Official AT Guild Wars 2 Guild Thread

[Zenoth]

I'm trying the Elementalist for the first time (past Level 5 that is) and made it to Level 24. For the moment it is excruciatingly difficult to... well to do anything. I am also a bit annoyed (maybe because I'm still not used to it) that I basically have to constantly switch between two or three aspects during almost any given fights to make it worthwhile. I mean I can't "just" be a Fire Elementalist and I knew in advance that I had to switch from any "preferred" aspect to another but man... I wasn't prepared for how much that is almost necessary, almost all the time. It's like I have to switch between Air (or pretty much should call it "Storm" instead) and Earth for single targets (even just regular enemies) and as soon as there's two foes I have to go with both Fire and Water.

I mean I CAN "on paper" just stay with one aspect if I reeeeeaaaaally want to but that is so inefficient it's not even funny. Want to kill some random boar? Sure, but first I got to blind it, and then got to throw rocks at it to start the DoT bleeding and then pretty much got to switch to Water and use that freezing cast spell to slow it down 'cause otherwise it's charging at me at the speed of light. And beware of the smallest flies going melee against you squishy-like-wet-cardboard Elementalist that you are, because you're gonna get owned.

It's this whole "have to think about it" clicking fest while fighting that I don't like. Usually in most MMORPGs I play I just memorize my spells and over time I don't even look at my skill bar anymore. Now I got to memorize four Elemental skill trees and I have to memorize the "best" chronological use of specific skills from specific elementals against specific foes and it becomes tediously repetitive. I can't just go around just using AoE fire on single targets since it just doesn't cut it as well as using specific single-target spells, but JUST using single-target spells against single foes STILL doesn't cut it either.

I don't get it. Maybe it's just a difficult class to master overall and once you do you kick serious ass around. I'm not sure. I'll keep trying though... because when I first tried my Mesmer I thought it was difficult but from around Level 10 it started to get easier. I just feel that the "worst" part of low-level difficulty (difficulty curve of early levels, basically) for the Elementalist has got to be the worst of the game's classes (am I correct?).

I'm curious, how did you Elementalist players around manage at early levels? Say until maybe Level 40 or so? Was it really more difficult than other classes by comparison? Or am I just doing something wrong here?

 

[zinfamous]

elementalist is #2 DPS in the game, more or less.


shouldn't be that hard...


and, it's very simple:

scepter/focus. earth and bleed shit to death before it touches you.

if your experience is with warrior or guardian before that...you will have to learn to push more than 2 buttons to live.

but seriously--you need to learn to kite if you want to survive on ele. If you went into this game tank mode and that's what you learned initially, then you will have to unlearn what you have learned.


though I find ele to be rather easy. thief is difficult. mesmer is really difficult--but is still the most fun for me.

so far:

mes: 80
warrior: 80
ele: 80
thief: 60
engi: 15
etc

 

[Tiamat]

I have used staff ele mostly. Dag/dag is interesting. If mobs are distracted, ele is easy. Rain hell on then with staff fire 5,3,2; earth 2,4,5,2; fire 3,2; air 3,2,5; fire 5,3,2... Sometimes I throw water on for a split second for attune Regen and heal on ”tank player”.

If ele by yourself, and you need to run away, air and cast air 5 behind you a it catches mobs and stops them for a few second. This works well in dungeons like AC when you want to run by mobs in restrictive tunnels.

In general, invulnerability shield for 5 seconds and earth staff 3, fire staff 4; I have found very helpful for surviving. Pvt gear also helps for surviving.

 

[Zenoth]

Yeah I'm still using staff + focus for the moment and I do kite, my damage sucks though, takes me around 20 seconds per single foe, lol. But anyway I DO like it it's just... tough, for now, but I'll adapt. And yes I admit I usually play melee classes in almost any MMORPGs I play and only occasionally go with archer type classes, very rarely with mages and such.

I bought a new character slot so I haven't deleted my previous characters for my Elementalist and I have yet to hit Level 80 on any of them so I thought why not and exchanged some Gold for Gems and gave the Elementalist a try. I went with Sylvari and that's my first Sylvari, and holy crap Caledon Forest is big (and green, green everywhere... but yeah, fitting for living plants... well I mean... humanoid living plants).

And oh yeah, side note on another subject...

I hadn't played for a while (I don't play GW2 on a normal basis so I missed some changes in the last couple of patches) but is it just me or there's new music at Lion's Arch? It's freaking beautiful, it has to be Jeremy Soule's magic at work. Is there any official information concerning the new tracks? I think it was composed for the Wintersday event yeah? Anyone knows?

P.S/ And, the Wintersday event thing, those gifts popping around randomly? I tried a few and I come to realize that Princess Dolls are evil creatures.

 

[Genx87]

Princess dolls are awful. It took a group of us to kill them. And even then it was questionable if we would survive.

 

[zinfamous]

princess dolls are spawns of satan. that's for sure.



I'll make one for myself today

 

[BurnItDwn]

So, I'm quite liking this game so far, Decided to take a break from nonstop events/quests and to start exploring around last night .... Warrior is leveling nicely, seems like even when I'm just mucking around and exploring the leveling is still pretty fast...

I toyed with my Engineer a bit more, and while the grenades and turrets are nice, it doesn't suit my playstyle. I've got a Guardian up around level 15, and so far so good, also enjoying playing the elementalist, which I got up around 15 as well...

Not interested in Thief, and Ranger doesn't really do anything for me, Necro sounds fun, Mesmer sounds fun as well ... I really need to get myself some more character slots

 

[zinfamous]

good to hear--get something to ~lvl 55 and start doing some dungeons with us.

also, be sure to gather and gather and gather as much as you can. It's free xp, basically, and when you have a decent stockpile of stuff, crafting will level you rather quickly--probably important for someone like you who seems to want a pile of classes.

when picking crafts, try not to start with those that share materials--armor/weapon/hunt/artifice, etc. This makes things very, very slow.

as far as ease of craft and leveling, it's probably cook, artifice, jewelry right now. artifice is cheap and easiest if you have piles and piles of dust stocked up at each tier.

check out guru for good crafting guides. if you're enjoying playing the game, just level normally, with maybe some crafting ehre and there, assuming you enjoy it (I like crafting).

You get 10 levels total for maxing each craft to 400 so, in theory, you can pretty much hit 80 only through crafting

 

[Fallen Kell]

Would any 80 warriors mind testing Banner of Tactics in PvE for me, please? In the heart of the mists the slot 2 heal skill only heals for about 23.2% of the listed amount.

I'm not sure if this is a bug or a PvP balance reduction. If it heals for the intended amount in PvE I think I'm gonna start a warrior.

I use the signet on my warrior for heal in PvE, dungeons, and even WvWvW. The constant regen is pretty much more than enough to allow you to survive long enough to kill whatever it is you are killing. If you are really beat up, you wait 5 seconds and you will get fully healed because you are out of aggro...

 

[BurnItDwn]

good to hear--get something to ~lvl 55 and start doing some dungeons with us.

also, be sure to gather and gather and gather as much as you can. It's free xp, basically, and when you have a decent stockpile of stuff, crafting will level you rather quickly--probably important for someone like you who seems to want a pile of classes.

when picking crafts, try not to start with those that share materials--armor/weapon/hunt/artifice, etc. This makes things very, very slow.

as far as ease of craft and leveling, it's probably cook, artifice, jewelry right now. artifice is cheap and easiest if you have piles and piles of dust stocked up at each tier.

check out guru for good crafting guides. if you're enjoying playing the game, just level normally, with maybe some crafting ehre and there, assuming you enjoy it (I like crafting).

You get 10 levels total for maxing each craft to 400 so, in theory, you can pretty much hit 80 only through crafting

I'm having fun figuring out all the recipies and such on my own using the discovery tab, and exploring new lands for various cooking ingredients...

I've got JC & Cook on the Warrior, then the engineer has Huntsman & Leather Working, and then my Guardian has weaponsmith and armorsmith, and finally, I've got artificier & tailor on the Elementalist....

Warrior is up to 46 now, but I'm not really rushing to level any character, I tend to be more of a content tourist in these types of games than raider, though I have participated in "hardcore" raiding before (the 5 hours a day x 6 or 7 days a week was just too much.)

Anyhow, Next couple of weeks I will probably be on a decent amount as we've got a code freeze going on at work, meaning I only have to work about 8 hours a day!

 

[I4AT]

I use the signet on my warrior for heal in PvE, dungeons, and even WvWvW. The constant regen is pretty much more than enough to allow you to survive long enough to kill whatever it is you are killing. If you are really beat up, you wait 5 seconds and you will get fully healed because you are out of aggro...

Mainly interested in the banner as a party heal, ~4K HP every 10 seconds plus constant regen would be a nice support build for dungeon running, but at the moment it's only healing for a little over 20% of what it should. At least in PvP areas.

 

[NoSoup4You]

According to Arenanet the Elementalist is meant to be a jack of all trades class. I'm up to level 44 on mine and I've found it frustrating to level, but it doesn't help that I typically play Guardian. Just switch to Warrior if you want to wipe the floor with heart quest mobs. As for running dungeons or pvp, Warriors come back down to earth there but for basic leveling like running around Queensdale or Plains of Ashford - there's Warrior and then there's everybody else.

 

[BurnItDwn]

According to Arenanet the Elementalist is meant to be a jack of all trades class. I'm up to level 44 on mine and I've found it frustrating to level, but it doesn't help that I typically play Guardian. Just switch to Warrior if you want to wipe the floor with heart quest mobs. As for running dungeons or pvp, Warriors come back down to earth there but for basic leveling like running around Queensdale or Plains of Ashford - there's Warrior and then there's everybody else.

I have noticed that if my gear falls like 10 levels behind, I get my butt kicked pretty bad, but, usually just keeping weapons within 3 levels of me seems to help a lot ... Does this mean I'm simply gearing or speccing stupidly, or I just need to be smarter about dodging and avoiding AOEs and such?

Also, What weapon combos did you like to use the best when leveling your warrior? I usually like a greatsword for it's AOE + high burst, damage, and then I have recently been using a 2H Hammer on my other spec....

I also did enjoy leveling with dual axes, I tried the gun and the bow too, and the 1H hammer, as well as 1h sword, and horn .... so many possibilities, I only have 10 slot bags, and I've got a full bag of extra gear at like level 45... I know in "endgame" it's normal to have at least 2 or 3 full sets of gear for different situations.. Guess I haven't figured out yet what's most efficient for leveling up other than keeping on top of my gear ... but that means I have to go to town like every 4 or 5 levels or I have to go back to the heart to get the gear ....

 

[Skott]

Things are not going to change as you get higher when comparing those 2 classes.

Yeah, thats my understanding from what I have read and heard. I guess the ranger was pretty badass and over powered when it came out but has been since nerfed pretty hard. A shame its like that for PvE but I can understand why they did it due to PvP and WvW fights. Still, my warrior gives me the fun I want when the mood to hack n slash smething comes along. Axe/shield and gun allows me to do it plus shoot some as well. Its a fun profession (class).

My L25 warrior just stumbled into another race's home world so I'm running him around the L1-L20 areas picking up some fast xp. Has anyone else done this? I hear if you go to all the home starting worlds and do the L1-L20 areas you can get some fast level ups pretty quick.

 

[Zenoth]

Ah!

I just checked the official GW2 forums and found a link for the new Wintersday music. According to the poster (of the link) the composers for that new music are Leif Chappelle, Maclaine Diemer, and Stan LePard... never heard of any of them but they're good, that's all that matters.

Additionally, from what I've read around the Sound sub-forums Jeremy Soule supposedly left as the lead composer for GW2, but I have yet to see actual official confirmation of that at all. If that's the case then it might explain why there's those new composers for the Wintersday tracks.

 

[zinfamous]

My L25 warrior just stumbled into another race's home world so I'm running him around the L1-L20 areas picking up some fast xp. Has anyone else done this? I hear if you go to all the home starting worlds and do the L1-L20 areas you can get some fast level ups pretty quick.

i always do that with my alts. mainly, i just aim for the skill points as you need them anyway. You picl up decent xp this way so long as you:

--gather on your way
--pick up waypoints on your way
--participate in a few events (just need to wand a few things and keep running to get credit)

I tend to ignore hearts on my alts, mainly because they take time and are the closest thing to fetch-its in this game. However, if you complete events within the heart areas, they tend to do dual completion, which is nice. Hearts are usually the biggest XP boost for map achievements, so they are good to do. Events are also good. And, of course, you get the big award for each map completion. For a main character, you will probably want to do map completion anyway, so don't ignore that if you like to take your time.

 

[zinfamous]

I also did enjoy leveling with dual axes, I tried the gun and the bow too, and the 1H hammer, as well as 1h sword, and horn .... so many possibilities, I only have 10 slot bags, and I've got a full bag of extra gear at like level 45... I know in "endgame" it's normal to have at least 2 or 3 full sets of gear for different situations.. Guess I haven't figured out yet what's most efficient for leveling up other than keeping on top of my gear ... but that means I have to go to town like every 4 or 5 levels or I have to go back to the heart to get the gear ....

the good thing about warrior is that every weapon combo has real value for particular situations. The GS set is, well, the best DPS in the game. Rifle is your standard ranged DPS and good cc. GS/Rile is a nice dungeon combo.

Hammer is also great cc and support, and is becoming more and more popular (it was my favorite warrior weapon when first starting)

Bow is great for WvW and PvP. Sword/Shield or Mace/shield is also great for WvW if you want to survive and generally piss off anyone trying to kill you.

axe offhand is tremendous fun (I mostly leveled with GS and sword/axe sets). I don't use warhorn off-hand, but I hear it is a must have offhand for most of the more dedicated warriors. I barely play my warrior, though.

as far as stats go, you really need to balance your toughness, vitality, and the berserker sets (berserker = power/precision/crit damage % gear. this is your lvl 65 + stuff. each piece gives you these).

For leveling, full on power/precision/crit and signets isn't too bad. It will serve you well for about 60 levels and you won't have many problems killing just about everything before it kills you, and killing very quickly. You will level tremendously fast if you stick with your story missions, do some map completion along the way (at least focus on events, skill points, and some easy hearts, and all the gathering you come across after the first 3 or so maps).

For level 80, and before, this is very typical for traits:

30/20/0/20/0.

Gear: most popular is the exotic gear that you get from Ascalonian Catacombs, as it has a stat combo that you can't find anywhere else: power/toughness/vitality. This, along with that trait distribution above, will pretty much take care of all of the survivability you need. You can then focus on berserker for your trinkets (or even more toughness and vitality mixed in--but do not ignore power/crit as you are the primary DPS in any dungeon run or group, and secondary meatshield next to guardian--or primary if you are unfortunate to not have a guardian in the group )

your mele weapons are most likely berserker as of course you are just going to be pummeling stuff. maybe some cc/survival stats (like condition duration) for your ranged (rifle) and offhand stuff (like shield), and even hammer

runes....
I really like melandru or dolyak for ultimate survival (melandru really is sexy, if you ask me, and a bit cheaper). Then maybe consider Eagle or Scholar runes for DPS, and go from those concepts to find something that suits you best
also, the crests that you can put in your armor or backpiece are very decent, very cheap alternatives to the rune sets. Also consider the various jewels (you will want the engraved/crafted with filigree versions for the most bang). On my Mes, I just tossed in some orbs (T6 jewels) and crests as "place holders" and well, I forget to think about "updating." Hasn't really been an issue...

sigils...for warrior and most other classes, bloodlust is popular (increases power with each kill, for 25 max stacks), and I really like bleeding (percentage bleeding stacks with each crit). Basically, just figure out what works best for you build and your style

one caveat: if you have a one-handed set--say sword/shield or sword/axe, the "stacking" sigils (power stacks, precision stacks, condition stacks, magic find, etc), WILL NOT stack together. So, you should only have one of those equipped per weapon set. So, one sigil of bloodlust (power stacks), and one of earth (% apply bleeding on critical)


but, in the end, the beauty is that there is no one "best build" A lot of things just work if you noodle around, and once you understand the mechanics (dodge and all that, kite until you live, very range and mele on any class, or pure range), this game is very forgiving to all playstyles

 

[NoSoup4You]

You can get Power/Toughness/Vitality gear from Honor of the Waves as well. But AC is the go-to for sure, easily the most popular dungeon outside of Fractals. Also, runes of the Soldier are outstanding, buffing your shouts even if you only equip one (For Great Justice...etc.) is well worth it. A game changer, for sure.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Thus far my build is 10/10/10/10/and like 5 or 6
Thinking I'll respec though as the skill in the defense tree that makes one regenerate health sounds really good ... Stacked with the sigil ... I should have some better survivability so I can be sloppier when doing heart quests, or maybe even take on all those damn dolls on my own without kiting generally running around like a fool.

I should be level 60ish within a week or so, unless I get bored with the warrior and decide to play other characters ... in which case, I might have 5 characters that are around level 45 in a week

I have a weapon with Sigil of Greater Bloodlust. My first "Rare" drop on this character was a Hammer around level 35 which had that sigil on it. When I scavenged it, got the sigil out, and stuck it to my current level 45 or whatever greatsword. I very much like it indeed.

I've been keeping up on my story quests, and I've done many of the heart quests. Last night I got my cooking skill up to around 125, and I tried out a necro and got to level 6 or 7...

 

[Genx87]

Right now at 47 my warrior build is something like 10/0/20/5/0

Do traits make or break you in terms of stats? Or does gear? Or should I be going for the minor and major traits when approaching trait lines?

 

[zinfamous]

Right now at 47 my warrior build is something like 10/0/20/5/0

Do traits make or break you in terms of stats? Or does gear? Or should I be going for the minor and major traits when approaching trait lines?

Most advise to balance traits with gear. So, if you want to trait into the toughness line and ignore vitality, make up the loss of vitality through your gear.

They definitely make a difference, but I think most plan their builds around the minor/major traits, then adjust overall stats to make up for the remaining hole in stats.

 

[Fallen Kell]

To be honest, I plan my traits around the skills I want. For instance, on my warrior, since I use greatsword, I make sure I had the traits to get the -20% greatsword ability cooldown, which means I can use hundred blades 20% faster, and I had the +10% damage bonus for greatsword and the +damage % for adrenaline level (since the greatsword adrenaline attack really isn't that good, but +12% damage is pretty sweet).

Same goes for my guardian. He is 2H hammer/2H staff build (sometimes with shield if I need to be the tank since a shield guardian always draws complete agro). My traits on the guardian are all based around symbols since both the hammer and staff produce them (with the hammer's being an area effect protection), so my traits have my symbols being larger, last longer, and heal players. My other traits are for spirit weapons, doubling how long they last, giving them 10% extra damage, having them not be destroyed when commanded to use their special ability, and cutting the cooldown timer by 20%. Combine the fact that I use superior earth runes which give +20% protection duration, adding a water sigil on the 2H hammer for even more healing when attacking, and I am the ultimate melee buff to all the other people in the party attacking with melee weapons healing with every hit the people around, as well as applying protection to everyone and healing as well while they are in the symbol (that also heals you while you are in it). Add in popping the spirit bow and raining down healing on everyone and it allows for some good melee fighting. Did I mention I am perma running protection with the hammer, so -33% incoming damage?

 

[GaiaHunter]

If you having problems surviving with the elementalist make sure to have your armor around your level range with +health, and go for arcana and water magic first. Arcane shield is also a decent block.

Dagger/Dagger or Scepter/Dagger are my favorite for solo play.

 

[zinfamous]

If you having problems surviving with the elementalist make sure to have your armor around your level range with +health, and go for arcana and water magic first. Arcane shield is also a decent block.

Dagger/Dagger or Scepter/Dagger are my favorite for solo play.

I generally bring two blinds when soling with ele (signet of air, and earth skill 4 with scepter/dagger)

also, teleport helps.

 

[blipblop]

I just transferred myself over to Stormbluff. I'm a level 19 ranger right now..