3541

To them getting their twitter account unhacked.

3542

I’m thinking about upgrading my CPU/mobo/ram from a AMD 965 3.4 to a i5-3570k. The game plays okay for the most part but I think I’m bottlenecking my 560ti a bit. Anyone with similar hardware that can comment?

On a different note I love the game but man mob density seems way too high at times. This is especially apparent underwater where I really want to just enjoy some sights but you can’t move a few feet without getting attacked by 48 mobs.

3543

The twitter lines are all quotes from each of the main GW2 races.

3544

I have the i5 and a 570, smooth like baby butt.

3545

I agree with you on mob density. I must have died 10 times today trying to get to the vista in Dredgehaunt Cliffs because it was up on these walkways that were FILLED with dredge. I only managed to get it because I followed someone doing a suicide run to the damn thing. My first truly frustrating experience so far.

3546

It pushes my CPU (second-gen Sandybbridge i7) like crazy. Just hanging out at the Mystic Forge in Lion’s Arch increases my CPU temp by 20 degrees Celsius for some reason! Pretty crazy stuff.

3547

Confirming that Mesmer is a slow-burner that only really starts to shine when you get into the Traits (I’m now at 32).

Definitely my favourite Profession so far (and that’s saying something, since I’ve enjoyed all the other classes I’ve tried so far too).

It’s not a pet class, you have to get used to thinking of your illusions as disposable - Clones are basically aggro management tools, Phantasms are like DoTs, shattering is burst, with ancillary effects (which are quite important and situationally useful). Phantasms add a LOT to your damage, but they have such a long delay between their initial attack and their second that it’s probably not worth being precious with them either, just shatter them after their first attack, and summon more. They can be traited to have a faster attack, then I guess you’d think about keeping them up more and keeping the aggro on you (clones keep the aggro off you, but if you’re going to rely on phantasms for dps, you have to keep the aggro on you).

Mesmer has a ton of micro-management, but I like that. I always say, I’m not the sort of player who will use one keypress to kill a mob when I can use half a dozen keypresses to do the same job :)

Every MMO has to have a class or two like that - micro-management intensive, lkeypress intensive, has to be situationally aware of the battlefield, etc., also capable of filling lots of different roles (you can even tank tolerably with a Chaos-oriented Mesmer).

Staff seems to be the most useful all-round weapon, and it has some wonderful graphics/audio fx attached. Sword+Pistol seems to be a generally favoured combination for secondary weapon, for PvP especially, because of the pistol stun; but all the combinations work and do something interesting and potentially synergistic with various combinations of traits - it just depends on your playstyle and the circumstances.

Recently I’ve even been getting into the Mantras. They make you more of a traditional Mage, with spells that you prepare beforehand (except you can charge them up while running) with proper “magic spell” fx. Again, you could trait into a Mantra based Mesmer, or Sigil based, or Shatter based, or a more traditional Healer (Inspiration tree) … so many options.

3548

I have a i5-3570k and a AMD 6950 combo. It plays pretty well for me, although I am not maxed on in terms of setting. I’ve not experienced any noticable performance issues, and i haven’t tweaked a single setting from whatever it defaulted to. I’ve only overclocked the CPU a hair.

3549

I’m playing with i5-2600 + 560ti and the game runs fine (albeit not with maxed settings). I did however cap my fps to 30 to get a more consistent frame rate in big events and WvW.

3550

Don’t know if this has been posted already, but there’s an entertaining Angry Joe review here. 10/10, he’s totally sold on the game.

3551

Yah I should try to set my cap at 30. I have it at 60 now which is definitely wishful thinking.

3552

I’m playing on a i7 920 and a GTX 560 Ti and have not really noticed any frame drops since the first couple of days. Sometimes when I check in towns or a lot of people, I might fee 45 fps.

Although since I would have to open the options menu, I do not know what my standard fps is…

3553

Anyone else playing a Charr? Its a bit disconcerting at first, running around in the ruins of what was the starting area of Guildwars 1, seeing so many interesting places you used to know, and then facing ghosts of those that used to give you orders back in GW1.

As one moves onward, it gets even weirder, as you start fighting Seperatists, who are humans that thinks that Ascalon should be for humans… That one made me pause for a moment and think about whether I wanted to continue playing a charr - The personal story is pretty fun though, and the running animation aside, its a pretty gorgeous looking race.

3554

I’ve wondered how much from GW1 is in GW2 since I didn’t play the first game. I am told playing the first and reading the books would expand on the lore. I was fortunate enough that my sister rambled on about this game for months before release, so I benefited from the lore the devs talked about at least. I am a little lost about the dwarves, since well I saw one, and I thought they were dead. Dwarves are my sister’s favorite race, so seeing one perked me up a bit.

It’s probably odd this early on, but I can’t help but wonder about expansions mostly because I wonder what a GW2 expansion might look like.

3555

Yes but as a charr you should know that it is they who were driven from their lands by those nasty humans, and they simply retook what was rightfully theirs in the first place. It’s only their former king’s resistance that ensures the humans cling onto a ghostly existence to keep fighting the charr.

Listen to me, playing this game way too much I think. But you have to admit the charr are cool, and anyway their voice acting is generally tolerable (most voices are when pitch-shifted down an octave and forever angry!) unlike certain other races I’ve encounted. If I start an alt, it will be an asura. From what I’ve seen, their general sarcasm towards everyone around them appeals to me.

3556

Yep, that’s my new CPU and my trusty gfx card and I’ve not had any slowdown with everything set nice and high. Done lots of WvW with no FPS issues either (I’m sure the FPS is lower than normal in a zerg but it’s not low enough for me to notice).

3557

I know that fight. I think the problem with that one is that the boss is human-sized (well. Norn-sized). Which means once the melee players pile on and the casters open up, he’s practically invisible under a mob of players and a sizzling aurora of spell effects. So it’s hard to spot the tell when he’s going to do a big attack.

But I’m pretty sure his attack isn’t instant-death, though - there were definitely people still up after it when I was fighting him. That was the incident that encouraged me to invest in Vitality and Toughness more (best decision I ever made).

That fight also isn’t safe for ranged combatants - those storms he summons roam all over the place. Group fights in GW2 are pretty savage.

That encounter highlights one of my favourite things about GW2, although I know it’s not to everyone’s taste: you can’t stick to the same rotation in all encounters. You need to work out what’s happening and respond. Change your skills, tweak your spec.

The first time I did that shaman encounter I went in full melee, couldn’t see a thing and just focussed on DPS. I got splattered.

The second time I switched between ranged and melee, darting in to do melee DPS bursts then backing out when things got too busy. It meant having to dodge storms, and mix damage with reviving fallen characters, and it was a blast.

The thing I struggle with most in GW2 at the moment is that when there’s 10 or so players on screen it can get really hard to tell what’s going on. Everyone’s attacks are so awesome and pyrokinetic the screen fills up with bolts of lightning and rains of fire and summoned monsters and clouds of purple butterflies and whirling blades and glowing shields and it’s hard to pick targets and react to specific events. Feels like there’s an amazing sweet spot for 5 or so players, though.

3558

Argh. I really need to start exploring the charr stuff. That sounds great.

The norn lands have got lots of references to Jora, my favourite companion from the GW1 Eye of the North expansion.

There’s a statue to her on top of a hill in the Wayfarer Foothills. Yesterday I was just too late to stop a gang of norn dedicated to the memory of Jora’s mad, dragon-worshipping brother Svanir from smashing it to pieces. I was gutted.

Then this ice-scultpor who reveres Jora’s memory set out from the local haven and started rebuilding the statue. She’s chipping away and I see the Sons of Svanir coming back up the hill to stop her. So I got to defend her while she worked. At one point a Son of Svanir got past me and dropped the sculptor, so I killed him and revived her so she could finish her work before going back to the battle.

Jora’s back on her hill now. And everything’s ok.

3559

Ha! I had no idea the Jora statue could get destroyed. Far too high a player-to-Svanir ratio to let that happen most of the time.

3560

I will second the idea of training for survivability. On my last two toons I’ve tried to grab mostly defensive gear and traits. You kill only a little slower but the ability to tank damage is amazing. I am currently loving my guardian (chef extraordinaire!) great sword for dps , mace shield for tankyness. Frequently I am the only melee left standing in big DEs so much res XP!