Hopefully a LOT of things become standard for MMOs after this (i.e. Overflow servers, no server restrictions, etc.). Not that it matters since I've found my MMO for the next decade and a half, but.... yeah.
With the client being around 15 gb, I sure hope they give us a day or two time to pre-load the client :|.
With the client being around 15 gb, I sure hope they give us a day or two time to pre-load the client :|.
Don't forget they have cashshop. You are right though. I retract my previous statement. We'll probably get yearly expansions that cost around 40 bucks. If it's more I'll be shocked. They will also all come out in November.
I won't be doing videos, I don't think my system could really handle it plus the game, but I'll take a ton of screens.
Wrong MMO.
There are no healers...
What class will I play
What class will I play
Pretty much all of the classes can be played in a way that emphasizes support, it's just that healing won't be your only job. Guardian, for example, combines healing with crowd control, buffing, and some aspects of a traditional "tank."
Guardian has some skills that definitely make it feel like a "Combat Medic". Most notably the "Resolute Healer" major trait, which generates a Shield of Absorption (knocks back foes and absorbs projectiles) when you start reviving an ally.
Chriswok, if you're concerned about your role in GW2, I recommend reading over this blog, which discusses how GW2 ditches the Tank/Heal/DPS trinity in favor of Control, Support and Damage; http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/combat/healing-death/
I like the idea of a Ranger, but don't like the Pets. I might just go off-track and play a Warrior with a longbow (since only rangers and warriors can use longbows AFAIK), it will be interesting.
Yep, Warrior and Ranger are the only two that use Longbows, while Thieves and Rangers can use Shortbows. Warrior definitely has the widest selection of weapons to chose from, if that makes any difference.
I'm gonna guess that not having a Pet out will also lower a Ranger's effectiveness too much to be viable.
Exactly, that's why I don't wanna play Ranger with longbow and no pets, feels like you're not using its biggest strength and will be UP. So maybe Warrior with Longbow, rocking the crit & power, and if anyone gets too close punch him in the face.
Q: I want to play a ranger without a pet. Are pets mandatory for the profession to be effective? Can you have a non-pet ranger like in GW1 and not sacrifice a lot of your effectiveness?
Eric: Rangers must use their pets to achieve maximum effectiveness. A ranger could choose to mostly ignore his pet and leave it on “auto-pilot” so to speak and still be very effective, but a ranger who doesn’t even have a pet out will be a good deal less effective than one who does. There are many other professions in Guild Wars 2 that have effective ranged damage or ranged utility like the ranger for players who don’t want to use a pet. (Source)
Yeah, just dug up an old Q&A with Eric Flannum;
It's worth nothing that there are ways around having a giant animal companion; the Bird family of pets are actually pretty small, so you look more like a Falconer rather than having a giant Pterodactyl-sized Owl flutter around like in WoW. Doesn't solve your pet problem, but visually it minimizes it. You'll still have to deal with pet management (and the AI the last few Betas has been a little lacking).
Longbow for the Warrior puts emphasis on Burning damage, with two skills (3 if you count the Burst skill) providing single target, cone-shaped (Well, it fires 3 arrows in a spread) and AOE burn options. There are only two traits relevant to longbow currently;
However, that might have changed and there may be more in there now. I'm planning to go Warrior for the Beta, so I can look for you.
- Burning Arrows: Deal extra damage with a Longbow against burning foes.
- Stronger Bowstrings: Increased Longbow range.
It's worth mentioning that the crit-heavy trait line (Arms) focuses on Bleeds, which is actually a strength of the Rifle weapon (I was looking at a bleed build and Sword/Sword + Rifle is definitely the way to go). Just throwing that out there as a Rifle still kind of fits the "Huntsman" style. Plus its 5th ability is a Rifle Butt attack that knocks enemies backwards. It's not the punch in the face you mentioned, but it works.
I am honestly disappointed with the graphics after playing TERA. It crushes this visually, and it's a year older or more.
Not even attempting a troll. I was really looking forward to this, but the textures and models in some parts look extremely dated.
Will withhold further judgement until release.
I am honestly disappointed with the graphics after playing TERA. It crushes this visually, and it's a year older or more.
Not even attempting a troll. I was really looking forward to this, but the textures and models in some parts look extremely dated.
Will withhold further judgement until release.
I am honestly disappointed with the graphics after playing TERA. It crushes this visually, and it's a year older or more.
Not even attempting a troll. I was really looking forward to this, but the textures and models in some parts look extremely dated.
Will withhold further judgement until release.
I am honestly disappointed with the graphics after playing TERA. It crushes this visually, and it's a year older or more.
Not even attempting a troll. I was really looking forward to this, but the textures and models in some parts look extremely dated.
Will withhold further judgement until release.
Thanks, that'd be great. By punch in the face I meant the warrior elite, but yeah, it might not be perfect for Longbow, but at least there's something, and since traits are switchable I can always just use the longbow for fun and if I'm about to enter a fight I know will be trouble, pick a more viable build.
Oh, don't get me wrong, Longbow looks viable as a ranged choice, but I don't see any potential for basing a whole build around it. Warriors don't have anything that can take advantage of the Burning status, nor can they cause it with anything other than the Longbow (I was surprised, I seem to remember them using Torches at one point).
There's the potential for a Combo attack, using Combustive Shot (Burst ability) relatively close to you to generate a fire field, and then any finisher (The hammer's "Staggering Blow", for example, would be a whirl finisher and knock back your target).
You can use Pin Down to immobilize a foe (3s duration) to give you some breathing room, or Bolas as a Utility skill (4s immobilize) to get some range, but you're never going to get the evasiveness of a ranger. The only ranged Cripple warriors have is on the Rifle though.
I think it will certainly work to frontload a lot of damage, and burning stacks on duration so you can dump a lot of it on them it they will continue to take damage through the close-range fight. But unless the traits change (and it's very possible they will), I don't see it being something you can build an entire character around with any degree of effectiveness. Could be fun as hell though if that's your cup of tea. I don't think anyone will be able to complain you're not pulling your weight, if that's what you're worried about.
I will check to see if they changed the traits a bit. Two traits for a whole weapon seems kinda thin, honestly.
If you're looking for a non-range bow-using profession, Thief might be a better option, honestly. You can also back up your bow with Pistol + Melee combination or just Pistol/Pistol. Otherwise, I think you're looking at a Ranger for non-magic ranged class.
I tend to go for the more fun builds, even if they're not top level competitive so as long as it's not completely unviable it's good enough for me. Also, I like the idea that people might mistake my warrior standing in the back for stupid and then get nailed by arrows that hurt, and if they get too close I can switch to weapons/skills with knockback, then switch back to bow etc etc. I'm just a huge fan of logbows, if thiefs got to use them I'd play thief, but as is... Well. We'll see what skills are there in the final game and then I'll decide
Happy to help. Not like we're doing much else in this thread besides answering questions, comparing Guild Wars 1thanks for the info though
Passive: Improves toughness for you and your pet.
Active: Your pet takes no damage from incoming attacks for ten seconds.
Active effects of signets effect you as well as your pet.
Any chance this combo makes it to live for Rangers?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Signet_of_Stone
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Signet_of_the_Beastmaster
Seems too powerful.
I thought that this would bea bit brokensomething I'd be interested in trying when I saw that signet trait...
I think they've mentioned that traits have changed yet again since the press demo, but I can't find a source on that so believe what you will.
Any chance this combo makes it to live for Rangers?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Signet_of_Stone
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Signet_of_the_Beastmaster
Seems too powerful.
I appreciate this design.Meta events.
I still have some reservations with this. I guess I can't wrap my head around the idea of it working perfectly just yet without thinking of flaws in the old system when trying to think about how certain scenarios would play out.No aggro. Holy trinity removal.
This is one of my biggest complaints with mmo's and good riddance to it too. This is one of the things that caught my eye at first with combat when I was cold on it before. I just thought it was a smart system.Skill bloat.
Nice write up Retro, I appreciate the time you took to write it.
I appreciate this design.
I still have some reservations with this. I guess I can't wrap my head around the idea of it working perfectly just yet without thinking of flaws in the old system when trying to think about how certain scenarios would play out.
I wonder if the new downed state + easy res. system would then make us think of 'dying' as less of a failure given it'd be so easy to get each other back into a fight. I don't know, knowing how we react to players dying in other mmo's makes me feel like players will take a while to adjust and will need to change their mentality with it.
Thinking about it now I hope there's a possibility you can ace most tough encounters with smart play and perfect execution instead of always just accepting dying as being the only way to succeed.
Can't wait to try this stuff out, seeing first hand how it all feels will give me a different perspective on it I'm sure.
This is one of my biggest complaints with mmo's and good riddance to it too. This is one of the things that caught my eye at first with combat when I was cold on it before. I just thought it was a smart system.
I do feel like a lot of my 'complaints' with the game stem from mostly seeing how other games do it and trying to wrap that around the concept of this game. The game decisions seem thoughtful enough and intelligently designed that I'm sure they've thought about it at great lengths and in greater detail than I have that it shouldn't even be a big enough problem that it'll even matter.
I'm excited to play the beta.
Exactly, that's why I don't wanna play Ranger with longbow and no pets, feels like you're not using its biggest strength and will be UP. So maybe Warrior with Longbow, rocking the crit & power, and if anyone gets too close punch him in the face.
I'm still confused on how some of the combos work, finisher and all. Guess I need to play more to figure them out.
Nice write up Retro, I appreciate the time you took to write it.
I still have some reservations with this. I guess I can't wrap my head around the idea of it working perfectly just yet without thinking of flaws in the old system when trying to think about how certain scenarios would play out.
I wonder if the new downed state + easy res. system would then make us think of 'dying' as less of a failure given it'd be so easy to get each other back into a fight. I don't know, knowing how we react to players dying in other mmo's makes me feel like players will take a while to adjust and will need to change their mentality with it.
Thinking about it now I hope there's a possibility you can ace most tough encounters with smart play and perfect execution instead of always just accepting dying as being the only way to succeed.
You can actually choose any waypoint that you've unlocked so if you don't want to go back where you died, you don't have to.
Are you serious? That's brilliant. Never would have thought of that."If you're defeated before you can rally, then you simply respawn at the nearest Waypoint, with one piece of armor damaged."
You can actually choose any waypoint that you've unlocked so if you don't want to go back where you died, you don't have to.
I'll be playing Mesmer come this weekend beta. I really like the idea of a puppet master type of play.
My sylvari necro will be a master of dead meat puppets.
Not this weekend, they won't be. Necromancers do look awesome but the Necromancer has permenant pets right? The mesmer just spawns clones and phantasms and then they dissapear at the end of a fight.
As an aside, does anyone know if HoM rewards will be available in the beta?
As an aside, does anyone know if HoM rewards will be available in the beta?
I am honestly disappointed with the graphics after playing TERA. It crushes this visually, and it's a year older or more.
Not even attempting a troll. I was really looking forward to this, but the textures and models in some parts look extremely dated.
Will withhold further judgement until release.