Guild Wars 2!

[illyrus]

Do share.

I'll give the bare bones to it. Mesmers have 2 blocks and 1 distortion from weapons (sword 2 for distortion, scepter 2 and sword 4 for blocks). I normally pick 2 of those. I really like the sword 2 as your dishing out damage while you're evading and scepter 2 can be cut short to throw out a blind. Sword 3 saves the spot the clone charged to so you can use it as a shadowstep out of melee to avoid a big hit on a mobile fight if you like.

For traits Phantasmal Healing has phantasms grant regen to allies, Illusionary Membrane grants you protection for 2 seconds whenever you gain regen. iDuelist grants regen twice as fast as the other phantasms and gives you about 80% up-time for protection with 1 out. A single other phantasm of any type will give you 100% and you can start moving towards the protection time cap. Illusionary Defense gives you 3% DR per illusion out. Persisting Images gives your phantasms 20% more health (to be used with the Signet of Illusions). Finally Illusionists Celerity lets your illusions recharge 20% faster. So Chaos 15, Inspiration 15, and Illusions 5 are the minimum traits. Rest are up to you for how you want to dish out damage.

Prioritize toughness as from what I've read and seen it is given to illusions (vitality does not appear to be) with vitality and whatever damage stats you like coming in tied for 2nd place. What I originally used was sword/focus and scepter/pistol. Focus more so for Into the Void pulling things off team mates with knockdown than iWarden though for certain things iWarden is amazing.

On AE super heavy fights you're not going to have 100% phantasm up time of course but you should be able to keep up protection 50% of the time without too much issue. With all the ways to generate clones you should be fine keeping up the 9% DR. Utilities varied for me fight to fight, one thing I need to test is if Signet of Inspiration would let me copy a 20 second protection/regen to my party at that duration. Keep in mind that any source of regen will trigger the protection so you can get some good synergy with other classes.

Don't be afraid to shatter when it it seems like a good time. You have a quick enough refresh rate on your illusions that it shouldn't be much of an issue. If the situation calls for it of course step back and let your illusions eat some hits and die so you can go revive someone or simply take a breather.

[Treayn]

Ahh ok, so it hinges on Illusionary Membrane and getting as many sources of regen as possible. If not up, churn out illusions for a 9% damage reduction.

I'm assuming you cast sword 3 on another mob to 'shadowstep' out. As for blocks, they seem only to work if it was an attack targeted specifically at you. Ergo, blocking AoE attacks don't seem to work very well. Scepter blind is brilliant though.

Ever consider running Phantasmal Defender to boost that resilience even further?


One thing that irks me about off-hand sword is sword 5. It's a phastasm (so it's meant to do damage and be offensive), yet it uses a leap finisher (which is mostly defensive). Would've been better as a blast/projectile finisher.

And yes, signet of inspiration acts as a transmitter, if say your guardian has cast 5 boons on you, you can transmit all those boons (including your randomly generated one) to your allies for their remaining duration. Very good for team fights.

[nhbdy]

Hello again! Seems my attempts to get a machine capable of running this game have hit a bit of a roadblock, and I could use some advice for a video card that would get reliable performance (low settings are fine), would the min spec. cards do? Or are the really min specs (meaning sketchy performance at times)? Of the ones they list (here:

Spoiler

Show

http://en.support.guildwars2.com/app...NTlQa0ZNNmw%3D

) do any offer any advantages? Does anyone have any recommendations for video cards that offer a lot of bang for their buck? (it seems that building a PC is my best bet right now)

[Shadow]

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/b...d-performance/

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...=0&output=html

Note in the last link, the GeForce GT 520 is listed at Low performance at 1366x768.
That's what I had during the first two betas, and I ran at the lowest possible settings. I built a new system because the game was almost unplayable in any sort of group event on my Dinosaur, so I'd go with something listed at Medium at the absolute minimum.
As to your question regarding best bang for your buck, somewhere around these [HD 4770, GT 545 (DDR3) HD 4830, HD 5670, HD 6670] is probably going to be the most cost effective. But going with a lesser rig will mean that you'll have to upgrade sooner, so if you're building a new rig then I'd suggest spending a couple hundred more and future proofing a bit.

I built a rig which can run at max settings with multiple programs running in the background, while recording, and never drop below 40 fps [usually above 60] for around $800.
{MSI z77a-g45 MoBo, i5 2500k CPU, GTX 560 GPU, 12gb RAM, mid tower case, 1tb HD, optical drive, etc etc etc}

If you really shop around, you can build a system that will run it decently for half of that. As long as you're getting 15-20 fps in large group events [which will mean around 30+ in low pop areas] the game is playable. Some people boast about their Hero Rig getting 90+ fps, but the refresh rate of most low end monitors is 60 so anything above that is usually wasted unless you spend a lot on your monitor as well.... which almost no one does.
But again, going with a lower end build will mean upgrades need to happen earlier.
I suggest building the absolute best system that you can afford to build, with the addendum that anything above $1k total is usually wasted. You can get a LOT of computer for $600-$700 if you know what to look for.
Compare that with purchasing a "gaming rig" pre-built for $2500 and you'll see why gamers build rather than buy.

[Emmerask]

Hello again! Seems my attempts to get a machine capable of running this game have hit a bit of a roadblock, and I could use some advice for a video card that would get reliable performance (low settings are fine), would the min spec. cards do? Or are the really min specs (meaning sketchy performance at times)? Of the ones they list (here:

Spoiler

Show

http://en.support.guildwars2.com/app...NTlQa0ZNNmw%3D

) do any offer any advantages? Does anyone have any recommendations for video cards that offer a lot of bang for their buck? (it seems that building a PC is my best bet right now)

Overall the graphics card is not of that much importance, get a gtx460 (very old model but only costs ~100€) or gtx 560 (starts at 150€) duno the us pricing.
The most important thing for mmos is the cpu,
get either a i5 2500k or an amd fx4170 but not below this, especially during wvw or pve events you will need the cpu power.

[Shadow]

Overall the graphics card is not of that much importance, get a gtx460 (very old model but only costs ~100€) or gtx 560 (starts at 150€) duno the us pricing.
The most important thing for mmos is the cpu,
get either a i5 2500k or an amd fx4170 but not below this, especially during wvw or pve events you will need the cpu power.

This hardware will allow him to run at max settings. They're not top tier any more, but they are certainly higher end. If he's looking for cost effective, these may be out of his range.
And while they are nice, they certainly aren't needed for the game to perform adequately. So while I, too, would suggest this, I wouldn't go so far as to say that he should not go "below this".

[Neftren]

Treayn, I did another CoE run last night. The entrance is fixed on Tarnished Coast, so we can run it whenever now.

[Chen]

The skill point in Sparkfly Fen is still bugged which is annoying me since I can't finish it. Hopefully that'll be fixed soon.

Also purchased all the gossamer, leather and bones I need to make my level 80 exotic set. Also purchased enough ectos to make the chest and pants. Only 20 more ectos before I can get the whole set.

Unfortunately the runes I want to put in it (scavenging) are 3g each at the moment. Any idea how these runes are crafted? Or do they only come from existing gear?

[Neftren]

The skill point in Sparkfly Fen is still bugged which is annoying me since I can't finish it. Hopefully that'll be fixed soon.

Also purchased all the gossamer, leather and bones I need to make my level 80 exotic set. Also purchased enough ectos to make the chest and pants. Only 20 more ectos before I can get the whole set.

Unfortunately the runes I want to put in it (scavenging) are 3g each at the moment. Any idea how these runes are crafted? Or do they only come from existing gear?

Try zoning into an Overflow server to get the Sparkfly Fen skill point.


Wow, buying Gossamer is incredibly expensive. I'd have gone and farmed/salvaged it instead.


Which runes are you looking for?

[Chen]

Try zoning into an Overflow server to get the Sparkfly Fen skill point.

There's no way to manually do this though is there? Doesn't the zone just need to be overpopulated?

Wow, buying Gossamer is incredibly expensive. I'd have gone and farmed/salvaged it instead.

I farmed and sold gear to buy gossamer. Same thing really. Farming your own mats is only more efficient if you can't farm the equivalent gold in the same amount of time.

Which runes are you looking for?

The Runes of Scavenging. I currently have 4 of the major ones in my gear. They give condition damage and magic find. But the superior ones are close to 3g each. So either someone is marking them up absurdly after crafting them OR they can only be found in existing gear and salvaged out of them.

[Neftren]

There's no way to manually do this though is there? Doesn't the zone just need to be overpopulated?

There's no manual way to do it as far as I know. You could try server transfer maybe? I dunno.

I farmed and sold gear to buy gossamer. Same thing really. Farming your own mats is only more efficient if you can't farm the equivalent gold in the same amount of time.

I think it depends on your magic find really. I get so many drops now, I salvage all the cloth since Gossamer sells ridiculously well on the TP, and then I vendor the rest (or sell to TP).

Also, salvaging contributes towards the monthly, which is something to consider.

The Runes of Scavenging. I currently have 4 of the major ones in my gear. They give condition damage and magic find. But the superior ones are close to 3g each. So either someone is marking them up absurdly after crafting them OR they can only be found in existing gear and salvaged out of them.

Hmm... I'll ask around.

I personally went for the Traveler runes instead, since it gives a bit more Magic Find and a huge chunk of health (I'm a squishy ranger), plus a 5% movement speed bonus that may or may not stack with all the other passives.

[Turalisj]

I went for Rune of the Pirate >.>

Arrrr

Oh, and my chest piece is exotic armor, self-crafted. Plus my main hand dagger is also a self-crafted exotic.

Level 400 Leatherworker and Weaponsmith. It might have bankrupted me, but it is worth looking badass.

[Chen]

There's no manual way to do it as far as I know. You could try server transfer maybe? I dunno.

I considered this but the server I'm on is full and I don't want to risk not being able to come back. I guess it can wait til they fix it.

I think it depends on your magic find really. I get so many drops now, I salvage all the cloth since Gossamer sells ridiculously well on the TP, and then I vendor the rest (or sell to TP).

Also, salvaging contributes towards the monthly, which is something to consider.

Don't get me wrong I salvage light scraps and light armor up to blue level because Gossamer is so expensive. Heavy armor I also salvage most of the time. Medium armor gets vendored since leather is super cheap. Green and up I try on the TP first otherwise green gets vendored and yellow/orange are salvaged with a Mystic salvage kit.

Hmm... I'll ask around.

I personally went for the Traveler runes instead, since it gives a bit more Magic Find and a huge chunk of health (I'm a squishy ranger), plus a 5% movement speed bonus that may or may not stack with all the other passives.

Hmm I didn't realize Scavenger was less magic find. I see that pirate runes also give Magic find in the same amount as travellers and they're cheaper too. Maybe I'll go with those instead. I figure with Magic find runes and consumables its probably enough. No sense in getting magic find gear since you trade so many stats for 3% MF on each piece.

[Turalisj]

I'm sitting very near to 100% magic find right now, maybe more. I'll have to check. It hasn't seemed to help though, I can never find any rares

[Neftren]

I considered this but the server I'm on is full and I don't want to risk not being able to come back. I guess it can wait til they fix it.

Understandable. What server are you on anyways?

Don't get me wrong I salvage light scraps and light armor up to blue level because Gossamer is so expensive. Heavy armor I also salvage most of the time. Medium armor gets vendored since leather is super cheap. Green and up I try on the TP first otherwise green gets vendored and yellow/orange are salvaged with a Mystic salvage kit.

I actually would sell the Yellow/Orange on the TP, since you typically get 30-80s for a rare, and 1-3g for an Exotic, which you can then turn around and buy the Ecto with the money you just made.

Hmm I didn't realize Scavenger was less magic find. I see that pirate runes also give Magic find in the same amount as travellers and they're cheaper too. Maybe I'll go with those instead. I figure with Magic find runes and consumables its probably enough. No sense in getting magic find gear since you trade so many stats for 3% MF on each piece.

People want Scavenger for more gold, but I figure +Movement Speed means I can traverse the world faster, which means I can kill stuff more quickly, and complete hearts more quickly, and so on.

I'm not a big fan of the Pirate set, since I'm not super into Condition damage. Health is always useful though. I'm lucky and bought a full set of Traveler runes for 60s each, and now they go for over 1g.

I'm sitting very near to 100% magic find right now, maybe more. I'll have to check. It hasn't seemed to help though, I can never find any rares

It doesn't necessarily help you find more rares, but I certainly noticed an increase in blue and green drops, and you get a lot more of the Fine crafting materials.

[Togath]

posting pics of that weird bug i found in queensdale;

Spoiler

Show

It has invisible walls separating it from the basement area visible in the pictures, but it does seem odd that it exists in the first place.

[Treayn]

posting pics of that weird bug i found in queensdale;

Try mesmer downed state, that always happens :(

As for Gossamer, I would recommend stockpiling it. IF it's expensive now it'll just go up in price.

[Togath]

Try mesmer downed state, that always happens :(.

Mesmers fall through the ground into caves when downed?

[Hullabaloo]

Ive submitted at least 5 individual bug reports about it. Typically end up under water underground. Some times the battle won't end so I can't even warp out. Typically from skill 2 with the staff in my mesmer

[Togath]

wow, aye, thats one heck of a bug

[Treayn]

Yes.

I've bugged through the world using mesmer downed 2 (Teleports you and creates a clone), mesmer staff 2, and even the utility blink skill.

Really irritating when you're in a dungeon and fighting a boss, because you remain in combat mode and can't teleport to a waypoint at all.

[Eloel]

Yes.

I've bugged through the world using mesmer downed 2 (Teleports you and creates a clone), mesmer staff 2, and even the utility blink skill.

Really irritating when you're in a dungeon and fighting a boss, because you remain in combat mode and can't teleport to a waypoint at all.

You should be able to die and thus not care about battle when downed, right?

[Treayn]

Yes when downed, no to the other two skills which bug you out as well.

Also, there's always the chance that your team kills a small minion and not the boss, causing you to rally.

[Octopus Jack]

I've hit 20 on my Engineer and have some queries if any engineer players can answer I would be very grateful. I'm struggling to decide what to put in my 4th utility slot. So far running healing elixer-y thing, grenades and mines.

I've been putting all my trait points into Explosives and am also having trouble deciding between Shrapnel and Forceful Explosives in the trait tree. Is the additional area on explosives worth giving up a small chance to drop bleeds on people?

One more engineer related question. Which weapon set would be best to compliment a grenades and mines play style. So far I'm running a rifle but would two pistols or pistol shields be more useful to this build?


Thanks to anyone who can answer these.

[Tychris1]

Just hit level 5-6 on my Necromancer Charr and and man leveling up my staff/death shroud is SO HARD. yeesh, I have to swap to death shroud at the end of a fight just to start leveling it.

[Mattarias, King.]

Almost to 40! Maaan, this game is great. The Vigil are my kind of faction!

Speaking of which, can we please institute a rule wherein we have to spoiler tag any lore stuff? I think we can all agree that surprises are fun.

[Togath]

How are they fun?(keeping lore secret), it's a game not a mystery novel.

[Mattarias, King.]

I just think it's more fun discovering things on your own. I assume that's how the game designers planned everything out. Besides, spoiler tags still allow for discussion. Some of us don't want to know how the story ends before we get there.

[mucco]

Don't worry, it only prepares you for the forthcoming let-downs.

I agree however, storyline stuff should be spoilered. I think I did it on my previous posts.

[Mattarias, King.]

BLUUHHHH.. Just hit 40, jumped into Caudecus' Manor... I gotta say, that was a lot harder than some endgame WoW raids... Sheesh.

I DID skip Ascalon Catacombs, so that mighta had something to do with it..