Two Player Pairing - Page 2 - Guild Wars Forums

Emmerich · Jun 05, 2011, 07:49 PM // 19:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

Note #3. You can upgrade your armor in Yak's Bend. That will help your survivability.

We had the 30 AL armor made with salvaged materials - I've since read opinions that suggest it was a waste of money, but oh well - it was fun to do!

I think this set can carry us through until 20, or is there another set suggested along the way?

Urcscumug · Jun 05, 2011, 08:49 PM // 20:49

No more armorers until Bergen or Beetletun. What level you're gonna be when you get there is irrelevant but yeah, around 20.

But the question is, why didn't you get 30 AL armor in Ascalon.

No money?

Anyway, it's not a waste of money. If you had 15 armor, the switch to 30 means -23% damage. If you had Pre 7 armor, +23 AL = -33% damage. And if you had 5 armor, +25 AL = -36% damage. Tables here. Granted, mesmers, necros and monks deal armor-ignoring damage, but it still helps with physical and elemental damage.

@Emmerich: pretty decent build. Empathy and Backfire are very basic and solid skills. Consider Cry of Frustration as well, you're supposed to have 2 interrupts and use them. Don't be afraid to ditch Ether Feast and Aura of Restoration if you find nicer skills, healing is why you have monks.

Now, Shatter Delusions is not outstanding. I suspect you're hanging on to it since Pre, but you have other options now. For instance, you may want to help your monks with hex removal: notice the purple arrow on a teammate's bar, click bar, hit Shatter Hex, boom, AoE armor-ignoring damage.

Think of mesmer skills as martial art moves. There's simple, direct moves you can do... and there's more complex moves, that flow into each other. Try to think of devious combinations (but keep it simple and efficient at the same time).

Since you mentioned Fragility: don't just let conditions occur, cause them. Consider following up with something that causes conditions -- look around in your /E skills or at skill traders or have a teammate do it, or watch for your melee to cause Bleeding and Deep Wound -- and then slap the foes with Epidemic. Necros do this really dirty trick by using Foul Feast to suck the conditions from buddies and Plague Sending to put them on foes -- just to give you an idea of the havok that classes like the Mesmer and Necro can cause.

shillo · Jun 05, 2011, 11:32 PM // 23:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emmerich

The biggest habit I've been trying to break myself of after years in WoW is the ABCs of mage play - as "always be casting" doesn't really seem to work out too well in GW

Incidentally, this is true for all caster classes in GW, at least in PvP, where the real reasoning behind the combat system becomes apparent. Either they play Mesmer and have to watch the other team or they -are- on the other team and will be interrupted and shut down by the enemy Mesmers if their casting is at all predictable.

Plus, everyone's spellcasting is constrained by tight energy management, except (up to a point) for Necros. In particular, this is why protection Monks dominate in GW - spamming heals after the fact is extremely hard for the Monk class over any period of time, while a single protection spell can negate hundreds of damage points, if placed correctly.

As for GW2, they seem to be eager to preserve the concept of protection monks, although they're spreading the damage mitigation ability over just about all the classes. Several classes also have healing abilities, but much weaker than self-heals that everyone will have. In fact, the system seems a lot like Costume Brawl arena builds (check it during Halloween). But this is all second-hand information for me, I haven't played the demo yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emmerich

Power Spike's on a 12 second (as adjusted by Fast Casting I presume) timer,

Fast casting reduces the casting time, not skill recharge time. So, for example, you can cast Backfire in 2 seconds, rather than 3, but it still recharges for 20 seconds. EDIT: THIS IS OUTDATED INFORMATION - the update for fast casting was in May 2010, and now it works on skill recharge, too. Thanks, Silmar Alech, and sorry, Emmerich I should've checked the wiki; and I only play Mesmer in PvP, so I never noticed the difference.

Note that all spells have 0.75 seconds aftercast delay, during which you can queue the next spell but it won't immediately start casting. Basically it works like a hidden global cooldown. So fast casting can be used to speed up bursts of multiple spells, but it generally won't double your casting rate. It still helps a *lot* for reliable interrupts: if the enemy takes 0.75 seconds to cast, and your reflex time is 0.25-0.35 + ping time of 0.2, then the difference between 0.25 and 0.15 casting time becomes very significant.

Silmar Alech · Jun 06, 2011, 02:05 PM // 14:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by shillo

Fast casting reduces the casting time, not skill recharge time. So, for example, you can cast Backfire in 2 seconds, rather than 3, but it still recharges for 20 seconds.

Fast casting indeed reduces skill recharge for mesmer spells - this was updated in the last bigger mesmer update. It reduces 3% per attribute rank, and since Backfire is a mesmer spell, its recharge with fast casting 9 is reduced to 20s*(1-(0.03*9) = 14.6s.

Mouse at Large · Jun 06, 2011, 02:22 PM // 14:22

Good luck with learning the game the way (imho) it should be played

.

And when you get to THK, give me a call

Quaker · Jun 06, 2011, 03:15 PM // 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emmerich

We had the 30 AL armor made with salvaged materials - I've since read opinions that suggest it was a waste of money, but oh well - it was fun to do!

Some people get very weird about "money" in GW. They seem to forget that it's play-money - it's impossible to "waste" it - you really can't take it with you, and it's only purpose is to buy in-game stuff.

IMHO it's never a waste of gold to upgrade your armor. I can't exactly recall where the armor crafters/collectors are in Prophecies, but it's well worth it to keep upgrading your armor until you get to max AL armor, which in your case is 60AL. Once you get to "max" armor, the rest is just cosmetic. I do recall that max armor in Prophecies is not until quite late in the campaign (Droknar's Forge?). So, once you get to Lion'a Arch, you may want to travel to Kaineg Center (Factions) or Boreal Station (EotN), to get some max armor early, or even travel to Kamadan (Nightfall) to do a few small quests, get a few Heroes, and get max armor at Consulate Docks. (You can freely travel back and forth between the campaigns once you've been there.)

Btw, have you checked the wikis?
http://www.guildwiki.org/Main_page
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Main_Page

A handy reference:
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Armorer

Xiaquin · Jun 06, 2011, 03:21 PM // 15:21

Let me first say, congratulations on going with Prophecies, it's the best end-to-end experience, IMO. If you like it, you'll love Eye of the North.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urcscumug

But the question is, why didn't you get 30 AL armor in Ascalon.

No money?

When I started out, it took me a long time playing in Old Ascalon before I could afford it, it helped enormously and was one of the biggest hurdles I remember. Granted, back then, groups were forming for doing everything.

@Elisabet and Emmerich Your mileage will vary.

Glad to see you're experienced and willing to learn. I definitely recommend not becoming altoholics until you know how each profession expresses itself. And I can't stress this enough: you've no doubt seen skill quests, you should keep seeking these out. Prophecies is a campaign that rewards incrementally, so do as many quests as you can to gain XP, and try to do bonus objectives in missions. I average level 20 usually by the time I get to the desert. By then, you will start to face some tougher challenges. Best of luck you guys, you sound very capable. Don't be afraid to ask for help around here!

Highlander Of Alba · Jun 06, 2011, 04:08 PM // 16:08

As Proph is not a great cash earner a little thing to add

Once you get to the desert area playing the game as you are doing..check what materials you can collect in the desert for collectors armour ...hence you will not be spending any money for max armour if you collect the items from the desert and exchange them at the collectors based there.

It is maxed armour yes and it will assist you to save on cash till you see another maxed armour you like.

Just to point out there is no difference from a max armour costing 1k a piece plus materials than one costing 100k plus materials per piece its purely cosmetic so save what cash you get and then buy one you like later.

The path you are taking is good to get to know what skills have synergy with one another and to be honest dont be afraid to hop over to nightfall to collect a few heros or eye of north .

The hench may be fine as you go but with the two of you to-gether you can add a little punch to the party you have made as your party size will increase to 8 as you go through the game.

Good luck and nice to see guys/gals playing the game without rushing through the content

Emmerich · Jun 06, 2011, 04:13 PM // 16:13

@Urcscumug - I probably didn't make myself clear regarding the armor - we're both wearing the armor you can buy in Ascalon from cloth + gold (iirc).

Also, Cry of Frustration looks cool, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I'll definitely try out Shatter Hex though (Note to self: purple arrow means Hexed

).

Also: "Necros do this really dirty trick by using Foul Feast to suck the conditions from buddies and Plague Sending to put them on foes -- just to give you an idea of the havok that classes like the Mesmer and Necro can cause." THAT sounds like fun! My Pre-searing character is a level 11 Necro - he's been a blast so far too.

@shillo - no worries on FC - now we both learned something! And thanks for the example on the casting.

@Mouse - thanks...we love taking the "long" way when learning new games...it's only fresh and new once, so why cheapen it? And sure, we'll look you up when we get to THK...when we figure out what that is!

@Quaker - yup, we've been using the wikis, PvX (or whatever that build repository is) + this site. We're just trying to be careful - learning how to do things better is good (for instance, we want to eventually get to 30/50 HoM so understanding what's important to hold onto in terms of loot has been helpful)...getting spoilers is BAD!

@Xiaquin - Thanks! I have to say, to you and to EVERYONE who's posted on here...bravo! I've tried a LOT of online games over the years and this is easily at or near the top for quality of online community, at least from what we've experienced so far.

@Highlander - Oooohh, thanks for the tip re: armor!

Urcscumug · Jun 06, 2011, 04:35 PM // 16:35

Ah, sorry about Cry of Frustration. I tend to forget that once you get a skill somewhere it also becomes visible at all the "lower" traders as well, so I was under the impression it was available in Ascalon.

(My "baby" mesmer cheated and got it via skill tome from her older E/Me sister.)

Still, the rest applies, if you can get 2 interrupts no matter how lame the effect, train with them.

Emmerich · Jun 06, 2011, 04:49 PM // 16:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urcscumug

Ah, sorry about Cry of Frustration. I tend to forget that once you get a skill somewhere it also becomes visible at all the "lower" traders as well, so I was under the impression it was available in Ascalon.

(My "baby" mesmer cheated and got it via skill tome from her older E/Me sister.)

Still, the rest applies, if you can get 2 interrupts no matter how lame the effect, train with them.

Cool...ok Lis, get ready to do all our healing...if I start dying more we'll blame Urcscumug

Doven · Jun 06, 2011, 05:50 PM // 17:50

heya Emm

welcome to gw!

just wanted to point out, dont forget your mantras

iirc, you get mantra of frost at yaks. and i think you already have mantra for fire (though not needed in that area accept against char)

its an excellent opportunity for defense and pwr regen that literally costs no skill points to use. I think i did yaks on my mes with just emp, feedback, spike, ether and mantra. the problem for me was the mob grouping, especially when trying to clear the path as the groups tend to be pretty close. friggin dorf mesmers were a problem as well with there feedback. but as suggested before.. a good hex removal is important there.

one last pro tip..

before you res any hench.. make sure to set your flag far away to a clear area as they will immediately try to run to that area once rezzed. they may not make it all the way (especially if they are dead center the group).. but they will try to make it.. making it easier for the next rez and so on.

lot of good times there.. and at least the scenery isnt so grey/red/burnt

cheers
d

Urcscumug · Jun 06, 2011, 08:00 PM // 20:00

Yeah, that was the most awesome thing after roaming endlessly through all the seared areas, to finally see a nice looking place again. (And consider that I first got to Post Ascalon during the Xmas festival, when it's dark and gloomy! No sunny dunes for me.)

Traveler's Vale got to be my most favorite place in the whole world.

Later on I got to see green hills again, but the Vale is still special for that moment.

Doven · Jun 07, 2011, 02:51 AM // 02:51

never better said Urcs, agree with you completely. reaching the vale is like hearing voices

first time i reached there felt like a complete transition, almost as though a new game had started. that is a "turning point" for sure, but very few games i have played where the scenery drove it home, instead of the items/skills/spells whatever.

cheers
d

Urcscumug · Jun 07, 2011, 10:53 AM // 10:53

And that's why so many like Prophecies, because of the way it makes you feel. BTW, if you haven't already, turn on the music. Turn it down if it gets distracting, but never off. It's the music that makes a fun experience into an incredible one.

Take for instance Crystal Desert; with the music on it is not a chore, it's a goosebump-giving experience that reaches deep inside you and grabs your gut. And the sense of empowerment you get as you get through it, just you and the henchies and their dry humor -- it's outstanding, it really makes you feel like a legendary hero, it's not just words in the plot anymore.

Hats off to Jeremy Soule for every game he's worked on -- Morrowind and NWN were other epically enjoyable titles. This is what he does, I'm very glad he agreed to work on GW and look forward to his work in GW2.

Ghull Ka · Jun 07, 2011, 04:27 PM // 16:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urcscumug

* Alesia doesn't have touch healing skills. (I don't think any of the monk henchies in the entire game has any, though I may be wrong.) Her only touch skill is Restore Life, the res. She's running around because she's kiting. Which means the melee aren't doing a perfect job. Which is to be expected since they're AI too. Try calling targets, it helps.

What the heck?

Ok, either I'm senile or they changed it. I could swear that Alesia (and also Mhenlo, later in the game) both rocked Healing Touch.

Soooo many memories of Ms. "bad touch" running up in to a wall of red dots because her other healing skills were on cooldown, so well, why not just run up into touch range? :P

Edit: I was right, hehe: Old Alesia was the touchy-feely one. Seems she's been through some counseling and is keeping her hands to herself now!

*Darcy* · Jun 07, 2011, 04:36 PM // 16:36

You were right, until an update.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Game_...022#Prophecies

Quote:

Alesia now has Dwayna's Kiss and Divine Healing; removed Healing Touch.

Same update
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Game_...1022#Nightfall

Quote:

Mhenlo now has Watchful Healing and Divine Intervention; removed Healing Touch.

But removing Alesia's Healing Touch did nothing for her "I'm melee" or "daydreaming" attitudes.

Urcscumug · Jun 07, 2011, 07:58 PM // 19:58

Wow apparently most monk henchies used to have Healing Touch until that update. I wonder what made them put it in in the first place... I've never considered touch healing skills to be much good, except perhaps for self heals. Am I missing something?

Jun 05, 2011, 08:49 PM // 20:49	#22
Urcscumug Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jan 2011 Guild: UNO Profession: W/	No more armorers until Bergen or Beetletun. What level you're gonna be when you get there is irrelevant but yeah, around 20. But the question is, why didn't you get 30 AL armor in Ascalon. No money? Anyway, it's not a waste of money. If you had 15 armor, the switch to 30 means -23% damage. If you had Pre 7 armor, +23 AL = -33% damage. And if you had 5 armor, +25 AL = -36% damage. Tables here. Granted, mesmers, necros and monks deal armor-ignoring damage, but it still helps with physical and elemental damage. @Emmerich: pretty decent build. Empathy and Backfire are very basic and solid skills. Consider Cry of Frustration as well, you're supposed to have 2 interrupts and use them. Don't be afraid to ditch Ether Feast and Aura of Restoration if you find nicer skills, healing is why you have monks. Now, Shatter Delusions is not outstanding. I suspect you're hanging on to it since Pre, but you have other options now. For instance, you may want to help your monks with hex removal: notice the purple arrow on a teammate's bar, click bar, hit Shatter Hex, boom, AoE armor-ignoring damage. Think of mesmer skills as martial art moves. There's simple, direct moves you can do... and there's more complex moves, that flow into each other. Try to think of devious combinations (but keep it simple and efficient at the same time). Since you mentioned Fragility: don't just let conditions occur, cause them. Consider following up with something that causes conditions -- look around in your /E skills or at skill traders or have a teammate do it, or watch for your melee to cause Bleeding and Deep Wound -- and then slap the foes with Epidemic. Necros do this really dirty trick by using Foul Feast to suck the conditions from buddies and Plague Sending to put them on foes -- just to give you an idea of the havok that classes like the Mesmer and Necro can cause. Last edited by Urcscumug; Jun 05, 2011 at 09:02 PM // 21:02..

Jun 06, 2011, 04:13 PM // 16:13	#29
Emmerich Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: May 2011 Profession: Me/E	@Urcscumug - I probably didn't make myself clear regarding the armor - we're both wearing the armor you can buy in Ascalon from cloth + gold (iirc). Also, Cry of Frustration looks cool, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I'll definitely try out Shatter Hex though (Note to self: purple arrow means Hexed ). Also: "Necros do this really dirty trick by using Foul Feast to suck the conditions from buddies and Plague Sending to put them on foes -- just to give you an idea of the havok that classes like the Mesmer and Necro can cause." THAT sounds like fun! My Pre-searing character is a level 11 Necro - he's been a blast so far too. @shillo - no worries on FC - now we both learned something! And thanks for the example on the casting. @Mouse - thanks...we love taking the "long" way when learning new games...it's only fresh and new once, so why cheapen it? And sure, we'll look you up when we get to THK...when we figure out what that is! @Quaker - yup, we've been using the wikis, PvX (or whatever that build repository is) + this site. We're just trying to be careful - learning how to do things better is good (for instance, we want to eventually get to 30/50 HoM so understanding what's important to hold onto in terms of loot has been helpful)...getting spoilers is BAD! @Xiaquin - Thanks! I have to say, to you and to EVERYONE who's posted on here...bravo! I've tried a LOT of online games over the years and this is easily at or near the top for quality of online community, at least from what we've experienced so far. @Highlander - Oooohh, thanks for the tip re: armor! Last edited by Emmerich; Jun 06, 2011 at 04:17 PM // 16:17..

Jun 06, 2011, 02:22 PM // 14:22	#25
Mouse at Large Jungle Guide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Scotland Guild: Fuzzy Physics Institute Profession: E/	Good luck with learning the game the way (imho) it should be played . And when you get to THK, give me a call

Jun 06, 2011, 04:08 PM // 16:08	#28
Highlander Of Alba Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Jan 2007 Guild: Real Rogue Clan Profession: Rt/Mo	As Proph is not a great cash earner a little thing to add Once you get to the desert area playing the game as you are doing..check what materials you can collect in the desert for collectors armour ...hence you will not be spending any money for max armour if you collect the items from the desert and exchange them at the collectors based there. It is maxed armour yes and it will assist you to save on cash till you see another maxed armour you like. Just to point out there is no difference from a max armour costing 1k a piece plus materials than one costing 100k plus materials per piece its purely cosmetic so save what cash you get and then buy one you like later. The path you are taking is good to get to know what skills have synergy with one another and to be honest dont be afraid to hop over to nightfall to collect a few heros or eye of north . The hench may be fine as you go but with the two of you to-gether you can add a little punch to the party you have made as your party size will increase to 8 as you go through the game. Good luck and nice to see guys/gals playing the game without rushing through the content

Jun 06, 2011, 04:35 PM // 16:35	#30
Urcscumug Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jan 2011 Guild: UNO Profession: W/	Ah, sorry about Cry of Frustration. I tend to forget that once you get a skill somewhere it also becomes visible at all the "lower" traders as well, so I was under the impression it was available in Ascalon. (My "baby" mesmer cheated and got it via skill tome from her older E/Me sister.) Still, the rest applies, if you can get 2 interrupts no matter how lame the effect, train with them.

Jun 06, 2011, 05:50 PM // 17:50	#32
Doven Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2011	heya Emm welcome to gw! just wanted to point out, dont forget your mantras iirc, you get mantra of frost at yaks. and i think you already have mantra for fire (though not needed in that area accept against char) its an excellent opportunity for defense and pwr regen that literally costs no skill points to use. I think i did yaks on my mes with just emp, feedback, spike, ether and mantra. the problem for me was the mob grouping, especially when trying to clear the path as the groups tend to be pretty close. friggin dorf mesmers were a problem as well with there feedback. but as suggested before.. a good hex removal is important there. one last pro tip.. before you res any hench.. make sure to set your flag far away to a clear area as they will immediately try to run to that area once rezzed. they may not make it all the way (especially if they are dead center the group).. but they will try to make it.. making it easier for the next rez and so on. lot of good times there.. and at least the scenery isnt so grey/red/burnt cheers d

Jun 06, 2011, 08:00 PM // 20:00	#33
Urcscumug Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jan 2011 Guild: UNO Profession: W/	Yeah, that was the most awesome thing after roaming endlessly through all the seared areas, to finally see a nice looking place again. (And consider that I first got to Post Ascalon during the Xmas festival, when it's dark and gloomy! No sunny dunes for me.) Traveler's Vale got to be my most favorite place in the whole world. Later on I got to see green hills again, but the Vale is still special for that moment.

Jun 07, 2011, 02:51 AM // 02:51	#34
Doven Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2011	never better said Urcs, agree with you completely. reaching the vale is like hearing voices first time i reached there felt like a complete transition, almost as though a new game had started. that is a "turning point" for sure, but very few games i have played where the scenery drove it home, instead of the items/skills/spells whatever. cheers d

Jun 07, 2011, 10:53 AM // 10:53	#35
Urcscumug Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jan 2011 Guild: UNO Profession: W/	And that's why so many like Prophecies, because of the way it makes you feel. BTW, if you haven't already, turn on the music. Turn it down if it gets distracting, but never off. It's the music that makes a fun experience into an incredible one. Take for instance Crystal Desert; with the music on it is not a chore, it's a goosebump-giving experience that reaches deep inside you and grabs your gut. And the sense of empowerment you get as you get through it, just you and the henchies and their dry humor -- it's outstanding, it really makes you feel like a legendary hero, it's not just words in the plot anymore. Hats off to Jeremy Soule for every game he's worked on -- Morrowind and NWN were other epically enjoyable titles. This is what he does, I'm very glad he agreed to work on GW and look forward to his work in GW2.

Jun 07, 2011, 07:58 PM // 19:58	#38
Urcscumug Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jan 2011 Guild: UNO Profession: W/	Wow apparently most monk henchies used to have Healing Touch until that update. I wonder what made them put it in in the first place... I've never considered touch healing skills to be much good, except perhaps for self heals. Am I missing something?