3061

I play a guardian build that’s completely focused on burn damage. I currently have the major traits which make me do extra damage to burning foes and one which lights an enemy afire whenever I block an attack.

Main main weapon combo is mace/torch. I can put a symbol on the ground which burns foes (and heals allies), block attacks (which burns the attacker), breathe fire and set myself ablaze (which burns enemies around me).

My secondary set is sceptre/focus for a ranged attack and ranged aoe. The focus, again, lets me block up to three attacks, resulting in more burnination.

I switch my utility skills around quite a bit, but Cleansing Flames is my go–to area burning skill.

It’s pretty crazy. Everything’s just on fire all the time. My guardian is much more of a pyromancer than my elementalist will ever be.

3062

Yup, that did the trick. Chatting with triggercut now!

3063

Yes, it works from behind walls (It also works for jumping puzzles btw, at the least the couple I’ve used it with).

The only limitaiton is distance, and it works over a pretty far distance.

The portal last for 12 seconds when it’s been cast, which is enough time for a few poeple to escape - Obviously voice comms help though :)

Portal was actually my inspiration for the build I linked above - i always loved the spell but wished it had more utility aside from escapes and troop movement. With the above build it turns the portal into a mini confusion/blind mine so you can also use it as an offensive weapon.

3064

ohhh, that is nice! thanks for the tip! What level are you by now? I’ll focus on this a bit as well, sounds like fun!

3065

Stuff like this is awesome…I am playing an engineer but might need to play a few others so I can try and focus on something specific like this…COOL

3066

Wow, I’m the first necromancer to post here! I originally thought I would go heavy on pets, but they didn’t pack the punch or toughness I was expecting. Luckily, the class’ boon/condition management options are remarkable, so I think I found a pseduo-healer niche. At any given moment, 3/4 of my skill bar is AOE, most of which apply or remove statuses, including one that can insta-rez three people in a small area. My preferred weapons are scepter and either focus or dagger for individual combat, and staff for group encounters. Other weapons get rotated in sometimes except for the warhorn, which seems rather useless.

3067

I immediately rolled five characters to try different things, but now I have to delete one I think and try other stuff, because I haven’t tried Engineer, Necro, or Mesmer yet. It doesn’t take long to get to 4 or 5 at least. I’m mostly dabbling–highest is a 10 Elementalist, which I do like–but I think I’ll definitely keep my Thief and Elementalist. My Warrior, Guardian, and Ranger I’m not sure about. I think the Ranger is my least favorite so far, though that might be because she looks kinda like the Jolly Green Giant’s niece or something.

3068

Giantbomb blasted Guild Wars 2 in its recent quick look: “it just feels like another MMO” and “I kinda don’t wanna play this game.”

I love Giantbomb, but I think this quick look was pretty awful. There were so many instances in that quick look where they either had no clue about something or were simply misinformed. Some of these include the overflow server, fighting for resources, amd confusing the hearts for dynamic events.

3069

Is that comment thread a reasonable example of the level of discussion on Giantbomb?

3070

Well, I’m a jaded, very veteran MMO player, as is my wife, and both of our first reactions to GW2 (a game neither of us has followed or knew much about really) was, “damn, this is a game I want to play.” Dunno how long it’ll last, but right now I’m diggin’ it.

3071

I’m playing charr engineer and loving it. Hit 25 this morning. I’m using a rifle. Even though its skills don’t pack too much of a punch, it’s excellent for controlling your enemies. There are immobilization and knockback skills, and one called jumpshot which does aoe damage where you jump from and where you jump to. I use this ability for distancing myself when my other abilities are on cd, and also for big damage (I just jump to the same spot I’m standing to induce both the leap and land damage on the same enemies).

For my healing skill I usually just have elixir H (self heal with some buffs), but if I’m in a PvE group and we’re going to be in the same spot for awhile in a tough fight, I’ll switch out to the healing turrent (constant aoe heal). As a side note, I find turrets largely useless in PvP because they just get focused and destroyed.

My 7 and 8 skills, utility goggles and rocket boots, handle crippling effects to my character. 7 cures movement impairments and 8 cures stuns. Since constant movement is such an important part of my build, I just wanted ones that had a decent cooldown. (as a nice side bonus, they provide really nice profession skills)

My 9 skill is flamethrower. This is great for handling groups of enemies in PvE when I’m not being targeted. I switch this out for grenade kit in WvW because long range aoe attacks are insanely useful and trying to use flamethrower is a deathwish.

I haven’t gotten an elite skill yet, but am saving up skill points so I’ll be able to get one right at 30.

Quick crafting tip, discoveries give you tons of xp. It’s also really easy to figure out what you haven’t discovered yet. All the crafting disciplines I’ve tried have some kind of stat modifying component (mighty green inscription, vital green inscription, etc.). The items unlocked by default only have one of the stat modifiers applied to them (mighty bronze rifle, mighty bronze harpoon, etc.). So just get the mats for one of the items, but craft a different stat modifying component, then put the components in the discover tab and voila.

For example, a mighty bronze rifle requires 1x mighty green inscription, 1x bronze rifle barrel, and 1x green rifle stock. If you haven’t unlocked vital bronze rifle, craft a vital green inscription, a bronze rifle barrel, and a green rifle stock. Put them in the discover tab and bam tons of xp. The only downside is that the stat modifying components are usually made with annoying to get mats (unobtainable via gathering, like bone chips and tiny totems).

That’s my stuff so far, message me in game! I’m Grim Longtooth (Trikker.4169)

3072

A quick caveat emptor about the Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition, for anyone who hasn’t picked up the game yet:

The benefits of the CE over the Digital Deluxe edition are: the Art of Guild Wars 2 book; a custom frame with interchangeable GW2 artwork; the Best of Guild Wars 2 soundtrack; and a huge Rytlock vinyl figure (more of a statue, really).

I bought the CE primarily for the art book and the soundtrack, both of which are really nice. However, you should know that the soundtrack only contains six tracks, although it does include a $5-off coupon for the full Guild Wars 2 soundtrack, with comes in a 4-CD set signed by Jeremy Soule. I immediately bought the soundtrack separately, but I was a little disappointed that the included soundtrack sampler seemed so anemic.

I’m still torn about whether the set was worth the extra money. That Rytlock figure is pretty huge though, and looks great! I just don’t know where I’m going to put it.

3073

I have five slots filled, with one or two that keep getting wiped and rerolled because everytime there is a thread talking about professions I realize how that sounds so cool and I must try it out. I am unlikely to have a ‘main’ anytime soon at this rate.

Of the two I’ve played the most, I’m liking Engineer a bit more than Guardian at the moment. I’m not able to key on exactly why - my Guardian lacks a ranged weapon right now and I think that’s holding him back. I think it may simply be the unique feeling of the engineer - a switch from the standard swords and sorcery. That said, I’m sure I’ll tinker with my elementalist a bit tonight.

3074

Good grief, I spent over an hour last night agonizing over character creation and ultimately hadn’t even completed a single character by the time I got too tired and went to bed. I’ll remedy this tonight, though. Can’t wait! Thanks for the character overviews, guys.

Thought I’d share that I just spotted an interesting Android app: Guild Wars 2: Field Guide. Edit: Bah, sorry guys, I’d recommend skipping it because it’s half-baked. Nice concept though.

3075

I find the GB quick looks to quite often be annoying, and /or missing the point. It’s also surprising how unaware and generally terrible most of the people who do the quick looks are. You can usually find much better, and much more in depth coverage by snooping around fan made stuff on Youtube or Twitch.

3076

Thanks for the recommendation on Raidcall triggercut, seems to be working well. Should be fun!

I’m playing a male Charr Elementalist, basically because I find magic-using to be more interesting that melee in MMO games. That’s before I realised how much more interesting melee fighting appears to be in GW2. Still, I like my bestial-looking… beast, and flinging spells around while swapping attunements keeps things interesting. I’m sporting a bright green tunic, which produced one amusing comment while on WvW last night as I joined a group “We have a Hulk!” I then proceeded to die spectacularly several times, but I like to think that’s because we were outnumbered about a gazillion to ten.

So far I’m not feeling the Water class of spells at all, but the other three have their strengths. Earth is fast becoming my favourite, although Air is the most spectacular. I keep swapping between either dual-wielding daggers, which tends to produce short-range direct damage attacks, and a dual-wield scepter / dagger (offhand) which is a decent mix of short- and medium-range plus AoE. Haven’t had much luck with the staff really, not enough direct attacks for my liking.

I’m still figuring out the best way to use Skill points though. I mean, I have about 10 of the things sitting there unused while I decide what to spend them on. I tend to find a build I like and stick with it, so I’d have to tear myself away from skills I’m proficient with to test other ones. That’s a “me” problem though I think.

Still only level 14 so a long way to go.

3077

That’s one of the beauties of this game, so much room to find individual tastes even in a single class. I’m loving the staff and especially fire and air. Water works for me but while it’s an improvement over being a dedicated healer, it’s not very DPS heavy and has some effects I don’t really know how to make the most of. And earth isn’t doing much for me on any weapon.

3078

Okay, I finally rolled a Sylvari Thief. Very pleased with the experience overall, and I’ll be hitting whatever treadmills there may be to start leveling, now.

I do have a couple of purely aesthetic complaints. (1) There is only a single outfit to choose from. (2) Why, oh why are Sylvari’s who wish to display their heads and faces required to wear a ridiculous headband? They don’t even have hair!

Edit: Daagar: Aaaaaah, much better. Thank ye. Any further noobish commentary/questions from me will be directed at the “how?” thread.

3079

Unless the headband is not a helmet, you can disable visibility of your helmet and shoulders on your 'H’ero page, just by clicking the checkbox on each item.

3080

That’s good to know. Since i am really enjoying GW2 though I doubt I will go back to 1, especially since I dislike much of the story elements, so that wouldn’t be much of an incentive.