Desirable Weapons

Ok, so this post will be a little bit of a rant about Mesmer weapons. I don't play a mesmer much, mainly because I can't interrupt to save my life, and lack the experience, and frankly the desire, to learn to play one properly. For anyone like me, who the mesmer doesn't really appeal to, I empathise with you, and now beg the question: why does the mesmer get all the best weapons?

Sure, mesmers look elegant; if we were to take half of their armour, for example, they look like the ladies who sat in medieval courts and entertained the king with their mindless chatter and liking for tea. To put it bluntly, female mesmers look like high-class whores. But this isn't a rant about mesmers in general, this is a rant about weapons.

Exhibit A: the Dragon Spire Staff:
In my opinion this staff is one of the most beautiful weapons in the game. It's dye chart is exquisite to look at, and in blue this staff is spectacular. Hell, it looks good in almost any colour. And what attributes is it available in I hear you cry? The grand total of Inspiration. Yes that's it, this staff is only good for the mesmer.

Exhibit B: the Pronged Fan:
I'm sure you can see, this rare skin is undoubtedly beautiful. The prongs give it an almost necromantic look, and anyone would swear that it was a necromancer focus. Only available from the end chest in Urgoz Warren or The Deep, it understandably takes a lot of luck to get a requirement nine dropped. And now we come to the attribute availability. This one, understandably, is not just available in Mesmer attributes, but it could be better. The list of attributes are: Soul Reaping, Energy Storage, Divine Favor, Spawning Power, and Inspiration. Ok, so here we have an unfair advantage to the mesmer, I don't know anyone who runs twelve in their main attribute. Kiss your ideas of getting one of these in death magic goodbye. Only the mesmer can really get one of these and use it properly unless it comes in requirement nine. And even then, would you rather have a soul reaping focus when you could have a death magic one? Of course, I am speaking purely from a necromancer's view, but it's the same for the other professions. If you have to spread your attribute points far you sacrifice one from the main attribute because, chances are, you'll have little or no skills relying on it.

Exhibit C: the Gemstone Staff:
This staff is one rarely seen, though not exceptionally difficult to get hold of, it's only available from a handful of collectors in factions. Now, this staff is the only one with this skin, it's gem in the top is modelled on the tormented gems found in domain of anguish, specifically the Margonite Gemstone. And so, what attributes is it available in? Domination. Yes, that's it... domination. Fantastic.

Exhibit D: the Serpentine Sceptre:
To put this in perspective, though this skin is gorgeous, it's only available in the same attributes as the pronged fan; so, unless you're running as a mesmer, you're pretty-much screwed from the start. Add to this the fact that the serpent sceptre is also only available from the end chest in Urgoz or The Deep, and those two elite areas start to look a little prejudiced in favour of the mesmers.

And finally, Exhibit E: the Rose Focus and Gwen's Flute:
These items are only available from quest rewards. They are unique skins and quite beautiful to behold, but again, they only come in specific mesmer attributes. The Rose is a fast casting focus item, and the flute is, once again, inspiration. Now, the quests are hard enough to do, but to be rewarded with a single mesmer focus is useless unless you're a mesmer.

Though this rant has been mainly about lovely skins of weapons (which, I'll admit, make no difference to the effectiveness of the character) I can't help feeling that perhaps the developers felt sorry for the mesmers. The mesmer is perhaps the most undervalued profession in guild wars, perhaps this is arena net's way to encourage more people to play them.

"I'm A Survivor!"

Today's post marks my the achievement of my first rank for the survivor title on one of my Guild Wars characters. For those who don't know, or haven't experienced it, the Survivor Title is one that can only be obtained through gaining certain levels of experience without dying once. I remember that for the longest time I've wanted to have this precious title all to myself, yet I have been daunted by the prospect of having to pay more attention to my place in the battlefield. In my usual line of profession, this isn't easy. I am prone to getting myself into aggro, especially when trying to find something else on another program on my machine. Still, I finally decided two months ago that enough was enough, and that I would at least try, and see how far it got me. So far, it's got me to the first part of my uphill climb.
The thing that I thought most unusual about practising on a survivor character was that it was surprisingly easy once you realised a few things. The most important thing is something that I am learning across all the characters I play; do not stand in the aggro. I'm absent-minded, I'll admit, but it wasn't until I stopped making my mistakes that I knew I was doing them at all. The more I play this game, the better I do become, and I see it in the little things I do.
The second thing I learned from playing a survivor is that it is essential to know that your skills are and which ones will empower you. Having a damage-heavy build is great if you're an elementalist or a warrior, but something like my mesmer requires skills that take out targets whilst recharging that precious energy bar. If I run out of energy in the process of a fight, I will not have the ability to heal myself should I need it. And in the beginning, I did. The first 11 levels of my survivor were completely solo, but I feel the happiness of success every time I look upon that title under my name.

Let me tell you something about Ludvig

Hello, I am the newest author at this blog, and thought i would introduce myself.

I have been playing GW for several years now, and actually enjoying it more and more. So what is it with this game that make me continue to play it year after year? Well, it is just amazing. I like the graphics and scenery, i even feel at home in The Shiverpeaks. The fact that you have to make a build with only 8 skills that have to work together, instead of spamming skills is also an important reason. I find myself really enjoying making builds lately. But the most important thing! The social bit. The people you play with and the guild and alliance. You meet so many dedicated, nice, fun and amazing ppl you have fun with. Also people of all ages, i believe we are from 14 to 50 years old in our guild.

On many occations we use ages to get to do what we are planning, cause we stand in the Guild Hall and talk. I believe no other game can offer the same kind of feeling, the feeling of being a part of an amazing collection of people. And if you are new to the game, you dont get told off, but embraced and helped on the way!

This was supposed to be an introduction on me, seem like I kinda failed at that :P

Well i can tell you that i am 19 for the 8th year in a row now, and I do live in Norway. I have great interest in computer off course. From hardware to software. But that is'nt my only interest, I can list some for you: Cars, friends, music, movies and so on.

Together with my co-writers i will try to give you all a peak into our lives inside Guild Wars, and hope you will enjoy the reading :)