Guild Wars Factions: What do you think?

[Bzar]

Well, you've caught my interest.... we shall see what happens.

[Sophistemon]

Well, you've caught my interest.... we shall see what happens.
Great! Hope to see you as a member!

[Miles Invictus]

Hey, the Gear Trick! Tell those jerks to update! :tongue:

[Bzar]

I don't get it...

Anyway, I just farmed FoW and earned 10k. It was quite a nice round.

[Abardam]

That Selbekeh Basilica mission is really, really, hard. Compared to all the previous Nightfall ones. (I still think that both the Kurzick and Luxon coop missions and the Ring of Fire missions are harder, though.)

Finally completed Standard, after about 3 tries.

[Thervold]

I'm also finding the later end Nightfall missions quite difficult. Selbekeh is noticably difficult with just hench/heros, so I had to settle for standard on it as well. The follow up mission and Jennur's is also difficult with just hero/hench. Timing and tactics play a much much bigger role now, as I found myself directing my hero's skill usage and positioning quite often just to manage the never-ending spawns. And you think that's tough, I gave up on henching a mission where you meet up with some old "friends" from the previous campaigns.

And I found Ring of Fire not too difficult. But that's probably because I ran it dozens of times to try to cap the elites from it. And I use the front door. Imps bad.

[Abardam]

I'm also finding the later end Nightfall missions quite difficult. Selbekeh is noticably difficult with just hench/heros, so I had to settle for standard on it as well. The follow up mission and Jennur's is also difficult with just hero/hench. Timing and tactics play a much much bigger role now, as I found myself directing my hero's skill usage and positioning quite often just to manage the never-ending spawns. And you think that's tough, I gave up on henching a mission where you meet up with some old "friends" from the previous campaigns.
That sounds really ominous.



And I found Ring of Fire not too difficult. But that's probably because I ran it dozens of times to try to cap the elites from it. And I use the front door. Imps bad.
Not that Ring of Fire. I was referring to the missions located on the Ring of Fire. Specifically, Abaddon's Mouth and Hell's Precipice.

[Thervold]

That sounds really ominous.
Ah, it's fun! Really it is! There's nothing like spending twenty minutes to get to a boss to have him slaughter the entire team in a matter of seconds :) I somehow managed to pass it with a PUG. But now the mission is just as painful. With henchmen, I've gotten the boss there down to about 15% life before stupid claws decimate my team. I haven't been in a PUG to drop him below 50% yet. Sad, isn't it?


Not that Ring of Fire. I was referring to the missions located on the Ring of Fire. Specifically, Abaddon's Mouth and Hell's Precipice.
Abaddon's Mouth is annoying when you have the monk+warrior boss. But Hell's Precipice is quite easily henchable as long as you focus on taking out one titan and its spawn before moving to the next. And wait for all the spawns in the Armaggedon Lord pool to run through before taking out the portals.

[Penguinizer]

ive done all the ring of fire missions with some loosely cordinated pug's

I recommend taking a broad head arrow ranger to constantly daze the monk enemies.

[Bzar]

That being said, anyone wanna give some tips for Hell's Precipice?

Also, WURMS ARE FUN!!!

[Thervold]

For Hell's Precipice:
Target Sparks first, Hands/Fists second, Burning Titans third, and the necro ones last. Keep in mind that burning turn to necro which turn to a hand/fist pair, so make sure everyone targets the same thing! Restrict the party to two melee at most, as proximity to titans will cause burning, making a melee heavy party difficult to keep healed. Always pull things, as there are many instances where mobs are in close proximity or imp patrols run by. When you arrive at the portals, kill the lava pool spawns first. They will cease once two bosses have spawned from the lava pool. If going for the bonus, once the spawns cease, use a long/flat bow to pull the titans out of the lava so you can kill them without burning. Pull the patrols from near the portals away from the portal wraiths to clear all but the wraiths. After finishing with the portals, try to pull the groups of hands/fists away from the rest of the groups. Then focus on the imps before finishing off your old friend. During the last fight, simply clear off any hands/fists first so you can focus fire on the lich. Make sure you kill him when he's on the stone. Sometimes he'll recharge to full life if you don't kill him fast enough, but without his minions, he rarely has enough power to actually kill off your party (unless they have serious DP). I've done this multiple times with henchmen (not even heros) without much problem. If you have a ranger hero (or are a ranger yourself), take Winter, as there are rumors that the titans are weak against cold damage. Or, if you have an ele hero, Ward Against Harm is great to tone down the imps' fire spikes.

Those were my tips, but you can find quite a few here: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Hell%27s_Precipice

...and yes, wurms are fun. And a great way to level up your low level heros (as they provide the same health/armor/power regardless of level).

[Abardam]

I remember we killed him 5 (or so) times.

[Thervold]

Wiki says three, but I've sometimes had him dead dead after the second kill. Sometimes it's been three. I don't know what actually determines him dying for good.

[Morrandir]

Has anybody beaten Nightfall with a Rit yet? I'd like to see if there's primeval armor for them. It would be kind of odd for there to be Vabbian and Ancient, but not the last step.

Though I must say, the mummy wrappings are pretty cool.

[Abardam]

I thought you just had to kill him on the exact center of the stone.

[Penguinizer]

exact center of stone or multiple times.

And yes, take both greater conflagration and winter since the titans are weak against cold, and it helps to have a necro cast spinal shivers, constant interruption.

[Bzar]

Love your sig abardam. Paragons FTW

In other news, were the servers down or something at around 6:00 AM this morning? I couldn't even connect to them.

[Abardam]

Yes. Yes they are FTW. Mark of Rodgort + fiery spear + "They're on Fire!" = 30 seconds of awesome.

[Bzar]

I should try that...

[Thervold]

I'm having fun with a paragon build that uses Aggressive Refrain and Anthem of Flame/Watch Yourself to keep it up. Not as much fire, but it makes the bad things go away fast.

[Bzar]

Man, I've just found a killer nuker build... but I've been sworn to secrecy not to tell what it is... it's 1 of 4 elements for an AB. And man, the nuker can take out an entire outpost on his own... I shudder thinking about the whole team. It's so great... this is the BEST nuker build I have EVER seen...

[Thervold]

While I haven't done AB for a long long time now, I'm guessing the nuker build involves Searing Heat, Meteor Shower, Glowing Gaze, Liquid Flame, and some maintainence spells.

[Bzar]

Close, but no cigar. Check out some of the NF nuker elites.

[Abardam]

What, Searing Flames?

(On a side note, Searing Flames is pretty awesome. Glyph of Lesser Energy+Searing Flamesx2! then possibly another Searing Flames, then Glowing Signet, then Searing Flames again!)

[Thervold]

I meant Searing Flames actually. It's everywhere in PvP now.

[Bzar]

Say, has anyone tried the Domain of Anguish yet?

[Thervold]

Tried, yes. Been hopelessly slaughtered, yes. Killed more then a few things before being torn to shreds, no.

[Penguinizer]

I dont even have NF :(

Im doing pvp mostly, and tombs here and there.

[Bzar]

I've never done tombs. Ever. Is it hard?

[Ryshan Ynrith]

Fairly, but the team build for doing them (the barrage/pet group) is established and fairly reliable. At least, until the healer/mm drops. Then everyone dies slowly and horribly.

[Thervold]

Soon after the moving of Halls from the Tombs, I managed to get into a group that got to the last area before being wiped. Like places such as the underworld, you have to be very careful about pulling and not getting extra aggro. Otherwise, very bad things happen very fast. I haven't tried joining a BP group for it though... too much time spent just trying to progress my characters.

Oh, and does anyone know of a good place to farm for lightbringer points? I've seen rank 8's out there, and I'm striving to reach 5! I currently work in the Domain of Secrets, clearing out margonites and the shadow army critters. It's not bad, but there must be a faster way for people to have maxed the title already.

[Ryshan Ynrith]

There was an exploit Anet fixed in one area, where there were a specific type of monsters that would continuously respawn after a few minutes. They would give you one lightbringer point each.

And your heroes could split up and kill 4-6 of them at a time, without any help from you.

Set it up, leave the game on for a day or two, and you've maxed out your title without any work at all. Chances are the people that have max title did this or something like it, because at the moment there is no legitimate way to achieve the top tier of either Lightbringer or Sunspear.

[Bzar]

In other news, I beat NF!!! *dances*

And now on to DoA. Nobody likes dervishes there. And it's still impossible. *sigh*

[Maxymiuk]

Chances are the people that have max title did this or something like it, because at the moment there is no legitimate way to achieve the top tier of either Lightbringer or Sunspear.

Say what?

So you have to cheat to get max rank?

[Abardam]

Say what?

So you have to cheat to get max rank?
I'm pretty sure you can't get Spearmarshall legitamately as of now. The scouts stop talking to you after you reach Castellan. Gaile had an announcement about it somewhere.

EDIT: Guildwiki article. (http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Sunspear_rank) Scroll down.

[Thervold]

To get Spearmashal, I wrote the example in that link Abardam provided. But as he said, if you stop at Castellan, you're stuck for now.

I knew about the AFK lightbringer farming, but I never got around to trying it before they closed the exploit. Now, I'm trying to time which is a faster way to gain points between clearing the Domain of Secrets or elementals in the Mirror of Lyss.

[Ryshan Ynrith]

Ugh...so I have seven more missions to go before adding Protector of Tyria to my Warrior's achievements. Seven really ugly ones, I might add-Dunes of Despair, Ice Caverns of Sorrow, Thunderhead Keep, The Dragon's Lair (wince), and the three Fire Island missions.

Also, the last 3.8% of Cantha is apparently /quite/ elusive. *muttermuttermutter*

[Abardam]

Have you tried Jade Quarry?

You know, that one mission that apparently no one knows exists?

[Thervold]

Dunes is difficult to get the bonus on, but you might be able to do it by leaving a couple heros behind to protect the ghostly hero while you and the henchmen (or friends) take out the bosses. Ice Caves is quite easy to get the bonus for (wait for the Mursaat group to pass by at the end). THK bonus is easy if you can finish the challenging mission. With Dragon's Lair, bring heros/players with interrupts and you should be fine, and the hex she puts on you can be removed with Reveal/Inspired Hex with no recharge. I go through the front door on Ring of Fire, so it's bonus is quite easy for me. For Abaddon's Mouth, just clear the way for the ghost ahead of time and she'll arrive safe and sound after a long, tortuous wait for her to get there. And for Hell's Precipice, wait for the spawns of the lava pool to cease before pulling out the huge titans for the bonus. With all of them, good knowledge of the mission and its bonus is helpful. If you need any more specific tips for any of them, feel free to ask.

And yes, I've explored the Jade Quarry. There was a double faction weekend where it was actually populated (!) and I used one game on either side simply scraping walls. I need to take the time to put together my map and compare it with those online.

[Ryshan Ynrith]

Yeah...Jade Quarry has had at most two other people in either side. Maybe I'll try to stir up my guild to populate it.

Also, I need to be banished from Imperial Sanctum, as there's a fair chunk of land there that can be explored.



Thanks for the tips on the missions...I've never even tried to take down Glint, so I hope it'll go well.

[Thervold]

If you need help getting a body in for Jade Quarry, message me in game: Melek Thervold. I know how insane it can be to find sixteen people to start a mission for mapping. I can also help with the banishing part, as you need at least two human players for one to be banished.

And in happy news, I finally hit 100% in Tyrian exploration, granting the Kind of a Big Deal title! woo hoo!

If you have heroes, I think the best thing for Glint is to have at least one interrupter (for Crystal Hibernation - a must to interrupt), someone (anyone) with Revealed/Inspired Hex to remove Crystal Haze and that other hex she uses (they will remove the hex and recharge instantly), and either a Wild Blow warrior or a ranger with Greater Conflagration to remove/negate her stance. After that, all you need to worry about are her strong attacks, which a pair of healers should be able to handle easily.

[Bzar]

Ahh.... Domain of Anguish and it's all rare chests ^^

[Ryshan Ynrith]

Happy Wintersday Festival! And stuff!

Snowball fighting is addictive...I just fought 23 times, winning 20 of them. Only 80 to go to get the Skillz title. :smallbiggrin:

[Bzar]

Wintersday!!!! I think Thervold over there just got a record of around 50 or so... I checked in a few times, 30 before he started to lose count. =P

I have a streak of one.

[Thervold]

It was the low 40's actually. I've noticed that you either have an exceptionally good team or one full of people who would rather chuck snowballs around instead of paying attention to presents. At least I have Skillz now!

[Penguinizer]

How many candy cane shards does everyone have. I got around 68 (that includes all the 7 weapons I have) +both shields and 2 focuses.

[emPty]

Hey, I've also been playing GW for a while now, only have Prophecies and Factions. Checked out a free trial for Nightfall and I really love the Dervish!

Also, snowball fights rock

[Bzar]

I have... 8

[Penguinizer]

I got all the candy cane items (+gingerbread shield and focus+ peppermint shield) except the wand and staff. Also have 20 tonics and 28 cc shards.

[Thervold]

I finally put all my shards into storage for a total of 541 of the things. I hope they're useful for something or another at the end. I don't need more cc weapons to waste space, and so far, there is only a brief sentence on the gw login that says they can be used at the end event.

And devish is fun, but I'm having more success with my paragon actually. Almost to the second rank of survivor without really trying all that hard. Maybe I just play this game too much.... nah.

[Abardam]

Didn't Peppermint shields give 10 AL? They lowered the AL of the new ones?

(Also Dragon Arena > Snowball fight)

[Thervold]

Yes, they did. They used to be the strongest no-req shield available. But now they've reduced them down to 8. Sad.

[Abardam]

Festival hats man! In Lion's Arch! No more holiday hats taking up valuable inventory space! Or having to get duplicates for my other characters!

[Thervold]

Considering there were four different hats... my warrior has an entire bag full of hats now. Not to mention four stacks of cc shards and an entire stack of wintersday gifts! ...need more storage space.

[Abardam]

You got an entire stack of presents? 250 of them?

(Also talk to the festival hats guy in Lion's Arch)

[Draigo]

i think its the best yet, RIGHT before the first

[Thervold]

Actually, after I traded in my shards, I had 560 presents (yes, two full stacks). I sold 20 so far, and tonight I'll try to sell stacks for 100k to fund the last NPCs in our guild hall... if I can find buyers.

[Bzar]

How'd you manage to pick up TWO stacks??????


Oh, and what do rainbow candy-canes do?

[Penguinizer]

Give 5% morale boost to entire party I think

[Meeeeebit]

Question
Is the factions an expanion or is it an actual stand alone.

[Penguinizer]

stand alone. But if you already have another one then just add the key to your current account then you can go to factions with characters from other campaigns.

[Bzar]

Yup. It's quite convenient really. Of course, that doesn't mean I've actually beaten factions...

[Thervold]

Tsk tsk... still haven't gotten around to that after all this time, Bzar?

Oh, and to answer your previous question, I got one stack of presents by learning how to snag the ones from afk people during the finale event, then from snowball fighting, I had enough cc shards to trade in for another stack. And I did manage to sell both stacks for 100k each. Proceeds helped finish of our guild hall NPCs.

[Penguinizer]

I have beat Prophercies and Factions on one char and in process of beating NF with another.

[Abardam]

Oh, and to answer your previous question, I got one stack of presents by learning how to snag the ones from afk people during the finale event
You can do that?

[Thervold]

You could have done that during the Grenth vs. Dwayna events on the 1st. Ten minutes after the presents spawned, if not picked up, they would become unbound. There were lots of afk players just standing around for hats, making their presents a free-for-all to anyone in town to pick them up. So the minutes following the events turned into a competition to who could pick up presents as soon as they unbound. By the third event, I had a system that netted about 50-70 presents each time (including the ones assigned to me).

[Bzar]

well, I wasn't reallly around for the event. A majority of it. By which I mean about 90%. I got back on the last day of the event, so no hat for me =(
Also, I have midterms so I can't even find the time to go online anymore =(

Ah well, what can ya do...

[Penguinizer]

How many wintergreen weapons does everyone have. I got 2.

[Bzar]

I think I have... maybe... 3? Yeah, three. Scythe, Spear, and Daggers.

[Thervold]

I missed out on the wintergreen weapons. By the time I decided to set up my votes, the time period had ended. Oh well, looking at the stats, they would just be more wasted space in my inventory. I'm just relieved I can finally dump all my holiday hats now to make some room.

[Penguinizer]

I think they will become rares. And they are upgradable. Great for IW builds.

[katana2665]

I recently bought Guild wars...I was trying to find something else after being on WoW for so long...Sure wish I had that 50 bucks back..it was a disappointment.

[Thervold]

WoW and Guild Wars are a lot different from each other. I'm not surprised you didn't like GW if you're used to WoW. It all depends on what your expectations are really. If you like developing a character and continuously getting higher levels, better equipment, and developing your trade skills, you'll miss out on all those in GW. However, GW is well suited for people who don't have as much time to play such as myself.

[Penguinizer]

Or me. Any idea for a price range on a req.10 divine favor Scepter of the forgotten of quickening (10% chance to half skill recharge of spells) and a +5 energy while above 50% hp inscription?

[Abardam]

WoW and Guild Wars are a lot different from each other. I'm not surprised you didn't like GW if you're used to WoW. It all depends on what your expectations are really. If you like developing a character and continuously getting higher levels, better equipment, and developing your trade skills, you'll miss out on all those in GW. However, GW is well suited for people who don't have as much time to play such as myself.
You. Don't have much time to play?

Somehow, I find that hard to believe.

:tongue:

[Penguinizer]

I think the term would be, "dont want to pay monthly fees, and/or, play flexibly."

[Grod_The_Giant]

It was ok, but I feel that you were accelerated to full play too fast. I'd rather earn my skills and experience slowly then all at once.

[Penguinizer]

Its more about the strategy imo. and if you play factions then Prophercies and nf are slower.

[Abardam]

Nightfall is pretty fast, compared to Prophecies.

In Factions, you're supposed to be level 20 by the time you get out of Newbie Island.
Same for Nightfall, but NF's Newbie Island is loads bigger.
I didn't get level 20 in Prophecies until the Crystal Desert, which is very near the end.

[Thervold]

Same here. I remember when Factions came out, reaching level 20 was no longer a huge accomplishment. XP everywhere! But as Penguinizer pointed out, the game focuses more on strategy then on character development. In most MMOs, you need to devote a significant amount of time to level your character(s) and improve skills and equipment. With GW, it's quite easy to get max stats and either max or near max equipment. Those who like to spend lots of time developing a character or making them more powerful then the majority of other players probably won't like it as much. But I like the strategic aspect of GW, and as such, I've learned how to do most missions with just the AI henchmen without much difficulty.

[Penguinizer]

If anyone has a Galigords stone staff they would want to sell, contact Penguin Of Might in the game.

[deepdweller]

i got it right after christmas and its one of the most fun games ive played in a while.

[Ryshan Ynrith]

Well, this weekend marks my first survivor character and the last of the ten professions that I have a level 20 character for. Now to cap some skills... :smallcool:

[Thervold]

Congratulations on the survivor! It's always happy when you find you can actually make it through without dying. I finally got my necro legendary survivor a couple weeks ago and I don't plan on ever trying that again.

And Penguinizer, I have a Galigord's Scroll, but no staff, sorry.

[Penguinizer]

Ok, no prob. I will go try to find a good off hand later.

[Thervold]

Hey Bzar, I haven't seen you on in weeks now. Are you still around?

[Bzar]

I'm still around. I recently picked up BF2,a PS2, FFX, FFXII, and have had midterms. So I haven't been online recently due to midterms and overplaying of Final Fantasy Series... and Battlefield 2.

^_^

I'll be online this weekend hopefully.

[Bzar]

I'm mad. They killed the "evade" condition.:smallfurious: Now everything's just "block."


Does anyone know if they scaled back the ridiculous unbalancing of skills they did that one weekend? I hope they did.

[Abardam]

What you say?! When did this happen?

[Grey Paladin]

Awesome, now unseen furry is actually useful!

[Thervold]

Yes, they undid all the skill changes from the weekend, but this weekend is another "test" weekend, so the skills will once again be temporarily changed. And why are you annoyed at the removal of "evade" when "block" does the same thing with the exception of a few skills that could only be not blocked or not evaded.

[Bzar]

Well, technically it wasn't THAT I was mad about. More about the massive skill unbalances that occurred. Killed my HA team in a few seconds.

[Abardam]

Well for one thing both Sun and Moon slashes get through now.

Oh. No. Wait. That skill sucks.

[Grey Paladin]

So the Canthan new year event is running, and it appears that a certain item makes you say a bunch of random "insane" things once in awhile and also gives you a certain bonus (more creative candycanes, hehe)

Anyway, one of the random things you may yell out is
"We must prepare for the coming of Banjo the Clown, God of the Puppets!"

[Thervold]

Yes! I got that one and immediately went here. You beat me to it.

[Abardam]

Rollerbeetle racing! Rollerbeetle racing!

[Crystall_Myr]

So the Canthan new year event is running, and it appears that a certain item makes you say a bunch of random "insane" things once in awhile and also gives you a certain bonus (more creative candycanes, hehe)

Anyway, one of the random things you may yell out is
"We must prepare for the coming of Banjo the Clown, God of the Puppets!"

Yeah, when I saw that I freaked out. I knew GW referenced almost everything, but this was just plain awsome.

[Bzar]

ROLLERBEETLES!!!!!!!!!!! so fun...


sooo, how do you say the Banjo the Clown thing?

[Maxymiuk]

Rollerbeetles are actually more fun that the campaign... wish they'd make it a permanent minigame.

*tears off down the racetrack once more*

[Thervold]

Hee hee, I played about six hours of it now. Had a streak of 14 1st place wins at one point. It really is a lot of fun.

And you get the Banjo quote by using a Lunar Fortune in an explorable area. They are like presents, in that what you get is random, but one is Spiritual Possession which makes you spout of random things. One is the Banjo quote. To get one of these things, either trade 3:1 Lunar Tokens at the collector in Shing Jea or win or tie at rock, paper, scissors from an NPC in LA (cost 1 token to play).

[Penguinizer]

Meh, No piggy yet.

[Bzar]

Awww..... Rollerbeetle racing is gone =(

[Penguinizer]

Aww, I liked it, I got a piggy though :D

[Thervold]

Rollerbeetle racing is returning next weekend! woo hoo!

[Bzar]

YES!!!!!!! I loved that! It's a quick, easy way to get Balthy faction... or maybe not so quick, but still... it's fun.

[Abardam]

I only got first place once, ever. And that was because the first-place guy quit (he was pissed at another guy).

I'm better at Dragon Arena, really.

[Thervold]

I got quite good at the racing. I think I averaged first place over half my races. My record was 13 consecutive 1st place wins :)

But Dragon Arena is definitely better if you want Balth faction.

[Bzar]

Uhh... what was Dragon Arena? Might've missed that one...

[Abardam]

Dragon Festival event, in the Shing Jea monastery. Basically you are divided into two teams, and shoot dragon orbs at each other. Like snowball fight, only one dragon orb will kill you if you get hit.

Then there's two other skills, and 5 res signets.

[Thervold]

Think of it more like dodgeball. You get hit, you're out :) Other skills include a sprinting skill and one that knocks down a touched foe.

[Bzar]

oooo.... Yeah, I sucked at that.. it's hard.

[Abardam]

If they had added the Gamer title before that... well, let's just say I would have a lot.

With rollerbeetle racing, on the other hand, I can't get first place to save my life.

[Thervold]

Now I have a bunch of useless victory tokens... I didn't know all the collectors would disappear after the weekend. Over 200 of them now... phooey.

And the Dragon Arena isn't really all that hard. You just need to know how to dodge (hint: use the mouse, not the keyboard). I got up to 29 wins last weekend, and I know others have beaten that.

[Abardam]

Really? I use the keyboard. My mouse sucks, anyway.

And I hide behind stuff a lot.

[Penguinizer]

Strafe and zigzag, always stay at the edge or out of the aggro circle of enemies. Thats what comes to mind for me.

[Abardam]

I find it's better to just dodge (wait for them to start casting, then quickly strafe somewhere). Then you can counterattack.

[Thervold]

Well, you could use the keyboard to strafe long range shots, but strafing has a slower movement speed compared to forward movement, thus making it slightly more difficult to dodge at shorter ranges. Clicking with the mouse actually makes you turn and move, thus you get your full running speed and more distance between you and the flying ball of doom.

But yes, the dodge/counterattack is the primary method of playing the game.

[Abardam]

Well, you know, it makes no difference whether you're 1 foot or 50 feet away from it. (Once I had an Orb explode right next to me.) But I never go into shorter ranges (unless my opponent just fired his Orb) anyway, so I wouldn't know about that.

[Bzar]

Is anyone else starting to find those BoA 'sins REALLY annoying?

Especially if you're a nuker. They like to go after nukers.

=(

[Maxymiuk]

So I decided to finally join in the alliance battles, after owning Factions since practically Day 1 (yeah, yeah, I'm slow...)

I immediately fell in love with my mesmer. It's not even an optimized build (I currently have maybe 1/3 of the skills available in game), but the things I can do to casters are downright scary.

And, best of all, for some strange reason everyone seems to ignore mesmers. They go for monks, eles, necros, even warriors, but completely ignore little ol' me. :smallamused:

[Abardam]

BoA? Burst of Aggression?

And I hate mesmers. Hate hate hate. 'Specially the ones who are also necros.

Mesmers are like, the counter to everything.

[Maxymiuk]

I think that's the entire point of the class... heavens know, they can't do much else.

[Thervold]

Me/N and N/Me are indeed high priority targets in PvP. Right after the monks usually. Too bad my only mesmer (Gwens Ferry Service) is currently acting as a mule. However, she get referenced in The Scribe! http://www.guildwars.com/community/thescribe/scribe-070118.php

[Penguinizer]

Meh, My ranger can take down a mesmer (as long as it has a single enchantment) in around 3 or 4 attack skills. forked and dual arrow with melandrus arrows and brutal weapon. around 100 damage per arrow on enchanted eles or mesmers. Plus bleeding.

[Maxymiuk]

I keep hearing about this Mesmer/Necromancer and how good it is. I wish to learn more. :smallbiggrin:

So far I'm running a simple caster shutdown setup with Clumsiness and Spell Shackles thrown in for good measure to foul up those pesky assasins. Pesky assasins being the single biggest threat to me due to how fast they move and attack.

[Bzar]

Yes, BoA = Burst of Agression. Oh, and I tend to make mesmers high priority on my list... the annoy me as a caster

They also annoy me (either necros or Mesmers) with Spiteful Spirit or Empathy. It hurts. A lot.

And Thervold, what exactly did you say? I noticed it said amusing...

[Thervold]

Me/N are hex specialists and excel in PvP. Bascially, you can choose an assortment of hexes to render a target helpless. For example, Reckless Haste, Price of Failure, Empathy, Spiteful Spirit, Distortion, Spirit of Failure will often make an attacker kill themselves if they don't stop attacking you. Or for casters, Backfire, Soul Leech, Frustration, and a slew of interrupts will keep them down. Then there's the infamous Fragility spike (which has been nerfed but still appears in PvP sometimes) using Fragility, Phantom Pain, Shatter Delusions, and Virulence (0 Death).

In PvE, mesmers have a harder time, as their ability to focus on a target and make it dead isn't as useful due to their long recovery time. However, I love to spread out cheap hexes like Faintheartedness, Fragility (if your allies have lots of conditions), and Parasitic Bond or choose a target, put on Soul Barbs, then spam Wastrel's Worry every three seconds. Lately, I've just left the interrupts to the heroes unless I need to interrupt something very specific (like Glint's Hibernation skill).

[Bzar]

I have a new favorite ele build:

Mantra of Earth
Stone Striker
Stoneflesh Aura
Silver Armor
Shockwave
Aftershock
Earth Attunement
Aura of Restoration

15 Earth Magic
12 Energy Storage
8 Inspiration MAgic

I love this... virtually invulnerable to all melee. Only vulnerable to degen.

[Thervold]

Just one question... how does it deal damage? Shockwave and aftershock are nice, but they don't come close to dealing enough damage to do much. I guess in PvE, you can rely on being attacked for the Sliver Armor, but in PvP, melee will learn to just not attack you.

[Bzar]

You'd be surprised actually... BoA 'sins decide to attack me anyway. As do most other PvPers... besides, with a 20/20 staff i usually can dish out enough to take someone down. I just need to take the agro for someone else.

[Timarvay]

Just sort of curious, what do you have Mantra of Earth on there for, seeing as it isn't too common a source of damage?

Oh, and by the way, could I have some tips on Tahnnaki Temple mission? Having more than a little bit of trouble with it. Give me a whisper if you see me in-game, Eladrel Longshaft in Nightfall, Shovashi Mortos in Factions, and Yathal Pyreflesh in Prophecies.

[Abardam]

Stone Striker converts damage to earth damage, I think.

[Bzar]

Yes, that is precisely what Stone Striker does. It's a NightFAll skill i believe...

I was just using it in FA (Fort Aspenwood) and it's devestating vs. Spirit Spammers. Absolutely Devestating.

[Timarvay]

Same concept as rangers using Winter then?


Edit: How does it work in HA?

[Thervold]

Similar idea, except it only changes damage of the enchanted instead of being a global spirit. It definitely works with Mantra of Earth.

[Maxymiuk]

Is there a reliable way for a mesmer to deal with the touch ranger/necro build? It just happens to rely on touch skills that can't be disrupted (since they aren't spells), nor interrupted (since they aren't attacks, per se). About the only thing I can think of is casting Imagined Burden and then spamming degens (mesmer/necro). But if I do that, I'll end up much less effective (not to say, useless) at shutting down casters (my current specialty).

Any better ideas? That build is my bane in alliance battles. :smallmad:

[Abardam]

Diversion? Psychic Distraction? Simple Thievery and hope you get Vampiric Touch/Bite?

[Thervold]

Even better - energy denial. Touch rangers often run low on energy and need Offering of Blood just to keep the touch spam going. Hit them with energy denial, and they'll be much less effective. Plus, it can help out with felling other spellcasters as well. Add in Sigent of Humility to restrain them from OoB, and they'll spend a lot of time just trying to recover energy with their meager three pip.

[Bzar]

Another option would be to backfire them. They cast often and fast within the span of 10 seconds, probably enough (with other sources of damage) to kill them in the 10 seconds alotted. And if you echo it.... even better.

Oh, and I have not yet tried this in HA. I'm willing to be it will not work because of SF and other sources of degen.

[Abardam]

Vampiric Touch (and Bite) are not spells, and thus are unaffected by Backfire.

[Bzar]

Oh really? I never knew that... Oh well.. there goes one idea down the drain. What about SS? That'd certainly work.

I like the getting rid of energy idea though... e-denial is always fun, unless you're on the receiving side. Then it's "GIVE ME BACK MY ENERGY THIEF!!!"

[Abardam]

thog need no energy. thog smash (http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Enraged_Smash)talky-man now.

[Bzar]

...Awww man!!! So much for e-denialing a warrior....

[Maxymiuk]

For hurting a warrior with a mesmer, use Clumsiness, Empathy, Diversion, Ineptitude, and Ancestor's Visage (especially the last one - kills, or to be more precise, makes them kill their adrenaline). Spirit Shackles won't go amiss either - warriors do have energy using skills after all. And some sort of a signet buster, such as Ignorance or Panic.

[Bzar]

So, how many of you guys went to FoW or UW during this weekend? I know I did. Trio farmed with my derv, Bonder Monk, and a SS... made it up to the skeletons in FoW. Ah well...

[Timarvay]

Couldn't make it, sadly. Especially since I have only been on when America had favor twice in the time I've played, and that was when I didn't know where nightfall ascension was so I didn't know I qualified to go into them.

In other news, I do NOT like the announcement about GuildWars 2 and Eye of the north....

[Thervold]

Last weekend, you were allowed in FoW and UW regardless of favor and for no entry fee. I went to FoW to farm spiders solo, and I joined a friend for UW quests. We lost the defend the frost king one though after which I had to call it a night.

[Bzar]

Has anyone been to DoA recently? Last time I was there, it was REALLY really hard... has it changed any?

[Abardam]

What? Guild Wars 2? *googles*

[Penguinizer]

Its been announced. I need a focus core of devotion and a faith is my shield inscription to have any hope of getting into a group in doa :P

[Bzar]

Really? What build is that?

[Thervold]

I like these new updates. Finally, more storage!! and... I've already filled it all up.

[Bzar]

I think the point of all the update was to end the muling... Apprently, not in Thervold's case. Mine barely has anything.

In other news, GOLDEN EGGS AND BUNNIES!!! :D

[Timarvay]

Woooo! Chocolate AND new PvP stuff! This rocks!

[Bzar]

Some news on GW:EN (which incidentally spells Gwen): gamespot.com got an exclusive...

And the new weekend says something about double points in hardmode... does that mean hard mode is coming this week!???

[Maxymiuk]

I just found out why it pays off to combine armors from different campaigns. my female mesmer has the body from the Luxon armor, and the rest is the Sunspear armor, including the high boots. Result?

She looks like a dominatrix.

Now just to dye all of that black... :smallbiggrin:

[Penguinizer]

expel the disturbing mental image!

I still need damage-2 and hp +30 while enchanted mods for an off-hand.

[Autarch]

I used to play GW constantly... I was kinda one of the top healers in a decent guild. Tried WoW for a bit but I think I might be coming back. Somehow I'll deal with not having any Nightfall skills... or I could always buy it on ebay, I suppose.

So, considering I've been completely out of the loop since a few weeks after Nightfall started, would anyone mind filling me in on some of the major changes that I missed and need to know about?

[Bzar]

Well then. Here's something new: As of Friday, there is a new mode (hard mode) releasing. Other than that, not much. Most nerfs happened to skills that were in NF or other build related to NF... Lots of skill changes. Hero's Ascent got changed from 8-man teams to 6-man teams to 8-again... Umm.... Heroes got added with nightfall, but all campaigns now have the flag system for henchmen (I believe).

-strains memory-

Guild Wars 2 and Guild Wars: Eye of the North have been announced. The latter is the first true expansion (need one of three to play).

Apart from other skill changes, no not really.

So what is everyone's IGN? I have Thervold's and Abardam's but they live on the West-Coast and are three hours behind me. =(

[Abardam]

So what is everyone's IGN? I have Thervold's and Abardam's but they live on the West-Coast and are three hours behind me. =(
You... do? Funny, I never released it. And I don't think I live on this 'West Coast' that you speak of. Anyway, my main is Daryan Grayhill.

[Autarch]

Well, its hard to say which is my main. Probably my monk, Master Rayala. East Coast time zone, but I play at pretty random and bizarre hours of the day/night anyways so it shouldn't matter much. I've been offline for several months, so my first order of business will be to
1) Get used to the layout of all the skills and such-what again
2) Practice for a bit
3) Find my old guild... I've missed them :smallfrown:

[Bzar]

Somehow, I have friends who only seem to be on either early in the morning for me (east coaster) or midnight... I think they're Australian.

Oh, and Autarch, if you're looking for a guild check out the GEAR alliance.. PM in game (Bzar the Great) to find out more. International and awesome/helpful.

[Abardam]

Holy crap Hard Mode! New Vanquisher title! I am so running around Tyria again!

[Thervold]

Wow, even early missions are difficult. Fort Ranik against lvl 22 Charr when you still only get three companions is quite difficult.

[Autarch]

Somehow, I have friends who only seem to be on either early in the morning for me (east coaster) or midnight... I think they're Australian.

Oh, and Autarch, if you're looking for a guild check out the GEAR alliance.. PM in game (Bzar the Great) to find out more. International and awesome/helpful.

Thanks for the offer, but I managed to find my old guild.
~
On another note, Hard mode is fun! I've been doing the last three missions in the Prophecies campaign on Hard mode... them Mursat are a bit rediculous.

[Penguinizer]

Hmm, I haven't bothered to try hard mode yet. It seems hard though :P

I play it more rarely now. Mostly due to me playing cs. I probably will start to get more active around eye of the north release.

[Autarch]

What I find really amusing is that all the low level mission towns are filled to bursting with people, half of whom *must* (for some strange reason) ask the following question:

"Is Hard mode hard?"

and then there is always one enlightened individual who *must* (for some strange reason) make the following response:

"lmao wtf U R teh dum"

...good times.

[Abardam]

Yes, hard mode is hard. Stupid grawl. I think I need to get an interrupter hero.

[Timarvay]

So, could I recruit some of you to help me out with the last two nightfall missions? I was going to wait until I could afford the armor to continue the storyline, but I want to try hard mode. Give a yell if you see me, I'm Eladrel Longshaft in nightfall.

[Bzar]

Sure I'll help you, just that I'm on at odd-ish times. Actually, I'm just not allowed on Monday - Thursday. But I play for an hour or so anyway.

By the time I'm fully able to help you, you'll probably have it done, if not already.

[Abardam]

What's up with the stone elementals? They've got Dwarven Hammer Stance, but they don't have hammers. Cobble's got Shield Stance, but no shield. I know someone, somewhere, said that no skill was useless, but these guys are pushing it.

[Abardam]

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f350/abardam/stuff/gw011.jpg
Some thoughts:
Hulking stone elementals, and their bosses, are pushovers. (I easily soloed both, to recharge my signet.)
One can easily outheal the degen from any number of Shatter gargoyles, so kill the Flash gargoyles first. What I do is: Dolyak Signet (once I'm adjacent, of course), Armor of Earth, and I'm set. If I'm able to Skull crack, he's pretty much dead; otherwise, I just have to heal sig more.
Kill the Plague devourers first. Plague(s), then Carrion(s), then Whiptail(s). Plagues have Putrid explosion (100+ AoE damage), Carrions have Skull crack (they're also quite quick on the draw), Whiptails have Lightning reflexes (hard to kill in melee without stance breaking).
I'd recommend going for the Grawl when you're just starting out and have no DP.
Shutting down the Ulodyte is very necessary.
Crowns of thorns are annoying. Watch out for Signet of judgment. If you're having trouble outdamaging them (such as if there's more than 2), split up and attack all at the same time. They'll most likely run out of energy because of Holy wrath (but watch out for the signet just the same). Funny story, we were up against 3, and I died, and whenever Tahlkora would res me, all of them would immediately spike me with the signet. I had to manually disable all her skills except ressurrect and prot spirit.

[Bzar]

Good job Abardam! With heroes nonetheless!

A few of my guildies managed to clear old ascalon and the breach or something... took them FOREVER.

I'm disappointed though, my ele can't tank Fort Ranik Mission, too much degen... =(

[Abardam]

Yeah, Tahlkora sucks. 'Ooh, I'm not Tahlkora, I'm Tankora!'

[Thervold]

Put your hero monks on passive and don't give them touch range heals (like Healing Touch). They tend to live a lot longer that way.

[Abardam]

She is, and she doesn't. I have to manually flag her behind the tanks now. Heck, Ulodytes are better at kiting.

[Bzar]

I like the cupcakes. +100 health, faster movement... -drools-

Cupycakes are good.

In other news, Gear Trick Alliance has fallen apart =(

[wolfwithnofangs]

They had a comic. (http://thegeartrick.tripod.com/soa.html)

[Bzar]

I know they have a comic, but one of the largest guilds in the alliance just left. We also had two other guilds leave so now it's just 5 small-ish guilds and a large one. Basically, the other guilds have only 1 or 2 people active at all.

[wolfwithnofangs]

Guild wars is competing with world of warcaft, its often just a game that people play when they can't afford to play WoW at the moment, (although thats just what I've heard, I've never played WoW).

[Autarch]

Bzar- If your guild is allied with Luxon, feel free to PM me in game (Master Rayala). I'll talk to you more about it in game, but basically my guild is looking for guilds to invite into our alliance, and from what you've been saying, its probable that your guild would be a good candidate.

wolfwithnofangs-



Well, as far as World of Warcraft vs Guild Wars goes, it really all depends on your playing style. If you are the kind of person who is willing to/enjoys spending hours and hours farming in guild wars for gold and rare items, then World of Warcraft is probably a game you'll enjoy. I spent a month or so playing WoW before I decided that I didn't like the game enough to justify paying for it. The problem for me was that it gets pretty old pretty fast. With a level cap at 70, there are advantages (namely, being powerful) and disadvantages. The big disadvantage is that it takes months to reach level 70, and almost all of the best content for the game is pretty much reserved for level 70 characters. Once you hit level 70, you then proceed to spend more time trying to get powerful gear.
So whats the big deal? For several reasons, leveling in WoW is extremely boring. First off, the skills. WoW lets you use all of your skills at once, if you so choose. But, there are almost *no* skills. Even if you are a mage, you really only have a few skills to choose from, and there are no 'skill combos'. You have quick recharging skills that you use all the time, punctuated occasionaly by longer recharging skills, as they become available. And this is. all. you. do. A friend of mine plays an ice mage, and goes on Raids with a very strong guild. But even level 70 raids against powerful enemies are mind numbingly repetitive. If he wasn't interested in looking at the (I'll admit) very impressive scenery, [B]he could set every single key on his keyboard to use the skill Frostbolt, have his character follow one of the other mages, and then bang his head repeatedly on the keyboard for a half-hour.

There is no skill involved with WoW (or next to none) Everyone has the *exact* same set of skills (which are generic... healing: you either heal them once, or heal them over time, and there is virtually nothing else to do.) The only way to get better is to spend countless hours at the game, and by *getting better* I mean increasing your level and then getting better and more powerful equipment.

Now, all of what I've said, I've said with a negative connotation. But as I said at the very beginning, if you play guildwars, and you spend most of your time farming for loot, World of Warcraft is your kind of game. There is no aspect of gameplay in WoW other than farming. I play GW because, mainly, it is based almost entirely on the skill of the player, rather than on how many months the player has spent gaining more and more powerful gear. You can have the best gear in the game, all the best insignias and runes, and all the best weapons, and get your but kicked by a player who doesn't have nearly as much gear as you. Also, the game is constantly changing (for the better). In pvp, a strategy that wins every battle for you won't last as long as a week before someone can counter it. In WoW, things are always. the. same. GW's array of skills, and the countless builds you can make with them, means that strategies are always shifting. To draw a comparison to WoW; Imagine that every single fighter in Guild Wars had no choice but to use the same 8 skills, and monks all had to use the same 8 skills. This is what pvp (and pve) is like in WoW. There are no builds... everyone is virtually the same, except for very minor differences (sword vs hammer, fire magic vs cold magic). So, like I said before, in WoW it doesn't depend on making a build that can adapt to changes in the game, it depends on having the best gear you can possibly get your hands on-- everyone has the same skills and abilities as you, so the only way to get ahead is to have better gear.

So, thats why *I* don't play WoW anymore. Of course, just as good (or better, I don't harbor any illusions of grandeur) arguments could be made against Guild Wars. They usually include the level 20 cap being too low, 8 skills being limiting, and some complaint about how everything is instanced. So... neither game is better than the other as a rule... but for certain playing styles, Guild Wars is infinitely better than WoW, or vice versa.

To answer your question: Is GW competing with WoW? Of course! But I've found for the most part that the people who enjoy the same aspects of GW I enjoy (missions, questing, goofing around, elite missions and places like FoW), tend to be people who don't like WoW. The people who've spent the past month farming gold so they can buy FoW armor... they tend to be people who enjoy WoW more than GW.

[Penguinizer]

Everyone should ad Penguin Of Might to their friends list. Im not looking for a guild atm. But any guilds looking to join an alliance can use me as a messenger to the alliance I'm in at the minute. I don't play as often as I used to now though.

[Logic]

I have recent caught the Guild Wars bug, and am having a great deal more fun that I ever did with WoW. I am currently in a Guild started by my Boss, and we were planning on becoming allied with the Luxons for Factions battles.

[wolfwithnofangs]

To answer your question: Is GW competing with WoW? Of course! But I've found for the most part that the people who enjoy the same aspects of GW I enjoy (missions, questing, goofing around, elite missions and places like FoW), tend to be people who don't like WoW. The people who've spent the past month farming gold so they can buy FoW armor... they tend to be people who enjoy WoW more than GW.

Yay, everything makes sense now.:smallsmile:

[Autarch]

I suppose I could have just limited myself to saying what wolfwithnofangs quoted, and saved everyone some time :smallbiggrin:
oh well.

[Penguinizer]

Dont you just hate it when youre at the end of an urgoz run and a couple of eles leave. Making your 2 hours of work naught.

[wolfwithnofangs]

I suppose I could have just limited myself to saying what wolfwithnofangs quoted, and saved everyone some time
oh well.

I would of quoted the whole thing but that would make a very large reply.

[Timarvay]

Question about Alliance battles, everyone.

Do all the people on the four-person group need to be in the same alliance? For that matter, do you need a guild hall for it? I am the proud leader of a one guild alliance, with one person who I would let in. Namely, me. I also have better things to do with my money right now than buy a sigil, though now that I can convert faction to amber and sell it, than may change. Incidentally, how much does amber usually sell for to players?

[Abardam]

I think that, as long as you have a guild, you can get into your alliance's side and party with anyone. Not sure about this, though, as it's been a long time since I have ever AB'd. (I do Fort Aspenwood.)

[Timarvay]

That is a good thing for me. A pity I have to shell out money for a sigil or hope for luck with a PUG in HA, but that isn't too major.

[Thervold]

To do alliance battles, you just need to make it to Cavalon or House zu Heltzer to align your guild with one of them. From then on, you can reach then via the guild hall. If you're trying to get a sigil for a hall, go with just buying it. I doubt they cost much anymore, and it's much easier then trying to PUG your way through HA. I have a friend that does HA almost exclusively with pugs, and she has yet to hold the hall let alone get a sigil from it.

As for the price of amber, look up what the rare material trader will buy and sell it for and find a price in between if you want to try to sell it off to players. The best places to try to sell amber are zu Heltzer or Vasburg Armory (where you can buy armor that needs amber).

[Timarvay]

Well, I get to alliance battles and I can't get a battle. Getting a group is easy, but after five minutes of trying to get a battle we just gave up. The sigil was 24 platinum. Is that a normal price nowdays?

[Thervold]

It's been over a year since we got our guild's sigil (and at that time, it was 80 plat), so I don't know if that's a fair price. And to get an alliance battle to start, both sides need at least three teams of four awaiting to do battle. So unfortunately, if AB has become less popular, you might see too few people to actually start the battle. The Jade Quarry is plagued with that problem too.

[Penguinizer]

AB usually has enough people. But sometimes the servers are too full.

I prefer AB for messing around with builds. And I need Shadow prison for an antirunner build that now just doesnt even make sense now that I think about it >.>

[Timarvay]

This HA weekend got me thinking, maybe all the GITP people could get together and do some PvP? Heck, if maybe even tomorrow if enough people can show up, and we could all HA together. You know, because I hate having to wait an hour to get a group, then get kicked out of it because I don't have one skill unlocked that I won't use for another few months.

[Penguinizer]

Too late for today. Its 10:50.

[Autarch]

This HA weekend got me thinking, maybe all the GITP people could get together and do some PvP? Heck, if maybe even tomorrow if enough people can show up, and we could all HA together. You know, because I hate having to wait an hour to get a group, then get kicked out of it because I don't have one skill unlocked that I won't use for another few months.

And THAT is why you need, right now, to start looking for a big beginner-friendly yet talented pvp biased guild that helps people get higher rank. I'd point you to one but I don't pvp much and neither does my guild (yet... its in the works)

Although, I have a friend who, rather than get in a guild, slowly build up a network of in-game friends, all of whom were great at HA, or were in powerful pvp guilds. He just sent messages to them, and they got him into good teams until he had a high enough rank to avoid the catch-22 of getting a high rank in the first place (need a good team to get high rank, need high rank to get a good team) It takes patience, and skill, to get anywhere in HA. If you have the talent (and TS/Vent and a mike-necessary tools for serious teams) and you are able to give people the impression that you are intelligent and mature, you should be able to get good groups if you go about it the right way. One quick tip: don't post in the !All chat "Lfg, exp mo/e BL can reroll"-- send whispers to group leaders who don't have full groups, requesting politely if they need someone like you. and never, NEVER, self invite yourself unless they tell you to first.

[Timarvay]

Oh, its not the groups not wanting me that I have a problem with, its finding a group I would want to go against that is the problem. I usually have no issues getting into a group once I find one I'm interested in, unless they need a melee type. As for getting into a PvP focused guild, I'm in a guild of my own already, made because I wanted people to stop trying to recruit me. I hold a rather firm belief that any guild that openly recruits for members and takes people they aren't familiar with really needs new leaders.

[Autarch]

Which is why you need recruit guilds, rather than the other way around. I find the elite missions work good for finding a pve guild or just a good guild in general. Either you'll impress them enough that they ask you to join, or you'll be impressed enough ask for an invite. And, some guilds use open advertising to get people, but before they are invited those players are evaluated in some way.

[Logic]

Oh, its not the groups not wanting me that I have a problem with, its finding a group I would want to go against that is the problem. I usually have no issues getting into a group once I find one I'm interested in, unless they need a melee type. As for getting into a PvP focused guild, I'm in a guild of my own already, made because I wanted people to stop trying to recruit me. I hold a rather firm belief that any guild that openly recruits for members and takes people they aren't familiar with really needs new leaders.

QFT.

I was recently made an officer in my guild, with the understanding that I would't add just any shmuck I met during a mission. That is what a friends list is for.

[Autarch]

Ooh, defeated by Logic :smallbiggrin:

Of course, there are plenty of rather easy and painless ways to insure that the 'shmuck' you are inviting to the guild is a good fit for that guild.

But it all depends on what, exactly, is a good fit for your guild, so I can't help with that any more than I've already tried to. For my guild, we look for people who will be very active on guild and alliance chat, and we make sure that anyone we invite is mature (officers are held accountable for anything said or done by players they invite, which kind of takes care of the 'random shmuck' problem pretty darn well :smalltongue:)

[wolfwithnofangs]

All the guilds I join don't care who joins as long as they have enough members.

[Timarvay]

Well, I have a rather odd guild, in the sense that our purpose is to be a bunch of friends to run events and give away a lot of free stuff, and act as newbie helpers. Most people don't seem that keen on joining a guild focused on helping people out and running odd events.

[Thervold]

Actually Tim, that sounds like fun. I'm already in a guild with good friends of mine, but I think any guild that emphasizes having fun by running events or helping others has the right idea. It is a game afterall, and it's much more fun running your own minigame complete with prizes then hording all your gold just to buy expensive looking armor.

[Timarvay]

Mostly I just help out people when they ask, and run some small trivia things with prizes, and no major events because one person isn't enough to manage a big events. I've drawn up some designs for bigger ones if I can get the people to help out.

[Autarch]

Something you all should be aware of:

Burning Dragons of Tyria [DRGN] is hosting an event in Lions Arch (international district 1) on June 16th to raise awareness of breast cancer. Its going to be called Pink Day in L.A. We will be providing free red and purple dyes (the most common combination to dye armor pink) to everyone who shows up and doesn't have their armor dyed already. The idea is to have everyone in the entire district wearing pink. And if you spent 50k on black dye and don't want to mess it up, you can always go to old ascalon or shing jea monastary and spend 200 gold to buy a set of armor that we'll dye pink for you.

Thats the very general gist of it... obviously we'll also be talking about the issue, answering questions, and also trying to have a good time.

So, be there on June 16th, and tell everyone in Guild Wars that you know :smallbiggrin:

Help is of course, appreciated. Donations of red and purple dye to any [DRGN] members would be great, and if your guild is interested in helping in some other, bigger way, we welcome that as well. But the best thing you can do is get yourself and as many people as possible to come to the event.

heh... shameless plug but meh, this is the best place for it.

[Logic]

My guild likes to undercut people that are doing runs for substantial fees (When we happen to be in those regions of course.)

We also give away gifts to our newest guild mates (usually we recruit them pretty new, so we give them an expert salvage kit, a couple ten slot bags, some random crafting materials we are full of in stash, and 1000 gold.)

[Timarvay]

I've been known to run some of the missions that are hard for when you take them for free, when people are charging. Stuff like Consulate docks, mostly. The Gandara one that you need Margrid for as well, because for some reason people are convinced that you need a full team of humans for Master's in that one, and you really don't, and I like proving them wrong with that.

Edit: If I run into any of you guys, I have some red dye taking up space in my bank that I want to get rid of. If I don't see any of you before the 16th, I might just give it to you then.

[Penguinizer]

I'll come to L.A. that day. Mostly to mess around. I really want to go to a district sometime and do stand-up comedy.

[Thervold]

Neat, my paragon's pink armor will finally fit in somewhere! It'll be fun to hear your stand-up, Penguin.

Are you serious that people believe that you can't hench masters on Gandara? If you can pass that mission, the bonuses are extremely easy. Every mission in the game hero/henchable with full bonuses (at least in normal mode), so I'm annoyed at the people who charge outrageous amounts to run a mission claiming you need a full group of real players. Even in hard mode, it appears possible (although very challenging) to hero/hench it all.

[Penguinizer]

I have wanted. I just need to make some jokes that won't make the crickets chirp:smallbiggrin: Anyways. I'll try to entertain.

[Timarvay]

Thervold, I'm dead serious. I've been known to bet them I can do it, and actually make money off it on occasion.

[Abardam]

I so need to start doing that.

[Autarch]

I think running is probably the fastest way to make gold... you get gold (rather than items) so you don't need to waste time trading with people. And you can make a good 10k in 20-30 minutes if you know what you're doing. Learning to run forge is rather tricky, but there are other places where you can run and make almost as much gold... and with three campaigns, there are almost always people looking for runs from one place to another.

[Bzar]

A good run to try is the LA-Sanctum Cay run and then (if you have an ele) solo the mission for them. LA- Sanctum Cay is around 1-2k earning you a profit anywhere from 5-10k. Running the mission is a price I'm not sure about, probably 2k. There was a good build for running that mission on the wiki, but it was lost when all the builds went away... a pity really.


Also, I want to trade an Elite Dervish Tome for an Elite Mesmer. Anyone got one and willing to trade? I'm desperate. I need to get Signet of Midnight and I really don't want to have to head all the way to Ember Light camp when I already have it unlocked as my Dervish (who needs it) is only at LA.

[Autarch]

You can run from LA to Sanctum with a warrior... and if you have a warrior/elementalist you can solo the mission. the idea is to just keep aggro on yourself at the end without dying. just do one run, look at the skills used against you, and it shouldn't be too hard to figure out :smallbiggrin:

[wolfwithnofangs]

I ran to Sanctum Cay with a ranger, only died twice:smalltongue: I need a better running build, or maybe it's me and not the build thats flawed.

[Thervold]

The LA -> Sanctum Cay run is such that as long as you have enough running skills to perpetually have a speed bonus, you should be able to do it without dying given enough practice. Learn what you can safely aggro and run from and what will still hurt you (minotaurs, easy to run from. skale still cast degen). It's one of the easier runs because you don't need to worry about knockdowns or snares. Runs in the southern shiverpeaks are much more difficult, since you run into crippling traps and hexes as well as knockdown skills.

[Penguinizer]

I just use a R/mo build. Escape, dodge, zojuns haste, healing circle, healing breeze, some skill I forgot, mending, some skill I forgot. Theres a R/W for running forge.

[wolfwithnofangs]

I used zojuns haste, storm chaser, escape, troll ungent, lightning reflexes, whirling defence, holy veil and shielding hands for LA to Sanctum, I think there are too many stances in this build.

[Abardam]

There is no such thing as too many stances!

[Autarch]

Well, if you can keep two or three of them up with no gaps in-between, any additional stances are redundant :smallwink:

Personally, I think Forge Runs are the most interesting (read: crazy hard). I'm a purist, so I haven't made the switch from W/Mo running to Dervish forge running. I ought to though, from what I've seen its easier with a Dervish... But why fix what isn't broken, no? I haven't done any runs in a while though; getting things ready for Pink Day in LA is sapping up most of my in-game time. Not that I mind... if you read the gameAMP forums for guildwars, you'll know that its getting to be pretty well known and will be well attended.

[Thervold]

Autarch, What time do you plan on holding the Pink Day event? The 16th being a weekday, I only have a couple hours after work for game time.

[Bzar]

I'll try to attend pink day in LA (haha, it rhymes) but I have summer school for a pre-calc class and I don't know if I will be home in time.

Have you guys contacted A-net about this? They may want to help out somehow. Not sure how, but it is certainly a possibility.

[Logic]

Ok, A little off topic here, but I have a question, and I am hoping someone can answer it for me.

A coworker of mine said that compared to WoW, Guild Wars is too restrictive. Since I did not play WoW for very long, I am not exactly an expert, I wonder what he could have meant by that.

Anyone that has knowledge of both, please respond with your thoughts on the matter.

[Bzar]

In my opinion, he could mean a couple of things:

1: the low level cap or 2: the limitation of skills

These are the things unique to GW and the I actually like the limits, it prevents too much grinding (as is common in WoW) and makes it a game of skill, not of levels. That's just me though.

[wolfwithnofangs]

Anet says they may make the level cap 100 or infinite in Guild Wars 2.

[Penguinizer]

I do say, that is the death of Guildwars as I knew it. I will not be picking it up...

[Logic]

Anet says they may make the level cap 100 or infinite in Guild Wars 2.

Why do this? The level cap could be raised to 30, and not break the game, but 100? Infinite?

This would serve no purpose except to make PvP even more of a pissing contest than it already is.

Things I would like to see from the sequel:

1) Mailboxes (I like the idea from WoW, although it does not quite fit the technology level, unless we have magic mailmen)

2) Level Cap increased to a MAXIMUM of 50. There is no need to go beyond that, and I would prefer it to stay closer to 20, or 30.

3) More slots on the skill bar. I am not asking for too many more, just up it by 2, to make it a maximum of 10.

[adanedhel9]

Why do this? The level cap could be raised to 30, and not break the game, but 100? Infinte?

I read that the developers were looking at the preferences of the current players, and they saw something odd: despite understanding the need for the level cap, and appreciating its presence in the game, they still wanted to continue developing their character through levels. Which I certainly understand - once I hit 20 in the original, the texture of the game changed. I no longer felt like the quests mattered, and it just became a race to the finish line.

I'm not sure how they intended to make this work with PvP, but the idea is really for the PvE people.

[Thervold]

The level cap wasn't as big a deal in Prophecies, as your average, first-time player like myself didn't hit it until through 75% of the campaign, at which time the number of quests also dropped significantly. It made reaching the level cap something significant, and it wasn't until Southern Shiverpeaks that you could get your last skill points.

However, in both Factions and Nightfall, new characters reach the level cap very quickly. I think this is so that exsiting characters coming over at max level still have a challenge, but it weakened the feeling of achievment for hitting 20. I don't mind the level cap, but as stated above, there is little incentive to finish quests or get all mission bonuses, as there is little reward in doing so.

So there needs to be some sense of character growth beyond the level cap. I think they started to do that with the sunspear and lightbringer ranks granting skills and bonuses, but I think it could have been developed further. According to Gaile, we're supposed to get more sunspear skills, but they've been "almost done" for months now and we have yet to see them.

ANet says they definitely will raise the level cap in GW2, but not how it will affect gameplay. If the cap is high or unlimited, I would guess they don't make you significantly stronger then someone who hasn't grinded. Otherwise, they will be competing more directly with grind-heavy MMOs such as WoW, and that's not a very good business move.

[Konig]

Arenanet has implied that they will have a 'hard' level cap at a low level; 20 or 30 for PvP characters. Then characters can progress beyond that point in PvE, and should a PvE character choose to PvP, they will be set to the 'hard' cap.

It seems like a fair enough compromise, but I still dislike the idea of grind in PvE.

[Thervold]

From a GameSpy interview with Jeff Strain dated April 27, 2007: (http://au.pc.gamespy.com/pc/guild-wars-2/784302p1.html) "The new game will have a much higher level cap - and the team is actually playing around with the idea of having no cap at all. "

So it sounds like there will be a higher level cap, but as I said before, it will probably have less of an impact as it does in other MMOs. Otherwise they are going to lose a lot of their casual players.

[Konig]

For all we know, it could be something as simple as giving 'levels' (but no benefit) for each skill point after 20th.

[Thervold]

I hope pink day went well. My sister-in-law had her wedding planned for that day, so I wasn't able to make it. I'm hoping to hear your stand-up some other time, Penguin.

[Timarvay]

Ok, so I need some tech support.

Every time I start the game, it says it is repairing the data archive, and that takes about ten minutes. Any clue what it is doing/what I can do to stop it?

Also, I'm having some weirdness with Fort Aspenwood. the only PvP I really do now. Today I was stuck at connecting when it loaded, and yesterday after I was supposed to be auto-ressed, the countdown dissappeared as usual but I was still dead. Any clue what was/is going on?

[Thervold]

The data repair is likely due to some corrupt file in the database. The simple solution I can think of is to delete the data file in the guild wars directory, effectively causing every file to be reloaded as it's needed. It'll be annoying having to re-download everything, but I'm not entirely sure what else can be done about that.

I haven't tried Aspenwood for awhile, but I do know they recently made changes to Aspenwood and Jade Quarry of some sort. Since I haven't heard of any other people having the same problem, it might be tied to the corrupt data problem.

Edit:You can start up the game via the windows command prompt with the -image option to force it to download everything. So I recommend before you leave for work/school/bed (or any other long downtime) you delete your database file, then run "C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\gw.exe" -image (assuming default install path) from the command prompt. To get the command prompt, go to start->run and type "cmd". Hope that helps!

[Timarvay]

So pretty much I should reinstall Guildwars?

[Bzar]

Basically yes. You're just going to over-write old files with the same new ones, which will replace the corrupted file. It will take a Very. Long. Time. It's a real pain, but it's the only way to stop it from doing what it's doing.

[Timarvay]

Ok, I may as well try it. Does not sound particularly pleasant though.

[Thervold]

That is why I suggested using the -image option to reinstall. It forces all downloads so you don't have to wait when loading a new zone. Run it in this mode when you'll be away from your computer for an extended amount of time, so when you get back, it will hopefully be completed and you can play without the normal pains of reloading all the zones.

[Autarch]

Hi again. I've been away and I'm going away again after I post this. just thought I'd drop by.

Pink Day was a huge sucess... if any of you came I'm glad you did.
We ended up filling three districts completely in LA International Districts (usually there is only 1 district open, with around 10 people in it max)
and a Korean GM showed up as well.

Hopefully we'll have pink day again next year, but for now just keep your eye out for some of the movies of pink day floating around on the net. I'd link one right now but I"m out of time.

[Bzar]

While I couldn't make it, I've been asking around about it and I heard it was really great. Congrats on the success though!

Wish I could've been there, there's a youtube video of some kind of mushroom line-chase thingie. It's awesome.

I missed so much :smallfrown:

[Lamoid]

yea i dunno, im digging the assassin's styles.

demonstrated quite well here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=gfZp1UMYFI4&mode=related&search= Nice.

Please note that the guy who submitted the video has almost my exact same username, not trying to flagrently self promote, he's just my brother and we use that username for everything :smallbiggrin:

[Timarvay]

I am curious, fellow GWers, about why people cannot understand the Jade Quarry is a PVP area. Roughly half of any given team is going to be mapping. I can only speak for the Kurzick side, but every game I've been in, at least one person has been telling us to let the Luxons win sometimes. I asked if I was the only one who wanted fair competition, win or lose, in a PvP area, and I was told I was. Sadly that person seemed to be correct.

So, what the blazes were the developers smoking when they made PvP missions count for the cartographer title?

[Bzar]

I guess they weren't thinking much. Honestly, I've never done Jade Quarry, so I couldn't tell you.

[Timarvay]

Don't do it. Most of the people are mappers, and that is just a fancy name for leechers who run around a bit but don't compete. After one match, where generally the Kurzicks win (I'ma kurzick who has never lost in it) then all but a few people on each team leave, having gotten their mapping done.

[Abardam]

Well, that sucks. Jade Quarry sounds like it could be interesting, but from what you say... eh, I'll pass. Guess I'm limited to Fort Aspenwood for any form of turtle-bashing action.

[Thervold]

Yes, I am saddened at the ghost town that is the Jade Quarry. The few times I've been able to play it as a real match, it's a lot of fun. But for some reason, everyone continues to stick with Fort Aspenwood. When I'm feeling like some PvP, I'll poke my head in now and then, but more often then not, it's empty or has insufficient people on one side or the other to begin a match.

Oh, and nice vid, Lamoid. But be very wary of SS/reckless haste necros (one of my pvp builds). All that power goes to waste if your chains constantly break, and double hits double trigger SS.

[Bzar]

Vid? What vid? Did I miss something as usual?

Anyhow, I've just discovered that monking is probably going to be one of the most enjoyable professions I'll ever play. I've no idea why though.

What're your favorite profession(s) to play?

My favorite is probably ele, but monk is a close second.