Don't worry Jae, I will bring the thunder tonight and we'll rock that mission. ;D

And poor stoffeekins, still annoyed with all the tedious quests and stuff. You should just do what I do and just not do them! :D

Please let me know when you do, I'd like to have that mission fully completed as well, if that is possible. :)

As for the quests, they generally aren't that annoying, and the more questionable ones are more eyebrow raising ("What did they just make you do?") than nerve grating, with a few exceptions.

But I think I'll skip the side quests that require you to have the mesmer hero in your group, since they seem mostly pointless (aside from the rewards you get) unless I tag along with someone else doing them. :)

Of course, we wouldn't do it without you. :3 Just gotta make sure that Jae's all done in the Garden of Seborhin before she does it, since it turns into an Escher-esque nightmare when the Grand Court is complete. And I know she's hell bent on her quest for more Trade Contracts. xD

Of course, we wouldn't do it without you. :3 Just gotta make sure that Jae's all done in the Garden of Seborhin before she does it, since it turns into an Escher-esque nightmare when the Grand Court is complete. And I know she's hell bent on her quest for more Trade Contracts. xD

The Garden of Seborhin (AKA The Hall of Giants) should be done unless there are any quests there not listed in the wiki. Jae and I did all the quests there yesterday; the ones offered by Hedge Wizard Mabai and Horticulturist Hinon, as well as the quest received in the mines that require you to go there.

(And if that mission blocks access to the Garden it would be too late anyway since we did that mission yesterday as well, even though it took too long and we didn't get all the altars. :))

Of course, we wouldn't do it without you. :3 Just gotta make sure that Jae's all done in the Garden of Seborhin before she does it, since it turns into an Escher-esque nightmare when the Grand Court is complete. And I know she's hell bent on her quest for more Trade Contracts. xD
It looks like we got them all done yesterday. At least there were two of us picking up leaves and bags so that saved us a little time.

19 contracts down, 72 to go.... :D
I think I can only earn something like 27 contracts max (barring gifts--thanks everyone who's given me one!). I'm a few rubies closer to that Vabbian armor now.

I'll be looking forward to mastering that mission tonight, too. :) We had a little problem last night--the bars apparently are supposed to turn blue when the rifts are secured, and that never happened--so there I was, following Aoife's instructions to the letter to stand on that rift until the bar turned blue, so I think I was less than useless for most of that mission. Now that I know we just have to wait until the update says it's secured, I'll be able to help out better.

Oh, we also learned that getting separated is a great way of getting picked off by those damn Margonites.

19 contracts down, 72 to go.... :D
I think I can only earn something like 27 contracts max (barring gifts--thanks everyone who's given me one!). I'm a few rubies closer to that Vabbian armor now.
You and your expensive armor tastes. xD I still have to get through Dzagonur with my necro, but once she's done with that, she gets a whole slew of quests with trade contracts as rewards, so they're all yours when I gets them.

I'll be looking forward to mastering that mission tonight, too. :) We had a little problem last night--the bars apparently are supposed to turn blue when the rifts are secured, and that never happened--so there I was, following Aoife's instructions to the letter to stand on that rift until the bar turned blue, so I think I was less than useless for most of that mission. Now that I know we just have to wait until the update says it's secured, I'll be able to help out better.
Yeah, the hard part is getting to the point where you can capture the rifts, since those damned Clerics make thing so much more difficult. Everyone needs to bring along Lightbringer's Gaze and nuke the bejeezus out of them. If we can get nearly a full group going, I think we'll be fine. :3

I think this is a big part of the problem: Abaddon's Chosen (http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Abaddon%27s_Chosen) and Abaddon's Favor (http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Abaddon%27s_Favor). Looks like Deep wounding skills will do damage, however, along with Lightbringer's Gaze. I'll run around today to see if I can get my LB to level 3--I got quite a few points yesterday. Let me know when you want to do the Dzagonur mission.

Yeah, the hard part is getting to the point where you can capture the rifts, since those damned Clerics make thing so much more difficult. Everyone needs to bring along Lightbringer's Gaze and nuke the bejeezus out of them. If we can get nearly a full group going, I think we'll be fine. :3

Speaking of which, why does a skill that, according to the description, should do 100 damage that cannot be resisted only do 70-78 damage against Margonites?

With its long recharge time it doesn't seem all that useful at this stage compared to other spells. Seems like it won't trigger Arcane Echo either for some reason. Maybe it'll be more useful with more Lightbringer ranks causing it to hit more enemies at the same time.

If you hit Margonite casters like Clerics and Sorcerers (who tend to bunch up together, thankfully), you will hit for the full 100 points and interruption. Their armor is not as strong as compared to the Reapers (Dervishes) and Executioners (Warriors).

Lightbringer's Gaze is incredibly useful in the later stages of the game where you'll be going up against hordes of Abaddon's minions and will need a good, consistent source of damage. Yes, you can only cast it once every 15 seconds, but every little bit counts and you can rest assured that it will hit the Margonites and others for 70-100 dmg each time you use it. Oh, and it's non Arcane Echo-able, since it's a skill, not a spell.

If you hit Margonite casters like Clerics and Sorcerers (who tend to bunch up together, thankfully), you will hit for the full 100 points and interruption. Their armor is not as strong as compared to the Reapers (Dervishes) and Executioners (Warriors).

I can't remember seeing anyone be hit for the full damage so far. :) Is holy damage blocked by armor? If it is, is there any type of damage that ignores the armor of the target?


Oh, and it's non Arcane Echo-able, since it's a skill, not a spell.

Is there some way to reduce the cooldown time of skills?

Woohoo!! Made it to master's on Dzagonur last night (thanks Niner, stoffe, and Aoife), and stoffe and I got through a master-difficulty quest "Between a rock" before calling it a day (night?).
Too much fun. :D

I can't remember seeing anyone be hit for the full damage so far. :) Is holy damage blocked by armor? If it is, is there any type of damage that ignores the armor of the target?
I've always been able to hit Margonite casters at 100... O_o. There is armor-ignoring damage, but I can't remember what skill it is at the moment. :S

Is there some way to reduce the cooldown time of skills?
The only skill I can recall at this moment is the Ranger skill Serpent's Quickness, which reduces cooldown time by 33%. There might be one or two others, but I can't really remember right now since it's Friday and my brain is mush.

Woohoo!! Made it to master's on Dzagonur last night (thanks Niner, stoffe, and Aoife), and stoffe and I got through a master-difficulty quest "Between a rock" before calling it a day (night?).
Too much fun. :D
Oh gawd, what have I done? I've created monsters. MONSTERS, I say. Again, my condolences to Jimbo. xD

The only skill I can recall at this moment is the Ranger skill Serpent's Quickness, which reduces cooldown time by 33%. I'll have to check that out with my ranger.


Oh gawd, what have I done? I've created monsters. MONSTERS, I say. Again, my condolences to Jimbo. xD

:lol:

Yes, level 20 ele, level 11 or 12 necro, level 8 ranger, I'll restart a dervish at some point, I've picked up Prophecies and Eye of the North (to get the bonus pack), went capping 3 elite skills yesterday to take advantage of the double xp weekend....I'd say you've created a monster. :D

Eye of the North is great fun, though it makes more sense if you've played through the Prophecies campaign from the start. Unfortunately, that's a lot slower going than Nightfall or Factions, as the quests give measly 500 xp rewards and the storyline progresses at a snail's pace. It's something you should probably try anyway, but I don't think I could ever go back again. :S

But you can still come play in Eye of the North with me! :D

I can't remember seeing anyone be hit for the full damage so far. :) Is holy damage blocked by armor? If it is, is there any type of damage that ignores the armor of the target?Holy damage is affected by armor but it is not physical or elemental, so it ignores some types of armor. A ranger would be hit by holy damage as if their armor was only 70. This same effect happens with chaos and dark damage.

Shadow damage ignores armor completely. Some skills do ignore armor; for example, Power Attack will always do the stated damage + some random physical damage.

Is there some way to reduce the cooldown time of skills?
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Modify_recharge_time_skills_quick_reference)

Eye of the North is great fun, though it makes more sense if you've played through the Prophecies campaign from the start. Unfortunately, that's a lot slower going than Nightfall or Factions, as the quests give measly 500 xp rewards and the storyline progresses at a snail's pace. It's something you should probably try anyway, but I don't think I could ever go back again. :S

But you can still come play in Eye of the North with me! :D

Would you have to play through the older campaign to get some of the skills? Seems like many of the good skills belong to other campaigns than Nightfall, looking at the lists in the wiki. :)

I'll probably get Eye of the North once I've finished Nightfall, but I'm not so sure about the older ones yet. They seem fairly different gameplay-wise from what little I've seen and read about them.

Holy damage is affected by armor but it is not physical or elemental, so it ignores some types of armor. A ranger would be hit by holy damage as if their armor was only 70. This same effect happens with chaos and dark damage.

So I guess there is no way for an elementalist to get armor penetration other than specializing in Lightning magic? Some enemies seem to have ridiculous amounts of elemental resistance. Stoneaxe Heket in particular are kind of annoying, hitting them with a spell that should do 120 damage according to the description only does 30, and still they have a huge amount of health.

So I guess there is no way for an elementalist to get armor penetration other than specializing in Lightning magic? Some enemies seem to have ridiculous amounts of elemental resistance. Stoneaxe Heket in particular are kind of annoying, hitting them with a spell that should do 120 damage according to the description only does 30, and still they have a huge amount of health.Yeah, it's annoying but elementalists kind of get shafted damage-wise later in the game. Your best bet would be AOE spells, and conditions - especially burning. The AOE spells would make your damage output rise, and burning does 14dmg/sec. If you keep someone burning for a few seconds it may well be equivalent to hitting them with an armor-ignoring skill. Some useful skills for this are Rodgort's Invocation, Immolate, Incendiary Bonds, and Mark of Rodgort (you already know of Searing Flames).

[commercial voice]

Guild Wars, try it out no: for FREEEEE [/commercial voice]

http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/guild_wars/)

You get acces to all the expansion, except the newest, Eye of the North. Have fun all :)

I"m having GW withdrawal! :D I'm at a conference and my computer's in the shop. My old one won't play NF. What am I going to do for 4 days without the game? :D

Treat me to dinner, of course! :xp:

Gotta get you and stoffeekins through the Ruins of Morah to progress with the storyline though, and that's a bear of a mission. Everytime I've done it, I've had help, so hopefully we can get a bunch of guildies together and lay the smackdown on Varesh.

We're getting a little 'q at Famous Dave's tonight, unless there's somewhere else you'd prefer.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to kicking Varesh's butt all the way back to Abaddon. She deserves it for throwing all those baddies at us all. :D Now if I can figure out how to get the CD drive to open up (the cover is broken on the old lappy), I might be able to start a Prophecies character some time this weekend--I brought the game with me. How crazy is that?

No, jae! Just add the key and start your prophecies character lulz

internet is the way of the future

Jae is crazy with the GW, I have definitely created a monster that cannot be stopped. xD

At least she knows good places to eat. Dem ribz wuz gud OM NOM NOM NOM

I did do just that, and thank goodness the hotel had wi-fi, because a couple of those lectures on Saturday were incredibly boring (I'd attended a similar lecture in the past, and I didn't need those particular CE hours anyway since they don't count for my license). I happily ran through a couple levels and about 5 or 6 quests in the afternoon waiting for the good lectures to come around. The old laptop doesn't have enough video card memory to play NF, so I ran around pre-searing Ascalon--got to level 6 or so over the weekend.

I just need to find someone to team up with for a brief time to get through the quests that require another team-member. There are a _lot_ of immature kids in this section, for some reason, and I really don't want to team up with sex-crazed 13 year olds. :) Happily, they apparently haven't figured out how to switch districts yet, so if one of the guildies can't go there, I might be able to find someone mature in the other districts.

Oh, Nightfall is installing on the desktop as we speak, so I hope to be able to play some tonight before the travel-fatigue catches up with me. :D

Guild Wars is having a Free trial (http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/guildwars/prophecies/) right now. I don't know how long this trial will last, so if you click the link and it's gone, please let me know and I'll delete the link.

Well, it doesn't look like I added to this thread (I don't see me and ctrl f doesn't pick me up).

I play this game a fair amount, my pve is a warrior and my pve is a monk. Demigod Heracles is me :o.

I played this game when it first came out (Prophecies), but when I finished the main quest, I stopped and never returned to it... until now! I won the game (Prophecies again!) together with Eye of the North. So I'm busy with my first character again, because I made a new account for the new Prophecies. I must say, I've missed a lot, and there's much that I need to catch up with. I fear I'll never get to that point, though. I'd like to try out Factions and Nightfall, but first I want to finish Prophecies, do Sorrow's Furnace and the whole Eye of the North campaign before I go there. And that'll take some time (Prophecies has the longest - and maybe a too long - story).

I play Elementalist/Monk at the moment. I find it to be a great combination. I've played Warrior/Monk and Ranger/Necromancer with my other account.

I'm playing an ele/monk in Nightfall but mostly for the fire spells. She's Alina Stormseeker. I have a ranger going through the Prophecies campaign, and an assassin in Factions. I also have another NF ranger and necromancer, both of whom have done some EotN things since they had the special a couple weeks ago that allowed characters below level 20 to access EotN.

I just missed the special, I guess. I've only been playing for a week and a half again. Is EotN good? And does it take a lot of time playing through it? Or am I missing the whole concept of EotN? (It's hard being a noob again :)).

I got EotN for Christmas but I haven't started on it yet. Before the Christmas extravaganza started I was working on finishing the skill hunter title, which I'm going to do before I get all wrapped up in EotN. Also, decided I want another 15k set for my warrior so I'm working on that. I used to W/Rt farm a lot, but ever since Zaishen Keys I just play a ton of pvp and sell those for 3-4k. Works out alright I guess. Sounds like most of you are into PvE but if you ever want to PvP with me sometime that's where I'm at 70% of the time nowadays :o

I just missed the special, I guess. I've only been playing for a week and a half again. Is EotN good? And does it take a lot of time playing through it? Or am I missing the whole concept of EotN? (It's hard being a noob again :)).

Apparently you can try it out still for 5 hours total (in up to 14 days)--see this page on the Guild Wars site (http://www.guildwars.com/products/eyeofthenorth/trial/default.php). You don't have to be level 20 for this--the game temporarily boosts you to 20 while you're there or until you reach level

If you decide to play that area, find me online (main charry Alina Stormseeker), and I'll come play. :)

I own EotN, so no trial needed. :) I just recently arrived at Lion's Arch, that's why I couldn't reach EofN. I've done that very first mission, and tried reaching EotN itself, but was stupid to only bring the two first heroes with me. I got hit pretty hard. :p Looks interesting, though, but I think I might first want to continue playing the original campaign, so I can get all the good spells I want.

Say, anyone noticed since you get a title for completing every mission with bonus, everyone wants to do the bonus? Back in 2005, no one wanted to do the bonus.

Well, most people didn't want the bonus. I wanted it for the XP - 1k extra XP was fairly significant in Prophecies :D

Later missions I don't care about as much... most of the bonuses I've done after reaching level 20 have been because of other people wanting to get the bonus. It's not hard so I don't care much.

Yeah, well, even if you don't do the bonuses, you eventually reach Lvl. 20, although it takes a little more time. It does make the missions longer, and later in the game, mission can take some time. Anyway, I think it's cool to have everything completed, not necessarily for the title, but it does give an extra motivation.

If you do the bonus for all missions in one campaign, you can get the title "protector of tyria/cantha/elona. Once you get protector for all 3 campaigns in hardmode and normalmode, you will get the legendary protector title.
Other than having the title though, there is no real use for it.

getting close to my third protector title=)

Since I've been gone from the game for a long time, I had to look up what this hardmode and normalmode was all about. Looks pretty hard.

Hardmode is a pretty poor implementation of increased difficulty. Basically they just upped monster health, attack speeds, armor and damage dealt, as well as giving the enemies elite skills if they didn't have them.

TBH, I had wanted hardmode to have the monsters health etc like normal, but give them 1) balanced groups (frontline, backline, support characters), 2) set them up with decent individual skill bars that are also coordinated with the rest of the group, and 3) have all the characters multiclass into beneficial combinations, similar to EOTN's enemies but more effectively.

Sadly that's not the case, so HM is not really hard it's just learning how to deal with massive damage... something much easier than the above would be. Of course, having the enemies like I had wanted them would probably make it quite near impossible for players who don't have a good grasp of the game mechanics and the ability to make effective group builds. Regardless, it is somewhat disappointing.

Of course, having the enemies like I had wanted them would probably make it quite near impossible for players who don't have a good grasp of the game mechanics and the ability to make effective group builds. Regardless, it is somewhat disappointing.

Indeed. The current hard mode is too hard already, in my opinion. I've tried it a few times but didn't get very far before getting brutally killed. Normal Mode is challenging enough.

(But then again, this is coming from someone who plays most games on the Easy difficulty setting and still find them challenging. :))

Do you find the elite areas of the game (Domain of Anguish, Fissure of Woe etc) to be too easy as well?

Yay--I finished Nightfall! Now to go back and get those 3 missions that I didn't master mastered for the title--I have 17 of 20 mastered--I can't quit now. :D

Wow! Congrats on that!

@stoffe: Same here. Mostly play games on Easy difficulty, and I think Normal Mode is challenging enough (near the end). It's strange, though, that I'm finding it easier doing the mission (in some ways much easier) than before my hiatus. Of course, that could be because a Fire Elementalist/Monk is very well suited for PvE (as I have read on couple of locations), but still.

I tried that mission in EotN where you have to fight a Norn solo, though, and got killed fairly easy. :p

Did any of you try out all the proffesions yet. I just started a character of each proffesion and brought them to lvl20 (which doesn't really take too long, i know). I ended up liking the ritualist the most, then mesmer. I'm not really big on any of the melee proffesions.
How about yall?

Did any of you try out all the proffesions yet. I just started a character of each proffesion and brought them to lvl20 (which doesn't really take too long, i know). I ended up liking the ritualist the most, then mesmer. I'm not really big on any of the melee proffesions.
How about yall?

Opposite for me, I don't really like playing casters...paragon and warrior are my favorites although I almost exclusively pvp as a monk and sometimes an assassin. Maaaaybe a mesmer if I feel like it.

I like playing casters, though I played with Warriors most in the past. But I like all those colorful skills you get. :p

I haven't tried out all profession (hard if you don't have all the campaigns, of course :)), but I want to try out a Mesmer when I have the time. Must be a great feeling to interrupt spells from people. :)

Do you find the elite areas of the game (Domain of Anguish, Fissure of Woe etc) to be too easy as well?In the sense that I have to be more careful than on normal mode, then no I don't find it easy. However, most of the problems of hard mode can be fixed by loading up on protection skills and having a few good direct damage people in the party, not by using terribly advanced tactical skill. Pile prots on - send in the tank - cast Aegis - nuke until dead - repeat for next mob...

I usually play casters. My warrior gets next to no love, especially since I made an assassin... There really isn't any benefit to playing a warrior in PVE anymore - they don't do enough damage and the extra base armor is virtually irrelevant given the PVE skills that are available. I enjoy paragons but they are mostly useful for team builds and I rarely have to make a build incorporating paras. Never had much fun with Dervishes and the best use of them I've seen in PVE is for mystic terratanks in elite areas. I occasionally use my ranger in places that they're useful, but the only physical I play with regularity is my assassin.

My favorite casters are Monk, Necro, Rit, Ele and Mesmer, in that order. Mesmers are fairly useless in PVE unfortunately, but they're more fun to play in PVP. Monk is great anywhere, everyone loves a monk. :D

Pile prots on - send in the tank - cast Aegis - nuke until dead - repeat for next mob...

I'd guess you need multiple people capable of casting those in a group then? Most of the protection monk spells seem to have a very short duration, shorter than the recharge time of the skill.


My favorite casters are Monk, Necro, Rit, Ele and Mesmer, in that order. Mesmers are fairly useless in PVE unfortunately, but they're more fun to play in PVP. Monk is great anywhere, everyone loves a monk. :D

I've only tried Elementalist, Necromancer and Monk so far. My latest, Canthan-born character is a monk (dedicated to Protection prayers), and it takes some getting used to. Quite different to play compared to the others, where you have to keep more an eye on how your party is doing than what the enemy is doing. :) At least it's satisfying when you manage to keep someone alive. And those "Protect idiot NPC X" quests are more manageable when you can actively keep them from dying. :)

I've looked a little at Ritualist skills since I got Factions, but I still can't quite figure the profession out. Seems to be some odd mix between protection/healing, summoning and lightning elementalist.

Mesmers are annoying when you encounter them as enemies, but they don't seem to do that much difference when on your side. Heroes and NPCs are probably better at interrupting than a player mesmer since they don't have to contend with lag and have very quick reactions. :)

Mesmers are annoying when you encounter them as enemies, but they don't seem to do that much difference when on your side. Heroes and NPCs are probably better at interrupting than a player mesmer since they don't have to contend with lag and have very quick reactions. :)

I take Gwen with me a lot, and she interrupts spells pretty much. Can be live-saving with spells that deal a lot of damage and/or knock you down (like Giant Stomp for example). And it's fun to see them cursing (even the animals :)).

I have to share this...

Jimbo was looking at all my different characters that I've created in GW (I'm up to 8) and said "So, this is the game for people with multiple personality disorder?"

Hah, he should be thankful you haven't gotten hooked on WoW.

And omg, new skill update today! Wtf have they done to my 'Heal Party'?! ;_;

Oh-oh, what did they do to Heal Party? Nothing too bad, I hope?

So, DID's got a new therapy and it's basically free: Guild Wars!

Decreased casting time to 1sec, decreased healing to 75hp at 12 Healing Prayers.

I dunno why they did that, with Holy Haste the casting time was already a non-factor, now it just heals for less. :S

Because they like to nerf truly useful things? :xp:

Well, I suppose you can now use a different skill in place of holy haste, or use holy haste for other things.

Man, am I liking Barrage with a vampiric or poisonous bow, too. stoffe and I took out a bunch of Charr for the "Then and now, here and there" quest with her necro, a healer monk, Gwen (required for the quest and set up as domination/inspiration), and my barrage/pet ranger, and we did some serious damage. When I get to the point where I can change professions and pick up ritualist, I'll pick up splinter weapon, which will be quite useful.