Category: Guild Wars 2

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[GW2] Scaling

SynCaine is right: Guild Wars 2 does not scale perfectly when you visit lower-level zones. As you might expect, a level 30-something scaled down to level 4 is still more powerful than a level 4, and then the content was balanced around level 2-3. I confirmed this when I took a low-30s elementalist into Queensdale and one-shotted elementals with Arcane Blast. Fast-leveling guildmates also report feeling much more powerful in WvW as a 50 scaled up to 80 than as a 10 (also scaled up to 80); this reminds me of WAR scenarios, where you knew you were going to lose when half your team queued up a the minimum level. Scaling does not overcome the fact that higher level characters have more and better gear, traits, and abilities.

Some of that may be a factor of the small numbers involved. This is not hard math: 2 is half of 4 but only 10% of 20, so a two-level difference means a lot more at level 4 than 20. Visiting areas in the teens and 20s, the difference seems less severe, although I have not tested it vigorously. I also expect there to be some scaling tweaks in place by the time we have enough level-capped characters to test scaling over its full range.

As usual, I would like to point out that City of Heroes solved this problem years ago. Your entire group is set to the same level. You can set the content to whatever level and group size you like. Here you would scale the characters rather than the content, but the principle is the same. City of Heroes faces the same problem, that a level 50’s enhancements make him/her far more effective when scaled down to 20 than a level 20 character is, but you can always choose to adjust your challenge level if you want a more authentic level 20 experience.

: Zubon

[GW2] The Battle for Wychmire Swamp

Each race’s starting zone has a capstone meta-event that ends the zone in a nice bang. Of the five, I have played every one but the asuran one. The sylvari starting zone finale, The Battle for Wychmire Swamp, is by far my favorite. It also provides a really good starting point for what to expect as far as open world “raid”-like content.

The meta-event kicks off unassumingly when the Nightmare Court (evil syvlari) attacks a small warden encampment, Falias Thorp, in the swamp. After the camp is defended, Gamarien pokes his head out and asks players to escort him as he checks for more Nightmare Court activity because he believes that some summoned husks are harbingers of a greater foe. The summoned husks are tree-like elementals clearly twisted by nightmare. Then players escort Gamarien in a loop around the swamp to eventually land near the center, where chaos begins and Gamarien flees. I would call these first two events, the defense event and the escort event, the prelude to the battle. Continue reading [GW2] The Battle for Wychmire Swamp

[GW2] How to Level in GW2 Without Really Trying

I have earned that last bit of xp and leveled by:

  • completing an event
  • completing a heart
  • rezzing people
  • gathering crafting materials (3 levels in a row)
  • crafting a bag
  • finding a new area
  • WvWing
  • viewing a scenic vista
  • completing an achievement

But as of yet, not just from the xp of killing a monster.

: Zubon

This week’s theme brought to you by Anjin, the letters G and W, and the number 2.

Dear Bookah

Dear Bookah. You bookahs don’t waypoint here anymore; I’ve noticed that this year, you seem to shun the place. Maybe it’s the genius of the asura coupled with our sheer force of unbridled will to tame this tarnished coast. Perhaps it’s me. When he first travelled here, Drojjenny wrote that the jungles were filled with the chaos of magic and life and bookahs seeking the druids lived in this jungle. A hundred years later, even they have departed. Continue reading Dear Bookah

[GW2] Creating Community by Serving Crow

The other day on Reddit’s Guild Wars 2 page, a discussion was had about a Guild Wars 2 Guru forum thread about the three-day bannings regarding names and speech. Most of the smarter comments with people that wrote like they knew what they were talking about seemed to suggest that there was little difference between a stonewall ban using form letters and writing a personal “This is why you were banned” letter. I tended to agree.

ArenaNet decided that it would be better to air some dirty laundry. The effect? It appears that they are reinforcing how they want their community to be, and people appear to be rallying behind them in force. I won’t reiterate them here, but a few are absolutely golden. The way ArenaNet presents them is so deadpan. “Name: OK Chat: Not OK [some horrible thing where your mother would slap you until you bled].

I realize that different people have different jobs. For instance the valiant(s) behind ArenaNetSupportTeam are not the people fixing the Trading Post. Still, I was initially amazed that they could spend the time checking into people’s accounts, and responding so publicly. Hopefully what this really does is give a few more people pause before making a character based on something crass.

At the same time, ArenaNet Zeus, Mike O’Brien made sure to clear the air that the first player to reach level 80 did so with ArenaNet’s good graces. It’s interactivity like these that makes me an ArenaNet fan. I can’t wait until the Guild Wars 2 forums open up. I expect a lot of good developer interaction.

–Ravious

[GW2] Full of Love

Hearts are Guild Wars 2’s upgrade to quest hubs. While “I need help…” usually means “…killing [these things],” I have also filled hearts by:

  • returning wayward chickens
  • engaging in synchronized military practice
  • activating golems
  • turning into a snow leopard
  • rezzing fishercharr
  • rezzing soldiers
  • brawling with drunk soldiers and then rezzing them
  • rescuing wolf cubs

    • Continue reading [GW2] Full of Love

Dear Bookah

Dear Bookah. I sometimes feel as if I’ve given birth to this Province. Somewhere, between the verisimilitudes of the jungle and geodesic batteries a split opened up and order evolved here. No matter how hard I ponder, Metrica Province remains a singularity, an alpha point in my life that refuses all hypotheses. I return each time making my mark in this zone that I hope, in the blinding glare of my genius, will have blossomed into progress beyond this anomaly.  Continue reading Dear Bookah

[GW2] All There in the Manual

Many people have wondered how those combo attacks work in GW2, because something is apparently doing something in all those explosions during the event. Conveniently, the GW2 manual was posted and has a section on combo attacks. It says almost nothing and recommends experimenting. (If you are reading this in 2016, and that link gets a third sentence, hello people of the future!)

The wiki, as expected, actually explains things, and does so in a beautifully simple table with links to what skills create those combos. (If you are reading this in late 2012, and the wiki is reliably available after the crushing launch week traffic, hello people of the future!)

This explains all those “Area Healing” pop-ups during that “fight the champion giant” event.

: Zubon