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[Katoki]

With the stealth on steal trait(?), you could go d/d and then:

Steal > back stab > basilisk venom > cloak and dagger > back stab
or
Basilisk venom > steal > back stab > cloak and dagger > back stab.

At least thieves are confined to doing this to one person at a time. I've been hit by one and it's a major wtf moment until you see the thief running off depending on your camera angles.

 

[2San]

With the stealth on steal trait(?), you could go d/d and then:

Steal > back stab > basilisk venom > cloak and dagger > back stab
or
Basilisk venom > steal > back stab > cloak and dagger > back stab.

At least thieves are confined to doing this to one person at a time. I've been hit by one and it's a major wtf moment until you see the thief running off depending on your camera angles.

You can cloak and dagger while the animation is going steal > back stab > etc.

No one uses that trait(in pvp at least). Proper shadow step skills(Steal, Infiltrators signet, shadowstep) don't cancel the animation. For example you can even do the stomp(pvp) on an opposing downed thief and if he teleports you can hit a shadow step skill and it will finish the stomp animation(easiest class to stomp atm).

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

the waiting time for WvWvW has now been 25 minutes already, is that normal?

 

[Dries]

Is there any way to get this without having played Guild Wars?

 

[etiolate]

edit: No

sorry didn't see your link

 

[Noisy Ninj4]

Is there any way to get this without having played Guild Wars?

Nope.

 

[Katoki]

You can cloak and dagger while the animation is going steal > back stab > etc.

No one uses that trait(in pvp at least). Proper shadow step skills(Steal, Infiltrators signet, shadowstep) don't cancel the animation. For example you can even do the stomp(pvp) on an opposing downed thief and if he teleports you can hit a shadow step skill and it will finish the stomp animation(easiest class to stomp atm).

In that case, can't you just delay it and not use CnD until after? You'd get an additional back stab in and all that. I don't know if I'd use the trait myself though.

 

[2San]

In that case, can't you just delay it and not use CnD until after? You'd get an additional back stab in and all that. I don't know if I'd use the trait myself though.

If you have a proper rotation/spec. You should have enough initiative(thief only mp bar) for many CnD's anyway(if not infinite, depending on build). Thief weapon skills have no cool down, hence the mp bar to balance. There is a 3sec cooldown on stealthing, but that affects the trait as well.

 

[nataku]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV2BhlNtG0M

I hope ArenaNet fixes this before they put the VFOV live.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

hmmm. they are getting stingy about bots!


I got an infraction for saying "I dont know why people do this"

maybe im butt hurt, but for even questning botters does it warrant an infraction?



I get people are up Anets ass about this, but on Underworld (EU) its a serious issues. I literally, see 5-10 multiboxes everytime im in Malchors Leap and Cursed Shore. I report these guys, but it scares me.

Some of these guys have 10 characters with them. What in the fuck. this stuff ruins economy. For the first two months I thought people were over exaggerating, but as it gets harder and harder to make money, I also see more and more bots.


im at the point now where I almost. ALMOST sympathize with people who buy gold.


why is it they have Karma and Skill Points, and dont use them more? Why cant I convert my 100.000 Karma, into 100 Gold? I dont need a temple set. But I would like cultural armor 3 skin! I would like a greatsaw.


But thats the thing. there is a MAJOR gap between affordable things minus 10g which can be achieved with some hours running and scavengering in Orr, and then everything else which feels like is on the wrong side of 100g.



Karma is this thing you cant buy your way too. everyone has to earn Karma by playing. want to populate the unpopular zones and events?

do like you do with bonus xp! The longer the monster is alive in the world without getting killed by a player, the more bonux xp the player gets when he finds and kills it.

why not for karma? for glory? for gold? make players fortune hunters. make it as worthwhile to me to go back to all the old areas. make me crave those events. make me crave going into dungeons whose armors I have no desire for.




im not asking it to be easy. Its harder to become rich in this game than any other game I've played and I love how money has values. this is the only game ive ever played where I have started walking around more to save 2-3s. its good. its well made, but inflation seems crazy. is it the botters? or is it the value of gems? i cant figure it out.

 

[nintendoman58]

It's almost unbelievable how empty some of these PvE maps are. I went into Fireheart Rise and there is almost no one there on our server all the time. Most of the time everyone's asking for dungeon runs in LA or playing WvW.

It's almost like the massively multiplayer of this game is in WvW or LA only when you play this game at level 60. Someone told me that its the level 70+ areas that have so many people, but it gets really lonely in this game in the level 60+ areas.

What event or whatever happens at levels 60-70 that causes everyone to just abandon PvE? Is there any level 60-70 map that actually has a giant handful of people?

 

[br0ken_shad0w]

It's almost unbelievable how empty some of these PvE maps are. I went into Fireheart Rise and there is almost no one there on our server all the time. Most of the time everyone's asking for dungeon runs in LA or playing WvW.

It's almost like the massively multiplayer of this game is in WvW or LA only when you play this game at level 60. Someone told me that its the level 70+ areas that have so many people, but it gets really lonely in this game in the level 60+ areas.

What event or whatever happens at levels 60-70 that causes everyone to just abandon PvE? Is there any level 60-70 map that actually has a giant handful of people?

Orr is that level 70+ area. Events and mobs spawn like crazy so most people go there to farm. And rewards don't scale enough to want people to come back to the lower level areas.

 

[nicoga3000]

AC 3rd path - the burrow path with the collectors. What gives? Any tips?

 

[Boss Doggie]

we need more aoe ranged skills. Bouncing just doesn't cut it

 

[nicoga3000]

we need more aoe ranged skills. Bouncing just doesn't cut it

Were you in our group??

 

[etiolate]

It's almost unbelievable how empty some of these PvE maps are. I went into Fireheart Rise and there is almost no one there on our server all the time. Most of the time everyone's asking for dungeon runs in LA or playing WvW.

It's almost like the massively multiplayer of this game is in WvW or LA only when you play this game at level 60. Someone told me that its the level 70+ areas that have so many people, but it gets really lonely in this game in the level 60+ areas.

What event or whatever happens at levels 60-70 that causes everyone to just abandon PvE? Is there any level 60-70 map that actually has a giant handful of people?

They aren't ditching PVE. They're ditching places for karma grinds, loot drops and gathering. Things like Orichalcum Ore are a big part of crafting the flashier exotic weapons and legendaries. Those only show up in Orr or Frostgorge. You need karma and gold to craft those things as well, and there's normally a karma zerg running in Orr that people can take part in to repeatedly kill undead in DEs and grind out karma and hope for good drops.

The odd thing is that the Citadel of Flame DE is good for drops as well, but the lack of a karma zerg or high end gathering nodes keeps people out of places like Fireheart Rise.

They need to disperse the valuable drops and resources more, and offer something like the Zhaishen quests to get people back into other zones. Right now, it's thick with people in Orr and any places with either a dragon or Orichalcum. Some starter areas have people as well, but its mostly the human areas due to population balance. Diessa Plateau is pretty empty.

It's good that you still get level appropriate drops in any zone, but its the rate of drops and the gathering nodes that push people towards Orr.

 

[jersoc]

they could just make the event rewards scale up. it's pretty bad that they have this huge world and only 3 zones at 80 worth visiting for end game stuff.

plus ya know, jugs of karma now. you don't need grind as heavily on events if you don't want to. just save up a bunch and pop a karma booster. bam. i have a bunch just chilling for whatever right now.

 

[Morokh]

For materials they definitely would have to do something to get people in lower level areas, ores would be tricky, but blood/claws .. could be done by scaling loot entirely (and not partially like it is now) at the player's level.

But for karma it actually could be worth it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0LODZR8sOM

unless it has changed since the video was made, you maybe would gain a little less, but it would also be easier.

guess we'll see how they handle the new area.

 

[Boss Doggie]

They could add more DEs on high level areas outside of Orr.

Were you in our group??

Nope

By the way, what's with the ??? again in Monthly?

 

[Hawkian]

Shorely related to the content patch on the 15th.

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

I am only low level but still i agree on the Karma jugs, i mean hell, the first time i noticed i got like 5000 KARMA from that one jug simply by doing a daily i was dumbfounded, when that last DE that i did was a pain in the ass, took us as a group more than 20 minutes to finish it and we got like 120 Karma or whatever lol...

Just do your dailies every day and you're up there with the best in Karma in no time at all
That doesn't feel right, i believe DEs should reward you more than that in comparison hmm...

 

[Hawkian]

I am only low level but still i agree on the Karma jugs, i mean hell, the first time i noticed i got like 5000 KARMA from that one jug simply by doing a daily i was dumbfounded, when that last DE that i did was a pain in the ass, took us as a group more than 20 minutes to finish it and we got like 120 Karma or whatever lol...

Just do your dailies every day and you're up there with the best in Karma in no time at all
That doesn't feelright, i believe DEs should reward you more than that in comparison hmm...

You're sort of looking at it the wrong way.

We didn't go from having only DEs give karma to having only dailies give karma, we just had karma for the dailies added where there was zero before. Now you get can Karma just the same way (and by the way it scales with level so you're not seeing max event rewards yet) but ALSO get a boost from your dailies. And events are part of the daily, so it's really all good.

Second, unlike event/dungeon karma which is just added to your total immediately, the jugs are consumable and account bound. They also have karma boosters apply to them. You can save them until once of your characters needs the karma for something specfic, then maximize it.

Finally, I don't know what exactly you mean by "up there with the best in Karma in no time at all," but a piece of Orr karma gear is 42,000 karma; a Legendary weapon will take roughly 1,000,000. This makes it a bit more practical to one day obtain enough but please believe that it'll still be a lengthy process.

 

[Dries]

So apart from the personal story (and WvW/PvP) all you can really do is just explore your starting grounds and just quest away right? As Sylvari I'm just exploring the starter area (Caledon forest?) and beyond. I think I'm feeling kind of aimless, because I have no goal to work forward too. So how do you play this game lol?

 

[Hawkian]

Well, there's plenty to do, but it might be worth starting out by considering what you mean when you say to yourself that you have no goal to work toward. What sort of goal would you like? The game may or may not provide what you are looking for when you say that. But more importantly, the game is probably experienced best when you set and accomplish your own personal goals.

You could just set out from the Grove and do hearts/dynamic events in Caledon and eventually Brisban Wildlands, and with some luck participate in the Meta Events for the area, but you could also get started on one or both of your crafting professions, or make some cash farming and selling resource materials. You'll be leveled-enough to do dungeons soon enough as well. All of that stuff gets you XP (as does the personal story of course), and if you feel like taking a break from leveling you could just hunt down and try your luck at some jumping puzzles or other "off the track" areas.

If you tire of your own race's starting areas, you can take the Asura gate to Lion's Arch (the main hub/neutral city), then take another gate to any of the other major cities. Because of the level scaling, you could always go off to say the Norn lands and adventure there. Even if you come back to Caledon at level 70, the rewards you get wont' be irrelevant.

 

[bobnowhere]

Your personal quests are in green in the quest log with a suggested level. The hearts are your standard quest like things, gold in the quest log. Once you walk into an area with an active heart it will pop up telling you all you need to know to accomplish it. Dynamic events are orange and pop up all over the place, sometimes on a timer, sometimes they are started by talking to an npc and sometimes only when other events happen in the world. Some DE's are group events as well.

It's a bit odd at the start, but pretty elegant when you get used to it.

There's also skill points that result in fighting challenges, drink/eat something horrible, commune with a place of power, solve riddles etc... Vistas for the jumping or route finding challenges and even jumping puzzles with chest rewards. I think there are like four jumping puzzles in the Caledon Forest. Some aren't built for Norns though.

 

[Dries]

Setting your own goals sounds logical and great. Can't wait to jump back in, don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the fuck out of this game.

 

[arimanius]

Ok, Engi gaf. I need some help with being 3 shotted by thieves.

Got to 30 last night and did some WvW. Had a couple of fights with some thieves that I could see coming and got destroyed each time. Tell me what I did wrong.

1. See thief.
2. See thief stealth.
3. Start dodging.
4. Get rooted, stunned, or something.
5. Start hammering my Elixir S key.
6. Die before I could move.

I always have a hard time with thieves. On my 65 mesmer I die in 5 shots if they get the jump on me.

Suggestions? Besides me just not sucking

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

When you identify an unidentified dye, are you guaranteed to get a dye you don't have yet? Cause I have yet to get a duplicate.

 

[arimanius]

When you identify an unidentified dye, are you guaranteed to get a dye you don't have yet? Cause I have yet to get a duplicate.

I've gotten a duplicate before.

 

[Hawkian]

Setting your own goals sounds logical and great. Can't wait to jump back in, don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the fuck out of this game.

To give some examples, here are a few I set early on and then closer to 80.

-Fully explore (zone complete) Lion's Arch and do its jumping puzzles (although I realized much much later there was a third)
-Fully explore Metrica Province (this is the Asura newbie zone)
-Get my jewelcrafting to 200
-Save up for and purchase black dye
-Visit Ebonhawke/find gw1 easter eggs
-Take a keep in WvW
-Gain a level in a zone far, far above mine (got two in Frostgorge Sound somewhere are level 50, was a rush)

Later goals I started working toward closer to 80:
-Get the exotic/dungeon weapon sets I wanted and upgrade them (sigils)
-Get the armor appearance and stats I want (this has become a much more involved and expensive ongoing project than I predicted)
-Get my jewelcrafting (done) and weaponsmithing (not even close) to 400
-Master certain dungeon paths (there are individual mini-goals I set for myself inside dungeons too, like beating a certain boss without dying once)

Punctuated with WvW, non-goal-related dungeoning, Meta Events whenever I came across them, a bit of playing the market and the mystic forge, and playing an alt I just got to level 55 last night.... end result being that I'm only on my level 50-something personal story quest with my main character because I got so caught up with stuff to do. Really need to finish that up.

I should also note, if you find the combat getting a little easy or mindless at any point, my best moments leveling came when I was in zones that were 5-8 levels above what I was "intended" to be doing. Love the challenge.

Suggestions? Besides me just not sucking

I can't offer you much in the way of "do this" because I know nothing about engis, but as a thief I can tell you two things:
1) The experience you had (essentially not even getting a real chance to fight back after you catch sight of us) is exactly what we try to execute in a 1v1 situation
2) That motherfucking flamethrower completely renders stealth useless and wrecks the shit out of me. Even though it doesn't do that much damage, nullifying the advantage of stealth disorients and pisses me off enough to lose a lot of the time after I get caught.

 

[nicoga3000]

When you identify an unidentified dye, are you guaranteed to get a dye you don't have yet? Cause I have yet to get a duplicate.

There are a LOT of dyes in game...Give it time. Guild usually just gives away duplicates (unless they're high value dyes).

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

Hmmm ok, so then are the Karma jugs that result from Dailies scaled toward Max Level players then?

If so, then maybe what i meant is that as a LOW level it seems disproportionate, since right now i am only making between 90 and 150 (roughly) Karma from a DE but i get around 5000 from doing my daily which is done pretty quickly.

I guess in the end it's alright in the sense that even someone like me who does NOT play religiously, day in and day out can hope to someday get their hands on some exotic/legendary gear lol

also: what do you mean by "karma boosters"? All i noticed is the jug that i can consume or not with one of my characters and when i DO it gives me 5000 Karma on that character permanently (hopefully right? )

 

[BrettWeir]

Ok, Engi gaf. I need some help with being 3 shotted by thieves.

Got to 30 last night and did some WvW. Had a couple of fights with some thieves that I could see coming and got destroyed each time. Tell me what I did wrong.

1. See thief.
2. See thief stealth.
3. Start dodging.
4. Get rooted, stunned, or something.
5. Start hammering my Elixir S key.
6. Die before I could move.

I always have a hard time with thieves. On my 65 mesmer I die in 5 shots if they get the jump on me.

Suggestions? Besides me just not sucking

We have a hard time with thieves. If they use Basilisk Venom right off the bat (which turns you to stone), you're pretty much done. If I see a thief go stealth near me, I always throw Freeze Grenade right around me, switch to Tool Kit, and hit Gear Shield, spamming dodge to get the hell outta there. If/when they come out of stealth, I usually Net Shot them and run as fast as possible.

 

[2San]

We have a hard time with thieves. If they use Basilisk Venom right off the bat (which turns you to stone), you're pretty much done. If I see a thief go stealth near me, I always throw Freeze Grenade right around me, switch to Tool Kit, and hit Gear Shield, spamming dodge to get the hell outta there. If/when they come out of stealth, I usually Net Shot them and run as fast as possible.

You guys don't have stun breakers?

 

[birdchili]

I guess in the end it's alright in the sense that even someone like me who does NOT play religiously, day in and day out can hope to someday get their hands on some exotic/legendary gear lol

having the "achievement"-style stuff provide disproportionately-high karma rewards really seems to go against their "play the way you want".

you're never going to accumulate enough karma for a legendary weapon "playing the way you want" unless you're a completionist-style player who likes doing everything on some list.

if i would have completed the halloween event (i didn't), i would have received an order-of-magnitude more karma than i've earned *all game* to this point (at lvl 63). it shouldn't be like that.

 

[Deitus]

Hmmm ok, so then are the Karma jugs that result from Dailies scaled toward Max Level players then?

If so, then maybe what i meant is that as a LOW level it seems disproportionate, since right now i am only making between 90 and 150 (roughly) Karma from a DE but i get around 5000 from doing my daily which is done pretty quickly.

I guess in the end it's alright in the sense that even someone like me who does NOT play religiously, day in and day out can hope to someday get their hands on some exotic/legendary gear lol

also: what do you mean by "karma boosters"? All i noticed is the jug that i can consume or not with one of my characters and when i DO it gives me 5000 Karma on that character permanently (hopefully right? )

They are defnitely scaled for max level players in the sense that it is a non-trivial amount of karma from the daily even at level 80. So yeah, at the low levels it keep seem like more karma than you can possibly spend, but as you level up more it feels just right. Just think of it this way: you can freely buy any useful karma items you come across when leveling, and if you do your dailies every day you will still probably end up with more karma when you hit level 80 than those who saved up their karma the entire leveling process and hit level 80 a month ago. This is a good thing because you will need 250k+ karma if you want to buy a full set of level 80 exotic karma gear. Now you just won't have to spend time grinding karma.

Karma boosters are items you can use that boost the amount of Karma you gain from all sources; these are not the same thing as karma jugs. However, you can use a karma booster before using a karma jug to get even more karma from it. Many people, myself included, are saving up large numbers of karma jugs in order to use them all at once after consuming a karma jug for maximum efficiency.

 

[Giard]

if i would have completed the halloween event (i didn't), i would have received an order-of-magnitude more karma than i've earned *all game* to this point (at lvl 63). it shouldn't be like that.

...I didn't get such a reward. Or did I miss it?
I have every Halloween achievement except for the Clock Tower one.

As for Jugs of Karma, pretty sure they added them when they raised prices of all the karma stuff to incredibly high levels, especially T3 weapons.

 

[BrettWeir]

You guys don't have stun breakers?

We do, but our mobility is nowhere near a thief. Most smart thief players will cripple with Dancing Dagger right after the stun breaker is used. Heart Seeker back in, CnD, Backstab, blehhhhhhhhh.

 

[Deitus]

having the "achievement"-style stuff provide disproportionately-high karma rewards really seems to go against their "play the way you want".

you're never going to accumulate enough karma for a legendary weapon "playing the way you want" unless you're a completionist-style player who likes doing everything on some list.

if i would have completed the halloween event (i didn't), i would have received an order-of-magnitude more karma than i've earned *all game* to this point (at lvl 63). it shouldn't be like that.

There is no way you would have gotten an order of magnitude more karma than you've gotten all game. You get 45,000 karma (up to 76,500 if you have all possible sources of karma boosters at once) for completing a monthly achievement (I'm assuming that's what you are talking about, since nothing else about the Halloween event gave large amounts of karma). I had over 100,000 karma at level 60, and I hadn't even been saving it (this was of course before the karma jugs were added).

I'm pretty sure people created legendary weapons even before karma jugs were added. They are just now easier (but still ridiculously hard due to ingredients outside of karma) to get by completing a simple set of tasks each day. If you can't do that, it is certainly unfortunate, but you are still no worse off than you were before karma jugs were added. And legendaries are legendary for a reason; you aren't supposed to earn them through casual play.

 

[2San]

We do, but our mobility is nowhere near a thief. Most smart thief players will cripple with Dancing Dagger right after the stun breaker is used. Heart Seeker back in, CnD, Backstab, blehhhhhhhhh.

Break stun and use two dodges and your number 5 skill(doesn't matter which weapon)

 

[Boss Doggie]

Which Risen enemy do you hate the most?

Personally I loathe the Plaguebearer one (it has that pull effect)

 

[Taffer]

Which Risen enemy do you hate the most?

Personally I loathe the Plaguebearer one (it has that pull effect)

Isn't that Putrifier? Whichever, the one with the pull followed by the Ravager, I never notice how much those purple fireballs hurt until I've been hit by a few.

 

[mingus]

Worst has to be veteran abomination. Everything else I can solo, even in mobs, but that thing is able to take just enough hits to go into a frenzy and then it hits as hard as a champion.

 

[birdchili]

There is no way you would have gotten an order of magnitude more karma than you've gotten all game. You get 45,000 karma (up to 76,500 if you have all possible sources of karma boosters at once) for completing a monthly achievement (I'm assuming that's what you are talking about, since nothing else about the Halloween event gave large amounts of karma). I had over 100,000 karma at level 60, and I hadn't even been saving it (this was of course before the karma jugs were added).

yeah... it was the monthly i was talking about...

i'm not sure how you're playing, but i was nowhere near 100k karma at 60. i assume you're doing all the achievements all the time for that level karma?. i've spent some, and "order of magnitude" is an exaggeration, but i certainly haven't earned anywhere near that much karma all game so-far (basically just exploring and "playing the game" at my own speed).

getting karma in the amounts you need for endgame purchases seems to favor the "check every box"-style of gameplay, that's all.

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

Is there a daily farming guide? Needed a couple more events this morning and I was porting around, looking for contested waypoints. Unfortunately no one was around one of them so I couldn't take on 10 Krait by myself. Another was actually captured by the centaurs and there was no event to retake it so I bailed.

 

[arimanius]

We have a hard time with thieves. If they use Basilisk Venom right off the bat (which turns you to stone), you're pretty much done. If I see a thief go stealth near me, I always throw Freeze Grenade right around me, switch to Tool Kit, and hit Gear Shield, spamming dodge to get the hell outta there. If/when they come out of stealth, I usually Net Shot them and run as fast as possible.

That's depressing. I was thinking I should of started tossing grenades at my feet but didn't know if they would of done any good or not.

I run rifle, med kit, grenades, Elixer B, Elixer S, and supply crate.

You guys don't have stun breakers?

That was my step 5.

5. Start hammering my Elixir S key.

Didn't seem to do any good. Maybe I should of saved my dodges after I get hit?

 

[nicoga3000]

Is there a daily farming guide? Needed a couple more events this morning and I was porting around, looking for contested waypoints. Unfortunately no one was around one of them so I couldn't take on 10 Krait by myself. Another was actually captured by the centaurs and there was no event to retake it so I bailed.

If it's just events you need, running around Plains of Ashford isn't a bad idea. You won't stumble over events, but there are a good number all around there that can be completed solo without problem.

Also, WvW is a great place for events. I don't particularly like WvW, but you can't argue with the zerg. If you get with a large group, you can steamroll events (take the camps, defend the bridge, kill the guard, etc). It also will help you nab a few monthly WvW kills.

 

[Moondrop]

1. See thief.
2. See thief stealth.
3. Start dodging.

Yes, step 3 is the problem. You can't burn your dodges preemptively unless you know when or from where the thief is going to strike.

As a warrior, I can raise my shield after the thief starts his chain. As a ranger, I'm learning to use my traps to signal the thief's movements. This provides time and position information I can use to dodge appropriately.

I don't know engineer, but I would try some type of ranger-like strategy combined with fleeing.

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

yesterday i was running with my first zerg group, we took control points, small camps etc. this all went on for what must have been an hour almost, then we got to an enemy base.

They decided to all swarm out at once, and zerg US instead, turns out they were about twice as much as our group so they fucked us up pretty good in one fell swoop lol, by the time i realized what was going on it was already too late

Not sure WvWvW is for me tbh, maybe when i am high level so my gear can actually withstand a hit or 2 in WvWvW!

 

[Boss Doggie]

Isn't that Putrifier? Whichever, the one with the pull followed by the Ravager, I never notice how much those purple fireballs hurt until I've been hit by a few.

Ahh the purtrifier then.

Ravager... what does it do?