Hello, and some questions - Guild Wars Forums

UnOrthOdOx · Jun 16, 2005, 04:36 PM // 16:36

Hello.

I've been lurking for some time.

If you've spent much time on Civilization III boards, particularly demogames, chances are you've seen me around.

I've been playing for a little while now, have started and deleted several characters, as I tend to like to tinker around with things. I was one of those Diablo II players who was more interested in trying new things and would typically delete their character at level 50 or so eager to try some new thing out.

Thankfully, Guild Wars lets me tinker without the deletion button. I'm always waiting for more refund points it seems. However, I did go through several different combos all the way through pre-seering trying to get a better feel for the combo (the little test quests aren't enough) before settling on my first 'permanent' character, which is a W/E.

Now, this is my first serious RPG since Diablo. Me being on a dial-up certainly impacts that, and another big thumbs up to Arenanet in this reguard as it runs flawlessly. So, coming from that mindset, I first saw my W/E as a warrior who could also go flinging mass destruction around. Indeed, the early game seemed to reinforce this. It didn't take me long to figure out that this game encourages roles, though, and since the guildmates I normally play with are nearly all elementalists, it made sense I needed to make the best tank possible.

My second permanent character became a Monk/does the secondary even matter, seeing as the need for them. If anything, this made me a much better warrior, and I still primarily play that one.

If you've seen me in game, you know I'm now out throwing around melee ward and 'watch yourself' in an attempt to keep everyone alive if they ignore the warriors, and Armor of Earth if I'm getting dogpiled. I've found that at decent levels (9 right now) Healing Signet is actually most usefull with all that extra defense, even. And I'm not above spamming it in an attempt to help out the Monk. Again, my job, as I see it, is more to stay alive and tank than to really dish out the pain.

Up to now I've been using an Axe. And she's served me just fine, and could get out decent damage on occasion. However, in my typical fashion, I've been looking for a little bit of a changeup, and have recently (this morning) switched to a hammer. Right now, level 20 somewhere out in the desert, this seems to me to be a big improvement. Still doing the same basic job, but the ability to knockdown and blind folks with the staggering blow/heavy blow/belly smash (8 second blind rocks!) combo I'm packing seems much more beneficial to the team, and thus to my chosen role, than the axe skills were. I also seem to be dealing much better damage overall right now. Sure, the lack of a shield hurts. This brings a few questions.

Stonefisted Gauntlets list they lengthen knockdown time. How much?

Also, does that apply to spells as well, such as whirlwind, earthquake, gale, etc?

Knockdown interrupts, but doesn't disable skills if I understand correctly. Does the person lose the mana, though?

Second, how does the shield defense get calculated? I know armor pieces only counted for when that area was hit, but was the shield overall, or only over certain parts?

If anyone sees me online, feel free to contact me. I believe in being nice to everyone and helping out people when I can. Currently have 3 characters:

Nemo Mairidh: level 20 W/E in the desert somewhere (just made it there)
Ulwis Devri: Level 15 or so Mo/N in Druids Overlook area, but jumps around allot helping friends.
Dyllis Eire: Level 15 or so R/Me in Lions Arch area.

Magus · Jun 16, 2005, 04:58 PM // 16:58