Author: Ravious

It’s funny that I knew what Jeromai meant the second I saw his recent post title “A Very Merry Leisurely Wintersday”. It had already been mulling over the exact same thoughts. It’s the combination of Colin’s announcement that this recent Wintersday/Aftermath update was it until January 21, 2014 and the ease of the update that makes it feel leisurely. In one sense it feels like Guild Wars 2 is over for 2013.

However, I felt more like Jeromai in that I all of the sudden became a master of my time again. I wasn’t worried about WvW or getting up that dang tower one more time. The world was opened up before me. I am still mulling over whether this is a good or bad thing, and my gut check is that the roller coaster of Guild Wars 2 is better than not. Continue reading [GW2] Wintersday End

I have 4 achievements left to get for the first season of WvW before I get that shiny key of who-knows-what. So far it has been generally easy. Jumping puzzles, a mad karma train with Blackgate, and the usual killings have led to a lot of play and the achievements.

Now I’m onto 3 more easy ones that require a tad more focus to complete. I went about halfway through Ruins achievement just with “normal” play. Repairs too… got about halfway, but I admit I did focus a little when I saw a damaged gate or wall. Finally supply camps too got about halfway in normal Tier 1 play. I will probably finish all three before the week is out.

My final achievement is the one that worries me a bit. I basically have three options: 225 yaks, 225 sentry point captures, or 50 WvW ranks. Now I read and read on how I should be able to complete 50 WvW ranks in a mere weekend. Yet, here I am with most of the WvW season’s achievements under my belt, and I’ve only achieved 20 ranks. I just don’t seem to be getting them that fast, and to me it doesn’t feel like a “sure thing”. Continue reading [GW2] Grinding WvW

Last night facing The Nightmares Within update was rough. At first I gleefully skipped in to the toxic tower with Mrs. Ravious, the inside of which is a mini-zone akin to the Queen’s Pavilion. I crossed the threshold from the safe area and “wham” I was dropped like a sack of flour. Now wait a minute, I’m a celestial/berserker well necro… I don’t die easily. Yet there I was facing floor.

Guild Wars 1 players of yore have been comparing the inside of dark tower in Kessex Hills to open world versions of the famed Underworld and Fissure of Woe instances. They are tough. There are loads of elite enemies with all sorts of condition hate. There are mines that can kill any ‘zerk in a single hit. There are twists and turns, and there’s an environmental poison to make sure players don’t hole up. It is a nightmare.

My knee jerk reaction was frustration. It felt like a zerg was necessary for playing the content. However, this puzzle of a zone was simply too complex for a zerg used to such challenges as Scarlet’s Invasions or the graveyard run of Queen’s Pavilion. Nope, there were dead bodies everywhere. Once in a while I would get lucky with a zerg that had enough force and self-awareness (rez’ing) to bash through easily. Still, it was a challenge. Continue reading [GW2] A Taste of the Poison Paradise

Scarlet is at it again. Apparently not happy with her other three armies, she bribed the krait with ancient relics to team up with Nightmare Court. A toxic alliance, which may portend ultimately another failure for Scarlet’s Doofenschmirtzian ability to craft coalitions. Then she destroyed half of Kessex Hills. It could have been worse if the Lady Kasmeer hadn’t cracked the gigantic mesmer illusion. Now, the free peoples of Tyria are on the attack. Only this is more of a containment phase since the tower is too poisonous to breach.

This is an interesting update because it completely changes a huge portion of a fairly well-traveled zone. ArenaNet further hints that there are more changes to come. It’s also an interesting update because the content is kind of light. There is plenty of activity in Kessex Hills now, but after a good hour of play most of the update’s content is apparent. Continue reading [GW2] Free Hit of Hallucinogen

Guild Wars 2 is experiencing the first nostalgic event. After the game’s launch just before September ’12, Shadow of the Mad King was the first big update that happened in October ’12. Of course, that update already had strong roots and expectations from Guild Wars 1, where the Halloween festival was considered one of the best. The Shadow of the Mad King was a great hit, and before the launch of Blood and Madness, people were getting excited about the return of the Halloween festival.

It is even more notable because this is the first update where ArenaNet had built up their foundation so as to push resources towards the other updates such as the previous Twilight Assault or whatever is coming next (possibly even some skunkworks). This isn’t totally true since The Secret of Southsun and Last Stand at Southsun both built on The Lost Shores, but in that case ArenaNet was not really building on a fan favorite. I’m not sure anybody knows what to do with Southsun Cove, but if it got dev resources I would love for it to become the preeminent champion farming zone. Continue reading [GW2] Return of the Mad King’s Memories