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[Noisy Ninj4]

You get very, very little faction points doing quests (it'd take months to get the 100k needed). The other options aren't economical either. I guess I'm going to have to make a guild, bleh.

EDIT: 60,000 / 100,000 - and I'm out of faction to donate. Foo.

Making a guild is cheap, maybe 100g I think?


Shiro's Return and using YHoT for faction is a pretty good way to go. If you want, I can help out with my warrior now and then. I have him set up for maximum murderdeathkill.

 

[shysaursoft]

Making a guild is cheap, maybe 100g I think?


Shiro's Return and using YHoT for faction is a pretty good way to go. If you want, I can help out with my warrior now and then. I have him set up for maximum murderdeathkill.

Yeah, 100g for the guild, 500 to declare an alliance. I'm slowly plugging away at the Factions storyline, so I'll finish Shiro's Return eventually.. (again, which is ironic - I finished Factions once before on a different character, long before this book stuff was added).

Thanks for the offer, but I seem to be doing okay now that I'm past that one mission that took five hours.

Just beat Kuunavang, yay. Derpy dragon.

 

[Weltall Zero]

One of my favorite (and most often cited) articles on gamer psychology was one where the author broke down the three MMO player 'types' (via the Daedelus Project) and tried to root out their goals. He then broke World of Warcraft down into a basic set of rules and examined the skill vs. chance aspect involved.

The conclusion was "World of Warcraft has the skill requirements of a slot machine and presses nearly identical psychological buttons", i.e. the internal systems add so much randomness, from combat to loot rolls, and the player has so little impact on them that time is the determining factor more than skill.
[...]

Pretty much the short and long of it. The funny thing is, at the time it was released, MMOs in general were in a much worse status, with hooks much more obvious, mechanics much more reinforcing of the addiction loop, content much more sparse vs time invested, and gameplay often much more mind-numbing, especially during the "leveling" phase (which was also much longer, with less content). It even had anti-grinding measures in place in the form of rested state, although it became less and less of a factor both as time went on and as your character levelled up.
I still hold WoW in high regard for what it was at the time, and for me GW2 is to the now what WoW was back then.

Definitely the right call. Play when it's the game you feel like playing, and literally no time else.

Extremely wise words, and ones to live by.

Having early experience with MMOs in the form of Ragnarok Online, a game that, for all the things I might have liked about it back them (for one I've always been a sucked for good spritework), was the most grindy experience I've had in my life. I've always thought that having that experience with me by the time I started playing WoW, I was much more conscious and wary of addiction loops and "game as work", and it's also probably one of the reasons I quit WoW earlier than most of my friends.

It's also the reason why I stop playing GW2 whenever I've had my fill, sometimes for weeks, and don't ever force myself to, say, log in to do the dailies or complete the current meta if I simply don't feel like playing for its own sake. As well as the reason I don't own or plan to own any Ascended piece or even dungeon equipment (even though, ironically, I probably have enough tokens to buy a few). I'm not saying anyone that makes getting ascended pieces or even legendaries is doing anything wrong at all; I'm just extra-wary (phobic, even) of long-term goals in games due to all my experience (personal and observed) with treadmills.

Honestly sounds kind of harrowing. It's hard to imagine, but if I ever find myself in this trap I hope someone will intervene and keep me from going too far with it. Playing a game "out of habit" is not something I ever want to experience.

The scary thing about it is that it's not something one experiences, quite literally; rather, it tends to be something one remembers after the fact. This is another thing it has in common with other addictions; the "reward" part of the loop is sometimes indistinguishable from actual fun. Again, this is one of the things that makes me somewhat paranoic about these loops, and my knee-jerk reaction to any suspicion I may have of this is to immediately quit the activity and distance myself (usually by letting a few days or weeks pass) to evaluate it objectively. So far GW2 is the only MMO to pass this test time and again, as whenever I come back to it after a break it immediately feels fun simply to play it.

Interestingly, my recent extreme suspicion of anything "progression-based" as opposed to "learning-based" has made me gravitate naturally towards roguelikes and particularly games with roguelike mechanics, like FTL and Spelunky. There's few things as reassuring as knowing you're playing a game 100% for the fun and 0% for the progression, simply because there's no progression at all besides your own skills.

 

[shysaursoft]

I take it back, perhaps I will take some help Noisy Ninj4, before this Shiro fight makes me throw my PC out the window. >..>

 

[Retro]

Take this with a bucket of salt, but supposedly one of the announcements in tomorrow's PVP stream is that the ele's Signet of Restoration will be restored to full effectiveness in pvp. (source) He was trying to get views of his stream so he advertised he'd leak, which is all sorts of brilliant because now he's never going to see another preview ever.

 

[Ashodin]

Take this with a bucket of salt, but supposedly one of the announcements in tomorrow's PVP stream is that the ele's Signet of Restoration will be restored to full effectiveness in pvp. (source) He was trying to get views of his stream so he advertised he'd leak, which is all sorts of brilliant because now he's never going to see another preview ever.

Grouch advertised he would leak. Grouch works on the game.

(Same Grouch that works here on GAF!)

Marionette Watchknights are already in the game.

 

[Jira]

It's also the reason why I stop playing GW2 whenever I've had my fill, sometimes for weeks, and don't ever force myself to, say, log in to do the dailies or complete the current meta if I simply don't feel like playing for its own sake. As well as the reason I don't own or plan to own any Ascended piece or even dungeon equipment (even though, ironically, I probably have enough tokens to buy a few). I'm not saying anyone that makes getting ascended pieces or even legendaries is doing anything wrong at all; I'm just extra-wary (phobic, even) of long-term goals in games due to all my experience (personal and observed) with treadmills.

The scary thing about it is that it's not something one experiences, quite literally; rather, it tends to be something one remembers after the fact. This is another thing it has in common with other addictions; the "reward" part of the loop is sometimes indistinguishable from actual fun. Again, this is one of the things that makes me somewhat paranoic about these loops, and my knee-jerk reaction to any suspicion I may have of this is to immediately quit the activity and distance myself (usually by letting a few days or weeks pass) to evaluate it objectively. So far GW2 is the only MMO to pass this test time and again, as whenever I come back to it after a break it immediately feels fun simply to play it.

Yep. I've experienced this first hand as well when I occasionally boot up a F2P MMO (Rift, SWTOR) and then I'm quickly reminded that the combat is dreadfully boring, questing is insanely linear, generally uninteresting, and overall just time consuming busy work that isn't skill based at all. I ask myself well why am I doing this and I say well I would like to see the level cap dungeons of these games but I REALLY don't want to put the time into leveling up a character cause it's just so damn boring. At that point I just logout and either play GW2 or something else. When you've taken time off from GW2, it quickly reminds you why you love it as much as you do and shows how woefully inadequate every other MMO is.

 

[Ashodin]

Last picture sucked, here's mine

 

[shysaursoft]

I'm starting to doubt this fight is even possible. Anyone with a GW1 account think they can help me here?

 

[Jira]

I'm starting to doubt this fight is even possible. Anyone with a GW1 account think they can help me here?

Which Shiro fight is it? Factions or Nightfall?

 

[shysaursoft]

Which Shiro fight is it? Factions or Nightfall?

Factions. I've tried about ten different guides now, even went back and did some BS grinding to capture a skill that one guide said I needed (gods I hate the skill system). But I just can't take him down, or last.

EDIT: HA HA! DID IT! WITH FULL MASTERS.

Seriously, this fight was total luck. :/

 

[Jira]

Factions. I've tried about ten different guides now, even went back and did some BS grinding to capture a skill that one guide said I needed (gods I hate the skill system). But I just can't take him down, or last.

Yeah I can help you, reinstalling now. Gimme about 25 min. Do you have steam?

 

[shysaursoft]

Yeah I can help you, reinstalling now. Gimme about 25 min. Do you have steam?

Figures the instant I ask for help and someone agrees, is when I'd manage it (or luck into it). Sorry. ^..^;

EDIT: Oh gorram it - the damn Phoenix I need to charm, which you can only get in the post-mission after killing Shiro - I can't get it since *I already have a pet out*. I don't know how players ever managed to put up with just how frustrating this game can be :/

I'm going to have to do the fight again. FML.

At least this time I was prepared to talk to the nondescript NPC with *zero* indication that they're the ones you need to talk to to get an item to trade for a special weapon you can only get at the end of each campaign. Went through two campaigns prior, not know this.

 

[Jira]

Figures the instant I ask for help and someone agrees, is when I'd manage it (or luck into it). Sorry. ^..^;

Lol np. Grats. I can honestly say that fight made me rage as well. Even worse is the fight in Nightfall where the fight itself is easier but if you fail you have to go through the mission again.

 

[shysaursoft]

Lol np. Grats. I can honestly say that fight made me rage as well. Even worse is the fight in Nightfall where the fight itself is easier but if you fail you have to go through the mission again.

Don't say that - you're making me rethink my goals of finally finishing Nightfall. :/

 

[Noisy Ninj4]

Tbh, the shiro fight is really quite easy if you know what to do and have a warrior or 2 and and a few assassins. Just bring wild blow and take the celestial skill, then mob shiro. Every ally next to the warrior will do 25 damage per second to everything adjacent. Multiply that by 10 people and several minions and you get quite the ball of death.

Also, don't bring monks or rits if you can help it.

Edit: Nightfall isn't too bad if you know the fights and bring good heroes.

 

[shysaursoft]

Tbh, the shiro fight is really quite easy if you know what to do and have a warrior or 2 and and a few assassins. Just bring wild blow and take the celestial skill, then mob shiro. Every ally next to the warrior will do 25 damage per second to everything adjacent. Multiply that by 10 people and several minions and you get quite the ball of death.

Also, don't bring monks or rits if you can help it.

Edit: Nightfall isn't too bad if you know the fights and bring good heroes.

There were no Assassin henchmen there to pick. But it's okay, I beat him again, got the damn bird tamed, and now I don't have to go back to Factions ever again, woot.

 

[Noisy Ninj4]

There were no Assassin henchmen there to pick. But it's okay, I beat him again, got the damn bird tamed, and now I don't have to go back to Factions ever again, woot.

Factions is kind of a bitch of a game, but there are some fun areas in it. It just takes a lot of people and more coordination than most groups could muster in most cases these days.

Nightfall is pretty friendly to loners until you get to the endgame. The Domain of Anguish is extremely difficult without a decent group of 8, maybe 7. Fortunately, that area isn't necessary to finish the game. The offer of help stands, however. It might be fun/nostalgic to replay the old game.

 

[swnny]

There were no Assassin henchmen there to pick. But it's okay, I beat him again, got the damn bird tamed, and now I don't have to go back to Factions ever again, woot.

I think we've added each others to our friends list, but mine is so long, I don't remember your nickname. Post it(or pm me here) and add me - Mighty Savov. I'll be glad to help you out in GW1.
(My GW2 account name.# is savov.3712 and I'm in GAFguild as well, so you can mail or whisp me there and I'll jump in GW1)

 

[Kos Luftar]

I don't know how you guys can play GW1 still. I loved it when it was new, have all campaigns and expansions but I tried playing it after GW2 and it's just too archaic.

 

[Hawkian]

I played it a little bit after the first couple Beta Weekends and was still able to enjoy it, and got another 2 or 3 HoM points right after launch, but since then... yeah. Most recently I tried it again running around Kourna with my D/E, and I just couldn't stand it. The way the Y axis is completely nontraversable was the biggest standout, not just the inability the jump but even to fall. It was a masterpiece of its time but it is too dated in too many ways for me now.

 

[shysaursoft]

I don't know how you guys can play GW1 still. I loved it when it was new, have all campaigns and expansions but I tried playing it after GW2 and it's just too archaic.

It's a chore all right. I tried loading up my existing characters and it just wasn't working, so I rolled a new Rit and started Factions from scratch, taking a Beginner's Mind. It was an uphill battle for a while, but then after about 10 hours it 'clicked' and I was having some fun again. Then I hit that one mission that took 5 hours to finish and all the fun left. It took me 25 hours to finish Factions from scratch, not counting the hour on Shiro and a few extra hours hunting down some skills this guide I'm using suggested.

My next task is to finish Eye of the North with this character, then do Prophecies and Nightfall, which should take about 80 hours in total.

The only reason I'm doing it, aside from some HoM points, is so I can finally and truly mark the game off my backlog list and never look back. While I appreciate what a technical marvel the game was back in the day, and that it worked on a 56k modem, and was so unlike anything else out: I was never a fan of CCGs, I don't like the emphasis on grind/skill collection being more important than personal skill, the plot is sobad.gif it makes Scarlet look like Shakespeare, and you can't play as anything but a human with a broomhandle up their arse.

But, I love the game regardless, so out of respect, I should finish it.

I think we've added each others to our friends list, but mine is so long, I don't remember your nickname. Post it(or pm me here) and add me - Mighty Savov. I'll be glad to help you out in GW1.
(My GW2 account name.# is savov.3712 and I'm in GAFguild as well, so you can mail or whisp me there and I'll jump in GW1)

Will do! "Red Dino Mage" has added you. You're now the only person on my friends list in GW1, lol.

 

[Kos Luftar]

Yesterday I opened it up to see if I had any birthday presents and was trying to talk npc and i kept pressing F but nothing happened and I was confused for bit then I clicked on him and it finally worked, so zaishen scout sent me to embark beach and then I logged off cuz I am pretty sure I've done all missions, even the Guild Wars Beyond stuff.

 

[swnny]

I don't know how you guys can play GW1 still. I loved it when it was new, have all campaigns and expansions but I tried playing it after GW2 and it's just too archaic.

I have 3 main reasons.
Mostly, I love the game, spent thousands of hours on it and I still enjoy the PvP (more then anything in GW2, actually, which is sad), altho now I'm mostly logging for few Random Arena matches and if the Zaishen Quest is GvG, I'd do that too.

Secondly, I'm always up for helping someone out in GW1, be it for a single mission/ dungeon/title or HoM or even getting their guild a nice rating (which I'm not sure if it still possible). Which is a way for me to eventually get 50/50 HoM, but I've gave up on that the moment I saw that 47(!) out of 50 points are PvE ONLY... for PvP you get 3 points.

And last, but not least - nostalgia... From time to time my cousin(with whom, I've played since release) and I would do a mission or two together, just for the old times sake.

Yet, I don't log in GW1 that often, like once a week or so, more often when there is a festival or a weekend event. Moved to GW2 as a primary "timesink" game, but I'd take every chance I get to play GW1.

The way the Y axis is completely nontraversable was the biggest standout, not just the inability the jump but even to fall. It was a masterpiece of its time but it is too dated in too many ways for me now.

I'll never forget what a guidmate said, some time after the game's release: "I'm already level 20 and I still can't JUMP!!!! F*CK THIS SH*T, i'm going back to WoW!", and never heard of him again.

Dunno, for me, not being able to jump was never a problem. But I guess, it drives some people crazy. Especially when you realize that even on max level, you don't unlock the "jump" ability.

...and was trying to talk npc and i kept pressing F but nothing happened...

I have similar moments as well. Mostly when fighting, I keep double taping WASD, instinctively trying to dodge, but all I do is interrupt(cancel) myself.

P.S. Double tab to evade rulz!
P.S.S. In GW1 there is a dedicated key bind to interrupt yourself, because "fake-casting" was crucial in high level PvPing, especially when you wan't to safely cast an important skill with long cast time.
That's another thing I'm missing so much in GW2.

 

[shysaursoft]

That's another thing I'm missing so much in GW2.

In GW2, animation-cancelling functions as the same idea. And is critical in PvP.

Double-tap to evade is incredibly daft, bind that thing to a key!

 

[Hawkian]

Dunno, for me, not being able to jump was never a problem. But I guess, it drives some people crazy. Especially when you realize that even on max level, you don't unlock the "jump" ability.

It certainly wasn't a problem at the time, I never played wow or anything, I never even really thought about it. But after GW2, which makes verticality a huge part of world exploration (and even the focus of a few areas), it drives me bonkers.

P.S. Double tab to evade rulz!

O_O

P.S.S. In GW1 there is a dedicated key bind to interrupt yourself, because "fake-casting" was crucial in high level PvPing, especially when you wan't to safely cast an important skill with long cast time.
That's another thing I'm missing so much in GW2.

Canceling skills is pretty important in GW2 and especially PvP!

 

[Noisy Ninj4]

Will do! "Red Dino Mage" has added you. You're now the only person on my friends list in GW1, lol.

Ah, right, account names. Add Mornkor Tallrock to you list in case I manage to be on at the same time.

 

[swnny]

In GW2, animation-cancelling functions as the same idea. And is critical in PvP.

Canceling skills is pretty important in GW2 and especially PvP!

I was referring to "fake casting".
In a scenarios like "You are attempting to trick enemies into wasting interrupts by starting a skill and then cancelling the skill before the interrupt succeeds" or "When skills like Diversion have been used on you", when interrupting or diversion add 50 (or more) seconds to your skill's cooldown. In other words, if your skill cooldown is 10seconds, and you divert it with Diversion, you will end up with a skill that is in cooldown for 60 seconds! (10+50)

While in GW2, fake casting or not, if you are interrupted (which is additionally hard with no enemy castbars and the cluster fuck of aoe visuals) it only "lock" your skill(s) for 5 seconds. It's not adding 5 seconds to the full cooldown of the skill, so you are free to cast it again, 5 seconds after the interrupt.

Also if I recall correctly, there is no "cancel action" key bind, so I'm stuck to using ESC, which isn't the most convenient way.

Double-tap to evade is incredibly daft, bind that thing to a key!

I've played Unreal Tournament for a "hour or two", so double-taping is way way faster for me to dodge in the direction I want.

 

[Hawkian]

Remember, our 3rd lottery is tomorrow after Sat. Night Fever! *is currently too lazy to locate the image*

Not as huge a pot as our last, but we do already have a nice chunk of change at over 115g last I looked. Not too shabby

 

[Jira]

Remember, our 3rd lottery is tomorrow after Sat. Night Fever! *is currently too lazy to locate the image*

Not as huge a pot as our last, but we do already have a nice chunk of change at over 115g last I looked. Not too shabby

I'm gonna find some way to rig it and finally win it for myself.

 

[Retro]

Stream soon Now:
http://www.twitch.tv/guildwars2

Critical Damage, Sigil/rune changes, Stat combos for PVP and Balance Preview. I will update as they announce things.

Remember, our 3rd lottery is tomorrow after Sat. Night Fever! *is currently too lazy to locate the image*

Not as huge a pot as our last, but we do already have a nice chunk of change at over 115g last I looked. Not too shabby

/sigh. Lazy.

 

[Retro]

New Stat: Ferocity,
- Replaces "+Critical Damage", increases critical damage.
- All gear, traits converted to ferocity.
- Has it's own formula.
- Stat ratio compared to other stats is all over the place in terms of efficiency and weight.
- Will represent ~10% reduction in damage for pure DPS builds.
- Improves downscaling of crit damage as well.
- Opens the window to new stat combos in the future, such as having Ferocity as a primary stat (as it's implemented, it will only be a secondary set).
- Crit damage in PVP is good, and actually lower in PVP. PVP stat sets will probably not change too much and will be at about the same % it is now. This will mostly affect PVE and WvW.
- Berserker Gear will still be the best-in-slot combo for pure DPS.

- As they try to improve condition damage support and active defense better, this change had to be first.
- Blog post in a month or so.

(Continued Below)

 

[Arcteryx]

lol @ sigil changes, kinda unsure about the non-shared CD

 

[Noisy Ninj4]

I want a stat combo like soldier's but with precision instead of vitality.


I like the sigil changes. Much simpler to deal with. Glad that two-hand weapons are getting dual slots also. Should make for interesting combos.

 

[Retro]

Sigils:
- Two sigil slots on two-handed weapons (Wow), since people were dual wielding to benefit from 2 sigils.
- Sigil cooldowns no longer share cooldowns. Each Sigil will now have its own cooldown, but cannot stack. Battle and Energy can be used together, but two energy sigils will not work. Any combination of on swap / on proc will work now.
- Some sigils may change to on hit instead of on crit (still being balanced).
- Stacking sigils will not stack (bloodlust and corruption, for example).
- Two "on-swap" sigils can be paired together.
- Cleans up a lot of "Hidden Rules" that were confusing.
- Lots of bugs fixed, something they haven't been able to do since launch.
- Want to fix the "Terrible" sigils and runes to be on the same level as the ones that are considered staples.

Runes:
- Huge rebalancing pass on runes.
- Stats and percentages changed to be more consistent.
- A lot of stat weights are moved towards later bonuses.
- Boon / condition durations moved higher up to aid people mix-and-matching sets.
- Every single rune set has changed at least a little.

Stat Combos for PVP:
- Not all PVE combos will carry over.
- Goal is more build diversity.
- Sigils and Runes will be brought over as well.
- New stat combos may have to be unlocked, but it's not going to be overly difficult (described as a 'speed bump').

(CONTINUED BELOW)

 

[Ashodin]

Sigils:
- Two sigil slots on two-handed weapons (Wow), since people were dual wielding to benefit from 2 sigils.

TWO SIGIL SLOTS ON TWO-HANDED WEAPONS
TWO SIGIL SLOTS ON TWO-HANDED WEAPONS
TWO SIGIL SLOTS ON TWO-HANDED WEAPONS
TWO SIGIL SLOTS ON TWO-HANDED WEAPONS

 

[Retro]

Balance Preview: (High Level discussion)
- Included in next feature update.
- This does not include EVERYTHING, list is not exhaustive and subject to change. Lots more coming.

Elementalist:
- Signet of Restoration is the same in PVP and PVE (we knew this last night).
- Armor of Earth (CD down to 75sec from 90 sec).
- 3 seconds of regen to Water Trident on hit (up to 5 allies). Felt ele was lacking sustain, so this is a good place to add a support skill.
- Burning Speed (MH Dagger) is now considered an evade during travel time.
- Frozen Burst (MH Dagger) is now a blast finisher.

Engineer: (uh oh, sounds like nerfs incoming)
- Reduced immobilize on net turret by 1 sec. due to it being too powerful with supply crate drop.
- Poison Grenade poison application per tick reduced from 5 to 3. It stacks poison too quickly when used at close range.
- Box of Nails cast time too long, reduced from 1 to 3/4ths second.
- AED reduced from 1 sec. to 3/4ths second.

Guardian:
- Litany of Wrath reduced cast time to 3/4ths.
- Vigorous Precision cooldown up to 10 seconds. (not sure I caught this one, they talk over each other sometimes)
- Healing Breeze rescaled, 50% of heal at start of heal, 10% for 5 ticks to Guardian and allies in a cone. Ticks supposedly scale very well with healing power so it's stronger for support.

Mesmer:
- Critical Infusion recharge increased from 5 second to 10 second. (not sure I caught this one)
- Deceptive Evasion (create clone on dodge) changed, only creates a clone when you have no clones present. Not sure I heard this one right, it sounded like it wouldn't create one when you already have 3 out... again, they're talking over each other.

Necro
- Putrid explosion is no longer unblockable.
- Training of the Master (?), changed. Didn't catch the percent, they talked over it kind of fast.
- Dhuumfire changed, no longer so passive and unpredictable. Now causes Life Blast in Deathshroud apply 3s of burning with 10s cd.
- Vampiric Mastery sustain reduced.

Ranger:
- Spirit of Nature is bugged, will be fixed, should have 320 healing per second.
- Talking about adding field type to all traps.
- Empathetic Bond was bugged, will no longer remove conditions if your pet is dead.
- "Pretty amazing stuff coming for Rangers, we just talk about too much yet"
- Main Hand sword issue with dodging is being worked on, but may not make it this update. Involves a lot of anti-hacking elements.

Thief:
- Lots of big things they can't talk about yet.
- Choking Gas is going to 3 seconds per tick from 5 for the same reason as Engineer grenade change.
- Would like to tweak Pistol Whip, but not ready yet.

(Continued Below)

 

[Ashodin]

Warrior Healing Signet Nerfed

 

[Retro]

Warrior:
- Healing signet is really controversial. Passive is being reduced by 8% but numbers are still being played with. Active Skill will not be buffed, but will receive a functionality change to make you want to use it.
- Want Warriors to continue to be sturdy, but they want there to be a trade off in terms of damage, but not too much.
- Pin Down (Warrior Longbow) changed to have a warm up animation and projectile to improve visibility. Looks cool, but gives players a tell. increased to 3/4 second cast.

- Again, changes are not exhaustive or final, and have lots of interaction with rune/sigil changes.
- There is a big thing coming soon they can't talk about, some of these changes are related to this.

 

[Proven]

Notes:
Crit Damage -> Ferocity
Ferocity will be a stat that relates to Crit Damage just like how Precision relates to Crit Chance.
If you had a piece of gear that gave 90 power, 60 Precision, and X% Crit damage, that will become 60 Ferocity.
Crit Damage will be lowered on jewelery where it is too efficient. They assume there will be about a 10% reduction to full Berserker sets in PvE, and about the same in PvP.

Blog post on Ferocity some time in the future.

2 Handed Weapons are finally getting 2 sigil slots.
Each sigil with an ICD will work with all other different sigils with an ICD (Air + Fire will work. Air + Energy will work. Air + Air will not work).
Sigils are going to get rebalanced. They're looking into changing the 30%/60% on crit sigils to 100% on crit.
Stacking sigil rules stay the same.

Runes rebalanced to be more consistent with each other.
Condi/Boon Duration sets changed to encourage the use of full sets. Hypothetical example:

Superior Rune of Strength
1: 25 Power
2: 10% Might Duration
3: 50 power
4: 15% Might Duration, 5% chance of getting might on hit (10 ICD)
5: 100 power
6: 20% Might, 5% more power while under effects of might

Effects like the Rune of the Ranger 6th rune bonus will be changed or fixed.
Every rune set in the game got looked at and altered a bit.

Post on the forums to discuss new Amulets/Sigils/Runes they can add to PvP to make things more consistent with PvE.
Dire not coming into PvP.
New Amulets/Sigils/Runes will be unlockable (like the new healing skills). Will more than likely be account bound, but unsure on what to price them at, or with what currency.

The following changes are all but certain to go live eventually.

Elementalist
Feel like it's safe to revert some Ele nerfs. See, they do consider reverts.
They're trying to increase Ele sustain while increasing support across all classes.
Signet of Restoration will be unsplit from PvE, as mentioned before.
Armor of Earth 90s recharge -> 75s recharge.
Water Trident hits up to 5 allies now.
Burning Speed -> Evasion during cast.
Frozen Burst -> Blast finisher.

Engineer
Grouch's favorite. Nerf bat.
Net Turret -> Immobilize reduced by 1s. Aimed at Supply Crate.
Poison Grenade -> from 5s poison per tic to 3s poison per tic. Aimed at avoiding 1min+ long Poison durations in certain situations.
Box of Nails cast time 1s -> 3/4s. Also applies to underwater version, Box of Piranhas. Such a minor thing...
AED 1s -> 3/4s. A little too hard to get off. They considered 1/2s.

Guardian
Litany of Wrath 1s -> 3/4s. Just like AED.
Vigorous Precision 5s ICD -> 10s ICD. Brought in line with the other Vigor nerfs.
Healing Breeze rescaled. 50% of heal at start, 10% per tick for 5 ticks. Healing or Healing Power scale may be increased.

Mesmer
Critical Infusion 5s ICD -> 10s ICD. More nerfs on easy to get Vigor.
Deceptive Evasion -> Will now only create a clone when there is no clone out. Wow. They really did it. I didn't think they had the guts.

Necromancer
Putrid Explosion -> No longer unblockable.
Training of the Master 30% -> 25%.
Dhuumfire. They don't have a problem with "passive". They have a problem with "unskillful". Dhuumfire now procs only off Death Shroud Life Blast, 10 ICD, no longer split from PvE.
Vampiric Master -> Buffed a bit, or reverted to previous effectiveness. No hard numbers at hand.

Ranger
Spirit of Nature says 320 health per second. Actually heals for 480 health for second. Going to fix the bug and either place it at 320 health per second, or find a better number.
Considering adding a combo field type to all the traps.
Empathic Bond was removing conditions even while pet was dead. Going to fix that bug.
Are looking into changing Main Hand Sword.

Thief
Choking Gas 5s -> 3s per pulse. Same reason as Poison Grenade.
Considering splitting Pistol Whip into two skills.

Warrior
Argument over who was going to be the hero that announced it. Stream then froze for me and I raged.
They're going to double the passive.
Kidding. They reduced the passive by 8% (about 30 hps reduction, almost the same total as Healing Surge). Still playing with numbers. Going to improve the active. On their list of "unskillful" play. Want to give the active a purpose (not necessarily healing; I'm personally hoping for some kind of block to be an inversion of Defiant Stance).
Pin Down 1/4s cast time -> 3/4s cast time. New and much flashier animation to match the arrow's current swirl.

All classes getting some other buffs and changes that they can't talk about, but not a too huge amount. Much of their time is being spent on getting the Ferocity/Rune/Sigil changes right. Talking about current simple nerfs much easier to reveal.

Edit: Dammit Retro.

 

[Taffer]

Necro
- Dhuumfire changed, no longer so passive and unpredictable. Now causes Life Blast in Deathshroud apply 3s of burning with 10s cd.

Shitcockpissybollocksdammit.

 

[Retro]

Full Notes from Stream: (also see Knive's post as he noted a few things I didn't)

New Stat: Ferocity,
- Replaces "+Critical Damage", increases critical damage.
- All gear, traits will be converted to ferocity.
- Has it's own formula so it is easier to manage.
- Stat ratio compared to other stats is all over the place in terms of efficiency and weight.
- Will represent ~10% reduction in damage for pure DPS builds.
- Improves downscaling of crit damage as well.
- Opens the window to new stat combos in the future, such as having Ferocity as a primary stat (as it's implemented, it will only be a secondary set).
- Crit damage in PVP is good, and actually lower in PVP. PVP stat sets will probably not change too much and will be at about the same % it is now. This will mostly affect PVE and WvW.
- Berserker Gear will still be the best-in-slot combo for pure DPS.

- As they try to improve condition damage support and active defense better, this change had to be first.
- Blog post about it in a month or so.

Sigils:
- Two sigil slots on two-handed weapons (Wow), since people were dual wielding to benefit from 2 sigils.
- Sigil cooldowns are no longer shared. Each Sigil will now have its own cooldown, but cannot stack. Battle and Energy can be used together, but two energy sigils will not work. Any combination of on swap / on proc will work now.
- Some sigils may change to on hit instead of on crit (still being balanced).
- "Stacking"-type sigils will not stack (bloodlust and corruption, for example).
- Two "on-swap" sigils can be paired together.
- Cleans up a lot of "Hidden Rules" that were confusing.
- Lots of bugs fixed, something they haven't been able to do since launch.
- Want to fix the "terrible" sigils and runes to be on the same level as the ones that are considered staples.

Runes:
- Huge rebalancing pass on runes.
- Stats and percentages changed to be more consistent.
- A lot of stat weights are moved towards later bonuses.
- Boon / condition durations moved higher up to aid people mix-and-matching sets.
- Every single rune set has changed at least a little.

Stat Combos for PVP:
- Not all PVE combos will carry over.
- Goal is more build diversity.
- Sigils and Runes will be brought over as well.
- New stat combos may have to be unlocked, but it's not going to be overly difficult (described as a 'speed bump').

Balance Preview: (High Level discussion)
- Included in next feature update.
- This does not include EVERYTHING, list is not exhaustive and subject to change. Lots more coming.

Elementalist:
- Signet of Restoration is the same in PVP and PVE (we knew this last night).
- Armor of Earth (CD down to 75sec from 90 sec).
- 3 seconds of regen to Water Trident on hit (up to 5 allies). Felt ele was lacking sustain, so this is a good place to add a support skill.
- Burning Speed (MH Dagger) is now considered an evade during travel time.
- Frozen Burst (MH Dagger) is now a blast finisher.

Engineer: (uh oh, sounds like nerfs incoming)
- Reduced immobilize on net turret by 1 sec. due to it being too powerful with supply crate drop.
- Poison Grenade poison application per tick reduced from 5 to 3. It stacks poison too quickly when used at close range.
- Box of Nails cast time too long, reduced from 1 to 3/4ths second.
- AED reduced from 1 sec. to 3/4ths second.

Guardian:
- Litany of Wrath reduced cast time to 3/4ths.
- Vigorous Precision cooldown up to 10 seconds. (not sure I caught this one, they talk over each other sometimes)
- Healing Breeze rescaled, 50% of heal at start of heal, 10% for 5 ticks to Guardian and allies in a cone. Ticks supposedly scale very well with healing power so it's stronger for support.

Mesmer:
- Critical Infusion recharge increased from 5 second to 10 second. (not sure I caught this one)
- Deceptive Evasion (create clone on dodge) changed, only creates a clone when you have no clones present. Not sure I heard this one right, it sounded like it wouldn't create one when you already have 3 out... again, they're talking over each other.

Necro
- Putrid explosion is no longer unblockable.
- Training of the Master (?), changed. Didn't catch the percent, they talked over it kind of fast.
- Dhuumfire changed, no longer so passive and unpredictable. Now causes Life Blast in Deathshroud apply 3s of burning with 10s cd.
- Vampiric Mastery sustain reduced.

Ranger:
- Spirit of Nature is bugged, will be fixed, should have 320 healing per second.
- Talking about adding field type to all traps.
- Empathetic Bond was bugged, will no longer remove conditions if your pet is dead.
- "Pretty amazing stuff coming for Rangers, we just talk about too much yet"
- Main Hand sword issue with dodging is being worked on, but may not make it this update. Involves a lot of anti-hacking elements.

Thief:
- Lots of big things they can't talk about yet.
- Choking Gas is going to 3 seconds per tick from 5 for the same reason as Engineer grenade change.
- Would like to tweak Pistol Whip, but not ready yet.

Warrior:
- Healing signet is really controversial. Passive is being reduced by 8% but numbers are still being played with. Active Skill will not be buffed, but will receive a functionality change to make you want to use it.
- Want Warriors to continue to be sturdy, but they want there to be a trade off in terms of damage, but not too much.
- Pin Down (Warrior Longbow) changed to have a warm up animation and projectile to improve visibility. Looks cool, but gives players a tell. increased to 3/4 second cast.

- Again, changes are not exhaustive or final, and have lots of interaction with rune/sigil changes.
- There is a big thing coming soon they can't talk about, some of these changes are related to this.

Edit: Dammit Retro.

I was trying my best to transcribe live but there's a few things I didn't catch because I was looking something up, making sure I was bumping the thread, and outside distractions. I think between the two of us we probably got everything.

Shitcockpissybollocksdammit.

I don't play a Necro, so I can't comment too accurately, but wouldn't having a more predictable skill be better than what (as near as I can tell) appears to be unreliable, especially when getting conditions rolling is (again, I don't play necro) supposed to be important?

 

[Asd202]

Thief:
- Lots of big things they can't talk about yet.

lol this will turn out to be nothing of interest.

 

[lol51]

lol this will turn out to be nothing of interest.

I would call underwater combat improvements `of interest.`

 

[Taffer]

I don't play a Necro, so I can't comment too accurately, but wouldn't having a more predictable skill be better than what (as near as I can tell) appears to be unreliable, especially when getting conditions rolling is (again, I don't play necro) supposed to be important?

Short answer is that Death Shroud is shit for laying conditions. I'll pop into it to throw out a fear (traited to do damage) during a Life Transfer (with fury from DS trait & free bleed on crit it does decent damage and tends to add a few bleeds) and cast Tainted Shackles for torment and then get out ASAP in order to keep on laying conditions. The only time I'll stay in it long enough to fire Life Blast (the auto-attack while in DS) is if I'm using DS to tank some incoming damage.
I just want to watch the world burn, is that so bad?

 

[Retro]

Edit: Reddit's notes from the stream: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1vharm/ready_up_livestream_notes/

Short answer is that Death Shroud is shit for laying conditions. I'll pop into it to throw out a fear (traited to do damage) during a Life Transfer (with fury from DS trait & free bleed on crit it does decent damage and tends to add a few bleeds) and cast Tainted Shackles for torment and then get out ASAP in order to keep on laying conditions. The only time I'll stay in it long enough to fire Life Blast (the auto-attack while in DS) is if I'm using DS to tank some incoming damage.

Ah, I gotcha. I should probably roll a necromancer at some point, it just hasn't 'clicked' yet.

I just want to watch the world burn, is that so bad?

As a Flamethower Engineer, not at all.

 

[Anno]

Litany needs to be instant or grant stability, otherwise it'll always be worse than our other choices.

So hyped for double sigils! Wonder if I should just buy up a bunch of cheap shitty runes to gamble. Probably already lost that game though.

 

[Proven]

Short answer is that Death Shroud is shit for laying conditions. I'll pop into it to throw out a fear (traited to do damage) during a Life Transfer (with fury from DS trait & free bleed on crit it does decent damage and tends to add a few bleeds) and cast Tainted Shackles for torment and then get out ASAP in order to keep on laying conditions. The only time I'll stay in it long enough to fire Life Blast (the auto-attack while in DS) is if I'm using DS to tank some incoming damage.
I just want to watch the world burn, is that so bad?

With the upcoming update, 4 out of 5 Death Shroud abilities will now apply damaging conditions, although two of them will have to be traited in order to do so. Burning on Life Blast, Bleeds on Dark Path, Terror on Doom, and Torment on Tainted Shackles. I should be the one annoyed that the scales are tipping more towards condition friendly rather than power friendly.

 

[Retro]

Edit: For the new page:

Stream Summaries:
Retro - http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=97506089&postcount=12394
KniveSmith - http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=97504505&postcount=12392
Reddit - http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1vharm/ready_up_livestream_notes/

Litany needs to be instant or grant stability, otherwise it'll always be worse than our other choices.

They're still working on it, but mentioned it may go down to 1/2 a second.

So hyped for double sigils! Wonder if I should just buy up a bunch of cheap shitty runes to gamble. Probably already lost that game though.

They specifically said that all runes and a lot of sigils are getting tweaked, so the only speculation that will work is to just buy everything.

 

[Ashodin]

Edit: For the new page:

Stream Summaries:
Retro - http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=97506089&postcount=12394
KniveSmith - http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=97504505&postcount=12392
Reddit - http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1vharm/ready_up_livestream_notes/



They're still working on it, but mentioned it may go down to 1/2 a second.



They specifically said that all runes and a lot of sigils are getting tweaked, so the only speculation that will work is to just buy everything.

Especially shitty sigils, so yes, buy EVERYTHING.