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[spiritfox]

Cool! I'll be there unless something terrible happens to me before then

Man this is like the guy in the horror movie who says everything is fine before being cut open by the murderer

 

[Zeroth]

Man this is like the guy in the horror movie who says everything is fine before being cut open by the murderer

This is like the genre savvy character in the movies who is actually the murderer.

 

[usea]

Regarding raid balance, IsaiahCartwright just said on reddit:

One thing to keep in mind. A good puzzle is one that starts out hard and then after playing it and learning how it works it becomes easier. I mean when Teq came out it was hard now it's on farm. In order do this you need a base line to balance around so you make sure the mechanics is where all the interesting decisions come from.

This next Beta Weekend you can try it out. This is the best opportunity to show us how well we did if your worried about the balance being too easy jump in and kick that encounters butt the better everyone does the more data we will have to create the proper base line and the more we can focus on each fights mechanics.

Clearly after something is on farm it's easier to do it with less gear, or with some number of people on a quaggan tonic. I expect a spread run with maximum quaggans on youtube shortly after this post!

link

 

[UltimateIke]

Me

Jumping Puzzles

Twins

 

[spiritfox]

This is like the genre savvy character in the movies who is actually the murderer.

Time to main reaper

 

[Jest Chillin]

Regardless of what mechanics they add to an encounter, a large part of fighting enemies will always involve using your weapon skills to damage the boss and having enough armor and health to survive the boss's attacks. They have to balance around Ascended stats first or players will do damage too quickly or survive too easily with better gear, and a lot of challenge is removed in that case. I'm not sure what is so hard to understand here. Numbers do matter in video games when many of the things you do are precisely calculated.

For years we've been playing a game that feels like it was balanced around Rare gear tops. It's time to raise the bar, and only balancing around Exotic doesn't do enough to ensure the full intended challenge is really there for everyone.

Tell the bold to the people who have complained ad naseum whenever any content wasn't immediately steam rollable with numbers.

Ascended isn't so far ahead of Exotic that it makes mechanics ignore-able. Or, I should say, it shouldn't be. That's why Agony was introduced in Fractals to begin with. To avoid having to stat pad Ascended.

 

[Nemesis121]

Just notice they added new Pets to the menu..

 

[Jira]

That's still dependent on a random chest drop, unless they made it so that you are guaranteed a chest after every boss.

In the end, we need more info. All we have is this single tweet, which is the worst way to convey information. We'll see after the community starts doing raids seriously whether ascended is really needed.

Speaking of raids, what's the plan for Fri? Who's running, and I assume we need at least gliding unlock first?

I'll be there for sure as it's the only day I can come.

 

[TheSaddestSort]

Finally took the plunge and bought HoT. Will look forward to playing with everyone during the beta weekend (except for Saturday -- going be out of town)!

 

[Ashodin]

That's still dependent on a random chest drop, unless they made it so that you are guaranteed a chest after every boss.

In the end, we need more info. All we have is this single tweet, which is the worst way to convey information. We'll see after the community starts doing raids seriously whether ascended is really needed.

Speaking of raids, what's the plan for Fri? Who's running, and I assume we need at least gliding unlock first?

I'm taking anyone who will be there at 9 PM EDT Friday.

Once I'm full up, anyone who's left can join another raid. Just make sure to whisper Ashodin (just that exact name) so I can invite you; guild chat will be off so I won't be able to invite from there.

I will be online before 9 pm - around 8 PM my time - to setup my character and get him ready.

I will be rolling Dragonhunter myself.

Given the nature of the raid being hard, I want to encourage any of you who can play a class in a support nature (and know how) to sign up as one (water field ele, support staff guard, druid) to increase our chances of beating the raid.

This is not to say it is a requirement; rather that it is a suggestion at best. We can certainly try the raid with your current spec/profession, and go from there regardless.

 

[Hedge]

I can't wait to try out the druid. Too bad no medium armor looks white-mage-y. Aaah healing.

 

[Retro]

I've been sitting out of the whole "Required Ascended" discussion, mostly because jumping to conclusions based on a few tweets is just a bad idea and because there's only a few days left until we get to play this content and see it for ourselves.

But I will say this: Ascended Gear is in the game. It is not going away and according to the devs is not being replaced with a higher tier anytime soon. "Gear Treadmill" comments are factually incorrect.

By building raids around the current stat ceiling, there is a cap on how far numbers alone can take you and only one way to overcome content: become a better player. That's how challenging content should work, not an endless cycle of getting +better gear to beat arbitrary DPS checks or ever-increasing boss HP levels. If there is no way for players in full Ascended to beat a raid except learning to play better, as individuals and as a group, that's exactly how it should be. Balance based on anything less means challenges can be overcome by grinding or spending money to get better gear, something I feel would run counter to the spirit of the game.

I'll also point out how ridiculous it was when people were convinced the sky was falling when Ascended gear was first announced and how it ended up being no big deal.

I dunno. Just my two cents.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

If Ascended gear is going to be mandatory, that they.. they have to find a better way to give players Ascended armor. The current system is flat-out bad design, and I fear that they are going to lose players thinking they have to "catch" up.

Consider the prices of mats right now, and what it would cost and how much time it would take a new player to lvl up crafting professions from 0-500, then grind for ascended mats, meanwhile working for ascended trinkets, rings, amulets keeping track of ascended mats, crafting mats, tier 6 mats, laurels, commendations, honor, at the same time.

And then. And then after all that, only then, being able to get to the "end game". The true end game which is raids. The only end game that yields legendary armor.
That sort of mentality doesn't sound like the "end game starts at lvl 1" mentality. Frankly it sounds like something you would see in WoW.
I hope it won't be like that because it goes without saying that a style of play like that would be the opposite of what I enjoy about Guild Wars.

 

[Jira]

I've been sitting out of the whole "Required Ascended" discussion, mostly because jumping to conclusions based on a few tweets is just a bad idea and because there's only a few days left until we get to play this content and see it for ourselves.

But I will say this: Ascended Gear is in the game. It is not going away and according to the devs is not being replaced with a higher tier anytime soon. "Gear Treadmill" comments are factually incorrect.

By building raids around the current stat ceiling, there is a cap on how far numbers alone can take you and only one way to overcome content: become a better player. That's how challenging content should work, not an endless cycle of getting +better gear to beat arbitrary DPS checks or ever-increasing boss HP levels. If there is no way for players in full Ascended to beat a raid except learning to play better, as individuals and as a group, that's exactly how it should be. Balance based on anything less means challenges can be overcome by grinding or spending money to get better gear, something I feel would run counter to the spirit of the game.

I'll also point out how ridiculous it was when people were convinced the sky was falling when Ascended gear was first announced and how it ended up being no big deal.

I dunno. Just my two cents.

Couldn't agree more on the bolded. I have forever wanted an MMO to offer content that was challenging and remained challenging throughout it's lifetime. That didn't become trivialized due to +gooder stats. That the only way to get better at it is through your own skill, communication with your team, and strategies.

If Ascended gear is going to be mandatory, that they.. they have to find a better way to give players Ascended armor. The current system is flat-out bad design, and I fear that they are going to lose players thinking they have to "catch" up.

Consider the prices of mats right now, and what it would cost and how much time it would take a new player to lvl up crafting professions from 0-500, then grind for ascended mats, meanwhile working for ascended trinkets, rings, amulets keeping track of ascended mats, crafting mats, tier 6 mats, laurels, commendations, honor, at the same time.

And then. And then after all that, only then, being able to get to the "end game". The true end game which is raids. The only end game that yields legendary armor.
That sort of mentality doesn't sound like the "end game starts at lvl 1" mentality. Frankly it sounds like something you would see in WoW.
I hope it won't be like that because it goes without saying that a style of play like that would be the opposite of what I enjoy about Guild Wars.

You know I think a lot of people are going to quickly find out that raiding isn't for them. Whether the fights are just too challenging or maybe the requirements to do the later fights are more than they feel they can commit to, some people aren't going to be raiding even if they think they should just because it's there. Raid bosses DO have a 10% chance on kill to drop an ascended piece of gear so there will be more ways to obtain it. Then you have the changes to Fractals which will go a long way in making it easier to obtain too.

 

[usea]

If Ascended gear is going to be mandatory, that they.. they have to find a better way to give players Ascended armor. The current system is flat-out bad design, and I fear that they are going to lose players thinking they have to "catch" up.

Consider the prices of mats right now, and what it would cost and how much time it would take a new player to lvl up crafting professions from 0-500, then grind for ascended mats, meanwhile working for ascended trinkets, rings, amulets keeping track of ascended mats, crafting mats, tier 6 mats, laurels, commendations, honor, at the same time.

And then. And then after all that, only then, being able to get to the "end game". The true end game which is raids. The only end game that yields legendary armor.
That sort of mentality doesn't sound like the "end game starts at lvl 1" mentality. Frankly it sounds like something you would see in WoW.
I hope it won't be like that because it goes without saying that a style of play like that would be the opposite of what I enjoy about Guild Wars.

I have plenty of reservations about what I've heard about HoT and raids in particular, but this isn't one of them. I actually think it's relatively easy to get into full ascended gear as a new level 80. And it looks like it will be getting even easier for people as they get gear from raids to help round them out. Once the dust settles and raids are on farm, I think it will become that much easier still to get in with your guild and get pieces as a new player.

I mean, maybe at this exact moment it's tough because mat prices are crazy right now. But in the past 3 months as basically a new level 80, I've gotten a bunch of crafting disciplines up from 0 and crafted a ton of ascended materials.

 

[Jira]

Oh also, Izzy confirmed earlier that ascended is merely recommended, not a hard requirement.

 

[Thorgal]

Tell the bold to the people who have complained ad naseum whenever any content wasn't immediately steam rollable with numbers.

Ascended isn't so far ahead of Exotic that it makes mechanics ignore-able. Or, I should say, it shouldn't be. That's why Agony was introduced in Fractals to begin with. To avoid having to stat pad Ascended.

I'll repeat what I said earlier: this raid content is not for those type of people.

 

[Kos Luftar]

I want to try and get a Raid group together for a Saturday morning 8am EST (12 pm GMT).

I'll be online around 7:45, I'll give it 15 minutes to get a GAF group if there isn't enough players I will be LFGing.

1. Kos Luftar
2. Hythlody
3. SpiritFox
4. Kanik
5. Spyware
6. Crescendo
7. Morkoh
8.
9.
10.

Anyone know they will be interested and playing at that time on Saturday?

Whisper or add me (Kos Luftar) to your friends list so you can see when I am online.

 

[Mxrz]

Probably comes down to what you believe the spirit of the game is. ANet/GW has always been the 'anti grind' mmo to me. Skill over numbers, no time sinks, etc.

But I do disagree about Ascended. Making it is a fairly big deal imo, each set still cost around 400-500+ gold either in mats or outright buying it. It has become my primary carrot since it was introduced. Even so, its been easy to not feel too pressured about it since nothing in PvE land has required it. If the notion presented proved true somehow, it would probably raise a bigger fuss. I don't think making it easier to get would be a great solution either. If any fresh 80 could get it fairly easy then it becomes Exotics II. At that point, why not ditch all the hoops and just use the pvp amulet system?

Anyway. Best argument for not buying into stats/numbers being needed for a challenge is the first game. While the combat was different, they showed us you can have difficult encounters without going the typical mmo route. Until I see otherwise, I'm going to believe that'll be true here too.

I'll repeat what I said earlier: this raid content is not for those type of people.

I dislike that attitude and would hate to see ANet adopt it. Might not always agree with people, but I wouldn't want the developers to ever get to a place where they could write them off cause something wasn't meant for them.

 

[Queen of Hunting]

i think the reason why this is creating a problem is anet has always used for gw2 we are different there is no treadmill there is no trinity there is no x requirement to do x things anyone can do anything happily.

and with the raids thats completey throwing everything they said out of the window because they have no other way of making the content hard for us

 

[Spehornoob]

Hi guys! Getting back in in preparation for the expansion! Really excited. ANet's storytelling has really improved in the living story (compared to the base game) and I hope that carries over to the expansion

I didn't get to play the last few living story episodes. Are they worth buying to try out? I already know

Spoiler

the big twist about the Sylvari.

EDIT: Oh! I meant to ask. Will Heart of Thorns bring new non-raid dungeons?

 

[Proven]

Regarding raid balance, IsaiahCartwright just said on reddit:

link

I fully expected the link to not be a source link but instead a link of beating Tequatl in all Quaggan Tonics. Disappointment.

So, here's what I've learned (#) and speculated (Aa) from dev comments:

1. Raids are how we get Legendary Armor.

2. Legendary Armor is at the Ascended level.

3. Raids will have other Ascended drops.

A. Therefore, Raids will likely drop Ascended armor. Yes, it will be random stats, but you can use the stat change recipe in the Mystic Forge to make it the type you want.​

4. The first wing and/or boss is designed to be easy enough to beat with Ascended + Exotic

B. I interpret this to mean that the large amount of the playerbase that have Exotic Weapon + Armor, but have full Ascended Accessories will be fine. Maybe also bring an Ascended Weapon at most.​

5. You can repeat bosses you've beaten for loot.

C. Many guilds (including ours) will likely want to have a weekly raid night just for the loot, even if we end up in full Ascended quickly. There are alts to gear and drops that aren't just Ascended. You can level Masteries quickly as it looks comparable to current dungeons in terms of experience gain. Plus:​

6. I forget how exactly, but Ascended gear will become salvageable in order to gain parts that are involved in Legendary Armor crafting.

7. Guild Missions. They moved the reset time to Monday.

D. There will likely be a hard PvE mission that's specifically "beat the first boss/wing of the raid."​

E. They're probably providing us time all weekend for WvW missions (especially around reset), PvP missions, and then the usual PvE guild missions and events. We already have dungeon events, Fractals are definitely going to get some attention from us come the expansion, and Raids will likely have something planned around them just because they're a weekly thing at the very least.​

Balance aside, I'm not all that worried about how the systems will come together in terms of getting geared up. My worry comes from how difficult it will be now, how difficult it will be in the future (when further expansions and raids release), and how difficult it will be for the general populace even after it gets figured out by the hardcore and goes on "farm status" for them.

Also, I want to be a part of our initial Raid runs, but I can't confirm to anything until after I make plans today. Hopefully I can join on Friday night, but if it's going to take more than an hour to complete (very possible) then I can't do Saturday morning. If everything turns out well, I hope something is scheduled for Saturday night.

 

[appletoasty]

The drop rate for ascended gear from raids will likely be similar to what we see now from fractals. It won't be a reliable way to get ascended gear for someone who is wearing exotics and refuses to invest time/gold into crafting ascended.

EDIT: Oh! I meant to ask. Will Heart of Thorns bring new non-raid dungeons?

They haven't said anything about it so the answer to that is 99.9% no. They're moving away from dungeons for instanced PvE content. Fractals are meant to be the new "casual" instanced PvE content (lower level ones anyways, they're quick), and raids are meant to be the new challenging PvE content. That being said they haven't really said anything about new fractals either. One of the devs said no new fractals with HoT launch in an interview somewhere but I hope we see some new stuff for fractals shortly after. It's been too long since we got new fractals, coming up on 2 years in November.

 

[Hellers]

How do I access the beta this weekend? I got paid this week and bought HoT finally. Is it an option on the launcher or do I need a beta client?

 

[appletoasty]

How do I access the beta this weekend? I got paid this week and bought HoT finally. Is it an option on the launcher or do I need a beta client?

Nope, same client as the live game. You'll see some beta character slots on your account that will become accessible once the beta is live tomorrow, just create a character there and you'll be good to go.

 

[Spyware]

How do I access the beta this weekend? I got paid this week and bought HoT finally. Is it an option on the launcher or do I need a beta client?

Nothing of the sort! You just make a beta character on the normal character select screen

 

[hythloday]

I want to try and get a Raid group together for a Saturday morning 8am EST (12 pm GMT).

I'll be online around 7:45, I'll give it 15 minutes to get a GAF group if there isn't enough players I will be LFGing.

Anyone know they will be interested and playing at that time on Saturday?

Whisper or add me (Kos Luftar) to your friends list so you can see when I am online.

Maybe! I am usually up early-ish on weekends, but I dunno if I will be up and ready to game by 8am exactly.

 

[shysaursoft]

Ascended is recommended for raids, not required.

 

[Levyne]

2000 Gem Giveaway

This weekend, if you defeat the raid boss, please take a screenshot and post/link it in thread. Or if you can just otherwise be vouched for that's probably good too, not gonna be strict.

Some loose rules (I'm not going to be a hardass about these either)

• Must be in [GAF] and I hope you rep at least semi regularly.
• Your raid group needs to be majority GAF.

After the beta is over I'll have a list of eligible players and will have a drawing for the gems.

Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

I wish your PvP weapon choice would be remembered like everything else, it's minor but annoying having to switch to my 2H mace every time I want to do sPvP, and then back to my Axe/Mace when I leave the Mists.

Wish I had ordered the expansion earlier, it won't arrive until after the beta has finished

 

[Bl4ckSunsh1n3]

I'm 50/50 on the Friday night raid now. It depends on if my tattoo session is completed. It starts a 6 so I'll be cutting it close.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

I have plenty of reservations about what I've heard about HoT and raids in particular, but this isn't one of them. I actually think it's relatively easy to get into full ascended gear as a new level 80. And it looks like it will be getting even easier for people as they get gear from raids to help round them out. Once the dust settles and raids are on farm, I think it will become that much easier still to get in with your guild and get pieces as a new player.

I mean, maybe at this exact moment it's tough because mat prices are crazy right now. But in the past 3 months as basically a new level 80, I've gotten a bunch of crafting disciplines up from 0 and crafted a ton of ascended materials.

I just recently got my ascended armor and let me tell you- It's terrible. Armorsmith 400-500 and getting the entire set was around 1200 gold. It took over a month of excessive playing. And of course it ended up being dissatisfying because I was doing content I didn't want to do, and because I think the armor is ugly. I only did it for the stat.
It was hella confusing getting the list of everything you need and I had to go out of the game and consult the wiki many times.


Unless, as Jira says, Fractals will be more inviting to casual players and/or the Ascended Armor drops in the raid are tradeable, then I don't see how they are going to close this rift. We can agree that the difference between exotic and ascended is still small. Which is why it's such waste of time to have so much drama and anger over such a small statistical anomaly which doesn't make the game better, but just make a lot of people feel like they have to do a bunch of boring shit just to be relevant.

GW was supposed to be a haven for this. I still think that it not being a hard requirement is still going to bring psychological effects and a lot of backslash. Plenty of people got pissy over Queens Gauntlet and Clockwork Tower being difficult. What's to say that people won't be 100x as angry when they find out that difficult content you can't beat, that only a very few people get through, is fun?
Yes, overcoming difficult content is fun and rewarding, but I think many players give up in frustration way before that.

And there aren't no normal mode raids, or new dungeons or fractals for them, or god forbid they really want legendary armor. It's basically inviting people to get really angry.
I got ascended fully, so I am covered, but I fear for what it will do the community, and I don't intent to ever gear my other characters in ascended unless they make it less awful to require it. If a veteran has had ascended for a year or two, then they might know how much it cost and how long it takes to get those drops on their own by being a new player going through the motions.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

I just recently got my ascended armor and let me tell you- It's terrible. Armorsmith 400-500 and getting the entire set was around 1200 gold. It took over a month of excessive playing. And of course it ended up being dissatisfying because I was doing content I didn't want to do, and because I think the armor is ugly. I only did it for the stat.
It was hella confusing getting the list of everything you need and I had to go out of the game and consult the wiki many times. .

Same experience when I crafted my Ascended weapon, it's just a confusing ballache. The crafting system in this game sucks IMO which doesn't help the process. Gearing up in Fractals would be much preferred.

 

[Kos Luftar]

Maybe! I am usually up early-ish on weekends, but I dunno if I will be up and ready to game by 8am exactly.

I won't start exactly at 8 if people aren't ready. Might not start till 8:30 or later.

 

[Wanderer5]

Ascended is recommended for raids, not required.

Well I got access to weaponsmith weapons and course trinkets, so maybe that will do for say Rev and Scrapper that I have interests in for HoT stuff heh. I never got around dealing with ascended armor, through got the piece from the silverwaste collection still that I might give to my Rev.

 

[NormalFish]

If it ends up being that ascended gear is a requirement for pugging (as in I can't find groups without being harassed to ping my gear, etc.) I'm really not sure what I'll do with the game. HoT's content seems a bit thin to me and the thing that's exciting having the potential to be populated with the 'the best way is the only way' kind of players that plague every MMO, I'm not sure if I'm still invested in the game.

I realize that seems a bit melodramatic but I've already done basically everything in the base game and have other games to play if the new content doesn't hold my attention. Think I'll hold off on buying HoT until I have quite a bit of spare cash and/or decide I really want to play the new content.

 

[spiritfox]

I won't start exactly at 8 if people aren't ready. Might not start till 8:30 or later.

I'll be around. Unless Friday's run end in tears or something I'll join.

If it ends up being that ascended gear is a requirement for pugging (as in I can't find groups without being harassed to ping my gear, etc.) I'm really not sure what I'll do with the game. HoT's content seems a bit thin to me and the thing that's exciting having the potential to be populated with the 'the best way is the only way' kind of players that plague every MMO, I'm not sure if I'm still invested in the game.

I realize that seems a bit melodramatic but I've already done basically everything in the base game and have other games to play if the new content doesn't hold my attention. Think I'll hold off on buying HoT until I have quite a bit of spare cash and/or decide I really want to play the new content.

There are still the open world stuff and the story around Mordy. It's not like raids are even going to be available until some time after the launch.

 

[NormalFish]

There are still the open world stuff and the story around Mordy. It's not like raids are even going to be available until some time after the launch.

Yeah, this is the only thing that's really keeping me from totally ignoring HoT news. And the new specs. I think there's a good chance I'll really enjoy the new zones, but I'm not sure that's worth 50$ to me just yet.

**
Just realize I made it sound like the raids potentially having high reqs to play was the single thing making me disinterested. Not what I intended to say, it's just the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[Shanlei91]

I want to try and get a Raid group together for a Saturday morning 8am EST (12 pm GMT).

I'll be online around 7:45, I'll give it 15 minutes to get a GAF group if there isn't enough players I will be LFGing.

Anyone know they will be interested and playing at that time on Saturday?

Whisper or add me (Kos Luftar) to your friends list so you can see when I am online.

I'd be into that, I'm usually up around 6am. Is there a specific map / section I'd need to be in to join? I have not tried anything in HoT yet, only the elite specs, and I immediately warped to vanilla Tyria and messed around with them.

 

[Fishious]

As I said before, I should be good for a Friday night raid attempt. I'll probably play either ranger or reaper. I've only got ~2 hours between getting off work and raid time and I'll be trying out druid, but I'm not confident I'll be able to play a heal/support spec with any level of competence. If there's no restrictions on how much ascended equipment we can grab from that beta raid merchant I'll probably grab an extra support oriented set in case it's necessary, but until I've had my hands on it, I can't promise I'll run support druid.

During the last beta I briefly tried Ventari/Glint Revenant and I think my brain shut down completely after trying to juggle Glint's passives, figuring out when to pop them, when to legend swap, moving the tablet, etc. I was at least functional with them individually, but I couldn't handle them together. I think it's something I could get with time, but I was more interested in trying out more elite specializations. I don't think druid will be quite that complicated, but I'm pretty sure remembering the glyph functions between forms is going to be an issue for me until I've had several hours with the class.

Also regarding raid controversy, I'll hold off on judgment until I've had a chance to play them several times. It's not like we have long to wait anyway. I'm fully expecting to die (repeatedly) without finishing the wing, but maybe we'll make good progress on the earlier bosses.

 

[Kos Luftar]

I'd be into that, I'm usually up around 6am. Is there a specific map / section I'd need to be in to join? I have not tried anything in HoT yet, only the elite specs, and I immediately warped to vanilla Tyria and messed around with them.

No idea how it's accessed, the instance seems to be north of silverwastes. I'll create a squad and add people who are interested to it then we can meet outside instance if possible.

Ps hope you guys won't mind me afking slightly if my wife needs me to help with our son at some point during the raid.

 

[Proven]

I believe that the raid entrance is in Verdant Brink, the very first HoT map, so as soon as you get past the instance in the Silverwastes you're good. You can skip the Verdant Brink story instance by jumping to character select and back.

If it's anything like dungeons and fractals, as long as we're in the map and in a squad, it should teleport us in. Otherwise, they say it's in the upper right corner so I guess we can run short trains from the initial waypoint.

 

[shysaursoft]

Don't forget, if you get an ascended weapon or armour from a box that isn't the stats you want, it can be changed using the Mystic Forge and a bit of work, but far less work than crafting the same piece from scratch.

 

[Spyware]

I want to try and get a Raid group together for a Saturday morning 8am EST (12 pm GMT).

Yeah that's 14:00 for me and Cresc so that might be doable! We have no idea what to play tho. I rocked as a healer in WoW but I've been pretty bad at support stuff in GW2 :/
We do play every class and lots of different builds tho so nothing is really completely unfamiliar. If you have any suggestions we'll gladly hear them

 

[Kos Luftar]

Yeah that's 14:00 for me and Cresc so that might be doable! We have no idea what to play tho. I rocked as a healer in WoW but I've been pretty bad at support stuff in GW2 :/
We do play every class and lots of different builds tho so nothing is really completely unfamiliar. If you have any suggestions we'll gladly hear them

Play whatever class or elite spec you want to try out. I'll be running the scrapper because I want to try it and because engi is my main.

Whatever you two want to play go right ahead. If our first choice of classes/builds doesn't work we can restart and try something else.

 

[Wanderer5]

Ugh damn exam on Saturday.T.T Think I skip on the raid encounter till Sunday then, and just test a bit on Scrapper and Herald for PvE and WvW Friday and then Saturday night.

 

[Jira]

The drop rate for ascended gear from raids will likely be similar to what we see now from fractals. It won't be a reliable way to get ascended gear for someone who is wearing exotics and refuses to invest time/gold into crafting ascended

They've said the ascended gear drop rates are ~10%.

 

[Morokh]

I just recently got my ascended armor and let me tell you- It's terrible. Armorsmith 400-500 and getting the entire set was around 1200 gold. It took over a month of excessive playing. And of course it ended up being dissatisfying because I was doing content I didn't want to do, and because I think the armor is ugly. I only did it for the stat.
It was hella confusing getting the list of everything you need and I had to go out of the game and consult the wiki many times.

I have a very different experience from that.

The day I set myself to finish levelling crafting to 500 on one of my toons I realized I could do it for all my professions I had left at a reasonable cost with all the mats I had in storage and what I could sell back on the TP.

From there I started converting all the relevant materials into ascended mats, and saw last week that I could finish a complete set for my engineer if I were to spend around 70 gold on top of what I already have.

Basically I never really made it my primary goal, and yet I could easily have a character decked in ascended gear right now.

And I have done a similar thing with Legendary-crafting, just not spending the relevant materials, and converting them into gifts when available I now also have everything but the precursor to craft a Twilight, and I started roughly at the beginning of the year.
Didn't feel like a grind either.

In the whole ascended discussion, one thing people tend to forget about ascended equipement, is that you can get half of it just by logging-in everyday, and doing a few weeks of guild missions, that gives you full ascended trinkets/rings/amulet the rest might be tied to crafting but weapons really are not that hard to make.

The other thing is that, should ascended gear really be necessary, even if you get it one year from now, the original raid wing won't be less relevant, or easier if you go in with people that don't have it on farm.
There is no 'missing' that content because you don't have the gear right now.

I want to try and get a Raid group together for a Saturday morning 8am EST (12 pm GMT).

If i'm not mistaken that is 1Pm here in France, so I should be good to go too !

 

[Deleted member 325805]

Damn it really is fast getting Tomes from sPvP. I'm getting 2 a day while playing less than 2 hours, by the time the expansion hits I'll be rolling in them at this pace. Plus I'm saving the PvP rewards in case the new BG has its own path. My routine is basically CoF P1 & 2 then an hour or two of sPvP, I don't want to play too much before the expansion but this will net me all the tomes and dungeon tokens I'll need for my Revenant, plus the extra gold is always nice.

 

[Jest Chillin]

I've been sitting out of the whole "Required Ascended" discussion, mostly because jumping to conclusions based on a few tweets is just a bad idea and because there's only a few days left until we get to play this content and see it for ourselves.

But I will say this: Ascended Gear is in the game. It is not going away and according to the devs is not being replaced with a higher tier anytime soon. "Gear Treadmill" comments are factually incorrect.

By building raids around the current stat ceiling, there is a cap on how far numbers alone can take you and only one way to overcome content: become a better player. That's how challenging content should work, not an endless cycle of getting +better gear to beat arbitrary DPS checks or ever-increasing boss HP levels. If there is no way for players in full Ascended to beat a raid except learning to play better, as individuals and as a group, that's exactly how it should be. Balance based on anything less means challenges can be overcome by grinding or spending money to get better gear, something I feel would run counter to the spirit of the game.

I'll also point out how ridiculous it was when people were convinced the sky was falling when Ascended gear was first announced and how it ended up being no big deal.

I dunno. Just my two cents.

I thought the discussion was around the idea of balancing around Ascended.

I don't believe that they have to balance around the highest stat gear in order to have content that requires the players to become more skilled.

I'll repeat what I said earlier: this raid content is not for those type of people.

That other content wasn't for "those type of people" either and yet changes were made because all content in the game is for whoever wants to play it.