I discuss tips for reviving or finishing a “downed” player in Guild Wars 2, using gameplay footage from 5v5 tournament matches with my Warrior.
When a player’s HP bar reaches 0, they drop into a “downed” state, where they can be finished (killed) by an opposing player. Friendly players can revive or rally a downed player. Resolving the “downed” state is a critical element of GW2 PVP. Players who are finished face the typical experience across MMORPGs of having to wait to rez in a graveyard and are therefore out of the fight for a period of time. In addition, killing a player puts points on the scoreboard.
I discuss the mechanics for the Mesmer class in Guild Wars 2, based on trying the class in sPvP for the first time in BWE3.
Mesmer is an unusual archetype and from what players have told me, there is a lot of confusion about the mechanics. I frame in simple terms how Mesmer works, while also talking through some fun fights.
Topics discussed:
Mechanics for the two types of illusions: clones and phantasms
The ends of the spectrum for illusion management (consume for shatter effects vs rely on for DPS)
As I discussed in the video, you have to be careful when running a glass cannon spec in 5v5 – especially if you have limited emergency defensive tools – because competent opponents will realize you’re squishy and focus-fire you like mad.
In the video I am spec’d with my “Run and Gun” Warrior build, which has been fully updated to account for changes in BWE3.
Please post your comments and feedback!
For more Guild Wars 2 content, subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Twitter.
My 1st video in a series showing 5v5 tournament play with my guild Maven.
This was the 2nd round in one of the two tourneys that I ran on the last night of BWE3. We started the match with 4 players, so we had to play conservative while our 5th player was rebooting his computer.
This video includes the game audio and Vent dialogue, instead of my usual narration, so that you can hear the real-time interaction between my team mates. A narrated version of this video will follow this one, so subscribe to receive the next update.
Highlights:
0:59 – after dying to a Mesmer who used his IWIN button (aka the Elite skill Moa Bird), I take revenge and cap the node
1:51 – I manage to flip Clock Tower while it was being defended by a Guardian. I used Rifle 5 and Fear Me to twice knock him off the platform and force him to take a long route to get back up, and I Crippled him 3 times to buy time for the cap
One thing you’ll notice about our opponents is that the Mesmer (“Mesmer”) and Warrior (“Samwise”) were spec’d as glass cannons and took a lot of damage when hit.
In the video I am spec’d with my “Run and Gun” Warrior build, which has been fully updated to account for changes in BWE3.
P.S. yes, I did play Mesmer over the weekend and will be posting a video. Stay tuned.
For more Guild Wars 2 content, subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Twitter.
In Guild Wars 2, when you do well in PVP, you earn gear that looks badass but that does not confer any statistical advantage over opponents. That is exactly how it should be. Cosmetic rewards are fun and maintain a level playing field.
In most MMORPGs I’ve played, the upper tier of PVP gear provides a faceroll advantage over lesser-geared players. The gear scaling creates a lousy customer experience for those players who just reached endgame, are casual, or have not yet raised their gameplay to a level sufficient to earn the best gear. And it creates a situation where I become increasingly bored, because the challenge diminishes as I gear up.
GW2 gets it right. Skill and coordination between players should be the driving factors for PVP outcomes, not gear.
Let me know what you think.
P.S. I have lots of awesome footage to sift through from BWE3, include my 1st look at Mesmer and two full tourneys (we won both). If you watch the outro at the end of the video, you can see me soloing an Engineer at the enemy trebuchet in a tournament match by smacking him around with my Axe. Stay tuned, more compelling content to follow.
P.P.S. I’ll be updating my “Run and Gun” and “Captain Hammer” Warrior specs per the changes in BWE3. I’m glad to report that both specs continue to be fully viable. But then again I never emphasized any of the broken mechanics before BWE3.
For more Guild Wars 2 content, subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Twitter.
UPDATE (2012/07/23): people have been asking about the gear system in PVE. Read this awesome post by Sotuken on Reddit:
This video was meant only towards Player versus Player (PvP) gear, that is totally separate from the Player versus Environment (PvE) gear.
In PvE the gear gets better as you play along. The only time you use your PvE gear in a PvP format is when you hop into the World versus World (WvW), where you fight in specific maps for objectives and bonus for your server.
I hope that helps. If you want to know something else, let me know.
Taugrim's MMO Blog 