Asheras wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 5:13pm:


I use BB and wings on mine.

Oh and I have Heal. I think.

I still complete the same stuff.

Vag1nasmasher wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 4:38pm:

The elementalist had 4 spell types, with five skills for each, along with 4 utility skills that you select (and can be swapped for free when not in combat) from an underlying selection of about 30, along with an elite skill. 
Saying there are 5 skills, is like saying DDO has 3 builds, healer, DPS and tank.

livefreeordie wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 5:18pm:


Nah.  It's more like saying a hotbar can only hold 10 things in DDO.  But that's ignoring the fact that you can hotkey things, program your mouse, and create/populate up to 20 hot bars.  All of which gives you a wider range of options than 10.

Saying there are only 5 spells per weapon ignores the other skills you have, the fact that you might have two weapons equipped, that you can swap weapon sets, and that you can change what element you are attuned to.  All of which gives you a wider range of options than 5 (or 10, which seems to be the size of the skillbar in GW2) 

Both games have plenty of options for a character accessing a variety of abilities/spells to fit the need of a quest.  They just use different mechanics to make it happen.

Vag1nasmasher wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 4:38pm:

At least you can login to GW2 to cast those spells.  Better yet, once you're in, you push a skill and it actually goes off!  CRAZY BUSINESS

livefreeordie wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 5:37pm:

1 word - Coyle... *shudder*

livefreeordie wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 5:37pm:

Some people have friends.  I'm sure you can google it if you aren't familiar with the term.

Asheras wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 5:46pm:


I would be careful. You might stumble upon ponies if you Google friendship.

Eladiun wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 5:48pm:

I'd agree with that.  As much as I think the content is too easy at many levels and I'd always like more content, I would rather not see another piece of content for 6 months if we got better performance as a result.

Asheras wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 12:00pm:

Stupid or not, it was and still continues to be a completely viable "strategy" in about 80+% of the content.  This is only true in Gw2 in about 5% of the at-level content.  That number raises depending on your character's actual level versus what level zone you are in, because gear and traits which would not have been available at those levels might be available if you're being down-leveled.  But even then, that number doesn't raise much.  In DDO it's stupid, but it still works.  In Gw2 it's suicide.

Quote:

This is one of the shortcomings, and one which many of us simply don't understand the decision process behind.

Vag1nasmasher wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 4:38pm:

That number was completely baseless and/or taken out of context.

Asheras wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 5:33pm:

This is a much better explanation of the skills.  I added some corrections and edits in red.
Basically, there are a vast array of possibilities for the number of skills that you may or may not have available.
Engineer is the perfect example for this.

Like the Elementalist, an Engineer does not get a weapon swap.  Instead he has weapon kits which slot in a Utility or Elite slot.  Each and every Utility skill in the game for a Engy, including racial skills, offers a secondary skill in his professional slots.  So an Engy that slots zero Kits will have five weapon slots, one heal, three utilities, one elite, and four toolbelt skills, for a total of fourteen skills available to draw from.  This is the lowest number possible by any profession.  It is also a poor way to slot skills for your Engy.

Each and every kit Equipped has it's own set of five skills to draw from.  So on the other end of the spectrum, an Engy might have five weapon skills, one MedKit [heal skill = five skills from that Kit], three Utility Kits [fifteen skills from those Utility Kits], one elite skill, and four professional skills on his toolbelt, for a total of twenty nine skills to draw from during combat.

So one Engineer has fourteen skills available, while another has more than twice that number of skills available.

The largest number of skills that may be available belongs to the Elementalist which slots Conjure skills.
Five weapons per Attunement for a total of twenty weapon skills, and five skills per Conjured weapon [three utility plus one elite] for a total of twenty more conjured weapon skills, plus one heal, for a total of forty one skills available.  Just like the Engy with no kits, this is a poor way to slot skills on your Ele.

Epoch wrote on Sep 14^th, 2012 at 7:34pm:

You can slap me around if that would make you feel better!

Welp.

A friend of mine was..."less than impressed" by GW2 and is letting me try it out via his account.

I'm currently DLing the entire client via web.

Does race have any impact on game play beyond story-line/aesthetics?

I'll chip in.

Anyone who says "oh the skill cap must be so low you only have 5 skills blah da blah" has not played the game.

First as has been said, every class has 5 weapon skills at any given time, 1 Healing, 3 Utility, and 1 Elite. You also have a weapons swap on most classes. So 10 attacks, and 5 other skills. Most of the skills are super useful (unlike ddo spells) as well, and the whole fact that there are abilities based on weapons swaps can make the weapon swap ability itself act as 1-2 buff skills. Every class also has a profession skill. For example, the elementalist has 4 stances that it can be in, and any good elementalist will be swapping through at least 3 to cycle through their powerful attacks. I was a good caster in DDO, and even though I had over 9000 bars full to the brim, most of the quest I was spamming 5 buttons. The rest were buffs, clickies, etc. No real skill, just more of an annoyance. I played the elementalist in some of the BWE, and I can tell you that with the 20 attack skills of an elementalist, it requires vastly more skill to be a great caster. Stance dancing is also super fun and has effects if you spec for it.

Secondly, very little running a-b. You can go wherever you like, and wherever you go, you'll find things to do. And once you do the things, you're DONE. You don't have to run anywhere to turn in a quest.

Third: The 'best' gear is easy to get. The best looking, is not. You have your status symbol gear done from being good at PVP or PVE, but you don't need to grind alot to be able to try and get it. Skill determines this game.

Fourth: PVP IS AMAZEBALLS. WvWvW is incredibly fun. I have been running with my old SWTOR guild on black gate, and we have been decimating. Coordination is rewarded  immensely in this game. Also, sPVP is almost like a separate game. It levels you up to max and gives you the option of any gear that you want, meaning you play for the prestige, and the OMFGfun.