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CODChimera posted:i'm so far behind. i haven't done any of the latest expansion and i still have some of that "return to.." stuff left to finish A word of advice: Return To is 1,000% worth it. You get tons of mats and an extremely good prize at the end. Just do a little bit each day. It'll go quicker than you might think but burning out is possible if you don't pace yourself.
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Aug 25, 2022 16:36
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I forgot those achievements give a legendary trinket, I just did a good chunk of each for my skyscale so maybe I should keep pushing them.
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Aug 25, 2022 16:54
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Yeah I wonder how fast it will go now that no one has to wait for segments to unlock. I started about half-way through and caught up in just a couple weeks of very casual play.
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Aug 25, 2022 17:10
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I've been having fun with this so I bought all the expansions because I hate feeling like I'm missing out on good content, lol. I am back on my necro, I don't even think I finished whatever there was to do in vanilla but I figured just picking up at the start of Heart of Thorns isn't a bad idea? It truly is an overwhelming amount of stuff being thrown at me so really trying to focus on A Thing to keep myself busy with while I reacquaint myself with the game again.
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Aug 25, 2022 17:11
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Starting a new character(s) is really fun but now I'm caught up between what class I'd like to play. Warrior is solid and fun, but it'd be kinda cool to have some magic that isn't this: Maybe sword ranger, even though they got rid of the really cool kick move from years ago? It's like playing a brand new game!
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Aug 25, 2022 17:19
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where the red fern gropes posted:a builds section in the OP would be neat with some starter builds like rifle mechanist or power reaper I made some large effort posts for a few classes in the old thread including one for Rifle Mech. Should I just repost them here? That may be helpful for the new people
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Aug 25, 2022 17:22
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Aug 25, 2022 17:31
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explosivo posted:I've been having fun with this so I bought all the expansions because I hate feeling like I'm missing out on good content, lol. I am back on my necro, I don't even think I finished whatever there was to do in vanilla but I figured just picking up at the start of Heart of Thorns isn't a bad idea? It truly is an overwhelming amount of stuff being thrown at me so really trying to focus on A Thing to keep myself busy with while I reacquaint myself with the game again. I think the story is good enough that you should do it in order. Now that you can get the raptor early, there's no reason to jump ahead. HoT can be a hassle but it's worth exploring. jokes posted:Starting a new character(s) is really fun but now I'm caught up between what class I'd like to play. Warrior is solid and fun, but it'd be kinda cool to have some magic that isn't this: have you heard the good word about our Lord and savior Revenant???
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Aug 25, 2022 17:36
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Hakarne posted:I made some large effort posts for a few classes in the old thread including one for Rifle Mech. Should I just repost them here? That may be helpful for the new people DO IT DO IT DO IT
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Aug 25, 2022 17:36
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explosivo posted:I've been having fun with this so I bought all the expansions because I hate feeling like I'm missing out on good content, lol. I am back on my necro, I don't even think I finished whatever there was to do in vanilla but I figured just picking up at the start of Heart of Thorns isn't a bad idea? It truly is an overwhelming amount of stuff being thrown at me so really trying to focus on A Thing to keep myself busy with while I reacquaint myself with the game again. Going through in order is the best way, in my opinion. With the caveat that I played a different character until I got the Springer mount in Path of Fire only because navigating some of the HoT zones without it was a real drag.
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Aug 25, 2022 17:46
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Ort posted:I forgot those achievements give a legendary trinket, I just did a good chunk of each for my skyscale so maybe I should keep pushing them. It took 20 hours of additional game play, once I had the skyscale, to earn the legendary amulet via the Seasons of the Dragons achievement.
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Aug 25, 2022 17:47
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DARPA posted:It took 20 hours of additional game play, once I had the skyscale, to earn the legendary amulet via the Seasons of the Dragons achievement. The events and bounties are the ones I haven’t done yet so I imagine those will take a good chunk of time.
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Aug 25, 2022 17:58
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Inzombiac posted:I think the story is good enough that you should do it in order. Drone Incognito posted:Going through in order is the best way, in my opinion. Hm, okay then is that starting at "Living World Season 1" in the Story Journal? I already have the "my story" stuff completed by the looks of it. Sorry if this is a stupid question 
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Aug 25, 2022 17:58
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Yes. Ls1 is the weakest of the living story chapters, but it is worth doing in order to know what's going on.
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Aug 25, 2022 18:03
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Inzombiac posted:I think the story is good enough that you should do it in order. This. Revenant is sort of a battle mage/invoker/ritualist. An extremely fun class with a meta build for every game mode.
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Aug 25, 2022 18:04
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 here's a picture of the SMC Crew without anyone getting wazowski'd
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Aug 25, 2022 18:19
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Alright I'll start with the Mechanist on my lunch break since it's FOTM and someone specifically requested it. (Edit: This is for an Engineer Elite Specialization that requires the End of Dragons expansion): After bouncing off Engineer for ~3 years, Rifle Mechanist finally made me stick with it. It is amazing and it's so fun to play that I'm worried they're going to nerf it (Edit: It has only gotten stronger lol). I figured I'd make another (smaller) effort post about it.  Open World Pve Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PegAQRlxycZvsWWMOsLmxdA-zRpYBREKcLKQCihNHEhRQYlRbpQgVgzHAB2D6ASH2YR/zI-e (Note: This is oddly specific gear based on what I had on hand. You can play around with the balance between Marauder/Assassin/Berserker/Dragon based on what you have. The goal is to end up with 60% baseline crit, which with the new Hematic Focus (+15% crit) and PvE Fury (25%) gets you to a 100% crit rate.) Permanent Alacrity, 20-25 Might, Fury, and 100% crit. This will solo anything you throw at it, in record time, with plenty of utility too. It really has everything. The damage is outstanding and you and your mech have a lot of tools for survival. Sanctuary Runes are the bee's knees now that they trigger off of HoT effects, such as your Rectifier Signet and Big Boomer. Heals passively give you Barrier and Barrier gives you Alacrity, so as long as you're in combat you'll have permanent Alacrity with no need to invest in any boon duration beyond what you get from the Runes. Amazing! For Might, you provide 5 Might to yourself and allies thanks to the new Pinpoint Distribution. You generate ~1 Might/second thanks to the Sigil of Strength and a 100% crit rate. You also gain Might whenever you inflict Bleeding, which you have a 33% chance to do whenever you crit. You also gain 5 Might when you use Blunderbuss, with an additional 3 Might from the 3 stacks of Bleed it inflicts. Put it all together and you'll always be at or near 25 Might as long as you're using Blunderbuss on CD. Fury is also generated passively when you hit someone with an explosion, which you'll do just by auto-attacking with the Rifle. For your Mech, Sky Circus is great AoE and also a defiance break where he lands, so he's good for CC/breakbar if you can get him near enemies. You can also use Rifle 3, 4, and Force Signet for defiance breaks so you have fantastic breakbar damage. Your mech will probably take most of the beating so don't be shy about using Rectifier Signet, Barrier Signet, and Crisis zone to keep you and your mech alive. If you need to reposition yourself or your mech (to escape or push CC) use Shift Signet, which will also serve as your condi cleanse along with Crisis Zone. Demo videos on my usual punching bags: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzvEgiYwzmU Champion Mayatl the Fierce (killed in under 2 minutes!). Note if you're worried about your mech dying before the mob, hold off on using Overclock Signet so you can resummon him immediately. With permanent Alacrity and all of the survival tools outlined above you'll be able to keep him alive long enough for the cooldown on OC Signet to recharge if you're in some kind of extended slugging match. But most things should be dead well before that's an issue! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1HBU3wKnoU Champion Avatar of Balthazar. Also a super fast kill, Mechanist just clowns on him. Power DPS (Fractal/Raids) Just use the Snow Crows build: https://snowcrows.com/builds/engineer/mechanist/power-mechanist. It's super simple and ends up with an easy 30k+ DPS. I don't even worry about a rotation, just jam everything that does damage off cooldown. Don't forget your mech skills! You can now set them to autofire, but note that Core Reactor Shot and Jade Mortar both have defiance break. So if you're going to need lots of CC it may still be best to use those manually. When you use Blunderbuss, swap into grenades and use Shrapnel Grenade. If you notice Poison or Freeze Grenade are available use them too. If you really hate grenades just use Rocket Turret for a small DPS loss. I don't like kit swapping, but since you're not swapping weapons going into grenades doesn't feel particularly onerous (imo). For CC you can hold off on Rifle 3,4 and your Mech's Jade Mortar/Core Reactor shot depending on how much you need. You can also use Force Signet for CC but save that for last as it will gimp your damage while it's on cooldown. Here's a DPS parse from after the most recent patch. Easy 34k DPS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT76Q0M_tus WvW Roaming/Group/Zerg Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PegAQRlxycZhsWWKOsT6xdA-zRpYBRFCcLoBxwmDiwIIsyIwKo3Uw5DgAjByG4+GL6fGB-e It took a lot of trial and error but I finally found a build I'm really happy roaming with. If you only care about clearing camps and stuff solo this works well for that too. Rifle can feel kind of squishy, and while it does fantastic damage you also need some staying power. You have great burst, but other classes can generally burst harder and faster at the start of a fight. So I found it best to have some more durability and mobility to withstand an initial burst from your opponent while you and your mech survive and wear them down a bit. Traits like Protection Injection, Hidden Flask, Emergency Elixir, and Transmute help you survive that burst. You'll also have an additional 6% (Alacrity/Fury/Might) damage reduction most of the time from Iron Blooded, which increases with the boons you get from traits and Crisis Zone. Combined with Protection, Resolution, and the Barrier Signet passive you can end up with 50%-55% damage reduction. You can also kite around with Rocket Boots, Shift Signet, and even Jump Shot. While you're surviving and plinking away, abilities like Orbital Strike should be about ready to fire off and you can turn around and put the hurt on your opponents. This set-up does necessitate dropping your crit below 100% (I run about 80% in WvW including Fury), but fortunately Rifle Mech doesn't rely on any one skill crit to make or break your fight. It's almost like a power DOT build in that you wear them down with constant, unrelenting ranged power damage then go for a kill shot. If you can line up some combination of Aim-Assisted Rocket/Orbital Command Strike/Blunderbuss/Jump Shot/Sky Circus the results are devastating:  That was a combination of Blunderbuss (4,300), Sky Circus (3,601), Orbital Command Strike (3,673), and Aim-Assisted Rocket (1,584) all fired off within 1-2 seconds for over 13k damage while they're still being peppered with ~600 damage crits from the rifle auto and ~1k crits from your mech. If I hadn't used Jump Shot while chasing them down I could've followed up with that for another 6-7k crit and Spark Revolver from my Mech too. It's just brutal and catches a lot of people off guard. Sky Circus also knocks back on landing and you can chain it with Rifle 4 to lock people down for a long time if they can't CC break. Here's another example against a Willbender showing some use of the Mortar too. I like using it to initiate at range and then drop the poison, chill, blind, and healing AoEs at my feet for melee. Then just keep splashing them down while you mitigate and kite as much as possible. Swapping in/out of Mortar cleanses conditions thanks to the cleansing sigil so you may want to save your swaps for that too. I kind of felt bad for them because I think my Orbital Strike animation was bugged and never appeared (at least on my screen) so they got popped with a 7,461 damage crit out of nowhere lol. I had to go back and check my log to figure out wtf happened to them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEqppf32SyM This was an absolutely nutso long fight I had against a Harbinger after I failed to burst them down initially. This highlights one of the big weaknesses of the build (losing your golem) but also how ridiculously resilient and mobile it is. I had to use every tool in the build's toolbox to survive and win. Never give up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJvgXPvwRqo This build is also great for zerging. I'd recommend dismissing your mech in zerg v zerg as he'll just run in and die or you'll have to keep calling him back. He can provide some projectile hate, barrier, stun break, and buffs for your group so it may be worth it to micromanage but I personally like just turning my brain off and pew pewing with my mortar from 1500 to collect bags. He'll still shoot stuff with aerial bombardment thanks to J-drive (lol) and you can just call him back in if you really feel the need. The perma alac lets you drop fields more for area denial, and combined with Orbital Command Strike you can do some great AoE damage on clumped players: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd69S8Oaqwg This was a hilarious rout of 12-13 people in an organized guild group by like 5 or 6 of us randoms from Maguuma. Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk lol. I love group fights with the Mortar. Fractal-cowboy Charr hopes you enjoy your time with Mechanist! 
Hakarne fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Aug 25, 2022 |
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Aug 25, 2022 19:35
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Lordshmee posted:Mesmer supremacy! Axe Mirage is still the funnest build of any class in any mmo I’ve ever played. Mesmer is the only class in video games that really, truly accurately captures what a Wizard is supposed to be. You are a walking chaos factor. Weird poo poo just happens when you show up. Nothing you use works how it's supposed to, but instead does something insane, like if you shoot a gun it doesn't shoot bullets, it shoots out doppelgangers of you. You can tell someone that they're on fire, and they will be. You are a quantum paradox. And this may very well be this game's greatest triumph.
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Aug 25, 2022 19:50
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Still waiting for Maguuma's population to dip from full to very high so I can use the free transfer newer core accounts apparently have. That said, game is solid, sales don't happen often enough, content delivery "strategy" is borked. Other than that 5/7 - no reason not to give it a try.
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Aug 25, 2022 20:06
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Luggage posted:That said, game is solid, sales don't happen often enough, content delivery "strategy" is borked. Other than that 5/7 - no reason not to give it a try. Oh dang, a perfect score?
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Aug 25, 2022 21:02
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Hakarne posted:Great engineer post Thanks for this. I take it you need the expansions to get a lot of these abilities?
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Aug 25, 2022 21:11
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You do need End of Dragons, yes.
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Aug 25, 2022 21:12
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So this is a stupid question, but do you only unlock the abilities doing end of dragons stuff or can you spend points you get doing other things?
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Aug 25, 2022 21:15
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If you mean mastery points, then each expansion (+core) has it's own mastery tracks and the xp you earn on each expansion's maps goes towards the respective mastery track.
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Aug 25, 2022 21:20
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drat Dirty Ape posted:So this is a stupid question, but do you only unlock the abilities doing end of dragons stuff or can you spend points you get doing other things? You only need to have EoD unlocked on your account to have access to the EoD elite specs, of which Mechanist is one. All the hero points from Core, HoT, and PoF can be used to unlock the Mechanist skills and traits, in addition to the ones from EoD.
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Aug 25, 2022 21:20
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And to add to add to that. If you do WvW you get the EoD mastery point thingys too
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Aug 25, 2022 21:47
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Ok thanks, I really can't recall the advancement system in the game aside from trying to collect a bunch of hearts or something in each zone to unlock skills.
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Aug 25, 2022 21:48
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You will need skill points to learn the elite specs. It doesn't matter where you earn them which is nice. So grab any expansion hero point train in LFG and spend them in which ever elite spec you want.
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Aug 25, 2022 22:12
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Hero Points - you can unlock in any map and then use on any of the unlocked specializations that you have for your class. The later expansions seems better for these because they give you 10 points at a time. I believe vanilla Tyria maps only give 1 each? Mastery Points - these can only be earned on maps from that specific expansion and then used on their mastery tracks. You'll need to fill up your experience bar by doing events in that expansion's content and then when the bar is full you can spend the mastery points that you found.
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Aug 25, 2022 22:19
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drat Dirty Ape posted:Ok thanks, I really can't recall the advancement system in the game aside from trying to collect a bunch of hearts or something in each zone to unlock skills. Hero points (HP) are per character and spent to unlock actives (skills) and passives (traits) of your profession. They are gained via leveling up (at every odd level starting at 11) and doing hero point activities in the open world (1 per in core Tyria/base game and 10 per in any of the expansions). Every profession has several skill lines and 5 core trait lines. When you have skilled a trait line, you can activate it and use it's passive effects. You can pick your first at level 21, 2nd at 45 and 3rd at 71. It is generally recommended to fill out one trait line with HP (requires 60) before unlocking the next. When all base game skills and traits have been "bought" via HP, there are three more, the elite specializations. Each requires 250 HP to unlock and comes with both skills and traits. You can slot one of these as the third trait line, which will basically activate that "subclass". Chosen subclasses and used traits can be changed at almost any time outside of combat, so feel free to experiment. Also, there are more than enough HP to go around to unlock everything. I don't even own EoD yet and have enough HP to fully unlock its new elite spec right away. Mastery points (MP) are per account and get spent to unlock conveniences like autoloot, new skills, mounts plus mount skills or make certain objects in the game interactable. Once you unlock masteries by playing the first story mission of HoT or PoF, you always have one of several mastery paths selected for each content set. So you have separate masteries for core Tyria/base game, Hot, PoF, EoD and IBS. All XP you gain in each of those respective content sets past level 80 counts towards the selected mastery path. Once it is full (i.e. enough XP has been collected), you use mastery points to permanently unlock that mastery for all characters on your account (yes, even level 2 characters). You can then select a different mastery path or continue in the next tier of the current path. All mastery lines have at least 4 tiers, with each requiring more XP to fill and more mastery points to unlock. Note 1: the XP is never lost as long as one or more paths haven't been completely filled yet (the XP "spills over" to those). That also means you can switch halfway through filling one up to another or change what you want to go for next whenever you like. Note 2: once you have all masteries for a content set unlocked, you'll continue gaining XP, but gain a Spirit Shard every 254k XP as a reward. That's a material for crafting, which can also be turned into gold indirectly, if you are not into crafting gear for yourself. Luggage fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Aug 25, 2022 |
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Aug 25, 2022 22:33
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Masteries are a little weird in that they're partly extra abilities and partly story progression gates. Heart of Thorns was when they introduced masteries, and it's especially bad about making you grind out masteries to get further in the storyline
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Aug 25, 2022 22:39
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My main happens to be engineer and I do got to say they made some quite nice changes to rifle. I pretty much just run my old pvp spec (Circa 9 years ago) for everything because I don't know what is good but it seems to have the burts dps and sustain to take most things down. I guess in current terminology it is crit power build that uses quick cooldown toolbelt items to maximize the toolbelt lightning strike thing (I also use lightning strike sigil on my weapon cause more daka)? It seems to be even better than it was thanks to the changes to rifle making running explosives on the rifle build give huge benefits. And I guess my question is the mech build the same thing just better? BadLlama fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Aug 25, 2022 |
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Aug 25, 2022 23:39
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drat Dirty Ape posted:Thanks for this. I take it you need the expansions to get a lot of these abilities? Yeah sorry and thanks for asking that, actually. I'll clarify in that and the other posts I copy over that these require End of Dragons. The good news is if you take the leap and buy the expansions you can unlock enough hero points to use an elite spec in just a few hours. Just look for a squad advertising a "HP train" in the group finder under "Heart of Thorns" (particularly Verdant Brink) or "Path of Fire". There are people that do it quite frequently, and they'll take you around to all the juicy hero points you'd have trouble with soloing so you can unlock your elite spec of choice with ease.
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Aug 25, 2022 23:45
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Here's my old effort post about Specter. This is for a Thief Elite Specialization that requires the End of Dragons expansion. Alright have another wall o' text about Specter. Back by popular demand! I'll cover the specs I use for: Fractals/Open World (Condition Damage), Group Alacrity, Open World (Max Sustain/Support), and WvW (Roaming).  Fractals/Open World (Condition Damage) http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?PawAsiVlFwOYUME2IO2WXxLA-zRZYVBB+FknZ0xFUGRWBdkCePNgYaD-e This is based off of the Snow Crows build linked a few posts back but with Shortbow for utility. I've run this through all CMs and T4s and it's really good. Note that I have a Celestial backpiece because I keep my rare infusions in there for pretty-pretty princess so you can swap that to Viper/Sinister or whatever. The rotation is really simple once you get the hang of it. The truly simplified version is: Utilities/Thieves Guild off CD > Scepter 3 x1 > Steal (for initiative) > Scepter 3 until initiative is empty > Enter Shroud > 2,5,4 then 2 until initiative is full > Exit Shroud > Repeat. That gives you 30k+ DPS on a raid benchmark golem without accounting for utility venom share and Rot Wallow venom. Shortbow is for trash, AoE, and utility. Now buried in that rotation is a lot of neat stuff. Entering Shroud procs weapon swap traits and sigils (Quick Pockets and Doom). Exiting Shroud dumps your remaining Shadow Force on your team in the form of healing and Barrier which can help a lot with group sustain. If you know there's going to be some big hits coming up you can hold off entering or exiting Shroud for a second or two to really help your group. Putting Barrier on people also applies Rot Wallow venom to them which ups your damage even more. So your damage will scale up considerably with venom/Rot Wallow sharing and you're helping your group sustain while you do it. Also if you have time you can just auto-attack a party member ahead of a fight to get 10-15 stacks of Torment for free since you're giving them Barrier/Rot Wallow. It's pretty neat. For CC you're constantly applying Chill with Scepter 3. You apply Slow with Steal. Thousand Needles will Immobilize when you trigger it. Shroud 3 will Fear your target and Shroud 5 is a stun when it goes off. If you know you have CC requirements coming up you can hold off on some or all of these skills depending on your group situation. If that's not enough you can also swap Thieves Guild for Basilisk Venom but that should be a last resort as it will hurt your DPS. You also bring boonstrip with your steal so you may want to synch that as needed for fractal modifiers like NPNG. For AoE/trash you won't be doing top tier damage but you can make up for it in utility. I mostly like to use Sb 4 to spam AoE stun and leave Poison fields. You can also use Shroud for the Barrier or even single target heal if needed. Otherwise the spec is great for single target dps, but one weakness I've found is in fights that have junk adds that can get between you and your target. There's no pierce on Sc/D 3 so if mobs go all Secret Service for a boss and start taking hits meant for them your damage can tank. It's especially prone to it due to the delay on the projectile so try to make sure you're as close as possible and that there isn't a lot of crap between you and your target in those situations. While this is a DPS spec I've found it's also fantastic for open world. Shroud gives you a ton of sustain, Sb is great for tagging, and if your kink is topping DPS meters in open world content you can be competitive and not be a glass cannon. This also lets you practice your rotation as you go about your business. The single target support is also great if you want to support random pubbies who get in over their head. You can solo most things you come across. But if you want to literally never die and take down really nasty Champs and group content refer to my dedicated open world build further down. You may also want to slot a stunbreak because CC can get old real fast. Here's a video of the DPS rotation with the Snow Crows Golem set up. Note mine is simplified from Snow Crows as I don't swap weapons since I'm carrying a Shortbow offhand. 31k DPS is good enough for me! Remember this goes even higher with a group thanks to venomshare - SC pegs it at 40k with allies which sounds about right, I've easily seen that on certain bosses in Fractals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIoFd4aLocY Group Alacrity http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PawAsiVlhyOYssUWLO2W3xPA-zxIY1ojvQ6qACPCSPFcfaAx0G-e First off I'll point out that this Celestial armor with Aristocracy runes is unusual, but it was designed as a one-size-fits-all set for my max sustain Open World build, WvW build, and this Group Alacrity build. If you're only using this Celestial gear for group Alacrity there are better runes you can use - just shoot for ~50% boon duration to maintain permanent Alacrity with whatever you do. But Aristocracy runes do help keep you and your group topped off with Might, which you generate for your group with Steal and Well of Bounty (assuming your group has all boons up already which they generally should). The rotation is identical to the Fractal DPS build, but instead you're going to be prioritizing using your wells as soon as they're off CD to maintain Alacrity. They have a cast time so this means you'll probably have better initiative management and not have to enter Shroud as often. Note that all your wells heal your group thanks to the Traversing Dusk trait. So your DPS won't be as high as an Alacren but you're adding a lot of healing, especially with Celestial gear. You can also use Shroud more strategically to dump large heals and barrier on your group if needed, or just work your rotation and keep your group's health padded with Barrier. I've had a few HBs comment that they're bored because the group just doesn't take significant damage when I run this build. IMO this makes it fantastic for pugs where competence is not guaranteed. You're also pretty resilient with Celestial gear and Shroud so this is a forgiving build if you want to learn Fractals. Just make sure your wells are always on CD and you land on your group to keep their Alacrity up and they'll be happy. CC isn't as great as Alacren but you can switch to Sb and spam 4 for AoE daze if you really need CC. Otherwise you'll want to rely on the fear/stun in shroud and chill/slow. If you want to get cute Shadowfall can be used to clump mobs and also counts as CC for breakbars. Open World (Max Sustain/Support) http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PaABsqhjlhy2YrsUWLO2WXxPA-zxIY1onvU6qAyNBCPCSPEcfaAx0G-e This is ~my signature build~ that I have been tweaking since the beta. I literally wrote the guide for it that's up on Metabattle (upvote if you like it!) so I'll refer you to that for a lot more tips and tricks: https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Specter_-_Condi_Celestial This is also where you'll see the Aristocracy runes really shine and not look like a dumb/crazy choice. Scepter 2 grants you 5 Might and inflicts Weakness, which thanks to the Aristocracy runes gives you an additional 5 Might. So that's 10 Might every time you press Scepter 2, taking Specter from a spec with poor personal Might generation to one that runs around with permanent 20-25 Might. Your normal rotation is Scepter 3>Scepter 2>Scepter 3>repeat and Steal as needed. You're essentially weaving Shadow Sap between Measured Shot and Endless Night. You can jump into Shroud like you would in your DPS rotation or just kite and auto attack if you want to save it during a really hard fight. Your sustain is nuts because Measured Shot and all your wells heal you, you get tons of Alacrity, and you're constantly porting all over for kiting. You'll also debuff and CC the hell out of whatever you're attacking with Immobilize, Slow, and Weakness as part of your rotation. Note that Endless Night cleaves up to 3 targets (the ally Quickness is single target only) and it will pierce enemies as well. D/D is for groups and tough mobs that can't be kited. Use Shadowfall to clump and use Death Blossom to evade and damage them. Well of Silence can be a large AoE heal thanks to Sigil of Draining (heal on interrupt). Oh and they'll also be weakened and in turn give you Might as well! That's just the basics. I put some other neat tactics and synergies in the linked Metabattle build so you can check that out for more. Here are a few video demos of the build in action against tough enemies: Mayatl the Fierce solo (this fight is a great stress-test for builds imo as there are checks against single target and AoE damage, defiance bars, incoming CC, and condi cleanse): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTbznU3HxI0 Champion Avatar of Balthazar solo (Shows the tankiness with D/D since he isn't good for kiting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqk239zQqDw WvW (Roaming) http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PawAsiVlNw2YisU2IeWXnxSA-zxIY1ojvQ6qAiMFCPCcfaAx0G-e I've tweaked this a lot since the beta. I originally started with Sc/P and that can definitely be swapped in with Traversing Dusk if you prefer. I think Sc/P is better for actually clearing camp guards due to the kiting, cleave, and extra sustain. It also demolishes most melee as they just can't keep up with all your shadowsteps (that heal you) and Immobilizes. You could also run Sc/P offhand and lose Sb as that's mostly for clearing camps, escaping/chasing, or AoE when I occasionally zerg surf. However, I have come to prefer Sc/D for roaming for a few reasons. It's more bursty and doesn't require long channels so it's good for weaving between Stealth and dodges. It gives your target a steady stream of Chill to slow their movement speed and cooldowns, the latter of which is absolutely critical for taking down tankier builds. It's also far more effective against ranged enemies where you want to be up in their face pressuring them; shadowstepping away usually helps them a lot more than you since they can probably outrange you. It actually plays a bit like the Open World build and makes good use of the Aristocracy runes. You want to alternate Scepter 3>Scepter 2 to stack conditions on your enemy and might on yourself. Use Steal for your initial stealth access and then hit them with a stealth attack. This gives you a large amount of barrier and healing thanks to Panaku's Ambition, Leeching Venoms, and Shadow Siphoning. This sequence constantly pressures your target with Torment, Poison, Chill, and Weakness while constantly healing you and providing barrier. Try to save Shadowstep for disengaging or chasing, and Blinding powder is your "Oh poo poo" button. Well of Bounty can be considered a free slot but I like it for the mobility, low cooldown, and buffs. If you stand in it for just two ticks after stealing you'll get Protection and Regeneration from it which is very helpful. When you get low on initiative or need a break and can't Stealth enter shroud. The big scary circle from 5 will make people run away or get stunned and give you a rare stack of Stability. Use 3 to drop AoE Fear which also gives you barrier, while 4 will also cause Weakness and give you Might. Thieves Guild should be used carefully to burst down a weakened foe or as a defensive distraction if you're taking too much heat. Try to cast it while in Stealth as it can be really helpful to confuse people in PvP and mess with their targeting, allowing you some free shots or to slip away. Speaking of Shroud, you may notice a lack of Condition cleanse outside of Shadowstep. This build loves Conditions, it literally eats them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Specter GM trait Hungering Darkness cleanses Conditions while you're in Shroud and heals you for ~500 HP once a second. And remember this is happening while you aren't taking damage to your health bar thanks to Shroud so it's very solid healing. Hit them with a Fear when you enter Shroud and the Barrier will eat up a lot of incidental damage from the conditions while you om nom nom them for heals and your target is fleeing. You're also not dumping all your Shadow Force when you leave shroud (Consume Shadows is nerfed to hell in WvW) so you can use it more tactically in combat. Also your healing isn't half bad thanks to Celestial gear and Second Opinion (in lieu of Consume Shadows). So if you're running with anyone else you can also play single-target support as Anet originally intended. Here are some video demos of the build in action: 1v2 vs a Renegade and Spellbreaker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6RRNnqwK8s 1v1 vs Soulbeast (one of my most hated classes on thief, long but shows the excellent sustain on this build) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmypH407tbI 1v1 vs Weaver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElIb1lxegXA Enjoy! 
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Aug 26, 2022 01:27
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Anybody else crashing out on world bosses now?
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Aug 26, 2022 02:23
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Teq at reset had a bunch of people crash, some reported being rolled back (claimed daily chests were back, people loaded in at maps they weren't in before crashing)
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Aug 26, 2022 04:04
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So when do I get my mount as a level 80 going back through the old content? I got one on the alt I made within like an hour so I feel like I should be prioritizing whatever I need to do to get the basic mount.
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Aug 26, 2022 05:28
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explosivo posted:So when do I get my mount as a level 80 going back through the old content? I got one on the alt I made within like an hour so I feel like I should be prioritizing whatever I need to do to get the basic mount. Mount unlocks are account wide, if you have a raptor on one character all your characters should have it. Maybe check your keybinds for a mount x button or check the buttons to the right of your abilities on the bottom that I can't screenshot because I'm not home
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Aug 26, 2022 05:32
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explosivo posted:So when do I get my mount as a level 80 going back through the old content? I got one on the alt I made within like an hour so I feel like I should be prioritizing whatever I need to do to get the basic mount. According to the wiki, you probably don't (for now), unless you unlock any expansion. Looks like the permanent, account-wide raptor unlock at level 10 is only for expansion-havers. Otherwise, each character gets a 10-hour trial raptor when they first hit level 10 (or the next multiple of 10, for older characters). Since your old character is already 80, you might get it by earning a spirit shard from xp or you might not get it at all.
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Aug 26, 2022 05:59
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So I bit the bullet and just bought all the Living Worlds in case they don’t go on sale. I was impatient but seeing I was hoping we would get a second sale on account-shared slots at 30% off and we didn’t I didn’t want to wait anymore. Now the real question is do I just start LWS1 and move foreword or do I clear the vanilla story on my engineer first? I recently did it on my Necro but then I swapped mains to my Engineer who apparently is on his level 10 story beat… Man, I have a lot of fun dicking around in this game. I also still have another 4000 gems worth of stuff I want to buy. Oh Anet.
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Aug 26, 2022 06:31
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