Guild Wars 2?

skyride · 2012-09-06T14:38:44.000Z

Tom Chick:

I’ve been tempted to do this for some of my F1-F4 abilities, but how do you strafe if you’re using your Q and E key for something else? You know what, screw it! I’m remapping F1-F4 to the Z, X, C, and V!

This is exactly how I have my Elementalist attunements mapped. You don’t need Q/E to strafe, just mouselook and A/D. Those are free keys to remap in almost every MMO I’ve played.

I think the stats are pretty straightforward in GW2. It’s not like different stats contribute to damage based on class (like Dex for rogues, Str for warriors). Is it a DD skill? Boost Power. DOT? Boost Condition. Boost Precision if you want more crits. So where is the confusion? I don’t play Engineer but I’m pretty sure that you would raise condition damage if it inflicts burning regardless of the fact that it’s not a normal weapon.

skyride · 2012-09-06T14:47:14.000Z

Here’s another thought if you really must know how to optimize the numbers. Press H. Select the last tab. Pick go to the mist. Now buy some free runes that boost different things like Condition Damage etc. Apply the runes and fire your weapon at the test dummies in the Mist. Look at the damage numbers then try a different set of runes. Since you are level 80 here, you can also test out different trait ideas.

Reldan · 2012-09-06T14:48:40.000Z

Tom Chick:

I’m a little fuzzy on how damage is determined in several situations like this. For instance, my weapons have damage ratings. Clear enough. But what’s the deal with my flamethrower, which is based on a skill that replaces the weapon? How do I boost that damage? By adding to my condition damage with gear?

Power straight up adds to your attack strength for any damage your abilities do. Each ability has some formula where it does some percentage of your total attack as damage, and your attack is based on Power, weapon damage, and level. I believe for the Flamethrower and other kits the damage simply goes off of Power and level.

However, Power only affects the damage your attacks deal directly. Any conditions you apply that also deal damage (Bleed, Burn, Poison) are instead improved by your Condition Damage stat.

Most of the time you’re best to focus on increasing one or the other and try pair that with attacks that are either direct damage or condition oriented.

Flamethrower is a quirky case in that the main damage attack (1) is direct damage that also applies a Burn, so it’s improved by both stats.

tomchick · 2012-09-06T14:55:26.000Z

Who needs wikis when we have Reldan and skyride? Great suggestion on the dummies in the PvP area, skyride!

-Tom

Nephrinn · 2012-09-06T14:57:45.000Z

PC Gamer reviews Guild Wars 2, giving it a 94.

An accomplished and rewarding online RPG that does a great deal to reclaim the promise of its genre.

Reemul · 2012-09-06T15:01:25.000Z

Tom Chick:

I think that’s par for the course, Reemul. I had to grind a bit for my first manual. Do you have a bunch of stuff stocked up in collectibles that you can sell? Otherwise, just get out there and do some heart missions and events!

By the way, I really like the longer term moneysinks in this game. Instead of just a mount, you can spend your money on gear at the trading post, extra storage space, or even more character slots. It all feels very fair to me.
-Tom

Ok that’s cool, I may have some collectables in storage as I keep storing stuff but not looking at it, could sell something on the TP maybe.

PeterK · 2012-09-06T15:06:04.000Z

Reemul:

I’m struggling for gold. i’m now level 11 and only had 5 silver and need 10 for my adept training. I actually have 2 points unsued still as I can’t aford it yet. Any ideas hwo to approach this, I dont buy mch tbh

This is probably obvious, but just in case - are you getting the money from the heart quests you do? You have to read the thank you message and hit the Take All button to get it.

razarok · 2012-09-06T15:25:14.000Z

Tom Chick:

I’ve been tempted to do this for some of my F1-F4 abilities, but how do you strafe if you’re using your Q and E key for something else? You know what, screw it! I’m remapping F1-F4 to the Z, X, C, and V!
-Tom

You know, like in most mmos, you can strafe by holding the “turn” buttons (A/D) and holding the right mouse button, right?

Wolff · 2012-09-06T15:30:40.000Z

Hey throwing this out there because it seems we might have some “keyboard turners” one of the best way to up your game is to have good comfortable keybinds.

I’ll leave mine here they work very well.

Unbind turn left right
W forward
A strafe left
S backwards (hardcore pvpers unhindered this)
D strafe right
Q weapon1
E w2
R w3
F w4
G w5
Z heal
X utility1
C U2
V u3
B elite
1 class1
2 c2
3 c3
4 c4
Shift dodge (turn off double tap to dodge)
T interact loot
5 take target
6 call target

Charlatan · 2012-09-06T15:47:35.000Z

Cobra:

That’s awesome! Do you know where it was?

I’m pretty sure he’s talking about Morgan’s Spiral. At that heart (it’s the level 5 heart in the zone I think) there is a spiral flower thing right in the middle of the spiral. When the leaves are horizontal you can climb it. Good luck!

The spiral isn’t always climbable though. There is a dynamic event where the area is attacked by undead. If that event fails, the spiral leaves shrivel, and you can’t climb.

Charlatan · 2012-09-06T15:56:23.000Z

Tom Chick:

I’m a little fuzzy on how damage is determined in several situations like this. For instance, my weapons have damage ratings. Clear enough. But what’s the deal with my flamethrower, which is based on a skill that replaces the weapon? How do I boost that damage? By adding to my condition damage with gear?

I get that MMOs stats are often complicated, but I wish they would trust me a bit more when I’m ready to dig into the numbers. First Secret World and now Guild Wars 2 give me a really cool combat system, but I often don’t get all the information I need to really finesse it the way they want me to.

One thing you can do is hover over your tooltips and… You know… Read them! The tooltip for each ability tells you what it does, whether it simply damages someone or whether it applies a condition. If it applies a condition the tooltip tells you how much damage the condition applies and what other effects will happen.so to compare gear you can swap gear around to see how the damage and condition damage figures change.

Some attacks are chained in that attack 1 does one thing, a second attack with the same hotkey does something else, and a third attack does something else again. As far as I know, the only way to really see there chains is to look at the tooltips. That’s how you would find out that your Engineer shield does something if you hit 4, but if you hit 4 while you’re blocking, it does something else.

This is also the way you asn gauge the effectiveness of your different weapons. Swap them around and see how the numbers change.

In addition, if you hit H and hover over your stats on the right side of the window, you can see how things like power, precision, and condition damage affect you. Incidentally, if you see a set of green numbers and a set of white numbers, the white ones are your ‘real’ stats, and the green ones are your stats scaled to the level you’re in.

I read that additional power adds to the time your conditions last, and that condition damage adds to the damage. I don’t know for sure if that’s true, but it’s something I will be looking into. It makes sense that power doesn’t add to condition damage.

Octagus · 2012-09-06T16:10:31.000Z

error filled post used to be here

Malkroth · 2012-09-06T16:26:39.000Z

Outlandish:

I’m using Z-B for my utility skills, still haven’t found any place to put my F1-F4 that works better than F1-F4. I refuse to learn some new 322 button mouse or gadget.

I’ve taken to using this as my standard layout:
W forward, S Back, A strafe left, D strafe right
E interact, Shift G for guild
Class skills are Shift 1-4
F, G, R are utility.

Rob_O_Boston · 2012-09-06T16:38:44.000Z

Charlatan:

I’m pretty sure he’s talking about Morgan’s Spiral. At that heart (it’s the level 5 heart in the zone I think) there is a spiral flower thing right in the middle of the spiral. When the leaves are horizontal you can climb it. Good luck!

The spiral isn’t always climbable though. There is a dynamic event where the area is attacked by undead. If that event fails, the spiral leaves shrivel, and you can’t climb.

That is the one. And the idea that it isn’t always accessible just makes it that much sweeter.

JScott · 2012-09-06T16:42:17.000Z

I have learned to love the mouse wheel button as ‘weapon swap.’

NuclearWinter · 2012-09-06T17:02:14.000Z

Warning to anyone who does the Cattlepult event in Diessa Plains: don’t be as stupid as me and bet (then lose) 50s because you accidentally read it as 50c while clicking through the dialogue :(

tomchick · 2012-09-06T17:07:41.000Z

Charlatan:

One thing you can do is hover over your tooltips and… You know… Read them!

Wait, wait, you think I haven’t read the tooltips? Do you know who you’re talking to? I’m known as Tooltips McGee in some circles. I appreciate your suggestion, but there are no tooltips that explain the base damage for the flamethrower, how to use the shield skills, and what the critical damage numbers mean.

-Tom

Kyle700 · 2012-09-06T17:09:31.000Z

Oh, and Tom, I checked the wiki about critical hits, and the way it works is: (150% base damage + extra critical hit damage)

Charlatan · 2012-09-06T17:49:50.000Z

Tom Chick:

Wait, wait, you think I haven’t read the tooltips? Do you know who you’re talking to? I’m known as Tooltips McGee in some circles. I appreciate your suggestion, but there are no tooltips that explain the base damage for the flamethrower, how to use the shield skills, and what the critical damage numbers mean.
-Tom

Well Mr McGee, I’m pretty sure when you use your shield 4 ability, the icon and tooltip change to indicate you can press 4 again to shove mobs back.

Sean_Tudor · 2012-09-06T17:55:57.000Z

Also another tip for engineers - try one of the lesser known builds using the Elixir Kit. You will be pleasantly surprised how good it is. :)