Archive for the Professions Category

Putting the Spotlight on the Elementalist’s Conjures

Posted 16/05/13 by

CJFlameMost Elementalist players will agree that the non-elite conjure skills are not exactly the Elementalist’s strongest tools. In this article I will take a closer look at these skills and analyse why that is, and perhaps suggest a way to make them better.

The Elementalist is the only Guild Wars 2 profession that has access to the skill types Conjures and Glyphs. And while the Glyphs include a range of skills both great (e.g. Glyph of Storms) and bad (e.g. Glyph of Renewal), the Conjure skills are generally seen as inferior and not worth equipping on your skill bar. The elite conjure Fiery Greatsword is, today, the only exception to this rule.

How Do the Conjure Skills Work?

The conjure skills Conjure Flame Axe, Conjure Frost Bow, Conjure Lightning Hammer & Conjure Earth Shield are all utility skills, which are slotted to the  utility section of your skill bar. Unlike Signets conjure skills have no passive effects.

Once an Elemenalist casts a conjure skill a conjured weapon manifests in her hands, replacing her weapon skills with the five skills of the conjure. A second conjured weapon is spawned at the same time, to be placed on the battlefield for any ally to pick up. Once someone picks up a conjured weapon, it will remain in their hands until they drop it, or its 15 charges are used. The trait “Conjurer” adds 10 additional charges to the weapon.

Read more & comment >>

Are rangers actually under-powered?

Posted 09/05/13 by

It got crowded in the elevator

It got crowded in the elevator

I’ve heard it a few times lately… rangers with pets are terrible in dungeons. Rangers with pets are no good in small places. A ranger without a pet is just worthless. And so on. This leads to rangers not trying to get into difficult content, and/or not being accepted/invited to play there. Fortunately, I’m in a great guild where people can join in activities with whatever profession they want, so getting a team of rangers wasn’t difficult.

Now I know from my psychology/statistics work that people can develop incorrect beliefs. I noticed in forums that many of the complaints came from rangers who don’t play their rangers in difficult places (because they’re so underpowered, why bother). And there is the common assumption that rangers are underpowered because their pets die, and they are weak without their pets. And then, as supporting evidence, I’ve heard of people turning down rangers when making groups.

But here’s a different theory: rangers are just as good as any other profession, and the only thing they need is someone to undo the bad rep they’ve been getting.

Two competing hypotheses… It’s time for some science!

Read more & comment >>

10 Tips to playing Guild Wars 2 better

Posted 25/04/13 by

Thief is a good profession to learn to play.

Thief is a good profession to learn to play.

I create the opportunity for learning, so that I can keep improving. I do that by seeking ways to challenge myself on specific gameplay skills. Here’s 10 ways you can use to keep learning too.

10 Trigger combos

You can trigger combos by yourself on many professions by using a skill that creates a combo field, then using a skill that triggers it. Self-triggered combos is a good way to learn and practice which of your own skills are what part of a combo. Sometimes, you can combo skills differently to trigger different effects like defensive or offensive effects. Once you learn that, expand your combo knowledge by triggering combos with other players either by triggering their fields, or by setting up fields where they will naturally trigger them.

You can likewise take some time to learn how to combine skill effects. Breaking armors is good just before doing high dps. Or snaring is good before hitting those large AoE’s.

Read more & comment >>

Endgame: An alt-a-holic’s perspective

Posted 13/02/13 by

I’ve always liked playing different characters, and now that I have a few at max level and with somewhat decent gear, I feel I have some *cough*authority*cough* to talk about what to expect from your characters in endgame. The good news is… the game remains pretty similar to early- or mid-game, so whatever profession you like early on is likely going to be your favourite still later on.

I regularly switch between my so-far 7 characters, and I will eventually have all 8 professions afterall. The main thing that influences who I play though isn’t what profession I like best… I love them all for different reason, and I especially love that they give me different experiences. The main thing that influences my pick is whether I plan to PvE, do dungeons, or do WvW. I find that while each profession can be useful in all three places, some professions adapt better to my playstyle in those different areas…

Read more & comment >>

13 skills unlocked, so many to go!

Posted 25/11/12 by

13skills

After a few months of beta testing and three months after the release in August, the GWO Elementalist forum has “unlocked” thirteen skills of Guild Wars 2′s attunement swapping profession.

What are those “Skills of Interest”, you might ask?

On a regular basis, Gorani – the forum’s moderator – takes an in-depth look at a skill, its current use and stats, its history since the early betas and how well it does compared to other skills. Does is have synergies with traits, is it more useful in PvP or PvE? This and more, you can find on the “Skills of Interest” threads.
You are invited to leave a comment and join the discussion. Share your expertise with the community and perhaps learn something new, too.

Swap to the Elementalist forum now and check out the latest addition to the series:
Signet of Air.

Read more & comment >>

The Ancient Guardian Art of Bashing Faces

Posted 01/10/12 by

Welcome to Guardian weapons training. My name is Zervish Alaris, I will be your instructor today. This training is meant to give you a brief review of weapons and how to use them. It is not an in-depth analysis however… for this, you should talk to a scholar, or try it out on foes in the field.

Without further delay, I introduce you to your new friends…

Read more & comment >>

Greatsword Guardian Leveling Build

Posted 23/09/12 by

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Guild wars 2’s release I have been busy leaving a lot of bodies in my wake, instead of writing up new articles. I am back to share with you the leveling build I used.

I will be covering the full monty so get yourself some coffee, maybe a beer if you’re that guy, and sit down for a bit while you read this.

I clocked 75h 20m from 1-80 with this build, so it works. Proof will be at the bottom of the article.

This build will allow you to fight enemy groups up to around 8, depending on the enemies you are fighting. Intelligent play will allow you to fight 2-3 veterans at once, and stand up against a champion in group fights.

Read more & comment >>

BOOM! (or How I Came to Love the Engineer)

Posted 03/09/12 by

It’s been over a week since the head start and I can safely say that my favourite profession, thus far, is the Engineer. The liberal use of high explosives this profession has aside, the main reason I’ve been enjoying the Engineer is the sheer amount of versatility that it has at its disposal.
Read more & comment >>

6 Professions I Will Play in Guild Wars 2

Posted 18/08/12 by

I'll play 6 of those. The other 2 are good too.

I'll play 6 of those. The other 2 are good too.

I’m an alt-a-holic. But not just that, I do feel that professions in Guild Wars 2 are unique enough from each other that there is much replay value in playing multiple characters. So I narrowed down my list of personal must-play professions to 6.

Quick math, that means I won’t play 2 professions. Spoiler: it’s the thief and warrior. Why not? Well, I’ve never been that into the rogue/assassin gameplay, and I can do my warrioring on other professions already. I tried thief and warrior, they are fun. Maybe once I finish up with my first 6 choices. So without delay…

Read more & comment >>

7 Unique Skill Types in Guild Wars 2

Posted 17/08/12 by

Maybe I should have made a charr mesmer instead!

Maybe I should have made a charr mesmer instead!

Every new MMORPG claims to re-invent the wheel to get new customers. But many have failed to live up to their own generated hype. Here I discuss 7 skill types that, while not entirely new to the MMORPG genre, have been considerably re-worked and re-tooled, making them feel fresh, fresh, exciting!

Although I think the addition of dodging was also a big change, I will dodge that discussion for now. But keep in mind that in Guild Wars 2, you can dodge.

Read more & comment >>

Conditions against Power & Criticals

Posted 09/08/12 by

This new [Guide] thread in the Elementalist forum was made to help you balance your capabilities at dealing condition based damage, “raw” damage fuelled by your Power attribute, or going for critical strikes against your opponents. It also covers some damage formulas, which at the current state of the game are not all officially confirmed by Arena.Net.
If you are not an Elementalist, you will find ideas how to transfer those numbers to your profession’s trait line.

Read more & comment >>

A Scholar Eye on the Party Guardian

Posted 08/06/12 by

I said party guardian, not disco guardian.

I said party guardian, not disco guardian.

Today I explore the guardian’s ability to boost his allies both offensively and defensively. Guardians have many tools to use on allies, including virtues, healing magic, and protective bubbles. If you like the idea of an armoured character taking care of allies, look no further. This primer will give you all that you need to know to get started.

I will focus on guardian skills that have a direct effect on allies such as virtues, shouts, symbols, and healing spells, as well as those that provide protective barriers. Even focusing on this single aspect, the list is very long, and I may have missed some. This means that the party guardian will have a lot of flexibility on how to make his build, and play a support role.

Read more & comment >>
« Older Entries