Guild Wars 2!

[Chen]

Understandable. What server are you on anyways?

Eredon (sp?) Terrace

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.

Yeah I've noticed this lately. Check the TP first for rare/exotic before salvaging. There was a post on reddit also mentioning that they weren't sure if you needed to use a master's kit to get Ectos. The rare chance being the chance to get the tier 6 ore/cloth/leather rather than the chance to get ectos. Haven't had a chance to try this yet.

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.

Yeah the magic find sets are only going up in value. Im wondering how much killing power is worth sacrificing for magic find though. I suspect runes + food is probably sufficient. In which case I guess you'd want the best runes available for max magic find. I think that ends up being Noble runes, but you need TONS of tokens from CM (I think) for those.
[/QUOTE]

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..

There was a big buff to the Manor recently but the Catacombs I find are still more difficult. The Lover's fight is pretty bad if your team isn't very coordinated.

[Turalisj]

They ramped the difficulty to stupid hard on the dungeons.

[Emmerask]

There was a big buff to the Manor recently but the Catacombs I find are still more difficult. The Lover's fight is pretty bad if your team isn't very coordinated.

Hm the explore catacombs where a lot harder imo, especially the dps check in the third path where every 10sec a new burrow spawns and with movement you have about 6 to 8 secs to bring each one down. It took us about 9 tries to finally get it, we did it as soon as available though, with lvl 80s and all the traits it might be considerably more easy.
We had to put every last bit towards damage, had to use combo finishers for might stacks and there was pretty much no room for even the slightest error ^^


As for the manor it was kind of a let down, the bosses where extremely easy while the trash packs where really hard especially the snipers who oneshotted our wizard over and over again (not moving sometimes is not really an option^^).

One thing that was very apparent with all the dungeons is also the one major mistake with the current game, you are supposed to avoid damage as much as possible instead of healing but a lot of the super high damage abilities come completely out of the blue with no time to react especially as a meele.

As a ranged char you can avoid these a lot more easily (because a lot of them are pbaoe), as a meele your only real chance is to jump in get a few hits and jump away which completely removes the one big advantage of it, the slightly higher damage output.

They really need to give better indicators when one of those instant one shot pbaoe skills is starting, they did a good job in the catacombs dungeon, but in the manor they didn´t bother with it at all it seems.

They ramped the difficulty to stupid hard on the dungeons.

If its not a dps check, get at least 3 of your people with instant rezz abilities (from downed state), this will help you quite a lot ^^

We did the lovers fight on the first try with none dead, only downed (a lot) with this ^^

[Chen]

One thing that was very apparent with all the dungeons is also the one major mistake with the current game, you are supposed to avoid damage as much as possible instead of healing but a lot of the super high damage abilities come completely out of the blue with no time to react especially as a meele.

I agree 100% with this. Even as ranged, if there's a ton of stuff going on (like the mob is on fire because of some guardian skill), its nearly impossible to see the cue that they're preparing an attack. Not to mention the timing on some things doesn't really match much of the cues at all.

For example, the normal worm type enemies throw a rock of ice/stone whatever aoe at you. They make a sound, and then a sort of spark type thing appears on them. Then the spark disappears and a good 1.5 - 2 sec later they throw the stone which you then need to dodge. There's no way to intuitively know its going to get thrown AFTER the spark disappears so the first instinct is to dodge when that spark goes away. But that's too early and will almost certainly get you hit with the projectile. Things like that on bosses in dungeons will just one shot you instead which is even worse.

Is there any way to turn down the visual effects on what hit mobs? I know in WoW as a melee char you pretty much had to turn off particle effects otherwise you were just standing in a giant explosion for the whole boss fight. This game seems similar except I'm not sure what you need to turn off to get rid of it (if you even can).

[Astrella]

Hmm, so I bought a random recipe for artificer that turns me into a ghost. And now I'm stuck being a ghost for 30 minutes. >.> I even tried looking for similar recipes but they apparently aren't around on the wiki at all. D:

[Emmerask]

Are you sure you can´t just exit this morph with 1 or ^ ?
Otherwise just jump off of a cliff or somesuch after death it should be gone ^^

[mucco]

I agree 100% with this. Even as ranged, if there's a ton of stuff going on (like the mob is on fire because of some guardian skill), its nearly impossible to see the cue that they're preparing an attack. Not to mention the timing on some things doesn't really match much of the cues at all.

Actually, once you learn a few tricks, it gets easier. This is when I understood that dungeons were a lot about skill, and knowledge of the monsters of course. I like the "stupid hard" difficulty, I think that is should be that way for dungeons. I personally find Caudecus to be too easy for a dungeon.

[Chen]

Actually, once you learn a few tricks, it gets easier. This is when I understood that dungeons were a lot about skill, and knowledge of the monsters of course. I like the "stupid hard" difficulty, I think that is should be that way for dungeons. I personally find Caudecus to be too easy for a dungeon.

And those tricks would be what exactly? Some of the mobs had no cue at all before they unleashed some sort of horrible PBAoE so if you're in melee you're kinda screwed. Some mobs also do have some sort of visual indicator except when they're on fire and being hit by meteors and whatever other ranged effect it makes it impossible to see and, once again, you get wrecked as melee.

[Shadow]

Sorry Chen, but mucco's right. They all have Tells and/or Telegraphs before these attacks. You just have to watch them to figure out what those are and then dodge at the appropriate moment.
For example:

Spoiler

Show

Lt Killer throws a scorpion wire like pull ability similar to the thief skill at every member of the party, then does an immediate whirlwind attack that will literally kill everyone he hit with the pull.
Just before the pull, he "powers up" for this attack.
If you were watching him it's blatantly obvious. You were probably watching your UI when you should have been watching the environment/boss.

A three hour run through ACe on the first try was down to just shy of an hour the second time because we knew what we were doing that time.

And yes, CM is far easier than AC on story mode.

[Hullabaloo]

Actually, once you learn a few tricks, it gets easier.

I fully agree with this. I think if anything story mode should be turned up a bit, and explor should be turned up more. The fact that AC can be beaten so easily in such a young game surprised me. That people complain that they cant faceroll an instance, and dont like that they cant beat something their first time in, sadly, did not surprise me.

Outside of the basic tells ect, I think some 'tricks' people need to learn is gear and building. going into a 30 instance with grey gear of minimum level 15 is leaving alot out there. Also, I think people are in the WoW mindset of stacking their favorite stat. Vit and Toughness can be useful for everyone, similar to stats. Taking magic find on gear is fine, but you are trading usefulness to your party for better loot. Dont be surprised if you cant fully preform. Slotting all your gear makes a huge difference too.

Most groups I run instances with that have issues have players that are "DPS Builds" so focus fully on Power, with low level gear. Those that I do good runs with, most people say they are "support". Just the mind set between the two seems to make a huge difference.

[Morty]

The adventures of the Asura Mesmer continue. I'm level 39 and joined the Order of Whispers. I'm doing pretty well, but getting my crafting skills to 150 looks like it'll be tough... and I need them on 150 to use the materials found in the areas I'm about to start exploring.

[Emmerask]

Sorry Chen, but mucco's right. They all have Tells and/or Telegraphs before these attacks. You just have to watch them to figure out what those are and then dodge at the appropriate moment.
For example:

Spoiler

Show

Lt Killer throws a scorpion wire like pull ability similar to the thief skill at every member of the party, then does an immediate whirlwind attack that will literally kill everyone he hit with the pull.
Just before the pull, he "powers up" for this attack.
If you were watching him it's blatantly obvious. You were probably watching your UI when you should have been watching the environment/boss.

A three hour run through ACe on the first try was down to just shy of an hour the second time because we knew what we were doing that time.

And yes, CM is far easier than AC on story mode.

Actually before all this he powers up with glowing hands...
but then again he is one of the few who actually has this tell, later on there are numerous bosses who either don´t have it at all or who maybe have bugged animations when certain abilities hit.

And once those pbaoes (small aoe around the boss) hit you will go down even if you wear yellow gear of your level and have protection up (-33% dmg) he will one hit you as a meele, yes even if you specced all the defensive lines to get max toughness and health

As a ranged as I said its not as bad because all the pull or ranged abilities I´ve seen so far have tells, well except the snipers ability to deal more damage when running around (more meaning one shot on cloth wearers).

[mucco]

I don't remember ever being one-shotted in a dungeon. I recall I was brought to 10% health in a single hit sometimes however, and I play one of the tank professions (N). I can see how a guardian or ele, unprotected, would go downed on a single attack.

I found that melee is viable, but not for any extended period on bosses. I usually play Dagger/Focus and Staff, and I do get into melee with the dagger, but only for a few seconds. Everyone should bring a ranged weapon for bosses, or spend half their time chasing spawns and secondary targets. 100% melee on a boss is certainly deadly.

[Chen]

Sorry Chen, but mucco's right. They all have Tells and/or Telegraphs before these attacks. You just have to watch them to figure out what those are and then dodge at the appropriate moment.
For example:

Spoiler

Show

Lt Killer throws a scorpion wire like pull ability similar to the thief skill at every member of the party, then does an immediate whirlwind attack that will literally kill everyone he hit with the pull.
Just before the pull, he "powers up" for this attack.
If you were watching him it's blatantly obvious. You were probably watching your UI when you should have been watching the environment/boss.

A three hour run through ACe on the first try was down to just shy of an hour the second time because we knew what we were doing that time.

And yes, CM is far easier than AC on story mode.

The bosses tend to be less of an issue than some of the absurd trash actually. And I didn't just mean dungeons. Champions from events in the world are more of an issue. There's a Centaur chieftan who has some sort of PBAoE but god knows what triggers it since there's always a HUGE zerg around him. He may very well have some sort of glowing thing appear when he's about to cast, but there's no way to see it through the other effects that are hitting him.

Really its much more of an issue outside of dungeons. In there with only 5 people its rare you completely obscure the boss (though there is some guardian ability that makes the whole mob appear on fire which seems different than regular burning and really makes it hard to see glowing cues).

[Morty]

Hmmm. Say, is there anyone around here who has a character successfully using both Weaponsmithing and Armorsmithing? I decided to drop the latter on my Warrior because it seems to me like I'd be constantly short on ingredients, but I'm not sure if it's necessary.

[Neftren]

The adventures of the Asura Mesmer continue. I'm level 39 and joined the Order of Whispers. I'm doing pretty well, but getting my crafting skills to 150 looks like it'll be tough... and I need them on 150 to use the materials found in the areas I'm about to start exploring.

If you, or anyone else for that matter, needs crafting materials, let me know. I've been giving away most of my stash recently, since I don't really need the money at the moment.

[Turalisj]

I need materials of all level.

[Hullabaloo]

If you, or anyone else for that matter, needs crafting materials, let me know. I've been giving away most of my stash recently, since I don't really need the money at the moment.

Do Chili peppers or Vanilla beans exist :)? I was messing around on my chef and those were the only two mats in the first 4 lines I was missing. 4 or 5 of each would help me to discover any missing recipes I would think.

Hmmm. Say, is there anyone around here who has a character successfully using both Weaponsmithing and Armorsmithing? I decided to drop the latter on my Warrior because it seems to me like I'd be constantly short on ingredients, but I'm not sure if it's necessary.

I think you will be short (unless you farm a fair bit) if you do things that require like mats. I, for example, have Artificer on my Main Mesmer (Tailor as a placeholder and not leveling now) Jeweler and Armorsmith on my Guardian alt and Chef on my Engineer Alt. Bit of over lap with Artificer and Armorsmith, but my Arti is about 150 levels higher, so there actually is no overlap.

In short, trying to level like crafts can leave you very short, making it hard to discover recipes, the most efficient way to level a craft.

[Neftren]

Do Chili peppers or Vanilla beans exist :)? I was messing around on my chef and those were the only two mats in the first 4 lines I was missing. 4 or 5 of each would help me to discover any missing recipes I would think.

Character name?

[Hullabaloo]

Drchaos.1469

Thank you very much!

[Neftren]

Drchaos.1469

Thank you very much!

Sent you some vanilla beans. I don't remember what I did with my chili peppers though.

[Emmerask]

Hmmm. Say, is there anyone around here who has a character successfully using both Weaponsmithing and Armorsmithing? I decided to drop the latter on my Warrior because it seems to me like I'd be constantly short on ingredients, but I'm not sure if it's necessary.

If you don´t want to spend time farming additional ingredients (especially the fine stuff [tiny claws etc) and you don´t have a lot of alts in the same level range who can supply you with those then you should drop one or the other.

Even with 1 of those fine crafting materials using professions you can be short on mats really fast.

So if you don´t want to farm additional mats go with Jeweler or Chef as your second profession (if you want a second profession)

[Morty]

That's what I thought. I'll stick with Chef for my Warrior's secondary crafting profession.
As for Neftren's offer... I could use Tailoring materials in the 100-150 range so I can get it to 150. But I won't log on until tomorrow.

[tensai_oni]

If you don´t want to spend time farming additional ingredients (especially the fine stuff [tiny claws etc) and you don´t have a lot of alts in the same level range who can supply you with those then you should drop one or the other.

Even with 1 of those fine crafting materials using professions you can be short on mats really fast.

So if you don´t want to farm additional mats go with Jeweler or Chef as your second profession (if you want a second profession)

I disagree. Lack materials for trade skills? Don't grind - buy more on the trade company. Or just buy ready insignias/inscriptions, they are often cheaper than materials. Find things you don't need? Sell on the trade company. Just don't undercut other people - go with the lowest listed price, but not lower.

You will make a lot of money that way.

Jeweler and Chef are easiest to level, but they also offer worst rewards for your trouble. Huntsman weapons tend to be cheaper in the trade company than their material cost, too. But armor crafting of all kinds is a worthy investment.

[Tychris1]

So, me and two friends (Plus a random guy) an into the Ascalonian Catacombs.



DAAAAMN. Those freaking lovers, and the minions at the start felt like bosses all their own. And we have to do it all over again cause one of use had to leave.

Ah well, hopefully I can drag a few Guildies along to just swarm the battlefield with OP boulders.

[Neftren]

That's what I thought. I'll stick with Chef for my Warrior's secondary crafting profession.
As for Neftren's offer... I could use Tailoring materials in the 100-150 range so I can get it to 150. But I won't log on until tomorrow.

Drop me a line sometime tomorrow then and I'll send some stuff over. I don't really know what I have in the bank right now. I rarely visit Lion's Arch. Mostly just wandering around the world completing zones. I'm at about 71% right now, after taking a brief hiatus while they fixed Sparkfly Fen.

So, me and two friends (Plus a random guy) an into the Ascalonian Catacombs.



DAAAAMN. Those freaking lovers, and the minions at the start felt like bosses all their own. And we have to do it all over again cause one of use had to leave.

Ah well, hopefully I can drag a few Guildies along to just swarm the battlefield with OP boulders.

I'd be more than happy to come along and do this with you.




Also, would anyone be interested in running some Explore Mode dungeons?

[Tychris1]

Well that depends, are you on Eredon Terrace? And do you have steam (Purely for convenience, not a necessity).

[Chen]

So after hitting 80 and crafting an exotic set I'm starting to wonder what to actually work towards in the game. I bought the order of the Whispers chest piece for my female thief and transmuted it onto my Carrion exotic coat. So I have the best armor available and I have a look I like. I'm sitting at around 8g so I can buy the best weapons if I wanted to as well and considering I'm mainly running pistol/dagger the skin on the weapons is almost irrelevant since both weapons are pretty tiny to begin with (doesn't help I choose the smallest size for the character too).

That alone is one of the main things that dissuaded me from even thinking about working on a Legendary weapon since daggers and pistols are hard to see regardless. Maybe if the Legendary pistol shot cool looking projectiles or something it'd be worth it. Of course the actual Legendary grind seems a little crazy at the roughly 1 million karma and 300-500g requirement anyway. I don't imagine I'd stay interested long enough to get there.

So is it basically just time to try an alt instead? I don't really see what else I can do with my thief at the moment and its somewhat bad for my motivation to keep playing (having Borderlands 2 sitting on my comp isn't helping that either of course :P)

[Morty]

Drop me a line sometime tomorrow then and I'll send some stuff over. I don't really know what I have in the bank right now. I rarely visit Lion's Arch. Mostly just wandering around the world completing zones. I'm at about 71% right now, after taking a brief hiatus while they fixed Sparkfly Fen.

My handle is Morty.4721. I'm in the GiantITP guild, but I'm not sure if you are.

[Tengu_temp]

So after hitting 80 and crafting an exotic set I'm starting to wonder what to actually work towards in the game.

Are your accessories and weapons exotic level too? Also, some things you can do on level 80:

1. World completion - explore all the areas fully! I know that's what I'm doing.
2. Do all the dungeons to see their plotline and get armor pieces you like.
3. Finish your storyline.
4. Make a legendary weapon (I know you said you're discouraged from doing it, but it's something).
5. Organized PvP.
6. World vs World PvP (I find it much more fun than the above).
7. Work towards buying more upgrades for your guild and help out your guild members.

And yeah, alting is always a valid option. Just like GW1, this game encourages it.