Guild Wars Factions: What do you think?

[Bzar]

Ok, Factions is officialy out, servers are up, and the Collector's Edition is finally out.

So, what do you guys think?

[Sophistemon]

Holy schnike! It's out!? Man. I have to get that.

[Miles Invictus]

The CE is out?! :o

They told me the next shipment wouldn't come until Monday...oh, if only I didn't have to drive two hours to redeem my preorder! </melodrama>

I got to play it during the Head Start. It's pretty fun. I can't exactly quantify why, though. However, I can't explain why the original GW was so fun, either.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

I like how they made such harsh quests like the captured kid or whatever that one is called. It's like 50+ crimson skull at once. Fun times.

[Maxymiuk]

It's fun, though really hard for the inexperienced. It took our fairly good party 4 tries to even make it past the first mob group on the way to the Luxon HQ at the preview event. But once we did... it was like poetry.

Heck, we were the first party to actually get to the Jade Quarry - and we still had to hand around for 15 minutes or so before we actually got an opposing team to fight.


Now that it's out though, I think there's way too many assasins around, and not enough monks. And I'm not helping. :-[

[Bzar]

As far as classes go, yes there defenitely are too many assassins. So, if you're reading this, make something OTHER than an assassin. Also the skills added are great, but others are merely copy-offs.

Difficulty on the other hand has risen, giving more of a challenge.

[Syri]

I've been quite impressed so far, started an assasin, as i already have a monk, and really like it as a damage dealer.
The new areas look really, really nice, and the characters really fit in well. I especially like how any of the old classes starting on the new quest line get an oriental makeover aswell.
Overall, very worthwhile in my view, lots more content on the pve side, and can't wait to get my teeth into the pvp side when my guild's big enough for some proper battles.

[ninja_penguin]

I'm loving it. The places look nice, and the training monestary is a billion times more helpful and neato then the pre-searing area of the first game. The Assassin and Ritualists are nice, although I waited a week after the first day so my assassin can get into groups, since the initial Zerg Rush of Assassins has somewhat abated.

They also made mobs a lot more dangerous with mixed professions, and bosses are now something to be feared, instead of an easy +2% morale bonus.

They also killed running, so I don't have to deal with the people who stand around offering runs to a location about five feet away, or people who demand to be run through an easy area.

My only complaint is that I liked the 12 vs 12 battles better during the preview weekend. I guess I can live with 4-man parties, but at least let everybody talk in the team chat. I mean, if you want to suggest a strat to your team, you have to put it out in local chat right where the other team can see it.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Right, an expansion just came out that includes a class of stealthy killers (who, by all means are ninja) and you expect that online gamers AREN'T going to jump on it? :P

[Jibar]

See, I've been thinking about picking up Guild Wars, considering it's online without the fee, but if there's a new expansion pack out, I'm not so sure,

[Maxymiuk]

You don't need the expansion pack to play the game, since the original and the expansion are two completely separate continents and storylines, with separate characters for each one (though I did hear something about the option to travel to Cathan from Lion's Arch).

[Thervold]

Yes, they are both stand-alone. You have either without the other, but if you have both on the same account, you can have characters freely travel across to the other world.

And yes, there are way too many assassins. I had to either go with henchmen or with my guild for every mission so far with my assassin. If you still want to try out their ninja skills, use a R/A. At least ritualists are versatile, being able to play nuker, healer, or MM (if Rt/N) quite effectively.

I agree with the poster above that they have some crazy-hard quests like the captured son. Facing a single group of 40-50 takes a lot of team planning and coordination. I like it.

[Bzar]

Indeed. It is indeed very very very hard. But, i thought the challenge was good (it causes you to focus more).

Have any of you managed to make new builds using the two new classes?

[Miles Invictus]

Assassins are tricky to build well...you never seem to have enough energy to pull off the really sweet combos.

Of course, Critical Eye and that one dual attack that results in two criticals helps a bit...personally, though, I'm thinking about trying to get some Zealous blades...the fast attack speed results in an effective +3 regen while attacking.

[Murky_Pool]

The second one is stand alone of a sort. Expansion is a better word for it.

For a new player I would recommend the original (called Guildwars Prophecies), as it's not geared toward the endgame so much.

Factions is 70% endgame, the xp you get in the early quests is incredibly high so you can join the endgame alliances quickly.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Assassins are strong, so strong it's often a little worrysome. However, this is balanced by the fact that all the many effects in game that cause strikes to not connect cause them no end of grief and that skills such as Sympathetic Viasge and Spirit Shackles destroy their ability to fight at all. When faced with such skills, an assassin last not much choice but to try and find alternate attack methods.

[Jothki]

Assassins are tricky to build well...you never seem to have enough energy to pull off the really sweet combos.

Of course, Critical Eye and that one dual attack that results in two criticals helps a bit...personally, though, I'm thinking about trying to get some Zealous blades...the fast attack speed results in an effective +3 regen while attacking.

Hence why I liked my ranger/assassin in the preview. Expertise works on all of the combo attacks.

[Bzar]

I played in the preview and played a W/A... It ruled especially with the assassins ability to shadow step and the warrior's armor and health.. unstoppable.

[Kriel]

Hmm... Yes, I'd say the Assassin is powerful to the point of terror, but it's offset by, as mentioned, limited Energy, many Skills able to interrupt (Clumsiness and Ineptitude), block (Bonetti's Defense, Gladiator's Defense, Shield Stance, Whirling Defense) or just blind the target (Throw Dirt, Ineptitude, Signet of Midnight, Dust Trap), their effectiveness can be very easily negated. That, and their armor is only slightly stronger than Mesmer or Monk armor, so they will have a VERY hard time in a standoff against multiple enemies. One-on-one, though, I have yet to see anything scarier than an Assassin or a Mesmer prepared for his or her target.

[Shadow_of_Light]

Been playing Factions for a while now. Haven't played my Assassin much, but my Ritualist is going nicely. :) I still prefer playing my monk. And since she's gotten up to those Jade Quarry etc. missions where you need an opposing team, the problem is finding a time to play when there IS an opposing team.

Ah well.

I have to say I love the scenery in the starting Factions area. The floating blossom petals are a nice touch. :) Trying to decide whether it's as pretty as pre-searing...

[Miles Invictus]

I finally got the CE! Well, last Thursday. Got the little miniature flying dragon, got the backup dancers, and I've started work on a Rit/N minion-master type. I've yet to reach the mainland with Konjou. It's kind of boring -- I feel very ineffectual, since most enemies can be dropped in mere seconds, and I don't have any really effective attack spells.

I think it will get better once I hit the second mission and the mainland...tougher enemies means the spirits will have a chance to do damage rather than sit useless for 40 seconds out of every minute.

[Thervold]

Sprits can help quite a bit with large battles. While as you said, they can be wasted during the early fights, they won't be quite as wasted as you start to face larger groups. And for smaller battles, Destruction, Draw Spirit, Rupture Soul. Create spirit, draw it into the heart of battle, and explode :) Oh, and just wait until the first mainland mission with your MM Rt/N. It's one of the few missions that regularly has two MMs because of the bountiful corpse supply.

As for the assassins, I specifically went A/N for Rigor Mortis and Plague Touch, thus covering the easy at which my attack chains can be blocked. And for extreme circumstances, they have the +4 energy regen, allowing them to utilize a caster secondary more effectively than a warrior or ranger. For the previously mentioned Lost Son quest, I actually was raising minions with my assassin, something almost unheard of with the other two classes.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Captured Son is the best quest by a longshot thus far, Last Stand USED to be decent, but it got nerfed to hell with the guards now stalking you about.

[Bzar]

Thervold: in reply to your post that said kill monster's in 30 secs, you ain't seen nothin yet.

ANybody else go to the mainland too early? as in, i'm lvl 12 and getting completely OWNED?

anyone feel like helping me?

IGN: Bzar The Scholar

[Shadow_of_Light]

You can always just use the main map to teleport back to the monastery island. I arrived at the mainland at about level 17 or 18, which I attained just by doing the quests/missions. No farming required. :)

I wouldn't be surprised if you're getting pwned if you're only level 12, seeing as most (all?) of the mainland monsters are level 20+.

[Thervold]

Since I have this habit of thouroughly exploring before moving on, I was at lvl 18 or so when I hit the mainland. Still, I got a nasty surprise from the quest where you are supposed to rescue a little girl from the jade brotherhood. Yah, at that level and less than strongest armor, their eles spiked me, immediately flooring me before I could lay down my first spirit. But so far, none of the quests I've found are nearly as hard as Captured Son, and I'm up to Cavalon/zu Heltzer now.

As stated above, you can probably pull out from lvl 12 just by doing the quests and finishing missions with bonuses. Many of the NPCs don't give out quests until you've done something else, so if you have a clear quest log, check back at the monestary. And when doing the missions, use a monestary credit to get a scroll of adventerer's insite to help you gain more xp.

You'll have a hard time finding a group for the first mission if you're < 20. Monks and MMs can usually get away at 18 or 19 due to the high demand, but at lvl 12, you'll need guild/alliance support, because I doubt you'll find a PUG.

Finally, once you hit mainland, you can run up straight north to Kaineng to find the max armor for your class.

[Bzar]

okay, just so you know, i'm really P.O.ed when posting this... so yeah... if i start using caps theres why

I HATE NEWB ASSASSINS!! THEY TREAT IT LIKE A FRIGGIN TANK!!!! WHICH IT'S OBVIOUSLY NOT!! (anger now vented)

anybody wanna alliance with a kurzick guild? we used to be ranked 300...

[Miles Invictus]

Boon of Creation + Explosive Growth + Summon Bone Minions = Victory. Godly spike damage, healing, energy management, and some little guys to deflect three or four attacks and pin foes for large scale AoE.

I should team up with a Necro or two...they would *never* run out of energy.

[Shadow_of_Light]

Since I have this habit of thouroughly exploring before moving on, I was at lvl 18 or so when I hit the mainland. Still, I got a nasty surprise from the quest where you are supposed to rescue a little girl from the jade brotherhood.

Heh, I first encountered that quest with my lev 20 monk (brought her over from Tyria) and that surprise was STILL nasty. :)

I did it again recently with my Ritualist, and because I knew what to expect I set up all my spirits before triggering the damn thing. ;D Hardly broke a sweat.

[Thervold]

Hey Miles, add Signet of Creation and Death Nova, and you have my current Rt/N build. Nothing is more fun than creating a bunch of minions except maybe watching them all explode simultaneously in a spectacular nova fireworks show in the midst of an enemy group. ;D

And Bzar, I feel your pain. Especially since I have an assassin, I don't have the chance to prove that I'm not stupid because severe discrimination against the class in general due to the zounds of newbie ones trying to tank without any defensive skills other than Shadow Refuge... *sigh* Assassins are great for taking out stragglers on the fringes of battle and for one-on-one conflicts, but they have the same armor as a ranger (minus the elemental bonus) and have no absorption, and thus should avoid being the center of mob attention.

[Miles Invictus]

Ha! I'm definitely gonna try that out! The only problem is that I have trouble casting Death Nova on more than one or two minions at a time.

I wonder how effective Assassins would be in Random Arena...no guarantee of a Monk, so the Assassin might be able to do some very successful hitting and running with those shadow-step skills.

[Shadow_of_Light]

Assassins are great for taking out stragglers on the fringes of battle and for one-on-one conflicts, but they have the same armor as a ranger (minus the elemental bonus) and have no absorption, and thus should avoid being the center of mob attention.

No absorbtion? Are you sure? I'm positive I saw Assassin Absorbtion Runes in the rune trader inventory.

[Thervold]

Try starting the signet then casting Death Nova on your minions just before battle as they circle around you. Just remember to get them in and surrounding the enemy by the end of the signet's 30 second timer. I was at E3 and asked a few devs to implement a "target closest friendly minion" bindable to make it easier to target them with Death Nova, but I have no clue if it will actually be implemented.

Shadow, I've checked the rune trader quite frequently while trying to fill out my minor runes. I haven't seen any absorption runes except for warrior so far. Alphabetically, they will be next to each other, but I'm afraid that it's still a warrior rune. You may be right though, seeing as it's still difficult to find any minor assassin runes at the trader and they might just be out of stock if they exist.

And assassins due quite well in the random arena, except since they became so popular, many more anti-melee mesmer and necro builds have appeared to counter them. And shadow stepping doesn't help a whole lot except for running the flag in the obelisk map. Shadow of Haste, bring the first flag, then teleport back to pick up a second.

[Sophistemon]

In the first Guild Wars there was an innocent quest that ended with the world undergoing a horribly cataclysmic event. In the first game I was playing a Ranger/Warrior and did said quest at a low level and suffered for it immensely in the long run. I don't want something like that to happen in this game, so my question is this: Is there a quest at the beginning of the game that, once completed, will change the world to such an extent that, like in the first game, I will unable to complete other low-level quests? In short, does this game have something equivalent to the Searing, and which quest triggers it?

[ninja_penguin]

No, you can move freely between the effective post and pre-searing areas of Factions. Factions presents a training period on the Island, with events leading up to you investigating the mainland.

Not 'Rocks fall! everybody dies!'.

[Sophistemon]

Oh thank god. That was so unexpected. I'm at the point on the island where Togo wants you to walk with him, and all I can think of if Rurik going 'Hey, let's kill some Charr! C'mon, what could happen?'

[Miles Invictus]

What I remember most about Rurik is "You are a pox on Ascalon, and I am the cure! I am immortal, I have inside me blood of kings!" And then the Dwarves killed him.

[ninja_penguin]

Oh thank god. That was so unexpected. I'm at the point on the island where Togo wants you to walk with him, and all I can think of if Rurik going 'Hey, let's kill some Charr! C'mon, what could happen?'

Master Togo's walk is the lead-up to your first mission. But like I said, it's not 'Rocks fall! everyone dies!'. Also, it should be noted that you can find the 15-attribute point quests can be found in the area directly after each of the first two missions.

[Sophistemon]

Yeah, I noticed that. This game seems, so far, to be much easier.

[Thervold]

It's easier except for the missions where you must rely on another random group of people who may or may not have a clue at what they are supposed to do. I lucked out getting past Vizunah Square, but I have friends that had to try at least a dozen times before their companion group was able to keep up with them.

But overall, I have found it a bit easier. Maybe it's due to my experience in the orignal GW where I remember trying Gates of Kryta at least seven or eight times before giving up and running around to Lion's Arch. But that was back in the days of the BWEs, and I can solo that thing with my monk now. I'd be interested to know how people who haven't played Prophecies are doing in terms of difficulty.

Oh, and Rurik lives on! At least in miniature form mindlessly following some players along. (which reminds me of another challenge of Prophecies before they made some updates.... Rurik used to run non-stop from battle to battle in the missions he appeared, forcing players to move fast to keep up with him. Now he at least waits for players to catch up.)

[Sophistemon]

Yeah,



Isn't he resurrected at the end of Prophecies as a minion of the Lich?

[Shadow_of_Light]

Sophos Epistemon: Yes, that's correct. :)

About the mission in Prophecies that takes you from pre-searing to searing, there IS a warning on the quest that if you take it you won't be able to return. I'm curious if people actually read and understand that warning before accepting the quest... from the number of people who end up in searing and go "What?? What just happened?" it just baffles me. :p

[Bzar]

I know really. I have gone post-sear a few times, and before you go, it asks: You are about to leave everything behind, do you want to continue on?" IT'S SO BLATANTLY OBVIOUS! I MEAN, COME ON PEOPLE!

At any rate, anyone beat Factions yet? I'm still kinda stuck on a quest to lead to the second mish...

And to those who say Factions is easier, no it's DEFNINITELY not. Much much harder, especially for the world size.

[Sophistemon]

GAH! This is why I stopped playing Guild Wars in the first place! I get to level 11 and then... WHAM! Every monster in every quest is strong enough to tear my head off with its feet! Everything went smoothly a half-hour ago, then I get the quests that lead me to the harbor town and I get my ass handed to me. It's so frustrating! Lilly Dragons. Lilly Dragons! How do I die to a plant? That doesn't even make any sense! You're telling me that a level 11 Rit/N and a full group of level 13 henchmen get torn apart by around five plants!? Shoot me, ArenaNet. Just shoot me and get it over with.

[Jothki]

Yeah, I noticed that. This game seems, so far, to be much easier.


GAH! This is why I stopped playing Guild Wars in the first place! I get to level 11 and then... WHAM! Every monster in every quest is strong enough to tear my head off with its feet! Everything went smoothly a half-hour ago, then I get the quests that lead me to the harbor town and I get my ass handed to me. It's so frustrating! Lilly Dragons. Lilly Dragons! How do I die to a plant? That doesn't even make any sense! You're telling me that a level 11 Rit/N and a full group of level 13 henchmen get torn apart by around five plants!? Shoot me, ArenaNet. Just shoot me and get it over with.

???

[ninja_penguin]

I never thought that the lily dragons were that hard, really. ¬_¬

Although I think I was roughly around level 15 at that area. Ever done the bit where you use Ctrl+shift+ space to send in the henchies first?

Edit- yeah, I missed a letter there. -.- Also, you might need to edge slightly closer, but the ctrl+shift+space method is how I keep my non-warrriors alive when I start combat with all henches.

[Sophistemon]

I said 'so far.' It seemed to be easier 'so far'. Damn plant-dragons... I'm sane-er now, though, and starting to think that I may have overreacted. I'll get some guild-mates to help me out. Sorry for being a moron, everybody!


Ever done the bit where you use Ctrl+****+ space to send in the henchies first?
... No, I don't think that was ever covered in the tutorial... By 'spoon' you mean 'shift', right? I think you misspelled it. But I'll try it. Thanks. Once again, sorry for making a paradoxical ass of myself.

[Thervold]

Just watch your conditions/hex bar to make sure Diversion isn't up when using skills to fight the lilly dragons. It wears off after a few seconds, and they don't really do much else. Those poisoning plant friends of theirs are usually much more worrysome. My warrior regularly solos the evil plant dragons when I feel like farming for naga pelts, but it does help having high armor and absorbtion.

And Bzar, yes, many people have beaten Factions. My wife just passed the last mission yesterday, and I'm only two missions away from it. What quest is holding you up from getting to the second mission? If you want help, feel free to message me (ign: Melek Thervold) and I can help you out.

And another henchie trick is to always carry a longbow or flatbow, fire a shot, then pull back a little. You don't need any attributes in marksmanship. If you want to actually pull a group while using henchmen, turn around and run immediately after firing, and usually the henchmen will pull pack with you. It takes some practice, but it is possible to pull enemy groups quite well even when using henchmen.

[Bzar]

Wow Thervold. That's good advice. At any rate, I'll probably message you sometime. In the meantime, who controls Cavalon right now?

[Kriel]

I'm also available for help as well. My name will be Kriel Drache.

[Sophistemon]

Thervold, Kriel, I've added you to my Friends List. I hope that's okay.

[Kriel]

Fine by me. It's always fun to go around killing stuff

[Shadow_of_Light]

I finished Factions a while ago, but only with my monk so far (who was from Tyria, so skipped the Canthan training area). I dunno... some missions were challenging, but I didn't find it harder than Prophecies. Maybe because Prophecies was longer than Factions?

The endgame is pretty disappointing. But the storyline didn't inspire much anticipation. :p

Now I'm parked in The Deep and farming high-end items, heh. :)

[Thervold]

Sure, Sophos. However, I've been having horrible lag recently (I don't know if it's on GW's side or my ISP), so I haven't been able to play much. But if you see me on, go ahead and send me a PM if you want to do anything.

[Sophistemon]

Will do!

[Bzar]

anyone want to start a group that goes on every so often?

btw: my ign is: Bzar the Scholar or Bzar the Defender or Bzar the Conqueror

any one will do really.

and yes, I really do like the name Bzar. A lot.

[Shadow_of_Light]

I have several aliases. Unfortunately, Shadow of Light was taken. :'(

But Faile Elohna is my current primary. :)

[Bzar]

Has anyone else noticed that we are like.. the only people who post on the forum?

[Miles Invictus]

You say that like it's a bad thing! Even given my recent spate of not-Guild-Wars-playing, I find this far more interesting reading than a bunch of people fawning over World of Warcraft. :)

[Bzar]

It wasn't MEANT to be a bad thing... just an interesting observation.

*sigh* TC alliance broke up... NOOO!! just as I got into The Crusaders too... (nothing to do with the fact that they once controlled Cavalon, just the fact that I've got a freiend from real life in there). Anyone else in TC (the guild)?

[Kriel]

The endgame is pretty disappointing. But the storyline didn't inspire much anticipation. :p



Yeah, but after the Raisu Palace Mission I wanted to brutally murder Shiro.

[Thervold]

I just beat the last mission last night... and I agree. Luckily, I was in a very good group that slaughtered Shiro in 1:37. I tried again with a different group (after learning that I needed to bring my crafting materials with me into the mission) and the battle came to a stalemate that lasted about 40 minutes before people started to quit...

[timmy_pyromancer]

i havent posted yet because im broke and still havent gotten factions. And from what ive heard the large scale battles i cool. Also i still havent beaten Prophecies. And the worst part of it is that i have spend the majority of this past week trying to cap life transfer for my elementalist necromancer.

[Shadow_of_Light]

Not in any guild here. Maybe one day.

[Beleriphon]

I will have both in my possession tomorrow! Stupid being at work when stuff gets delivered.

Any suggestions about where or how to start?

[Bzar]

These dang finals are keeping me from getting on and posting...

At any rate, if you want a HUGE continent (which you will have anyway) early in the game and a decent storyline but is kinda slow, try Prophecies. FActions is for impatient hyper people. As mentioned before, Factions is 70% endgame. Therefore, early XP is really high.

I WISH THESE DANG FINALS WERE OVER!!!

[Beleriphon]

Prophecies what now? I haven't heard of that one. Is it a download from their site, or a purchasable addon, or what?

I also understood that for an MMO once the intial game was bought it was free. If not, no huge deal I make enough money that I can afford some extra entertainment, I just thought that I'd ask.

Never mind, found out on my own.

[Shadow_of_Light]

I would also start with Prophecies (original GW). :) However, there's nothing to stop you making multiple characters.

Just remember never to waste black dye, if you find any. That stuff is worth about 9,000 gold a vial.

[Bzar]

oh yeah. that be true. at any rate, finals be over tomorrow and i'll finally get on again!!!!



YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! AYYYYYY!!!! AYYYYY!!!


ps: whats your ign belerighon?

[Beleriphon]

My main character a W/E is Beleriphon Tag. If I could accent the a I would have.

[Bzar]

You should spell it "taghe". and where is your character? tyria or cantha (prophecies or factions respectively)?

[Beleriphon]

I suppose I should have spelled it that way, yet I didn't As for where I'm playing Prophecies right now.

[BelkarsDagger]

Is GWF better and less shallow than WoW? (by 'shallow' I mean more interaction and less just killing stuff)

[Bzar]

it depends. if by "interaction" you mean with NPCs, no. if you mean with other players, probably yes. This is because of the limited skils you are allowed to bring, so thus you ask around seeing whats best for your particular class. Interation with other players also occurs in the PvP arenas (player vs. player).

[Miles Invictus]

GW has instances, rather than zones, so the only place you're going to interact outside of your own team is in the towns. The major cities are always packed, and you can talk to anyone regardless of guild, faction, or alliance.

[Sophistemon]

Is it possible to get Signet(s) of Capture in the Factions campaign?

[Beleriphon]

Is GWF better and less shallow than WoW? (by 'shallow' I mean more interaction and less just killing stuff)


Not as such, given that every MMO is basically killing stuff by yourself or with a group. That being said GW does encourage grouping much more. It also has a more solid story line with the quests, and seems more like a single player RPG in that regards.

[ninja_penguin]

Is it possible to get Signet(s) of Capture in the Factions campaign?

Yes, actually. They just don't make them as blazingly obvious as in Prophecies, when they have Magi Malaquire making you go create one. From Kaineng Center onwards, skill trainers have signets of capture for sale, you just ahve to scroll all the way down to the bottom.

Side note for people who have both games, and just started:

I suggest creating your first character in Tyria (Prophecies campaign). This being because the game just throws skills at you like crazy, in the form of quests. Cantha (Factions campaign) doesn't have as much from quests, but throws a lot of money at you instead, so you can buy what you want instead. This is what I suggest for people.

1. Go through Pre-searing. Average level for leaving it should be around level 6.
2. Continue through Tyria until you hit the town of Lion's Arch.
3. Complete the quest 'Mhenlo's Request', giving your character access to Kaineng Center in Cantha.
4. Enjoy Cantha's insane EXP rewards for quests in the area, and head back to Tyria a lot more powerful then you were before, so you can complete that campaign, or at least get your two 15 point quests completed.

After that, I suggest giving Cantha and the Shing Jea Monestary a try. They level you up pretty fast, and the advanced training courses give you a nice set of skills. Cantha also lets you experiement more with your skills and try out different attribute lines easier. (For example, in Prophicies, if you want to be anything but a fire elementalist, you have to wait to the endgame to get any decent skills for the other elements. In Factions, you can buy other elemental lines rather early into the game)

[Thervold]

Is GWF better and less shallow than WoW? (by 'shallow' I mean more interaction and less just killing stuff)

GW, like most MMOs, does have a large focus on the just going out and killing stuff. However, due to the design of missions and skill limitations, most players interact with each other to complete them. (although it is possible to do any of them alone with AI-controlled henchmen players).

As for gameplay, most of the quests are either a message/item delivery, go kill something, or escort someone someplace. Most of the missions are simply go from point A to point B, killing stuff along the way, although some have an extra mechanic to keep things interesting. (One of my favorites has you place markers to direct fire of AI turtles with cannons strapped to their shells) Some quests have some humor tossed in as well.

But as for interaction with players, I like the guild/alliance system, so you can have your close group joined into a guild, and that guild can be part of a larger alliance. This allows you to get to know a number of people who you might not otherwise have known, since each guild in the alliance is independent in how it recruits.

There is a low level cap, and max-stat gear is quite easy to obtain, so most of the interaction is with players that have similar stats to you. Playing for thousands of hours will only get you unique skins for weapon and armor models and maybe increase your skill library, so it's not hard for someone relatively new to the game to play a useful role in a party composed of seasoned veterans.

Having not played more than a 10-day trial of WoW, I can't fairly compare the interactivity of the two games, but I hope this has provided some useful information to make a comparison yourself.

[Sophistemon]

Yes, actually. They just don't make them as blazingly obvious as in Prophecies, when they have Magi Malaquire making you go create one. From Kaineng Center onwards, skill trainers have signets of capture for sale, you just have to scroll all the way down to the bottom.
Oh, so I'll be level 20 before I see one, then. Drat.

[ninja_penguin]

true, but you won't be seeing any elite skills until the mainland, anyway.

[Thervold]

You can still do magi malaquire's test if your Canthan. You just need to get to Kaineng (where you can buy them anyway) to travel to Lion's Arch. Still, in the long run, the two free signets he gives will save you a couple platinum in the long run.

[Sophistemon]

Hey, my brother wants to know where he can turn in his Imperial Commendations. I do too, I guess, because I don't know either.

[Shadow_of_Light]

There are 3 Quartermasters in Kaineng City that you can trade in Imperial Commendations to. :)

[Sophistemon]

Thanks. I'll tell him.

[Thervold]

Later, you'll find Luxon totems (traded at quartermasters in Cavalon) and Equipment Requisitions (quartermasters at House zu Heltzer)

And in case it comes up, there is no advantage to joining the Luxon over the Kurzick or vica versa. So follow whichever side you want. And you can "switch over" by spending all your faction for one then gaining it for the other side. To get the "protector of cantha" title, you actually need to befriend both sides to do the corresponding missions. If you're running through with multiple characters, the faction is shared among characters, so you only need to earn it once for everyone on your account at that point in the game to benefit. However, once spent, you'll need to reearn it again.

[Sophistemon]

Thanks for the info!

[Bzar]

*sigh* I still can't get on... and I'm still on vacation... any special events going on/ going to happen? anyone know?

*what am I doing at the beach..? I don't like the beach...*

[Thervold]

They are starting something called the "Dragon Festival" starting June 30th. There isn't much out about it yet other than it will be in Cantha. Oh, and it will have another holiday hat for me to waste valuable inventory space with.

[Shadow_of_Light]

There's some info about the festival on the offical GW website. Keeping in tune with the 'fancy hats' from other events (santa hat for Christmas, pumpkin hat for Halloween), the Dragon Event will feature (among other goodies) an oriental Dragon hat/mask.

As Thervold said, it'll only be in Cantha. So if you don't have Factions you won't be able to access it (though you could get other people to sell you stuff I guess).

[Miles Invictus]

Not likely, if it's fancy hats. Don't they customize that stuff to each individual character?

[Bzar]

I believe the hats are customized. However, other special stuff (usually weapons or offhands) aren't. *sigh* to bad I won't be there.

PS: What country are you guys in? I never see you on.

[Thervold]

Yes, holiday hats are customized and usually require you to be around someone that appears in a specific town every three hours for a day. (usually centered around 3-6-9-12:00 PST)

I live on the west coast of the United States, and due to work, I'm only typically online for a few hours at a time in the evenings. But I definitely look forward to seeing everyone on at some time.

[Shadow_of_Light]

Hats are customised? I don't actually have any (was never online at the right time...), but I see people offering to buy/sell them on occasion.

Oh, and I live in Australia.

[Miles Invictus]

Hats are a type of armor, and thus customized.

By the way, I'm playing regularly again. Banshi Makaze, my Assassin, just reached Vizunah Square, so if anyone wants to party up...

[Bzar]

I'm still on vacation... at the beach... which (as I pointed out) I really don't like.

I'll be back this coming up Sunday (hopefully) and be on maybe Sunday night or Monday night.

I myself am on the US East Coast, but am only able to play from 7-10 pm Eastern Time.

*sigh* Why won't this vacation just end already...

[Thervold]

Just try to enjoy the rest of your vacation. I could certainly use one about now. At least with GW, you don't have to worry about wasting subscription money while you're out.

And Miles, I still need masters on Vizunah, I'll look for you online tonight.

[Abardam]

Dragon Arena is awesome. It's like, you and 5 random other people have to kill the other 6 random people more. You get 5 (!) res sigs, Dragon Blast (kills if it hits), Imperial Majesty (touch attack, recharges your other skills), and Trade Winds (sprint). Like, a Canthan version of that snowball fight thing. Except now you have to dodge or you die.

[Bzar]

interesting... sounds fun!

gee. when does it end? hope it doesn't end soon!

[Thervold]

It ends July 5th, so if you're coming back in the next couple days, you'll still have time to try out some of the events.

edit: Oh, and I agree, the Dragon Arena is fun! It's basically dodgeball GW style.

[Alex_1758]

I can get you one million coins if you send your username and password to [email protected]
you will have the mill within a day. ;) this is not a scam i promise.

[adanedhel9]

I can get you one million coins if you send your username and password to [email protected]
you will have the mill within a day. ;) this is not a scam i promise.

I would strongly suggest that everyone ignore that... It most certainly is a scam and any responders will likely get their account stolen.

I know most people here are probably smart enough to know that, but I wouldn't want to take the risk that someone would actually email this guy.

[Miles Invictus]

On one hand, it sounds like a scam, and comes from a complete stranger, protected by the internet's veil of anonymity. On the other hand, he promises its not a scam.

I am so conflicted right now!

[Aranth]

By the way, one really nice website is www.guildwiki.org (although that just redirects to gw.gamewikis.org, the first one is easier to remember). It's a wiki-style fan site for Guild Wars, and answers a lot of questions and stuff you guys might have. Plus, you know, you could get involved if you like.

[Abardam]

I totally just got my hat.
Also, if you can, try to get your hat from the emperor. Because after it starts to rain prizes. You know, after you're attacked by them grasps.
(Hint: Red Bean Cakes)

[Thervold]

I tend to use guildwiki a lot now. Players are quite good about adding info as soon as it's available. And it's easy to add stuff too. I started some of the festival articles, and others quickly added others. By the end of the first day, we had just about everything known at that time about the festival filled in.

[Bzar]

Does anyone know a good critical hit barrage ranger guild (a/r)? or an awesome domination magic mesmer build?

Greatly appreciated if so.

[Thervold]

My A/R build:
Markmanship:12
Cricital Hits: 10 + 2 + 1
Shadow Arts: 8 + 1

Barbed Shortbow of Enchantment (+15 while enchanted)

Barrage - Savage Shot - Sharpen Daggers - Way of Perfection - Shadow Refuge - Critical Eye - Resurrection Signet

Sharpen Daggers will work with any weapon in spite of the name. Combined with Critical Eye, you can gain enough energy with Barrage most of the time to keep it going and spreading the bleeding condition.

Shortbows are preferred for regular fighting because of their fast refire rate, but bring a longbow or a flatbow for pulling.

As for a domination mesmer, it strongly depends on if you're using it for PvP or PvE.

[Bzar]

Thankee thervold :)

[Bzar]

is this topic dead or something?

[Miles Invictus]

Well, I was away on AT for a few weeks, but now I'm back and actually have time to play...beat Vizunah Square with Regnus, and now I'm ready to unload a stomping on the Celestials. Apparently I'm only Ascended in Tyria. ::)

I can't wait until they finally let us start buying character slots...Cantha needs healers, darn it!

[Abardam]

Alright, technically this isn't about Factions, but you know, related.

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Guild_Wars_Nightfall

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/guildwarscampaign3/news.html?sid=6154159&mode=recent

Paragon kind of looks like a bard. Or a marshall.
Dervish, looks like a warrior variant. Only with a scythe.

[Miles Invictus]

Yeah, I'm gonna be pre-ordering Nightfall. At the current rate, though, I doubt I'm gonna actually play it until six months or so afterwards.

My Ranger's all the way out to Boris Seabed. Almost ready to start an alliance. :)

[ninja_penguin]

I expect that Dervishi will flood the Elonian areas like 'Sins in factions and W/Mos in Proph. Still going to make one. I'm interested in what the god mode things will be. Hopefully something that keeps them alive, so they don't have the total fragility of the Assassin. I'm probably going to break down and create a monk/paragon, depending on how the paragon works.

[Miles Invictus]

The avatar abilities will probably be things like the Warrior's Defy/Endure Pain or Assassin's Shadow Form -- they'll give you an incredibly powerful advantage for a few moments, and then exact a horrid toll after they expire.

[Abardam]

Hey, Defy Pain is sustainable, as long as you can get 6 attacks in in that time.

[Thervold]

Well, in a couple weeks, they will have the PvP preview for the new classes. I'm building up my Balth faction to unlock as much as I can in that weekend.

[Miles Invictus]

Hey, Defy Pain is sustainable, as long as you can get 6 attacks in in that time.

That's beside the point. Once the skill runs out, you lose health equal to the amount it originally gave you.

I wonder if they'll start selling slots next weekend. It'd be the perfect time to do it, what with everyone wanting to try the new classes.

[Bzar]

Does anyone else besides me think that Nightfall is coming out TOO early? I mean, most people haven't even beaten factions yet.

[Thervold]

Since the release of Guild Wars, A-Net has said they want to try to get a new chapter out every six months. My guess is that they want to do this to make up for the no regular fee thing. It would also mean the actual release for Nightfall won't be until October-November, giving plenty of time for those who still haven't finished Factions to complete their goals.

And Miles, the sustainability of Defy Pain means that you can possibly keep it going without losing those temporary HP as long as you can recharge it before it runs out, giving you a constant health+armor bonus.

[Bzar]

hmm.. well i guess so. I know I still haven't beaten Factions... my mes just made it to Cavalon. Anyone know what I'm supposed to do?

[Miles Invictus]

I'm not arguing about the sustainability...I'm just saying -- it exacts a toll when it runs out.

[Abardam]

What I'm wondering about is, though, what will happen to the Assassin and the Ritualist? Will Anet stop making new skills for them? Or will they keep making skills for every class every chapter, exponentially making their job harder as they struggle to make original, balanced, and relevant-to-the-campaign skills?

Also, Defy Pain does not exact a toll. You wouldn't be any more dead if it expired than if you had not used it at all. It's a prolong the agony thing, like Rage without the fatigue.

[Jothki]

What I'm wondering about is, though, what will happen to the Assassin and the Ritualist? Will Anet stop making new skills for them? Or will they keep making skills for every class every chapter, exponentially making their job harder as they struggle to make original, balanced, and relevant-to-the-campaign skills?

Also, Defy Pain does not exact a toll. You wouldn't be any more dead if it expired than if you had not used it at all. It's a prolong the agony thing, like Rage without the fatigue.


Hmm, good point. There certainly will be new skills for the six base classes in every expansion. If the expansion classes remain as they are, they will eventually lose out on flexibility compared to the base classes.

[Thervold]

Bzar, now you get to earn 10K faction for either Luxon or Kurzick (you can do both if you want to as well). Elder Rhea or Count Zu Heltzer each have a "Befriending the <Faction>" quest that will lead to a follow-up quest to get to the next mission head. To gain the Luxon/Kurzick faction, do quests in the Jade Sea or Echovald Forest areas, participate in alliance battles (if you are in a guild that has allied with a faction), or play the competative missions (Jade Quarry/Fort Aspenwood). Just don't trade the faction in for jadite/amber until after you hit 10K. After that, you only have four more missions to go!

I would hope they would add new skills for all classes. Otherwise, as you said, the "new" classes would become less versatile comparatively.

[Miles Invictus]

Anyone else taken a look at the event details? The Dervish sounds like a Warrior/Elementalist and the Paragon sounds like a Warrior/Warrior.

And for something completely different...


Guild Wars Game Update Notes

Update - Tuesday July 25

The character selection screen now displays the total number of character slots and the number of used character slots.

New character slots are coming! New character slots are coming! (Yeah, I might be reading into that a bit too much.)

[Thervold]

Actually, the Paragon doesn't sound like it will be a warrior at all. It sounds more like it will be a pure support character, using shouts, chants, and whatever else to buff teammates. And, it's weapon is a ranged spear.

As for the Dervish, I'm guessing it'll be like a W/Mo with less raw fighting ability but more enchantments and such to improve itself and a few direct damage spells.

The PvP event starts 13 hours from now, so I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[Tarnag40k]

Factions is good, but pricey for an add-on/standalone...but then again it is a standalone... so the pricing makes sense.... the only thing I have about the game...along with the whole MMO genre is that about 70% of the populace who play the game seem to play it only to trash and flame others. And the other 30% who play to actually have fun are only on once in a few weeks.

Which is probably because they get on and in a few hours are like "**** this...now I remember why I stopped playing this..time to go back to oblivion" and log off.


So inotherwords...the game is great, but sucks because the community sucks. The whole genre's community needs to grow up. 'nuff said

[Morrandir]

I just picked up Factions the other day. Leveling speed is insane, and parts of Kaineng don't make sense. Like that one place where everything is leaning far enough it should fall over.

Otherwise, I'm loving the Ritualist, and if the Dervish from Nightfall is good, I've got my profs set ;)

[Bzar]

I highly agree with Igmar. And it IS really annoying because some of the people are REALLY immature. That's why I went to find a good guild that was mature... and I found one. Now the entire experience is sooo much better than it was before.

[Abardam]

Man, I'm trying out the Paragon right now. Settin' stuff on fire. Hmm.... Maybe Elementalist secondary...?

edit: THEY'RE ON FIRE!

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Ass: all but worthless except in the hands of the rare player who knows what's what.

Rit: I've seen just as many good one as bad. I do like auto res though.

Der: based around enchantments... in a game where such things become worthless or even more harm than good late game.

Par: I was REALLY looking forward to this class, I mean a classic skirmisher that plays like a bard? Hell yeah. Then I actually played it. Hmm...

[Abardam]

Gah. Too many Dervishes. Especially D/Mo's with Contemplation of Purity. Which are pretty much unkillable.

[Bzar]

Indeed. I was watching a HoH match... my GOD!! SIX d/mos and two monks. the ONLY way to take them down, is to to shatter their enchantments. Good thing I'm a mes ::)

[Abardam]

But if you do that, it triggers the end-of-enchantment thing and gives them back health and energy. So they can cast it again. Of course, stripping them is probably better then having them CoP it out.

(Hmm, what about Shatter Storm + Shadow Shroud?)

[Shadow_of_Light]

Well, it's only at beta stage, so chances are the dervishes and paragons will be changed before the final release. I haven't tested either of the new chars, having no free slots. I can wait, though. :)

[Hadrian_Emrys]

If I've learned anything from being around since beta 1, it's that anet will take this expansion as a chance to violate mesmers yet again while giving rangers more perks.

[Thervold]

I played a derv enchantment spammer and agree they are quite unbalanced for the most part for the weekend. Using the alt invinca-derv build I posted on GuildWiki (earth based, not CoP), I could 1v1 almost anyone and either win or draw a stalemate. However, I'm guessing their power will be reduced later.

Backfire worked wonders against the dervishes, as most would continue to spam their enchantments, taking 130 damage each time. In the HoH, Desecrate Enchantments/Define Enchantments was fun as it hit the entire bunched up group for nice damage. Spiteful Spirit helped too. However, most builds that were not made with dervs in mind had a horrible time fighting against those who knew how to use them.

Oh, and has anyone been able to get into the online store that's now linked on login? I heard you can now buy character slots through it, but I just get stuck on the screen as it's connecting.

[Jothki]

Gah, I can't believe that I completely forgot about the preview event.

[Thervold]

Give it another couple months and they'll probably have a PvE preview much like they had for Factions. I'm guessing they'll be changing around the new classes anyways, as they were quite powerful when used correctly. The Hall of Heros was flooded with teams of 6-8 dervishes that would just snuggle and nuke, destroying most opposing teams quite quickly if they did not have a dervway team themselves or brought specific builds to take them out.

[Scruff]

I can't wait until they finally let us start buying character slots...Cantha needs healers, darn it!

Theres the shop that appears on the login screen now.
:-)
new char slots for £5.99

[Miles Invictus]

I bought three, so now I've got room for one of each class, as well as a PvP or Pre-searing character.

This next weekend sounds exciting. All Elite missions unlocked...I'm going to give that stuff a try. Maybe my guildmates will get on for once. I can only hope.

[Bzar]

You know, I'm really starting to hate ABing... so many peopel just want to FIGHT and I lose because of it.. seriously: losing streak so far: 21 (and counting). Anybody else have this problem?

[Abardam]

ABing is Alliance Battling, right? I never liked it that much after the FPE. Now you have to find a group, and since you were in a group it became harder to solo, since the other guys probably have a monk, and the map is huge and stuff.

Solution: Fort Aspenwood. I actually go in alone and feel like I'm doing something for my team.

[Thervold]

AB works better if you gather a group of friends or anything other than a random group together. Plan out a group of four and hope you get good teammates. My alliance will try to time clicking the enter button to get two or sometimes three of our groups together into a battle. It's awesome having twleve together who actually can communicate and work as a team.

Fort Aspenwood is more and more becoming an easy Luxon victory. A ranger with Edge of Extinction can easily cause the architect to die without even destroying the green gate.

[Abardam]

That's why you don't let them anywhere near the green gate. And besides, if you have competent bonders, then he can survive two turtles past the inner gates.

[Bzar]

hey, does anybody know the best bow for a barrager? I play a critical barrager, and have a terrible bow (it's not even max)

[Miles Invictus]

You want a short bow for barraging. They have the fastest fire rate, which is important because most enemies will charge you upon being attacked. I would also recommend a Vampiric string and Fortitude grip. Of course, I'm assuming you have a longbow available for sniping and pulling. The best rangers have bows for multiple situations. (I carry a shortbow and longbow for most elemental types, to maximize my damage potential.)

[Thervold]

I think half moon bows are the same as shortbows. If you're using Sharpen Daggers to inflict bleeding, use one that adds 15% while enchanted (or while health > 50% for general use). Every character should bring a longbow or flatbow for pulling, but rarely should these slower firing bows be used for anything else. I

n PvP, a longer distance bow is sometimes good to have if you are keeping a target crippled, but longer firing arcs such as with the flatbow are easier to dodge.

edit: Oh, if you want a chart with all the stats of all the different bow types: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Bow. The same site can be used to find bows rewarded from collector items or green drops if you want a specific bow. I think I may have an extra max damage shortbow with no mods. PM me in game if you want it. ign: Melek Thervold.

[Tarnag40k]

the one thing about guild wars that appeals to me over WoW, and EQ II is that it's PvP is more devolped then others, ni the way of bring player-skill based. The items I have found to do very little and most of the abilities work only a percantage of the time (except health, energy, and duration bonuses) also the runing of armor has negatives to it blancing out runing, along with the limit of skills able to be brought into a battle at once.

The only thing i find that people complain about is the low level cap, saying that "lvl 20 level cap is gay because my character that i spent 6 months building can get owned by a 2 week long player". well your logic is like saying that any long-time players of a first person shooter or such like half-life, should get upgrades, or extra health, and that new players should get nothing. which means that they are at a bad disavantage more then just being new. Also, sorry but if you've been playing for a long time and get beaten badly by a new player then that says a lot about your playing skills.

[Bzar]

personally, I LIKE the level cap and the 8 skills on the bar. Makes me think a little bit more. I like that. Unfortunately, some people, mainly those who are a little more illogical, get easily frustrated by the lack of skills and the low level cap. Like my friend, but I turned him around ::). Now he loves it.

[Bzar]

hey, i remember a while back someone posted about a guild with a [oots] guild thingie.. i forget they're called. anybody know what happened to that? And, I bring back my other proposal: start an OOTS guild... *begs*

EDIT: sorry i logged thervold. i forgot to mention i can only play 7-10 eastern.

[Thervold]

I like the low level cap and skill bar restrictions too. As you said, Tarnag, if someone who's been playing 2 weeks can beat you with your 6 months of experience, something is wrong with you, not the game (or you're facing a very talented individual). One of the draws to the game is that it actually rewards player skill over time logged, and I enjoy that very much. There is no supreme build that will defeat any other build. There are always counters, always things that can defeat you and require you to rely on your team's support to win.

No worries, Bzar, at least I managed to get you the bow.

[Bzar]

hey, since we're really discussing more than just factions here, do you want me to change the topic name to just "Guild Wars?" or keep it "Guild Wars: Factions, what do you think?"

[CannibalGnome]

I've recently purchased Guild Wars, my character is Fedar Merne M/N5.

[Miles Invictus]

Monk, or Mesmer?

Bzar: That was me that posted about it. I only saw the tag that one time, and no one ever said "Yeah, that was me", so presumably it was a hallucination of sorts.

[Toric]

I've started to get into the Alliance Battles with a few Warrior builds (Luxon for the win!) and I have to say I'm getting pretty hooked. There's a lot of strategy in those battles and if you can gather a good team it can get pretty fun.

[Shadow_of_Light]

Yeah, I only joined a guild recently, and AB is fun. :)

[Bzar]

Well, we'll all see you around CannibalGnome! Hope you have a good time here in the oh-so-beautiful world of Guild Wars (only if you consider video-game art nice)

[Thervold]

Are you in a Luxon alliance, SoL? Bzar and I teamed up for some AB on Luxon, and Toric is Lux as well. All we need is one more to have our own OotS AB group.

[Tarnag40k]

that was me with the post about Oots guild also someone else posted about starting one but that was a lot longer ago


I play a Elementalist/monk or /mes..it really doesn't matter since the build is always the same..

Build name: Geomancer Spammer

[Shadow_of_Light]

Yes, Luxon alliance here. :D Gimme a yell if you feel like ABing. :)

[Abardam]

Luxon Alliance

NOOOOOOOOOO

[Bzar]

luxons ftw! anyway, i need NEED to cap eviscerate. Badly. My warrior has NO elites. and we all have to get online at the same time... some time.

[Abardam]

Eviscerate, eh? Second elite I capped.

It can be capped in the final mission. You don't even have to finish it, but you do have to kill the warrior titan boss. Anyway, you should hope that he isn't the one rallying all the other titans at the start, or you'll have to fight them, too, if you want to cap it.

I think it can be capped elsewhere, but I'm not sure.

Also, juggernaut toss.

-

Oh gods, I just found out. Double Fort Aspenwood Faction this weekend. This is so awesome.

[Thervold]

Go Luxons! We finally pushed back the line, and thanks to the new "momentum" implementation, it was pushed into Kurzick territory.

Bzar, if you want at least some sort of elite for your warrior, in the easiest to get is probably Triple Chop in Bukdek Byway. Eviscerate is only in the final mission or Sorrow's Furnace, so it's not the easiest to get. There's also a mission called "The Afflicted Guard" which has a warrior boss with Enraged Smash in Bukdek. If you already finished it, you can join my necro (who hasn't done it yet) tonight or tomorrow to cap it. For a list of all elites and their locations, I'm a proponent for guildwiki: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Elite_skill_locations

...and Juggernaut Toss cannot be captured (It's a monster skill).

[Abardam]

I wasn't using it. I was ordering my large Juggernaut gatekeeper ally to use it on the siege turtle so that it wouldn't use Carrier Defense. Man, I hate Carrier Defense.

[Miles Invictus]

Karn (my Axe warrior) swears by Cleave. Fast charging and totally overcompensates for the low minimum damage axes have. Best of all, there's four different places you can get it. (see Thervold's link above)

[Abardam]

Wasn't there a Cleave vs Eviscerate article somewhere?

-

Found it, (http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49874) thanks to Guildwiki.

[Bzar]

hmm... i guess ill cap both.. Abardam, is your avatar supposed to be lukas?

[Thervold]

As I recall, that debate pretty much said that Cleave did more overall damage, but Eviscerate was more "spikey". So in PvE, Cleave is probably better against most mobs, but Eviscerate is the skill of choice for PvP. I would recommend just getting any elite as you come across them so you have them when you want them. At least make it a goal to capture every elite of your primary profession. Non-elites are easy to obtain when you need them.

[Abardam]

hmm... i guess ill cap both.. Abardam, is your avatar supposed to be lukas?

Yeah, it is.

[Bzar]

aww... i forgot my cap sig when i did ice caves... :'(. I had two chances to cap cleave... one of which the boss was destroyed by the mursaat...

[Miles Invictus]

Cleave-wielding bosses spawn randomly in all three Southern Shiverpeak missions, so it's not terribly difficult to find. I'd just run through Ice Caves to where you face the two Stone Summit bosses (right before the artillery bridge, so maybe five minutes of work) and map out if you don't see a Warrior boss show up.

[Thervold]

There is also a spawn point close to Copperhammer Mines to find a couple stone summit boss spawns. Just leave the southern exit and run a little southeast. One spawns in the valley and another a little further on a hill.

[Bzar]

are stance tanks any good?

[Shadow_of_Light]

Cap every elite skill you come across! I didn't do that with my first char, and rerolled her rather than go back and redo all those missions...

Stance tank focus on damage-soaking rather than damage-dealing. You can get some very good ones, and others who have no idea how to do it. ;)

[Abardam]

Gladiator's and Bonetti's Defense are good. Gladiator's because it also damages, and Bonetti's because you can keep using it (it's adrenal) and it gives energy.
You could also use (new in Factions!) Renewing Smash, which charges all your Warrior stances, and "On Your Knees!" (also new in Factions) which also charges all your stances.

[Thervold]

Stance tanks are good in certain situations. If you can get most or all of the enemies to target you, they can hold of a considerable number of foes and take minimal damage. For example, in The Deep, a popular strategy is to get three tanks to simply stand (not attacking) to choke off hordes of Oni while the elementalists nuke them.

I tend to use the offensive elite stance, Battle Rage and use weapons with +mod while in stance. You can keep it up indefinetly in battle, and it gives both an adrenal and speed boost.

[Bzar]

i see... thanks for the info all!

[Abardam]

Woohoo! I'm at the final Factions mission already! Unfortunately, exams have come up. Oh well.

[Bzar]

!!!!!! I'm not even there yet... my mesmers stuck at cavlaon.. i have no clue where to go...

[Morrandir]

I'm stuck trying to get Ghial's Staff for the D/N I'm going to make. Hard to find groups as a Rit, and I'm not exactly rich, so there goes just buying one.

Speaking of which, if anyone wants to help, name's Morrandir Gurthring. I'm only after the staff, anything else belongs to helpers.

[Bzar]

I had a ghials drop for me... it was pretty cool... unfortunately, i promised my guild leader that if I got it, I would give it to him. Imagine my surprise when it DID drop for me... ah well.. a promise is a promise.

[Thervold]

Instead of farming for Ghials, I took the collector's bone staff from Zin Ku, added an insightful staff head and a wrapping of death magic. The result is a staff nearly identical to Ghials at a lot less price. (only differences are my wrapping is only16% and it does cold damage insead of dark). I'm still trying to get a Soulreaper though.... I soloed that boss over 20 times now and haven't seen it.

And I never had a problem finding a group as a rit. I had a problem finding a group that would let me play anything other than a restoration rit, although some let me play minion bomber if there was no MM in the group.

And Bzar, now that you're at Cavalon, you need to do the quest "Befriending the Luxons" to continue on. (alternately, you could do "Befriending the Kurzicks" in zu Heltzer). It requires you building up 10k unspent faction, but if you have multiple characters there, faction gain is shared among them. So you can do 5k worth of quests on two characters to get both characters past it. And befriending one factions does not keep you from befriending the other as well. Just you won't be able to interact with merchants of the side you have the least faction.

Oh, any my necro just broke 1 million xp without a death and without farming. Only 300k left until Legendary Survivor! woo hoo!

[Bzar]

not even I'm that dedicated to get legendary survivor... sheesh ::) *jealous*

[Thervold]

With enough practice, the game starts to get a lot easier, thus making goals like the survivor title more attainable. I think I've only had to map out twice to save my skin. And almost all of the work has been with an all henchmen party. It's not as much dedication as in knowing what you're going to face and how to deal with it. Choosing a class that can be useful on the back line helps too.

[Abardam]

Huh. That was... disappointingly easy.

Also, Devona has a twin wtf. (http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f350/abardam/gw136.png)

Oh man, everybody has a twin apparently. Who all have gone into henchmannery.

[Bzar]

oh man. whers your twin at? do you know where your twin is?

[Bzar]

man.. is it just me or are ABs getting worse and worse?

[Abardam]

Why? You Luxons gettin' yo' butts kicked all over Etnaran Keys? Eh? Eh?

...ahem. Having rarely AB'ed myself, I wouldn't know (spend all my time in Fort Aspenwood). Care to elaborate?

[Bzar]

nonono.... we won that one... but it was... boring... it was like.. nobody tried to actually WIN. they just wanted to fight...

[Morrandir]

I have a question. What happens when one side or the other is completely wiped off the map? It almost happened to the Luxons a while ago.

[ninja_penguin]

It can't happen, actually. Both capitals of the factions are off-limits to being captured. Everything else is fair game, though.

[Morrandir]

Aww. I wanted to see Luxons die. It would have been funny seeing all the 1337kiddies cry because they can't get their shiny armor anymore.

[Bzar]

Allowing either of the capitols to be captured would hurt the storyline very badly. Thus, it cannot happen. And I'm luxon, btw, and i don't speak leet, in fact, i hate the darn thing.

[Thervold]

I don't think it would really hurt the story line. Yah, it would be weird, but all the faction-based quests are still available even when the town they are given in has been taken over. The devs might have made it impossible for them to flip, but I don't know if storyline is the sole reason.

And if you haven't seen me online much recently, it's because I'm on a break from GW. My necro died just shortly before reaching legendary survivor and I decided it would be a good time for a break.

[Morrandir]

...Ouch.


And I wasn't saying ALL Luxons were 1337kiddies, just that most of said kids flock there because the armor is black.

[Abardam]

I second that ouch. I mean, what is that, near 1 mil exp? And you died? Heck, I can't even get regular Survivor.

And I think capturing the prime cities could be kind of cool. Both sides could have a 'secondary' base which the important NPCs (including Count zu Heltzer and the Luxon guy) would retreat to.

[Thervold]

It requires 1,337,500 XP... I was at 1,138,405. I think I started becoming more careless after breaking the 1 million point, and thus doom eventually came.

[Abardam]

'1337', huh. Too bad.
Also, check out the funky new music and funky new background. And the Nightfall Preview event next week!

EDIT: Ugh. Anet apparently found a way to make Carrier's Defense even more annoying. I hate it so very much.

[Bzar]

Carrier defense huh? What does it do? I can't seem to remember...

Anyway, I'm happy. I got a chaos axe! ;D

[Abardam]

Well you (probably) wouldn't know, seeing as you're Luxon and you (probably) don't attack Siege Turtles in Fort Aspenwood.

Basically it teleports away all adjacent people and does 100 damage. Not that painful, right? It also has a casting time of really really fast. Still okay... but the Siege Turtle also has the tendency to use it again after you run back to it and then again and again until you die.

And now the turtle uses it even more often! And it now does knockdown! So it now goes like this:
1. I spot a Siege Turtle and get up close.
2. Turtle uses Carrier Defense, I am teleported away and knocked down.
3. Luxon Warriors surround me as I get up, making it impossible to get to the turtle.
4. Siege Turtle blasts me into oblivion.
5. If I somehow manage to get up close again, repeat steps 2-4.

Yes I am bitter.

[Thervold]

If you want to take out turtles, a degen ranger does pretty good at that, taking an interrupt to keep the siege blasts nullified. But if all you have there is a warrior, good luck.

Looking forward to the preview event! The intro music sounds like it's from a movie rather than a game. I think it's kinda neat.

[Bzar]

Thervold, have you been logging on? I haven't seen you on. Only reason I ask is, I've been meaning to ask you what you program with: Java or C++?

Also... what do you guys think of the skill modifications?

[Thervold]

As mentioned above, I've been taking a break from GW. I'll log in now and then to help my wife with a mission or quest, but not much else. Although I plan to be on for the preview event this weekend.

And I program in both languanges. Aside from college, I have three years professional Java experience and one of C++ (current job).

The skill updates were expected. They did the same thing when Factions was about to be released. I would expect a massive rebalance before each chapter release. And I don't mind, as I tend to adjust my builds constantly.

[Abardam]

Hero system is awesome. And Koss kind of sounds like Mr T.

Sunspear Captain, here I come!

(Also, moving mouths in cinematics!)

[Bzar]

Yeah, it's about time they made mouths move...

Needed: ID on all the new dances. What the heck is the male dervish one?

and what do you guys think about the Hero System? I love it. Reminds me of KOTOR.

[Morrandir]

Male Dervish

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8787452113268513375&q=weapon+of+ch oice


I absolutely love the Dervish. I picked up the preorder, so I've got that Icy Soulbreaker of Enchanting. There are some other skins I'd like to get a good version of, Death's Grasp and Bronze in particular.

Edit: I LOVE the hero system. They're like actual people that actually follow orders!

[Bzar]

Hmm.. true.

My guildies find that it's rather hard to use... What's your opinion?

And, based on what you've seen so far, what would you rank NF from 1-10 (1 being the worst, 10being the best)

[Morrandir]

I can use the system quite well. The only problem I have is my healer keeps using Orison of Healing over any others if I leave him to his own devices.

Currently, I'd put it at an 8. Being able to see the mainland, as well as being able to dye my Soulbreaker would kick it up to 10.

[Thervold]

The nice thing is that you can just take out Orison now! I put Healing Whisper and Word of Healing on my monk so he keeps the life bars full of red goodness. Also, the AI tends to use the leftmost skills the most. So if you put Orison towards the right, it'll be used less. This was learned from fighting the doppleganger and is also mentioned under the GuildWiki entry for Hero.

The heros will make things much nicer, but I'm torn to decide if I'll be taking the ranger or the elementalist hero. Ranger is nice for spirits and interrupts, but the ele is nice for support nuking or wards... I want both.

Oh, and you can force your heros to use skills which is kinda nice for prepping spirits or traps for battle. Click on the number by their name and then press a skill to tell them to use that skill.

[Morrandir]

Yeah, I knew about manual control, but working more than 1 character confuses me :P

I wasn't aware of the thing about leftmost skills though, I'll try to attempt to possibly remember that.

And, if all else fails, you could take the ele and give him a ranger secondary ;D

Or just wait for the next hero to come around...

[Bzar]

why does NF remind me of KOTOR for some odd reason? It boggles me...

[Abardam]

So apparently Nightfall does give Assassins and Ritualists new skills (http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Nightfall_skill_lists).
Also, you can't touch this (http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/%22Can%27t_Touch_This%21%22).

[Morrandir]

Hooray for nerfing the lamest build ever!

Seriously, touch rangers really suck. I can outheal even 2 of them any day. 3 just makes it even. A full team of 4 can kill me after about 5 or 6 minutes.

[Abardam]

It's not for beating touch rangers, it's for the sheer awesomeness of saying "Can't touch this!" and possibly whipping out a hammer or something.

[Morrandir]

Well, that too :P

Now I see where the demand for the MC Hammer dance came from.

[Bzar]

it's coming.. it's getting closer and closer... come on release date!!! paragon here I come!!

[Abardam]

That's funny. I just saw a Mo/D in Gyala Hatchery. Is it already released? Or pre-released? Or pre-pre-released?

On a side note, Gyala Hatchery is really hard. Harder than its Kurzick counterpart anyway.

[Morrandir]

I'd imagine that he's just a lucky guy who didn't get his secondary changed.

October 27th can't get here fast enough...

[Thervold]

During the preview event, you could go to the PvP island and change your secondary to either of the new classes. For most people, the D and P secondaries were removed (I thought it was everyone until you mentioned an exception). Even if it wasn't dropped, all Nightfall skills have been disabled until the release, so Mo/D cannot use any dervish skills.

[Bzar]

Well guys... it's time. Guild Wars Nightfall is officially online. So, i'll ask the same question as before: What do you guys think?

[Death, your friend the Reaper]

Is online is it?

I must get my friend to buy it. I always play when I am around his place, managed to get my character to level 20. I liked the last expansion, so this new should be just as good, if not better.

[Thervold]

Still can't decide which hero to take, the Ranger or the Ele... such decisions!

And yes, there does seem to be a common agreement that people like Nightfall better than Factions, so if you liked Factions, you'll probably like Nightfall.

[Cheats McGee]

I like Nightfall better anyway. My ranger is from Factions though. I like the dervish class thus far, however I need to try out the paragon and make yet another ranger for Nightfall.

[Maxymiuk]

Once I get it I'll probably be making another monk.

I tried other classes, but I always come back to the monk. Reason? The other people who play monks often suck at healing. I get tired of dying all the time, so I bring in someone who can do the damned job. Namely, me.

[Cheats McGee]

Yeah. A group can always use a monk. What really sucks is when a monk comes into the group, and waits until you're in the mission to tell you that they're a smiter

[Bzar]

Personally, I can monk. I hate doing the darn thing though. People are so.. ungrateful. And Cheats, smiting monks rule, so long as they actually tell you they are one... if not, they suck.

Back to Thervold over there... I chose the ele hero. Mainly because I like eles. I have also found that the heroes can actually use permanent enchantments. Thus, i have my prot hero (tahl-something) running a boon prot build successfully!! yay!! it's real nice... what hero did you guys take?

Oh yeah, my ele is running a warder/air spike defense build. It's working quiet nicely. It's like having the earth henchmen... with more defense and damage.

[Abardam]

Now that everyone's talking about Nightfall, you should probably edit the title to something more... generic. Y'know, if you still can.

Also anthem of flame+barbed spear rocks.

[Maxymiuk]

Personally, I can monk. I hate doing the darn thing though. People are so.. ungrateful.

Indeed. Never mind that you kept the whole party alive through 90% of the mission. Let one guy drop in the big final battle and he has to rake you over the coals for how useless and stupid you are. Never mind that someone just got hit with three high-damage spells which resulted in near-instant death, you were still supposed to be fast enough. Never mind that the other player is playing a caster like a tank and rushes into melee before anyone else, you're apparently supposed to have the Cure Stupid skill.

All the same, I tend to get more kudos that bitching, so I don't mind as much.

And in other news, I'm installing Nightfall as I type. Let's see how it pans out...

[Thervold]

My warrior has gone with the elementalist, while my new ele is going with the ranger hero. There are other decisions later. I just reached a point where I can gain a necromancer hero or a different ranger hero. Seeing as I already have Olias on all my characters, I'll stick with the ranger on that one.

And I have a monk. I can be a decent healer, but I usually like to play a class with some damage potential. Smiting is useful in some situations, but not everywhere. Fighting undead or large numbers of high-armored foes, smiting is good. But fighting casters and such, it's highly energy inefficient. Although I found my best Apsenwood build was a smiting monk. Nothing like nuking enemy MMs with Ray of Judgement and watching all their minions fall dead. And I can take out a mine solo fairly quickly.

Oh, and if you like Anthem of Flame + Barbed Spear, also try using the Anthem with the interrupt skill that activates if your enemy has a condition. The interrupt skill triggers anthem which causes burning to allow the interrupt condition to be guaranteed to be met. It's nice.

And don't forget to get your Wicked Hat/Furious Pumpkin Crown today!

[Morrandir]

Rolled a Dervish as my new main character. Got to level 20 and became a Survivor without even noticing it. Monk heroes are WAY, WAY, WAAAAY more intelligent than the henchies could ever hope to be.

I also have all 5 Avatar skills. Very nice, I must say. Balth is the one I use most.

My only qualm about the whole thing is that I STILL can't dye my Soulbreaker...

Also, for those worrying about choosing the right heroes: You can unlock all of them at the end, the choice only really matters as you're playing through.

[Cheats McGee]

The holloween event has gone quite smoothly it seems. However in the process of getting a hat for my ranger.....my net went down and I missed it for him! I did make off like a bandit in the night with booze for my drunkard title though!

[Ryshan Ynrith]

Bah...I've made it to Castellan, and now the scouts won't give me jobs...lousy little...

Anyway, I like the fact that titles can actually do something now, like give an extra bonus against demons or more available faction to hold. Makes it a little more worthwhile to get. :)

[Abardam]

Man, Dathlon Reach has got to has the most quests (for an explorable area) ever. So far.

EDIT: Gah, it is Zehlon Reach, not Dahlon Reach.

[Thervold]

I'm glad they finally kept up with quests at later regions. I can finally finish off my Legendary Survivor title with my necro without farming endlessly for it. Although the mission to get off the island was quite scary for a survivor attempt... those ele bosses hit hard!

And yes, I love the monk heros. I saved a total party wipe by running Dunkoro away at the end of a mission (my warrior had died already due to the previously mentioned ele bosses) and Rebirthing everyone. This was simply not possible before heros came around. I do wish I could get the AI to recognize skill chains a bit better though. I was trying to get Zhed to use Shatterstone+Freezing Gust, but he often didn't chain them like he should.

[Bzar]

hmm... You're right, I probably should change the title... anyone know how to do that? If not, I'll just make a new thread entirely... but I don't want to do that.

[Abardam]

Drakes on the Plain has so much win.

"Lord Yama! You're my buyer?"
"Lord Yama the Vengeful, if you please! I've worked too hard for that title to be known as just Lord Yama."

"Do you expect us to just give you the spear?"
"No, Sunspear. I expect you to die!"

"In the future, you might want to avoid stealing from people who have 'the vengeful' in their name. You should also add 'the cruel' and 'the bloody' to that list."

And of course,

"I've had it with these Balthazar-blasted drakes on this Balthazar-blasted plain!"

[Sophistemon]

I noticed that I, a Dervish, couldn't take Ritualist as a Secondary Profession. I would assume that that is because it is a Canta-only Profession. Would it be safe to theorize that once I get to Cantha I can do the Class-Change Quest to change my Dervish/Ranger to a Dervish/Ritualist?

[Abardam]

Not sure about that Senji's Corner guy, but that guy in the Command Post (once you unlock him) can do it.

[Sophistemon]

Not sure about that Senji's Corner guy, but that guy in the Command Post (once you unlock him) can do it.
Sorry, to whom are you speaking?

[Abardam]

You. Zuwarah in the Command Post can change your secondary profession to Dervish (or any other, I suppose) once you do one of those Building the Base quests.

[Sophistemon]

Well, I want to change my secondary profession from Ranger to Ritualist.

I suppose that my question can be narrowed down to "Are Factions classes available to those that own all of the games, including Factions, but are playing the Nightfall Campaign?"

I hope that I don't sound like a fool.

EDIT
Oh, and where is the Command Post?

[Bzar]

Hmm... I believe Factions professions can only be accessed through Factions. I could be mistaken though.


On the other hand, the Command Post (or CP) is located just outside the Sunspear Sanctuary or something like that (the main sunspear hideout place in the cave). There's a zone right by the henchies for that, and from there you can go to four areas (not sure what they are, just know they're there).


A little over-answering, but hey, you got your answer.

EDIT: Oh, does anyone know how to change the name of the thread to just "Guild Wars?" I don't know how. Or, if such a thing is not possible by a user, if a mod happens to see this, it would be very useful if the name was changed to "Guild Wars" in general... Thanks

[Sophistemon]

Hmm... I believe Factions professions can only be accessed through Factions.

If so, that's very disappointing. It would imply that I need to make my way to Cantha in order to enjoy this character. I may as well make a new one.

[Abardam]

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f350/abardam/professionchanger.jpg

[Sophistemon]

That most certainly answers my question without leaving any room for doubt or worry.

I should be able to change soon, then, as I'm almost there.

Thanks again for your help everybody! I really appreciate it.

And I'm sorry that I kept repeating myself. I can only imagine how annoying I was.

[Abardam]

No problem. I should probably... uh, quote more.

[Sophistemon]

I have just joined a guild that I think you all might be interested in. So far, everyone that I've met within it has been friendly and helpful, almost eager to rush to your side and aide you in a quest or mission.

The only caveat is their recruiting process, which is far more complex than most. It is, however, worth it. At least in my opinion.

To begin said process, read their forum rules (http://thegeartrick.myfastforum.org/ftopic663.php) and their chat policy (http://thegeartrick.myfastforum.org/ftopic358.php) and then, if you're interested, follow the directions listed here (http://thegeartrick.myfastforum.org/ftopic141.php) to post in this area of their forums. (http://thegeartrick.myfastforum.org/forum6.php) One of the officers will offer to meet you in-game and will test how you act while under pressure (to ensure that you follow the chat rules, etc) and to get to know you personality-wise. If you do (and everyone here should) you'll receive an invite.

I should mention that the Guild Hall is very, very nice. Which perfectly compliments the people within it.

I should also mention that the former leader of the guild, Derrick the Nomad, does a comic based on the guild's adventures. You can read it here. (http://thegeartrick.tripod.com/soa.html)

I shall conclude with the fact that no, this isn't spam. I don't get anything out of posting this other than the possibility of having some of my friends (you guys) joining the guild and hanging out.

Thanks for your time,
Sophistemon