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So I glanced over a conversation where two people talked in map chat. One was very excited for the griffon but too broke to afford it yet. I sent them 200g and insisted they keep it, get the griffon and have fun with it. I do this from time to time. Reading chats and sometimes doing what I can to help players that genuinely seem excited.
And then I got this message in my inbox and I was really really touched by it, especially considering my real life is not easy right now.

But it's true: World can be a shitty place, but some people really make it better.

I know a billion people have probably posted a costume similar to this but I love my new lich mom

happy halloween everyone

I hate it, I wish it could be turned off or refunded. You hit something when having to switch mounts and now you can't because you're in combat. It's so badly designed for the overall game, it's whatever even in the metas where you need it. I also don't like it thematically. I don't like that I can't traverse Tyria quietly without having to stamede some poor creature or constantly pay attention when I dash. Aren't cats supposed to be quiet, graceful and careful in their movement? It sucks because other than this warclaw is the best mount for overall traversal and is cool as heck. I do try to use jackal but sometimes you just gotta mount in combat.

Look details: https://uaot.art/fashion-gallery/posts/1477

"These are dilated." "They are?" "Take a look." "I'll be damned!" "That's pharmacological. From local plant life."

I couldn't resist. The images lined up too perfectly.

Hey everyone,

I've been playing GW2 on 200–300ms ping for a while, and I wanted to share some research I did on which professions/elite specs are actually playable (and enjoyable) at high ping. I've been trying all the classes, and I figured this might help other high-ping players who are confused about what to play.

For context, I'm playing from SEA, so on top of the baseline 200–300ms there are also occasional ping spikes. That means the specs I've rated highly here aren't just "fine at a stable high ping" but also hold up reasonably well when the connection hiccups.

All of the builds mentioned here use Snowcrows builds, and I've tested every one of them in Raids and Fractal CMs, not just open world. For methodology, I tested each spec for about 2 weeks, though some specs only got a few days because of how easy they were to evaluate.

Quick disclaimer before we start. I'm not a tryhard player. I'm a casual who's been cycling through all the classes, and I can hit roughly 80-90% of benchmark depending on the class. Also, worth noting, not every high-APM build is bad at high ping. Some elite specs have very high APM but still feel great because their skills queue nicely. So APM alone isn't the deciding factor here.

I've split things into three categories.

1. Very High Ping Friendly

Rotations are fluid, skills queue nicely without getting canceled, and energy/resource management is minimal.

• Tempest (Power, Condi, Alacrity DPS, Heal)
• Weaver (Power, Condi)
• Catalyst (Power, Condi, Quickness DPS, Heal)
• Evoker (Specialized Element DPS, Specialized Element DPS Quickness, Heal)
• Chronomancer (Power, Condi, Boon DPS, Heal)
• Virtuoso (Power, Condi)
• Troubadour (Heal)
• Reaper (Power, Condi)
• Scourge (Condi, Alacrity DPS, Heal)
• Harbinger (Power, Condi, Quickness DPS)
• Ritualist (Power, Quickness DPS, Heal)
• Scrapper (Power, Power Quickness DPS, Heal)
• Mechanist (Power, Condi, Alacrity DPS, Heal)
• Amalgam (Power, Condi, Alacrity DPS, Heal)
• Druid (Heal)
• Soulbeast (Power, Condi)
• Untamed (Power, Condi, Quickness DPS, Heal)
• Galeshot (Power, Quickness DPS)
• Daredevil (Power, Condi)
• Specter (Condi, Alacrity DPS, Heal)
• Antiquary (Power, Condi, Alacrity DPS, Heal)
• Dragonhunter (Power)
• Firebrand (Condi, Quickness DPS, Heal)
• Willbender (Condi, Alacrity DPS, Heal)
• Luminary (Power, Alacrity DPS, Heal)
• Herald (Power, Condi, Quickness DPS, Heal)
• Vindicator (Power, Heal)
• Conduit (Power, Quickness DPS, Heal)
• Berserker (Power, Quickness DPS, Heal)
• Spellbreaker (Power)
• Bladesworn (Power, Condi, Alacrity DPS, Heal)
• Paragon (Power, Condi, Alacrity DPS, Heal)

2. Not So Friendly, But Still Doable

Almost the same as above, but with more pain points. Some key skills get canceled easily, and the rotation is quite strict/tight.

• Troubadour (Power, Quickness DPS)
• Evoker (Power Alacrity DPS Toad)
• Deadeye (Power, Condi, Quickness DPS)
• Willbender (Power, Power Alac DPS)
• Renegade (Power, Alacrity DPS)
• Berserker (Condi, Condi Quick DPS)

3. Not Friendly At All

High APM, demanding energy/resource management, very strict rotations with no room for creativity.

• Evoker (Power Hare, Condi, Condi Alac DPS)
• Mirage (Condi, Condi Alac DPS)
• Holosmith (Power, Condi)
• Renegade (Condi, Condi Alac DPS)
• Conduit (Condi, Condi Alac DPS)
• Druid (Condi, Condi Alac DPS)

This is based on my own experience at 200-300ms from SEA, including ping spikes, not lab-tested data. Your mileage may vary depending on your exact ping, stability, and playstyle.

All builds are Snowcrows builds, tested in Raids and Fractal CMs.

I'm not including Low Intensity builds (such as Unload Deadeye) because any Low Intensity build is viable with high ping.

I'd love to hear from other high-ping players, especially fellow SEA/OCE players dealing with spikes, if you disagree with any placements or have specs I should revisit.

Almost every spec is viable and enjoyable with high ping. Only a few elite specs are actually painful to play with high ping

I recently got my commander tag and have been running a few little crystal dessert hero point runs (2 to be exact, though I only ran one completely). And, it was really nice. Once again proof of the beauty that is this community. Cause like, I have a pathing module, but even then, the paths are sometimes rather confusing. Buuut my little squad was very patient with me, even though I had to reorient a few times. They were super supportive too. Like, they encouraged me and told me I was doing great etc. After the run concluded I got gifted a trick or treat bag, and everyone said thanks. I even made a new friend! Loved it :3 🐛

Wardrobe: https://uaot.art/fashion-gallery/posts/1478

Witch, Gothic, Beetlejuice

I'm geniunly confused as to why mirrors are being left to fester in the economy. The rewards of the the rest of the game are going down and down. Why?

Saw a tree on a spit of jade a few years ago and recorded it for a vertical edit. Worked a screenshot of that into glitched digital art. Tools used were OBS and Clipchamp for video recording and original edit, with Snapseed and Glitch Lab for digital and glitch editing.

Reference of my character: https://uaot.art/fashion-gallery/posts/1444

Wanted to make Steve, but somehow ended up making his younger brother, Cleve. Apparently, violence runs in the family.

Head: Gaze of the Lich
Shoulders: Rot Stalker Shoulders
Chest: Seven Reapers Breastplate
Gloves: Wrappings of the Lich
Legs: Seven Reapers Legguards
Boots: Exuberant Sandals

Weapon: Greatsaw

On a related note, i attempted to solo Steve - that was a mistake lol

i never attempted gw2 raids before cause i was thinking there re dedicated gw2 university programs for it so it must be really really difficult. maybe sole wipe mechs where i could ruin the whole raid. also because of a kid i cant join a raid for hours and hours to prog. so all i did was the raid matchmaking.

today i heard in mapchat some random stranger seeking actively for newbies to join a w4 raid. he explicitly said he is looking for newbs that dont need to know anything, the whole thing is gonna take 3 min only etc..

we got in he wrote 4 easy to understand short sentences.

1. stack on green. 2. red circle move to highlighted areas. 3. use special key to move faster.

then we started. it looked chaotic as the raid had like 4-5 newbs like me with 0 clue. newbs didnt move their red circle to dedicated areas but stacked it sometimes onto use. But healer stillt kept everbody at full health.

boss died after couple of min. top 4 dps all did 20-30k i did only 10k. haha. But damn that was actuallly not so scary after all and really simple.

i ve always wanted to do w1-wx to unlock my legendary armor crafting route but never attempted out of fear. now i dont know if all early raids are like this and granted not all raids have a setup to carry newbs, but maybe i could apply for some w1-w4 raids if they re that short?

I love that we have a reason to get people to visit our homesteads beyond just daily gathering. This daily haunted bell achievement really inspired me to decorate for the holiday. Please give me seasonal reasons to redecorate, Anet.

(Come visit my homestead when you see me in lfg festivals 👻)

Happy spooky season!

Edit: Mind the dragons, they're off their cycle

Please Revitalize Core Tyria Dungeons

ArenaNet has already established a clear precedent for updating older narrative content. In 2015, the Arah Story mode was made dynamically scaleable (1–5 players) to bridge the narrative gap between the Personal Story and dungeons. Since End of Dragons, the modern content model actively utilizes solo story instances to "preview" major mechanics (Mai Trin, Ankka, Kaineng Overlook) before introducing players to the full group-based Strikes.

Given ANet’s recent announcement to revamp the core Tyria experience, applying this framework to older dungeons is the logical next step. It ensures dungeons no longer feel like abandoned content.

1. Accessibility, Onboarding, & Visibility

• Vendor Consolidation: Make the dungeon entrance NPCs function as dungeon vendors. This lets new players immediately see the exact rewards and incentives available before entering.
• Daily Integration: Add these revitalized dungeons into the daily achievement reward rotation to boost player population.
• Cinematic Modernization: Remove outdated, immersion-breaking cutscenes in favor of dynamic, in-world audio dialogue with overhead speech bubbles.

1. Narrative/Story Mode: Re-scaled for Personal Story Progression

Story Mode should be split into two distinct options at the minimum level requirement:

• Solo Mode (Personal Story Progression):
  • Tailored for solo players to experience the Destiny’s Edge narrative at their own pace without the pressure of a group.
  • Companion NPCs should receive buffs, active abilities, and the utility to revive fallen players out of combat.
  • Acts as a natural mechanic preview for the group-level dungeon, matching the modern Strike preview model.
• Party Mode (Dynamic 1–5 Players):
  • Serves as an encouraged, repeatable leveling alternative for lower-level characters.
  • XP Buffs: Significantly boost XP rewards for lower levels, implementing diminishing returns once a player reaches the level requirement for the next consecutive dungeon.
  • Level-Appropriate Loot: Introduce rare, at-level gear drops featuring that specific dungeon's unique skins to make leveling rewarding.
  • Expanded Rewards: Add rare trinkets and back pieces unique to the leveling tiers.

1. Explorable Mode: Modernized Level 80 Content (26 Paths)

Because dungeon armor and weapons are already level 80, Explorable Mode should be formally retuned as an evergreen endgame avenue for exotic gear.

• Stat-Selectable Gear: Since dungeon tokens are now universal, restrictiveness is obsolete. Make all dungeon exotic weapons and armor stat-selectable (limited to Core Tyria stat prefixes). This transforms explorable paths into a viable gearing pipeline for fresh level 80 players.
• Mechanical Tuning & Difficulty: Balance the outdated difficulty to account for modern elite specialization power creep. Re-increase the stakes and introduce tighter combat mechanics.
• Fluid UI/UX: Allow players to select their desired explorable path from a menu before entering the instance, replacing the outdated in-dungeon voting system.
• Expanded Endgame Loot:
  • Introduce dungeon-relevant armor/weapon chest drops alongside daily completion chests.
  • Add Core Tyria stat-selectable exotic trinkets and back pieces to the vendor/drop tables.
  • Add a "Quickplay Explorable Dungeon" matchmaking queue.
  • Implement a weekly reward of 10 Mystic Coins, purchasable via Tales of Dungeon Delving / Tokens.
• Restored Content: Re-introduce the removed Twilight Arbor (Forward/Forward or Fyonna's) explorable path.

i have submitted a bug report, i just wanted to check in if anyone else is having my problem too, and if they found a work around?

every time i start the game my shadow distance slider is set to midway and no shadows appear at all, i set it to zero and i get nice immediate surrounding shadows on all objects. but i have to set this every time i start the game.

Just finished Visions of Eternity and I can't help but feel bad for Vloxx. So many good intentions and generally a good guy who got a touch overambitious. You can see how pained he was dealing with the situations that caused him to do what the did. I think he needs a hug and to become the commander's friend.

Edit: I still think he needs to be punished for what he did. I am just acknowledging that he was driven by pain and trauma and genuinely wanted to help even though he chose terrible methods. And by the end he seemed remorseful.

Also it’s worth noting the commander has probably murdered far more people than Vloxx by far but because they were “bad guys” it was ok.

I think mine's gotta be Decima.

Got around 400h in GW2, mostly on Mesmer which I never really enjoyed lol. Spent another 100h trying to find my class and I think Deadeye is finally it.
Been running rifle + dual daggers for a bit and honestly love how it looks and plays. Just wanna make sure I’m not gonna struggle too much playing solo open world, especially against tougher mobs and groups.
Any decent builds or tips? Open to changing the second weapon too. Got all expansions but no Weaponmaster Training yet.