GvG

[Hawkmoon]

I dunno if you guys follow the State of the Game series over at the official Guild Wars site; this month has commentary on being a GvG monk:
http://www.guildwars.com/competitive/art...ermonk.php

I must belatedly apologize for flaking on y'all Wednesday evening. Famous last words: "This will only take a couple of minutes." Heh. 45 minutes later, Word of Healing was finally MINE. It would indeed have been faster to have Wyrm run me, but as I explained in-game, I didn't want to abandon my PuG team, pathetic though they were. Best team exchange:

Elementalist (after heading repeatedly into the thick of the fighting and dying multiple times): why do I keep dying so much?
Necromancer: because you're a freaking ELEMENTALIST!!!

I would have laughed harder, except that most of my attention was on casting spells at a furious pace.

Next week (and forever after), I will engage in no extracurricular activities on PvP nights. Scout's honor!

[Zed-F]

Sometimes the only thing you can do with people like that is to simply stop healing them. It's not fair to the rest of the team if you're constantly tapped out of energy on account of trying to keep the noob alive.

[Lurker Wyrm]

I dunno if you guys follow the State of the Game series over at the official Guild Wars site; this month has commentary on being a GvG monk:

I skimmed through the article. Most of it is common know-how which most people either figure out as they go along or will say over chat something along the lines of "I'll do anything but monk." A couple of the things he mentioned (kiting and positioning) are pretty much the reasons why I said (when we first started doing GvG) that I'd rather not have Hawk monk, and also the reasons why most people hate the healer henches.

Now that the ladder is frozen and it doesn't matter whether we win or lose (not that it really did before), if someone else wants to try being monk for a while I'll have no objections. Also, if anyone wants practice, I'll be more than willing to go to AB with them since that seems to be a fairly easy place to get a team and it's overwhelmingly easy to keep people alive so long as you don't get mobbed.

[Lurker Wyrm]

I just wanted to clear something up right now, in order to avoid future confusion/arguments: we are not going to be using heroes to fill the roster in GvG. I know all the arguments for them, but frankly, I don't care. If we can't fill a roster with 8 players then we'll just do something else. The idea behind GvG (and PvP in general) is to test your skill against other players. If the team is 4 players and 4 heroes, then you're not really doing player vs. player, you're basically in the hero arena with a few extra players.

[Lurker Wyrm]

Sorry guys, but I'm probably not going to make it tonight. We're also going to have to rethink stuff now that Nightfall is out. I know everyone is still pretty much focused on the PvE content, so let's just see how things work out.

First off, do we want to switch halls? Frozen Isle is not the most beginner friendly map, as we've been finding out, so switching might be a good idea. I've only seen 1 GvG on observer mode that used one of the new halls, so I'm not sure how well they'll work out. The one I did see, Isle of Solitude, looks to be pretty similar to the way Warrior's, Hunter's and Wizard's are laid out, but with an added teleporter to get out of your base (note: you can't get into the other team's base with it). Warrior's seems to be the most beginner friendly.

Secondly, we still need mesmers. Ajax (Vortigern Venerator) has proven to be a really good monk, so if we have him, SF, and myself able to switch around those roles, we should have a pretty good backline (I guess Seijin is off the hook there). I'm not saying you'll always have to play mesmer, but they're a very fun and effective class to use.

Third, do we want to start experimenting with the new classes or wait until we're sturdy with the core ones? I've been experimenting with the Dervish a bit and, while it's great for PvE where monsters clutter around you, against an individual target it's not as strong. I have a few thoughts in mind that I'd like to try for it, but I'm going to have to get back to you guys on them. I haven't tried the Paragon much either, but from what I've seen and read, they could be a really good asset to the team.

[Hawkmoon]

Now I don't have to feel guilty about not being able to make it tonight either! Thanks, Wyrm!

I would like to look at the new guildhall possibilities; I have no idea what they are. Whatever we choose, we should stick with it, learn it inside and out. Whether this takes remedial GvG practice scrimmages with heroes filling out the teams, or whatever, this is something we need to do.

I can't offer any constructive comments yet on the Nightfall classes in GvG. I haven't played either to high enough level to see them at their best.

[Roland]

Secondly, we still need mesmers. Ajax (Vortigern Venerator) has proven to be a really good monk, so if we have him, SF, and myself able to switch around those roles, we should have a pretty good backline (I guess Seijin is off the hook there). I'm not saying you'll always have to play mesmer, but they're a very fun and effective class to use.

I've been debating getting into GvG with you folks ever since the first post was made about it. You all know how spotty my commitment has been to this game, and I did NOT want to burden you with the worry that I might suddenly duck out of the game for three months.

However, I bought Guild Wars for PvP. When I first heard about the game, I wasn't very interested, because I despised PvP (too much Diablo). Now, years later, I've come to love the PvP aspect of the game. It's what drives me to play, and Nightfall has truly sparked my interest in this game again. Prophecies was ok, and I may revisit it just to get some of the core skills, but Factions disappointed me. The pace was actually too fast, and I found the learning curve to be WAY too steep. Plus, the story just did not grab me, at all. Nightfall has solved ALL of that, and more, and truly gives me something to aspire to while playing. I think I may very well be addicted, at least for now, but I honestly don't see myself ditching this game semi-permanently like I have in the past.

So.... I have little PvP experience, although I am working on that. RA suck, but I grind them for Faction so I can unlock new skills. I may actually just switch to PvE in Nightfall, because you can unlock skills pretty fast, while still maintaining a good momentum. But we'll see. At any rate, I'm here to possibly toss my name into the hat. I have no preference for "GvG nights", although I think I would enjoy mid-week over weekends. I don't have much Mesmer experience, but I'm very open to trying out builds, and will glady spend a few nights pre-GvG to get myself oriented. Basically, if you can come up with a build, I'll try to work myself into it. Unlocking skills could be a problem, though. :P But, with Nightfall's ability to switch Professions at will, I'm only limited by Gold (as I have plenty of unspent Skill Points in my Dervish main).

I'll play just about anything; I'm pretty open to any type of character, although Monk is definitely not something I see myself being strong in. Warrior... might be a poor choice, as well. Casters in general I may need some practice with, but I think I could handle them well enough to suit, so I'm not afraid to try them. Everything else... Well, I'm basically up for whatever. Except Monk. :D For now, anyway.

If you need a Cripshot Ranger, I'll gladly take that role. If it's filled, like I said, I'm open for Mesmers (I love the idea of them; just work out a build for me, and I'll work on getting the skills and learning how to apply them). It's all up to you folks to decide whether you want to take a chance on me.

I'll try to be on nightly this week, and probably into next week, as well, so if you see me, feel free to hop on some TA if you want.

[Seijin]

I'm willing to play mesmer. I love mesmers, I just dislike their skill recharge times. They are fun to play.

Are necros or N/Me not used that much?

And thank god I don't have to monk. I dislike GvG monking, I have no idea why. Usually when I monk, I watch everyone else's health bars and not mine...we all die anyways.

I'll pretty much play any class. I just know I hate GvG monking.

[Lurker Wyrm]

I'm willing to play mesmer. I love mesmers, I just dislike their skill recharge times.

Mantra of Recovery ftw. On another note, I've seen people take Glyph of Energy and Gale on their mesmers, which can really be effective during a spike. Gale one monk and spike the other.

Are necros or N/Me not used that much?

Necros, yes. The N/Me combination in particular, not really. They're not bad, per se, it's just that most of the time a necro is going to be using quite a few of their own skills and won't have room for mesmer skills (or it will be more important for them to have skills from another profession, such as monk), in addition to the fact that there's usually a mesmer along as well. It's more common to see a Me/N fast casting necro skills.

Basically, if you can come up with a build, I'll try to work myself into it.

All right, as soon as I have one I'll let you know. I still don't know what NF skills are going to be the most useful, I've only capped 2 of the new monk elites and that's it for non-dervish ones.

I would like to look at the new guildhall possibilities; I have no idea what they are.

Once there have been a few more matches on them and the community starts speaking about how well the new halls handle GvG we can see what's what and which one we want. It also depends on what the rest of the guild wants the new hall to be (or if they want a change at all). If one hall is good for GvG but everyone hates it, then that probably won't happen.

Whether this takes remedial GvG practice scrimmages

I'm game for that sometime. I would say 4v4 is plenty though, no need for heroes getting in the way.

[Roland]

All right, as soon as I have one I'll let you know. I still don't know what NF skills are going to be the most useful, I've only capped 2 of the new monk elites and that's it for non-dervish ones.

Shouldn't we start adding some NF skills to the "must-have" list? I know NF has only been out for, what, a week? Even so, there are some skills out there that simply shine. I think we should start adding to and updating the skill list you posted, so that we have a better idea of the playing field we'll be getting into. Just a thought.

I'll gladly start tossing out some noteworthy skills that I've come across (Vow of Strength for the Dervish, for example). I'll edit this post later with my thoughts and picks.