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  • Replies: 12

HoT Beta Play - what am I missing?

Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
Cyvil
Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
Posted On: 08/08/2015 at 05:10 AM

I am sure that i will pick up more, later tonight during the guild event, but my experience in the Beta area has been lackluster, at best. HoT seems too much like dry top, with elements of the SW added in. The mobs seem to be more of the "let's add more health" type, and not all that interesting. I know that much of this comes from me not understanding most of the mechanics, and that is part of my problem, but I found that I was so disinterested that I didn't really care about the mechanics.

I find dagger Necro more fun than the great sword, the GS hit too slow, feels like playing in molasses. Guardian bow is nice and functional, but I found myself using GS mostly. I will try some of the other classes, but I really don't like their gear delivery system. I bet I spent 15 minutes, x2, clicking through inventory. Give me a darn vendor already, so that I don't have to spend so much time clearing up my inventory!

In my limited experience to this point, I give the HoT beta a solid ....meh

I am generally not a complainer, and I always do my best to find the positive where I can. Even after sleeping on it a night, I find myself wondering why i spent any money on this expansion. I hope that others can help me find a silver lining, somewhere.

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Response:

Taoiseach de na Arach Glas
Foghladha
Taoiseach de na Arach Glas
  • GW2: Foghladha.2506
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Replied On: 08/08/2015 at 09:05 AM PDT
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Keep in mind your not seeing everything yet. There is still a lot coming in hot they havent spoken about. Like the large scale raid content  they mentioned early on and continue to hint at.

"It's not the loot and accolades you walk away with, it's the memories and friendships that you cherish forever." - Foghladha
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Taoiseach de na Arach Glas
Foghladha
Taoiseach de na Arach Glas
  • GW2: Foghladha.2506
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Replied On: 08/08/2015 at 09:15 AM PDT
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There is 2 things that sold me on this pack. Guild system upgrades and wvw map. I could care less about the revnant and i never liked the look of silverwastes anyways so the new zone is kinda meh to me to begin with. I prefer queensdale and caledon forest :) but the new guild stuff now thats got me excited.

"It's not the loot and accolades you walk away with, it's the memories and friendships that you cherish forever." - Foghladha
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Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
Cyvil
Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
Replied On: 08/08/2015 at 09:22 AM PDT

I understand that there is more to come, and am very hopeful that more will come. I would like to know that what is coming, isn't just more of the same. 

 

I tweaked the Reaper, and find that i am not still wishing for death shroud. The shouts, with some condition damage, and epidemic come close to making up for the slow great sword.  Small victory, perhaps. 

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Laoch de na Iolair Dearg
Lakshmi
Laoch de na Iolair Dearg
  • GW2: Lakshmi.5941
Replied On: 08/08/2015 at 12:46 PM PDT
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So far the new elite specializations seem like a step in the right direction.  Some more depth to the classes we already love to play.  Totally optional, so if you don't like what they add you don't need to use them.  It's a buffet, too.  For Elementalist/Tempest, I love the warhorn skills and the heal, but I'm overloading my attunements only occasionally.   I don't have any of the new shouts slotted.  All told, though, it's fun.  I love being able to give my entire group 25 stacks of might with just one attunement and two skills, and I can't wait to try some of the new tricks in WvW. :P

Re Verdant Brink, it's about the same as the last two stress tests -- with some bug fixes and a few new bugs.  Clearly it's still being tweaked a lot.  Something like 75% of the map isn't open yet, and there are hints of two or three more maps, so I think it's waaaaaaaaay too early to judge the new open world PVE.  I'm hoping we get a nice sized group tonight since I haven't seen the nighttime zone event budge beyond 15% yet.

Re the mobs, they really do have some new tricks.  It's not just "add more health".  Cyvil, if you turn up tonight, I have a few new mob types to feed you to for you to try out.  :)  Overall they are definitely a bit more challenging than other open world mobs.  Am I hoping for more variety?  Sure, but since we've only seen a small percentage of HoT open world I'm hopeful we'll get some of the ones we've seen in promos but not in game yet.

I'm also enjoying the new mastery system.  It feels pretty rewarding to unlock new content and abilities (so far).

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Ban Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
BananaPancakes
Ban Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
  • GW2: meanddubby.3471
Replied On: 08/08/2015 at 06:22 PM PDT
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In a word: smokescales. Hate them. Rage at them.

Like the reaper, explored the map, got a glider, enjoyed not falling to my death so soon. Fog is going to have to work much harder to kill everyone now :P 

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Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
Cyvil
Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
Replied On: 08/09/2015 at 05:12 AM PDT

I didn't paste a link tho the thread, the thread was generally more negative about the Beta than I am..... I did think it worthwhile, though, to post tips for completing at least some of the events, though. "We" knew the first item, and someone kind of mentioned the second, but I thought I would post some confirmation here.

"The map I was recently in found out that it is possible to make the south sniper event progress, even though the snipers don’t attack. Players have to kill the Vinetenders, and they all have to be killed at about the same time, since they respawn pretty fast. Even one of them still alive makes the Breacher invulnerable.

We also found out that it’s (sometimes) possible to make the grub-collection event in Itzel completable. Don’t feed the villagers and don’t defend the baskets. Turns out that the collection baskets sometimes become interactable again if some of the grubs are stolen by the bats.

Please test this, and tell more people if they work for you. I want us to get mastery XP!"

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Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
Cyvil
Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Buí
Replied On: 08/09/2015 at 07:19 AM PDT

This is encouraging - http://i.imgur.com/NBuzvmk.jpg. Came from here - https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3ga85x/updated_known_hot_locations_on_the_world_map/. I had heard the "25% of the map for beta" talk, evidently we are seeing 25% of the FIRST map. 

 

This thread sums up my experience and thoughts about Reaper - https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/professions/necromancer/WvW-Reaper-for-BWE. I had done some of the mental math myself, after my initial "ooh shiny" reaction wore off. About half way down the thread, Drarnor Kunoram.5180 starts the discussion about the math. I am not one that relies on math to tell me what I like, but when I get a feeling that something is off (as I did w/Reaper GS), I tend to check it out.

 

I tend to be a function over fashion kind of guy, and I would really like the new stuff to be more functional than the stuff I have been using already. At the heart of it, that is what is taking  away some of my enjoyment out of the Beta.

 

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Ban Fili de na Ulchabhan Bán
Rylssa
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Replied On: 08/10/2015 at 06:40 AM PDT
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I had a bit of the same impression, played for a bit, was not very captivated, and stopped at the waypoint where Laksmi's event was going to start.   And then I went back to Witcher 3 and got completely sucked in for the rest of the weekend, oops. :) But I think what others have said is true - the nice perks we haven't seen yet. Wish I'd gotten far enough to try that glider.

“Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.” ~ Albert Einstein
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Caomhnoir de na Aracos
PuaHone
Caomhnoir de na Aracos
  • GW2: monk seal.8079
Replied On: 08/10/2015 at 08:21 PM PDT
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Played a little in the beta and tried the Revenant, the Guardian with Dragonhunter, and the Mesmer with the Chronomancer traits. The Dragonhunter with the longbow could be useful in PvP giving the guardian a range option, but in PvE it seemed lackluster. Not sure of the difference in playstyles between the Guardian/Dragonhunter and a warrior with a longbow.  I had a bug on my male Asura Guardian because I kept hearing a female voice uttering the standard dialog when a ranger pet is downed and revived.

Never having  played a mesmer, I found the class very enjoyable with the new Chronomancer trait line.   If I had to choose a new class now for the extra character slot we get with HoT, I would go with the Mesmer over the Revenant.  I'll spend more time with the Revenant in the next beta working with the different Legends.

I enjoyed the hang gliding.  It's fun to just leap off the cliffs and float down.

 

 

E lawe i ka manawa e hanu i na pua loke. Take the time to smell the roses.
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Muintir
Jymm
Muintir
Replied On: 08/11/2015 at 05:32 AM PDT
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I actually really liked the Revenant, it had some nice variations on how you could play it.  Although, they may not all be viable choices in the long run, I liked the versatility.  I can see it being used as one of those classes that you even have to change fighting styles often based on mobs or bosses that you will be fighting.  

I didn't get a chance to play with the expanded classes, but I am interested in hearing how the new Mesmer trait line works and what weapon you get access to.  Or if anyone has any links to websites that list all the new weapons and abilities.  I can see this driving who I want to level to 80 next.

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Ban Caomhnoir de na Aracos
Fym
Ban Caomhnoir de na Aracos
Replied On: 08/11/2015 at 08:39 PM PDT

I thought your post title was funny because I basically had the same thought.  However, I believe I heard (or read) the developers say that the beta was for actually testing functionality and that they were not following the popular practice of using beta as a way to advertise the game.

I also saw some instructions from the game regarding the area of focus for this past beta.  I didn't really pay attention because I would prefer to wait for the polished version to be released than play the beta.

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Caomhnoir de na Aracos
PuaHone
Caomhnoir de na Aracos
  • GW2: monk seal.8079
Replied On: 08/16/2015 at 02:43 AM PDT
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I'm hoping that when the next beta weekend arrives, we can play the ranger Druid elite.

E lawe i ka manawa e hanu i na pua loke. Take the time to smell the roses.
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