How is the PVP in this game?

[Johnfred.1072]

Hi,i am looking for an MMORPG with an exciting and fun pvp experience and unfortunatly these seem to be hard to come by. I would like to try Guild Wars and hope you guys can answer a few beginner questions.

1. How would you describe the state of PVP? Is it in a good state right now?
2. How many varying game mode options do you have in PVP?
3. How important is gear and can you optain all the gear you need with PVP or do you have to do PVE to get certain gear?
4. Is it possible to level through PVPing?
5. Is their a class/spec you would suggest to start with, or one that you would suggest to avoid?

I think that's it for now, thx in advance.Greetings

[Murshid.9854]

The game have 2 forms of PvP, the sPvP and the WvW but since I only play sPvP I will answer based on sPvP only.

1- I enjoy the sPvP very much, but from what I read and told from vetrans that it get stall after some time if you play sPvP as your main and only mode, it will be fine if you keep switching between game modes like I do between PvE and sPvP but if you care about PvP only you may get board, so if you are expacting some hardcore PvP experience then I don't think gw2 sPvP can fill this category, I would advice you to play WvW instead.

2- You have ranked and unranked:

• for unranked conquest (most popular) and stronghold (not cared about).
• for ranked we have conquest regular seasonal leagues that last 8 weeks and mini seasons between those regular seasons and they last 4 weeks.

3- You don't need any special gear for sPvP cause all players in PvP are equal regardless of their gear, you just need to buy any normal gear and it will be boosted inside the PvP lobby, you can go to the PvP lobby easliy after creating new character and you don't need to hit 80 in PvE at all, when you enter this lobby it will boost your level to level 80 and access all the skills/Utilities/specializations etc...

4- Yes you will keep getting a lot of toms of knowledge which do grant you 1 level, if you are already level 80 then it grants you 1 spirit shard.

5- Which class is heavily a personal question that depends in your personal preference and playstyle, there is a website for builds called metabattle that can give you a great idea about the meta build and which class can do great.Link of current good builds for sPvP conquest: https://metabattle.com/wiki/Conquest

[Sunshine.5014]

1) PvP is in a much better state than it was a couple years ago. Dev has decided to tone down power creep. Beside a couple outliers (which should be fixed soon), the balance is much better than before.2) 5v5 Conquest, 5v5 Stronghold, 2v2 Deathmath, and WvW (large scale server vs server, not strictly PvP)3) In PvP, there is no farming gear. Everyone has access to everything. You still have choices, but you don't need to farm armours or weapons or like that. PvE gears have no effect in PvP. However, in WvW, PvE gears are used.4) Yes it is. You gain Tomes of Experience that you can use to gain one level each.5) Start with Necro, Guardian, Ranger. Don't go for Thief, Elementalist unless you want to learn piano hard mode.

Edit: the forums always have complaints posts, don't mind them. It's a tradition for GW2 players :bleep_bloop:. GW2 is still easily the best MMORPG at the moment.

[Newage.6970]

Don't let all the negative threads deter you. GW2 has the best combat system and is now getting more attention. It has ruined me from PvP in other MMOs. ESO combat is clunky and WoW is slow.

There is also no gear difference so it comes down to skill and builds.

[ILoveMonotony.1479]

Right now PvP is the best it's been in years.

[Rickster.8752]

Depends what you want. PvP isn't very skill based. If you want skill based pvp I suggest going to an FPS or league/Dota.

PvP is generally dictated by the build you play. Most builds play themselves because they are packed full of passive triggers that give you boons just for clicking skills.

[Avatar.3568]

Gw2 has the best combat system that I've ever encountered and a pretty decent pvp system in general, I enjoy the 5vs5 it since release 7 a half years ago, you can endless test builds, classes and playstyles because gear and lvl does not count at all and you can change as often you want.The most impressive thing is, you can learn improve and master a lot in the game only because of the mechanics. If you like games like csgo, starcraft 2 or other mechanical demanding games, you will like guildwars 2 too.

[Tayga.3192]

@"Johnfred.1072" said:

1. How would you describe the state of PVP? Is it in a good state right now?I would describe it as "below purely pvp games and above pvp/pve mixed games". This is probably the best state you can accomplish in a game with pve main mode.

2. How many varying game mode options do you have in PVP?

Currently there are 3:Conquest (capture and hold),2v2 deathmatch,Stronghold (like a MOBA).

Conquest is the main gamemode but they said this might change depending on the number of people playing it. We might also have a 3v3 mini season next.

3. How important is gear and can you optain all the gear you need with PVP or do you have to do PVE to get certain gear?You need at least one level 2 character to enter PvP I think. That's like right after completing tutorial.Gear is irrelevant (but don't go naked, all armor give the same armor stat but naked means zero armor).Still, I recommend you to play pve until level cap so that you at least learn your skills and traits.

4. Is it possible to level through PVPing?You are pushed to level 80 in pvp with every skill and trait unlocked.You can level for pve and wvw in pvp by using tomes of knowledge.

5. Is their a class/spec you would suggest to start with, or one that you would suggest to avoid?On the class selection screen, leftmost column is easiest to play decently. Middle column is medium difficulty while rightmost column is hard to play.I don't mean you should play an easy class, you should choose what is fun.

[Luthan.5236]

Personally I like the conquest mode. Depends on what you are looking for though. The comments about it not being very skill-based might be true. I for myself I'm not the best at keyboard "acrobatics/piano" (very quickly reacting when using skills and using the correct skills) and I enjoy the conquest maps with different side mechanics where you already can influence the match by making the correct decision as to where to go.

I know there are a lot of people that don't like this and want to fight only and comparing their fighting skills. For this we have 2 vs. 2 now.

I think there is room for improvement. Medium sized team maps (something between PvP and WvW with teams 10-20 each team) and more different game modes like Stronghold. They just should not try to copy MOBA games. Something like Spirit Watch - like a capture the flag - would be nice.

Spirit Watch is a map with the conquest mode where orbs (like flags in capture the flag) help as additional objective/secondary mechanis. But they are not the main/only way to win. Would be nice to have some dedicated game mode with a few maps here. (Then peole might whine about balancing of the classes when is all about the team and how different people and classes work together - that is what I find more interesting.)

Just try it or watch a few vids I guess - to see the current state and conquest and 2 vs. 2 game modes.

[Ghostof Luzifer.6159]

@Rickster.8752 said:Depends what you want. PvP isn't very skill based. If you want skill based pvp I suggest going to an FPS or league/Dota.

PvP is generally dictated by the build you play. Most builds play themselves because they are packed full of passive triggers that give you boons just for clicking skills.

now thatss just nonsense.. Especially with the balance patch we just had.Conquest is extremely skill driven. It requires quick thinking for rotation, teamplay + the combat system is very complex with a lot of variety. It doesnt depend on reaction time as much as a shooter but that doesnt mean it doesnt take skill to master the gamemode. There is such a massive gap between a good, decent and bad player... what are you talking about??!

[Pengu.7481]

@Rickster.8752 said:Depends what you want. PvP isn't very skill based. If you want skill based pvp I suggest going to an FPS or league/Dota.

PvP is generally dictated by the build you play. Most builds play themselves because they are packed full of passive triggers that give you boons just for clicking skills.

and thats not true at all. sure some builds can carry ppl but even anet themselves pointed out from their own statistics mind you, that the difference in dmg output from a new player to a veteran one is up to 80% .

edit: inb4 ppl say thats from pve perspective. its pretty much the same in pvp. anyone that played pvp for a lenght of time know when they are fighting a newcomer

[shadowpass.4236]

@Johnfred.1072 said:Hi,i am looking for an MMORPG with an exciting and fun pvp experience and unfortunatly these seem to be hard to come by. I would like to try Guild Wars and hope you guys can answer a few beginner questions.

1. How would you describe the state of PVP? Is it in a good state right now?
2. How many varying game mode options do you have in PVP?
3. How important is gear and can you optain all the gear you need with PVP or do you have to do PVE to get certain gear?
4. Is it possible to level through PVPing?
5. Is their a class/spec you would suggest to start with, or one that you would suggest to avoid?

I think that's it for now, thx in advance.Greetings

1. Yeah the state of PvP is fine. There are like 2 builds in particular that need immediate nerfs atm but they should be getting addressed soon.
2. sPvP: Conquest (5v5s, both Ranked and Unranked), stronghold, dueling, 2v2sWvW: Large scale, GvGs, solo roaming, havoc squads
3. There is no gear treadmill in this game. The highest level is Ascended and the stat increase over the 2nd highest (Exotic rarity) is only a 5%. Skill matters more than gear in this game and Legendary equipment shares the same stats as Ascended. Also, exotic gear is exceptionally cheap and both gear and money can be obtained through PvPing in sPvP (structured PvP) or WvW (World vs. World, a.k.a. server vs. server). In sPvP, gear is equalized through the amulet system so you can jump right in and play as soon as you enter the game. No grinding required.
4. It is possible to level through PvPing. Reward tracks give you Tomes of Knowledge which grant 1 character, 1 level. People who have been playing for a while have more tomes than they know what to do with. Personally, I have several hundred tomes sitting in my bank and max level is only 80.
5. All classes are viable, and you can make multiple characters. Just start with whichever one you like thematically. In terms of ease of use, warrior would probably be the most straightforward if you want to learn the basic mechanics of PvP.

[Johnfred.1072]

Thank you all for your responses, this has been very helpful. Sounds like this game will be just right for me :)

[Stand The Wall.6987]

1 - big patch just hit so everything is chaos. they said they are going to balance things more often which will be a huge improvement. once the outliers are taken care of, balance wise it will be good. still not enough good options to choose from in terms of build variability (if you're being serious) but its getting better.2 - just one pretty much, conquest 5v5 3 capture point and hold. off season its now 2v2 for ranked, unranked is still 100% conquest. there are team death match and stronghold (base assault) modes but they suck and no one plays them.3 - yep just hop into pvp, you don't have to farm for gear or even level up. metabattle.com is a decent place to start in terms of builds, once you get better you can tweak to your hearts content or make your own builds. gw2skills.net is a pretty helpful site for learning what everything does (its not updated yet) and the big knowledge base is wiki.guildwars2.com. for amulets I would start off with paladins if the build you're looking at has marauders/ demolishers, its tankier and will give you more time to react. don't worry about doing tons of damage yet. I don't suggest condi for beginners, I mean its not hard to play but power is easier to learn imo.4 - yes. look at the wiki and find a reward track with tomes of knowledge.5 - start with ranged/ tanky classes. necro core is strong atm. search for builds with healing power and sustain. youtube search for how to play. pvp is about countering other builds and rotating correctly (moving around the map).

[Kickpuncher.8109]

The pvp in this game is a s s . Horribly balanced and it hasnt been balanced since the game came out.

Just pick the flavor of the week/month class that Anet is too stupid to nerf and get a good rating and then rinse and repeat for the next patch, and next patch, and next patch.

Good thing you can pvp with low lvl characters.

[Psycoprophet.8107]

@"Kickpuncher.8109" said:The pvp in this game is a s s . Horribly balanced and it hasnt been balanced since the game came out.

Just pick the flavor of the week/month class that Anet is too stupid to nerf and get a good rating and then rinse and repeat for the next patch, and next patch, and next patch.

Good thing you can pvp with low lvl characters.

This pretty much^ the bandwagoning part is no joke either. Everyone would rather jump to the next broken thing than stay on classes they actually like lol unless everyone coincidently started liking burn guards/FB, necro's, condi revs and rangers(to lesser extent) just when they became broken OP lol.Also certain classes will never be able to be on level footing to the more popular and accepted classes due to constant bias hate threads and the fact the devs actually let them steer half their balance decisions hence going back to the "this game has poor balancing problems" lol.

[Dantheman.3589]

The pvp is ez to get into and definitely fun pretty much as long as u play something that’s fairly active as some builds are sleeper, but just play thief and you will be good. For mmorpgs can be very good and pretty simple. Though for competition u kind of need to be into it to notice though tbh