+ content in my opinion. I've only done a part of it and I'm not really in the mood of finishing it.

[can we have the option to display stability and resistance above the endurance bar?]

Yes please. The UI is really terrible in this regard. The most important info is hidden in some corner where you shouldn't be looking during the fight at all and with super small icons with any decent resolution.In other games I always move the target info close to the player info and everything should be close to the main area of the screen where targeting is happening. Buff/debuff icons should be big and if possible certain buffs/debuffs prioritized (like you mentioned stability). Now everything is cluttered together regardless if it is important or not.

Oh also enable mouse cursor customization; size, color and border thickness and color would be basic.

[do you guys think a cap on persistent aoe's in an area would work?]

Failed to cast would be to annoying.How about you can only get hit by the same type of aoe as frequently as the skill ticks. So if a certain aoe ticks every second you can only get hit by those skills once every second regardless of the amount of them plastered under your feet.

[Respawn rate is unpredictable, can be way too fast]

I really doubt they will take the time to "fix" specific respawn times at specific locations. I actually like the fast respawns. It would be much more annoying if the spawns are slow and you have to wait and compete for them like in many other mmos. A chest here and there that makes you kill some additional mobs is bearable. Keep in mind some chests actually spawn extra mobs on purpose when you try to open them.

[Blizzard stole the CC breakbar thing]

Blizzard has never been known for their innovation. Hell I can't remember one innovative thing in their games and I play since Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. What they are known (or they were at least) is for their polish, design and story telling (not writing).

[Official Feedback Thread about Build and Equipment Templates]

Why 2 separate systems for build templates? It just seems weird. One, account wide system would do the job just fine. Sorted by profession - only logged profession builds available.

Three free builds per character and some account wide is just not enough. It's not even an improvement to what we had with builds for WvW, PVE and PVP just different. Build is just a short string of text that can be stored locally. You already have the system in place. Build templates should encourage people to try new builds, make more gear sets, make game more enjoyable. Now it feels like you purposely complicated the system so you can monetize it. Monetize gear templates, those are OK as they are new storage space and something new. Build templates should be limitless, easy to use and dirt cheap or free. Now they are none of that.

Gear templates are OK for me. But I don't share gear between characters, don't know how that works.

[Desert Borderland: 4 Years Later.]

I like the map a lot. Much better than Alpine BLs. Those are a little bland and boring.But there is a issue not related with map design.The map has a lot of little details that are never explained to new player. So many mobility options that people just don't use: jump pads, haystacks, lava portals, shrine bonuses... Last day our pug commander took a dive on a haystack and half of the squad splated on the ground. Only few knew that you can avoid fall dmg by jumping on a haystack. All the small details make map great but how are players suppose to know them? They just get frustrated because they can't find a quick path even though it is in front of their noses. There should be a short tutorial to explain all of these, not expecting community to teach them or even worse, external sites.

[Projectiles need to be revamped and it's counters]

@Mokk.2397 said:Get rid of retaliation completely.Its a stupid mechanic There's no direct counter ,It's not distributed evenly between classes, it's the only boon that directly punishes the attacker for the attack.It has no place in this game period.All other counters to projectiles need to be toned down and need to be more singular and not overly shared .This is what armour/toughness is for. Anet needs to force a degree of self reliance on each player which means having adequate armour and vitality and healing without needing total protection from one or two other players .This would significantly reduce the power creep that exists in the game right now.The armour and toughness needs to be as important as the damage that player dishes out.Right now people can hide behind boon protection from only a few and virtually run completely naked while putting out ridiculous damage .This game needs to go back to a game of skill and not a game of who has the most boon protection spam, carrying unskilled players in massive blobs.A degree of self reliance forces the players to survive by improving their skill.

Retal and aegis should not be shareable. Self casts are ok if they are limited and actually require timing to make use of them.For all other boons the uptime and the number of sources should be reduced. Full boon coverage on the whole squad should not be something permanent.

[What's the easiest way to get the Gift of Battle?]

You don't really need to be any good in pvp to participate in WvW. Repairing, flipping camps and sentries, killing guards and any other solo stuff will get you in more 1 vs X pvp situations and is painfully slow and much more scary for a new player that doesn't like pvp. Running with commander and other players will get you much more participation and there is safety in numbers. You don't need to be in a squad if you don't like to interact or expect abuse (which doesn't really happen in my experience so I would definitely encourage to join, many don't require TS if you don't like that). Just stay with the group, tag enemies and stand in circles when they flip stuff. You will also finish dailies without even trying.

[People are still refusing to fight Viscount]

I always take groups that do him. The map is already way to easy and boring so him and the lich at least keep me awake. It is an extra few minutes so I don't think it is inefficient, gives some time for the other doors to spawn.The first time we 2 manned him because the group refused to fight and me and another guy didn't know why so we just killed him.

[Build Templates Were Free in GW1]

@"Pirogen.9561" said:If template is stored on your client, then it costs ANet nothing.

If template is stored on server, then it costs ANet something. Server disk space. Disk space is not for free. One(1) template would be like nothing. But on server you have to multiply this by millions of characters/accounts. So it does add up.

OK, 3 templates are already there. The "current" ones. So 3 don't increase disk space. Extra do.

GW1 "templates" where on client, your PC.

Where are GW2 templates stored?

• If client, then "pay for extra" is a dirty money grab.
• If server, its justified. Disk space is not for free.

It doesn't matter where the data is stored from the user point of view. We want a functional system and don't care where they store their data.There are functional systems out there for the game and for the older game on the same engine so it works.

What you are saying is "I have developed a product that is worse than similar products on the market but because it is so expensive to maintain the price must be higher. Since no one would buy it we should ban all competitive products".

[Poll: Build Templates]

@Sobx.1758 said:

@Cuks.8241 said:It really doesn't matter if it's a 3rd party mod.

It really does.

It is out there, it was not blacklisted and people use it.

It wasn't blacklisted because they were obligated to take it down when the official templates come. Being surprised that a company tries to monetize something when you can pretty much play for free is also hard to understand for me.

If a company can't come up with a solution that is better than a free 3rd party mod and needs to actually ban that free mod to be able to sell their product then it has big issues.So yeah I guess it matters that ArcDPS is a free mod.I have nothing against monetization of good products that can stand up by their own. I do have concerns when you have to go and ban a free product made by one guy because your own product is worse.