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[nataku]

Alright, now that the BWEs are over it's time to pick a profession. Ranger is in for sure, possibly as my main on my Charr. I've been set to go Guardian as my main since they were announced, and I enjoyed it, but it might be a little too defensive/support/heal focused for me. I've never been a fan of the paladin archetype to be honest, so I'm surprised I was drawn to them in the first place. I also don't really care for their ranged option, either.

I love the idea of Mesmer, but their mechanics are a little messed up right now. Despite that, I'm still considering playing one over Guardian in hopes that ANet can fix some of the issues I have with the profession shortly after release.

I'm going to be playing things in pairs until I get every profession to 80. Starting out it's the original races, Charr and Human. Which profession out of Ranger, Mesmer and Guardian I main and which one I alt depends on what they say about each between now and release. I really hope they release patch notes for the game on release.

Also, I hope the officers and guild leader of the guild can decide on the server situation sometime soon and don't let it linger for too long. I've got a friend who wants to play on the same server as me, but he has some other friends of his he needs to communicate his server choice to so they can join him. The more time we decide before release the better.

 

[Klyka]

I understood he wanted to transmute the visuals of a PvP weapon to a PvE stat weapon, for usage in PvE, not PvP.

I swear I read it the other way around.

My bad, carry on!

 

[BrettWeir]

I swear I read it the other way around.

My bad, carry on!

It may have come across that way. Too early in the morning!!

 

[Naeblish]

I ended up not actually spending much time with this over the weekend. I enjoy what I did play, especially my Norn Necro, but I never really felt that "mmo grab" that makes me think I'd be playing the game a lot for a decent period of time.

I actually like that about this game, not having that "grab". I'm gonna play it casual, whenever i feel like it and progress slowly on my own pace. I always burnout within 2-3 weeks on addictive games because i spend every free minute i have on them.

 

[darkwing]

I will play with it a bit more, absolutely. Damn, the wait is going to be killer.



Exactly. I love MH Sword with Focus. Typically how it worked was this: If I were taking on a group, I would usually keep with the Greatsword... Once things got narrowed down and/or we were on the boss, I would swap over and use MH Sword to help put him down. It's just a fantastically useful combination for attacking a single target, even if the target is very dangerous. Hardly ever went down using it either.

Greatsword is awesome because of the Phantasmal Breaker, seeing it go through a crowd in WvW is awesome lol

 

[Dinosaur Tamer]

Maybe the models will also be available in PvE/WvW, but I doubt it.

Actually, that may be the case. I played some sPvP (both random groups and tournaments) during the BWE and managed to get quite a few items.

I wasn't really paying too much attention to the item skins, but I noticed some of them were part of a "Peacekeeper" set. I am pretty sure Peacekeepers are a group of Asura guards - much like the Seraph for the Human zones (the item skins seemed to support this as well).

I also know for a fact that there is at least one Seraph set, which can be obtained through PvE and it's probably safe to assume there is something similar for each of the five races. That would make the Peacemaker set available through both sPvP and PvE.

Another skin I got through a tournament chest was matching the visuals of a greatsword I bought with honor badges in WvW.

Obviously, this does not proof you can obtain any PvP skin though PvE/WvW, but you can get some of them and I would not be surprised if you actually could get all of them through karma vendors, crafting, instances and others means. The insane amount of potential skins in the PvP locker makes it very hard to believe they only want to use them as sPvP rewards.

 

[Xiaoki]

The game keeps losing me around the same point with every character I have made. Right around level 12-17 or so just loses me. There seems to be less going on, the events seem like rehashes of the earlier zones when there are even events going on. I end up just getting bored around this level range. Hoping this either gets sorted out or the it picks up once you get to 20. Will have to find out on release.

When I find myself in an event slump I go to a another race's area. Even the level 1 - 5 starter area will do.

The level 2 heart events will give good exp and since you retain the power of your high level gear and abilities you can smash them in no time.

Yes, this doesnt solve the larger problem of a lack of content concentration or variety(how many escort events did they make?) even around level 15 but there you go.

 

[Complistic]

I know I never leveled anything past 18 because in the back of my mind I knew they were just getting wiped anyways and around that area is when leveling up takes much longer. It was more fun to roll a new race/profession.

 

[Hawkian]

Some more scattered thoughts from the event:

The jumping puzzle(s?!) in Metrica Province was legitimately epic (what I saw of it before the event anyway).

I can't believe how impressive, and impressively different, The Grove and Rata Sum looked and felt. True masterpieces of architectural and art design.

Added Guardian to the list of "classes I didn't give a shit about but after playing am actually kind of interested in making."

So many little features make the game a joy to play:
1) Retaining your party slot/guild chat when switching characters
2) Labeled party waypoints on the map
3) Want to just switch offhand weapons with the swap button? Don't equip a main hand weapon in set two.

Some pics:

Was really hoping I got a better shot of the fireworks as a helper pod...

Oh well.

It really feels like I should be able to play this when I get home. Ugh.

 

[theMrCravens]

People keep talking about jumping puzzles.

Are they vistas or something I missed ?

 

[Vinci]

I love the game and will probably create a Mesmer, but what's the feedback on the Guardian so far? Is it really not an ideal tank and more of just a support character? I only got one up to level 5 and browsing the skill list made it seem very cleric-like and less full on tank like I'd expect. Is aggro (in the Wow sense) a thing in GW2?

Or should I just roll a Warrior instead if I want to tank? My goal is to play a character that can singlehandedly carry an undergeared/leveled group of potentially casual players if i play great (like a tank in Wow or tank/shout barb in d3).

There is no tank of that nature in the game. You may be able to carry the group to some extent - all professions are capable of that and it depends more on the player than anything else - but at some point your group mates will have to learn to play. There is no built-in mechanism for maintaining aggro.

Honestly, the best way for people to learn this game is trial by fire, putting them (and yourself) in a fight you have good odds of losing. That's when the button-mashing disappears, because it doesn't work. I read people talking about how easy the game is in Map Chat the entire weekend. Eventually one guy said, "I hope there's more to this than spamming my attacks." I messages him and suggested partying up, and he agreed. I ran to this place I knew damn well would give us a helluva fight and we went to it.

Within an hour, we had grown accustomed to one another's play style and were owning groups that were kicking our asses when we first arrived in the area. Even when mobs spawned right on top of us, we could pull it off. Added each other to our Contacts Lists.

THAT is the good stuff. Throw all that safe crap out the window.

 

[birdchili]

One thing I don't like about thief is they don't really have to do any weapon switching at all. All other classes use weapon switching to bypass cooldowns, thief doesn't have cooldowns so they don't have to. One hand it's nice, but other it makes thief gameplay really easy.

wait... i thought you had separate initiative bars for each weapon... don't you?

would love tales comparing playstyles between professions (wvw/pve) from folk who played lots of different ones.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

People keep talking about jumping puzzles.

Are they vistas or something I missed ?

I thought so, but they're not.

They're a more harder, but not too hard. We'll have to see come later levels.

 

[birdchili]

Throw all that safe crap out the window.

and all the downed toons shouted AMEN!

 

[Vinci]

Frankly ANET made the early game too easy. The things that made it 'hard' before for most people were the elements distinct to GW2 that people didn't understand and when the scaling was simply off. You didnt dodge, you died. And that's how it should be. Even fights early on should be, at least occasionally, trials. They shouldn't be given to you.

 

[Absinthe]

All my GW2 Beta Screens: http://imgur.com/a/3ZG8I
Some of those are from BWE1 and 2, but they're organized by date so just scroll to the bottom if you want.

I can't believe we get this game in a month.

I can't believe how much fun it was just sightseeing with guildies last night before the event started.

I can't believe I took so few screenshots considering how often my jaw was on the floor.

I forgot about that Shadow Behemoth fight. Took us forever.

Sightseeing was awesome, we never did complete the Asura jumping puzzle, ran out of time as the beta event started.

Thanks to everyone on MumbleGAF for a great BWE.

 

[Wrekt]

My screenshots from this weekend. Mostly just locations and vistas, with some UI stuff I took for a friend.

 

[Quadrophenic]

People keep talking about jumping puzzles.

Are they vistas or something I missed ?

Jumping puzzles are just places you explore and find. Some lead to chests, some lead to hidden bosses, some lead to vistas, some lead to skill challenges, some lead to nothing.

 

[Violet_0]

Melee does so much more damage than ranged in a shorter time, it's not even funny.
Playing my thief and shadowstepping to someone pew pew-ing, they always freak the fuck out when their health just DROPS as my dagger/pistol shreds them.

admittedly I haven't tried dagger/pistol yet, but my Thief, despite trying high crit chance/crit damage and condition damage builds, really underperformed this BWE. You only have a couple of seconds before your health reaches critical levels and I don't think our damage output compensates for our fragility.

Later on, I switched to Necromancer, and I was delighted every time a Thief popped up behind me, to which I reacted by spamming a few conditions on them and watching them stealth away - only to reappear in downed state (Thieves lack condition removals).

I love the game and will probably create a Mesmer, but what's the feedback on the Guardian so far? Is it really not an ideal tank and more of just a support character? I only got one up to level 5 and browsing the skill list made it seem very cleric-like and less full on tank like I'd expect. Is aggro (in the Wow sense) a thing in GW2?

Or should I just roll a Warrior instead if I want to tank? My goal is to play a character that can singlehandedly carry an undergeared/leveled group of potentially casual players if i play great (like a tank in Wow or tank/shout barb in d3).

the trinity (tanks, healers, damage dealers) is gone, every profession can be everything. You can't really tank in PvE (you can't even draw aggro) and you most certainly won't be able to carry a group. Even in heavy armor, you can't just stand there and take hits, dodging and avoiding damage altogether is a huge part of the gameplay. Also, gear doesn't really play a significant role in this game, as far as I can tell.

Both professions are great in sPvP, if that helps.

wait... i thought you had separate initiative bars for each weapon... don't you?

nope

 

[Emitan]

Sylvari Engineer for launch I think. I need to decide!

 

[Deadly]

By the end of the beta I ended up liking the elementalist alot. Quite useful in WvW. Got the hang of switching around elements too.

What I notice was that we didn't get a quick change for weapons, is that normal?

 

[RepairmanJack]

By the end of the beta I ended up liking the elementalist alot. Quite useful in WvW. Got the hang of switching around elements too.

What I notice was that we didn't get a quick change for weapons, is that normal?

Yup, Attunements take the place of weapons swap for Elementalist. Same thing for Engineers, they have weapon kits instead of weapon swap.

 

[Vano]

By the end of the beta I ended up liking the elementalist alot. Quite useful in WvW. Got the hang of switching around elements too.

What I notice was that we didn't get a quick change for weapons, is that normal?

Yes its normal, Elementalist have 20 skills thanks to the Attunements so that's why Ele can't get Weapon Change.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Having devoted my whole weekend to the beta I managed to get my Sylvari engineer up to level 40.
I think the fastest way to level is crafting by far. I only got 100% in one area, however I got up to 240 in cooking, 180 in jewel craft, and around 50 in another 3 professions.

Yes, I noticed. At some point on Sunday I checked the guild roster to see if anyone had reached level 30 and there were you at like 38 with 240 cooking. I commented it on guild chat and we were all suitably impressed, but perhaps you were AFK (or cooking!). Hats off to you, sir.

Have you played Engi in previous BWE's? If so, what are your impressions on how the class was updated?

I know you're not asking me, but I played Engi mostly in the previous BWE's (lv 17), and I tried one in PvP lobby to check for differences. The new mine that replaces the Mine Mit is interesting and has lots of potential uses, although I loved the flexibility of the original kit as well; the "instant minefield" toolbelt ability was rather cool as well. Best of all (attention to detail), while the minefield was spread over the ground when on land, underwater the mines were spread randomly in three dimensions, like a true anti-sub mine field (and as before, they change appearance underwater).

More pics, people!!!!

I have to select and upload mine from this BWE (sad that the HD pic option was, I hope temporarily, disabled), but here are mine from past ones in case you missed them:
http://weltallzero.minus.com/mgWzXUSJq/1g
http://weltallzero.minus.com/m8GalvE1z/10g
Some selections:

Thumbnails of some of the ultra HD ones (I don't dare post the full images for badwidth, check the second link above).

Also, if anyone thinks that posting these many images is disruptive, please tell me and I'll remove some or all. I'm still learning the GA ropes. :S

My Kawaii as fuck Asura Guardian Lv17.

Damn, the last one is Action Shot winner material right there. :O

 

[Ferrio]

wait... i thought you had separate initiative bars for each weapon... don't you?

would love tales comparing playstyles between professions (wvw/pve) from folk who played lots of different ones.

Do you? I don't recall now.. didn't think so.

I made a Sylvari, but I didn't spend a lot of time with it... Wouldn't it be possible to have the shades of its body the same color? That is, you would cut down on the layering effect that they have and, therefore, act as more of a background to the armor.

You do, but like I said it's not just the color but the "skin" texture too. Any other race the skin is very uniform, sylvari there's tons of lines and what not. Even the smooth texture looks odd.

 

[Alister_McCalister]

Frankly ANET made the early game too easy. The things that made it 'hard' before for most people were the elements distinct to GW2 that people didn't understand and when the scaling was simply off. You didnt dodge, you died. And that's how it should be. Even fights early on should be, at least occasionally, trials. They shouldn't be given to you.

I really think mob damage was bugged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqRyaZMcqcA

I tested this out myself, in Gendarren Fields... I just stood there and auto attacked a pirate and he did no damage to me.

I was soloing all kinds of things that I shouldn't have.

And here is the corresponding thread on the official forums:

https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/for...ulty-lowered-from-last-beta/page/2#post316292

Edit: and here's another:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP4DsNqr9yQ

 

[RepairmanJack]

I actually completely forgot to take screenshots this BWE. It was my favorite thing to do the first one and for some reason haven't done it since.

 

[DJIzana]

With the final beta at an end... I figured I'd post the rest of my screenshots that I took!

 

[kagete]

Thanks for the feedback Vinci and Hasardeur. Based on your replies, which classes definitely have the most "impact" right now, whether its via crowd control, pure damage, or undeniably great support skills?

 

[Ferrio]

People keep talking about jumping puzzles.

Are they vistas or something I missed ?

Vistas aren't really jumping puzzles. There's jumping involved but no real puzzle or challenge.

Each starter zone has a real jumping puzzle though. Asura you had to take a tiny jumping path that lead you to a gate that teleported you far far above the zone. Then you had to go through 4 seperate jumping sections, each with it's own challenge. First one had wind that'd knock you off platforms, second one had lightning that would strike in patterns, third one had a chill debuff that made you move slow as hell, last was a boss with a chest behind him.

Thanks for the feedback Vinci and Hasardeur. Based on your replies, which classes definitely have the most "impact" right now, whether its via crowd control, pure damage, or undeniably great support skills?

That's a loaded question, the correct answer would be all the classes. Least in theory that's how it's going to work. If classes are better in one area.. it's barely. Guardian does have tons of support.. but so do other classes. Warriors could just use banners or shouts, as well as equipping a warhorn. Thieves could go around cloaking people or laying down smoke screen walls. All classes seem to have abilities they could spec in to make them res safely... so you could do that.

All in all, you're going to be splitting hairs trying to define classes by those things.

 

[Vinci]

Thanks for the feedback Vinci and Hasardeur. Based on your replies, which classes definitely have the most "impact" right now, whether its via crowd control, pure damage, or undeniably great support skills?

Yeah... I'm not sure that can be answered well. Professions in this are really very diverse. It depends more on how you build characters than what profession they are, and also depends on what you're doing.

Based on your background, though. I would probably recommend either a warrior or guardian. For example, a good friend of mine who ran a warrior similarly as you did in WOW really likes the Guardian - but there is no 1:1.

 

[Lovely Salsa]

I don't want to start as a warrior as it seems like a class that every newbie will use....

I tried Elementist but I don't want to go that way, too much pressing and changing magic. Seems like too much work and they don't seem very good at PVP.

I was thinking Necro? How does that class stand against a warrior etc? Good at PVP?

also have a question about skills. I havent been able to change any of the skills from the first 5 slots. Will the skill system be the same as the first game? Where you talked to different trainers and bought skills from them?

 

[Ferrio]

also have a question about skills. I havent been able to change any of the skills from the first 5 slots. Will the skill system be the same as the first game? Where you talked to different trainers and bought skills from them?

Nope, your skills are determined by what weapons you use. The only skills you can customize are your heal (only 3 choices), your utility skills, and your elite skills.

Then you have your traits (which took a hit to customization a patch ago), but it's something.

 

[Vinci]

The first 5 slots are associated with the weapon you're wielding. You don't get to trade them out free-form like you do the back 5.

 

[DJIzana]

I don't want to start as a warrior as it seems like a class that every newbie will use....

I tried Elementist but I don't want to go that way, too much pressing and changing magic. Seems like too much work and they don't seem very good at PVP.

I was thinking Necro? How does that class stand against a warrior etc? Good at PVP?

also have a question about skills. I havent been able to change any of the skills from the first 5 slots. Will the skill system be the same as the first game? Where you talked to different trainers and bought skills from them?

The first 5 skills are based on the weapon you use. So, if you use dual axes or an axes and a shield, the first 2 will be based off your main hand, 3rd will be a combo, last 2 are based off your offhand. If you are using a 2 hander, all 5 skills are associated to the 2 handed weapon you're using.

Secondly, the Warrior plays much different than you think. Due to swapping weapons it can get pretty crazy... going right in there melee, then, switching to a rifle and going ranged. It's different than you think. The Necro seems rather boring to me. A lot of summoning / dots isn't my type of playstyle. I plan to roll a Ranger from the start then Guardian & Elementalist.

 

[Violet_0]

Thanks for the feedback Vinci and Hasardeur. Based on your replies, which classes definitely have the most "impact" right now, whether its via crowd control, pure damage, or undeniably great support skills?

my PvE experience has mostly been either a huge zerg of players during events (in which case it doesn't matter which profession you picked ), or soloing as Thief. Ranged has a natural advantage over melee in PvE though, I think that's something to keep in mind.

 

[Deitus]

All my GW2 Beta Screens: http://imgur.com/a/3ZG8I
Some of those are from BWE1 and 2, but they're organized by date so just scroll to the bottom if you want.

I can't believe we get this game in a month.

I can't believe how much fun it was just sightseeing with guildies last night before the event started.

I can't believe I took so few screenshots considering how often my jaw was on the floor.

I see me! I agree, it was so much fun just exploring the world as a group, finding all of the areas hidden away off the beaten path, and seeing all of the ridiculous attention to detail. Plus, the jumping puzzles were much more fun in a group. Nothing better than chatting with guildies while trying to meticulously time jumps and avoid traps, only to see bodies raining from the sky above.

My screenshots from this weekend. Mostly just locations and vistas, with some UI stuff I took for a friend.

With the final beta at an end... I figured I'd post the rest of my screenshots that I took!

Mother of Glob this game is gorgeous. I feel like I should have taken a billion screenshots of all the beautiful sights I saw over the weekend, and yet I didn't take a single one. I don't know why, I'm just not generally one to take screenshots (or pictures in general). But I'm glad you guys took the time to take them.

 

[Sir Abacus]

So I ended up getting a Norn protector to 20. Some of the scaling was absolutely bonkers in the DEs with melee being one shot by stuff with no tell.

The combat I've come to grips with. Dodge out of red stuff, be aware of positioning, know what skills can be cast on the run.

So does the boxed version of GW2 come with a GW1 style manual? One of the first things that struck me when I bought GW1 was opening it up on the train ride home and having a mini novella and more information than you can poke a stick at. If it does I think I'll get that. If not I'll probably just buy digital.

 

[Lovely Salsa]

Kinda disappointing about the skill system. Thats what I really liked about the first game, having a huge variety and coming to a trainer you haven't met and see what skills he sells....

I don't even know which class to start with.....Necro sounds alittle like Elementalist? I want something other than warrior but is as powerful as a warrior and fun to play

 

[Hydrogen]

Ok......I think I've found (read about) two negative things with the game:

- You can't transmute PvP gear?!- Random sPvP rewards?! Sure there are alts that can use items later, or throw them into the Mystic Forge, but not fond of the mechanic...

Ugh. Sad day when I can find something negative about GW2.

Awesome screenshots all!!!!

What... so trasmutation and dyes are useless for pvp? If so, it really sucks... I hope they change it.

 

[Emitan]

I don't think I understand the Engineer's 4 skill with a shield. It says something about being able to shove enemies back but I've never figured out how to do it.

 

[Sir Abacus]

Kinda disappointing about the skill system. Thats what I really liked about the first game, having a huge variety and coming to a trainer you haven't met and see what skills he sells....

I know what you mean. I really miss half classes. Traits are streamlined but have taken all the nuance out of the system. Knowing exactly how many points you needed to put into a build to reach certain thresholds, using the synergy of skills while remaining in the same attributes.

I'm sure I'll get used to it all eventually. But I was completely lost in WvWvW.

 

[RepairmanJack]

I don't think I understand the Engineer's 4 skill with a shield. It says something about being able to shove enemies back but I've never figured out how to do it.

It was bugged apparently. It's supposed to be a push back.

 

[Deitus]

my PvE experience has mostly been either a huge zerg of players during events (in which case it doesn't matter which profession you picked ), or soloing as Thief. Ranged has a natural advantage over melee in PvE though, I think that's something to keep in mind.

I absolutely disagree. I played Ranger this weekend, and I found both Longbow and Shortbow to be utterly unimpressive. Sword/Dagger just straight up outclassed them in every aspect except kiting, which is arguably safer, but much slower at taking out enemies. Greatsword was amazing as well, but I just couldn't get over the Sword/Dagger. I ended up using Axe/Axe or Axe/Torch as my secondary weapons, because it was necessary to have some kind of ranged weapon, and more importantly some decent AOE damage for dealing with large groups of enemies. But for 1 on 1 encounters Sword/Dagger dominated.

Sure, for WvW I would have switched out my Axe for a Longbow, because the longer range would make quite a difference in keep assault. And longer range does offer an advantage in dealing with boss creatures that can one shot you. But for 90% of the PVE content, I found that melee was just a better choice.

 

[DJIzana]

Mother of Glob this game is gorgeous. I feel like I should have taken a billion screenshots of all the beautiful sights I saw over the weekend, and yet I didn't take a single one. I don't know why, I'm just not generally one to take screenshots (or pictures in general). But I'm glad you guys took the time to take them.

Thanks!

You definitely should've taken screenshots! Some of the best times I've had were playing in an alpha or beta event, such as Ragnarok Online. Can't explain why it just feels memorable for me more than playing the full release. xD

Kinda disappointing about the skill system. Thats what I really liked about the first game, having a huge variety and coming to a trainer you haven't met and see what skills he sells....

I don't even know which class to start with.....Necro sounds alittle like Elementalist? I want something other than warrior but is as powerful as a warrior and fun to play.

The guardian is honestly my favorite melee class. They lack range but they are fun, especially with the melee teleport ability using a sword / shield combo!

Another thing is here... they CAN and WILL add in more skills over time, I'm sure, or even new weapon types. So try to keep this in mind when choosing a profession!

 

[Weltall Zero]

I was redoing my sylvari... and I didn't notice they glowed in the dark. One of their color options wasn't working for me the first time, and that's cause I didn't switch to no lights. Turn off the no lights and that color slowly brightens and dims.

Oh yeah, that's pretty awesome. I think I posted about it a bit back to let people know, because it indeed isn't super obvious. Some particular "hairs" have amazing glow colorization, like the one with spots and the tips of the leaves.

^
A big problem with character creation is that your choices after you finish your character can change your appearance.

There is exactly one question that will give you a head, back or shoulder item for your character among three. You can see what they look like right there, you can go back to re-dye them (and you can do it later in game too), and you can unequip them OR right click them and set them to not being shown (at least in the case of helmets and cape items, not sure if shoulders too). What is exactly the problem there?

Question for you since you mentioned multiple professions. I know that you can only have two active at one time, but what happens if you switch one out and return to it latter? Do you still keep the progress you made, or do you have to start from scratch? I avoided this during the BWE and just had the different crafts on different characters.

Progress is kept, you have to pay an amount of money depending on the level your crafting profession was before you left it. You keep all recipes and levels. At least that's the last I heard.

This end event wasn't planned out very well :\

For a one-shot thing in the entire story of the world? I think it's far more work than it warranted.

Best screenshot I've found:

Holy crap, that IS awesome. Where is that adorable snow owl from? Something I realized is that small animals in this game are absurdly detailed. I have a screenshot of a rabbit that has more polygons than most MMO's bosses!

Pretty quick? Asura one took me an hour... it was like 4 seperate zones. Each with a different gimmick. First one had wind that'd knock you off of platforms. Second one was lightning, that was very megaman disappearing blockish. Third was ice, you'd get a chill debuff and move like at 20% speed.

Holy crap does that sound hard. :S And here I was feeling proud of almost completing the Sylvari one with the floating rocks.

True, but the associated skills will determine which weapons will be more or less viable, especially in PvP.

Am I the only one who can't find a lick of sense on all this viability thing, as if this was a SNES cart with no future balancing patches, ever?

Out of curiosity, did anyone else get an Exotic Aqua Breather? I found one that was called "PvP Light Aqua Breather" or something. It was what you use to breathe underwater, but it was for level 80 and yellow in color. Boosted defense by, like, 79.

Didn't even know you could replace your Breather.

Although breathers are indeed a piece of equipment like any other, the one bit about getting a PvP breather must be a bug, because I got one too; perhaps on two characters, even. I thought I had unequipped mine by mistake.

Some Tier 1 Sylvari Cultural armor screens:

http://imgur.com/a/vnIKH

http://imgur.com/a/B86s4

I personally think that looks amazing, but there's something strange, like if the entire Sylvari is metallic-like. Silvery sylvari, if you will.

No mater what I dyed it.. it was hard to see where the body started and armor ended.

I think that's the whole point, actually; there's a quote above to that very effect.

That sylvari armor is great-looking. I was pretty fond of them as a race honestly.

I just got that it was supposed to be The Hunger Games and Battle Royale.

... Holy crap (slaps self). How could I have gotten the Hunger Games thing and not Battle Royale?

All my GW2 Beta Screens: http://imgur.com/a/3ZG8I
Some of those are from BWE1 and 2, but they're organized by date so just scroll to the bottom if you want.

Oh look, there goes my next hour. Heck, I'm getting my GF to come see them as well. Impressions when I finish seeing them. Thanks a lot, man; you wouldn't believe how I love these gems sprinkled all over the game.

It just doesn't make sense. It's almost like if you obtained a dungeon specific drop, but could never use that skin outside of that dungeon? You should be able to show off items you have acquired, no matter where it has come from.

I think this comes from a philosophy of having PvP and PvE/WvW entirely segregated, with zero spill between them. In fact the design seems to be very GW1-like in that regard, only you get "two character slots" per character slot, one PvP, and one PvE. I think there is not a single thing that spills from one to the other, at all; separate inventories, banks, collections, currencies, etc. etc. I'm guessing different teams manage each, so this cross-utilization could have far more enormous consequences that we could guess at first.

 

[Vinci]

For those lamenting the loss of the GW1 skill system, go watch WoodenPotatoes videos on YouTube. In one video he clearly defines the problem with the original system and what makes this new method better.

And I completely agree with Thanasis and his comments about PvE, in reference to melee. More specifically, I believe profession choice still matters even within the Zerg. I've seen too much evidence to say otherwise.

 

[Ferrio]

I think that's the whole point, actually; there's a quote above to that very effect.

On their racial armor sure... but I'm talking about generic armor.

 

[birdchili]

wait... i thought you had separate initiative bars for each weapon... don't you?

nope

so initiative ends up being a disadvantage that reduces combat flexibility for thieves compared to other professions? that seems horrible.

 

[RepairmanJack]

so initiative ends up being a disadvantage that reduces combat flexibility for thieves compared to other professions? that seems horrible.

I wouldn't say that. You have different skills that regain initiative.(usually each weapon has one or more with traits) You can also use harder hits multiple times in a short span where others can't. I wouldn't say it's a disadvantage, just a different play style.