GW2: So What Did You Do On Feature Patch Day?

$10 and 30 gold later, I finally got around to updating my necromancer’s look for PvP and his PvE condition gear.

(Whose stat type I didn’t actually own before today, either. And I opened the two Tequatl’s Hoards I’d been hoarding, for a dagger and staff to go with my Wand of the Sunless.)

Worth it.

I didn’t really need that frost wasp axe or drum this month anyway. 😦

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This patch has been fiendishly devious in terms of giving new lateral progression things to do.

There’s the new grandmaster trait unlocks, which I suppose will get done over time as one does temples and such.

There’s trying to relearn and get used to all the new UI changes and whatever the hell they’ve done in the traits/profession rebalance.

I fixed my major character’s traits back to what they were using, and it’s been…hmm, different and same.

My one-hand crit guardian seems to have escaped the worst of it, and feels like he’s even gotten better in low leveled areas, thanks to the improved downscaling of crit damage (erm, ferocity.) Of course, his main purpose is to exist in open world PvE areas and kill things very fast – no group support needed and the bare minimum of survivability, so that’s not very high requirements either way.

The axe/horn banner warrior may have lost a bit of dps, but since he wasn’t optimized for super-duper-100%-efficient DPS and went the more group support route instead, it doesn’t -feel- that different. Still yet to test it out in tougher content though, which will be crucial since he’s my dungeoneering and wurm-killing main. I may have actually lucked out by going for empowered allies and group banner support before this – what was once second best and merely decent now seems to be becoming part of the new meta, now that the old meta build had its feet and DPS kicked out under it.

My thief seems to have gotten the worst hit, I kept trying to stealth-backstab random mobs and going, what, IS THAT IT? Totally unscientific since I failed to record prior damage numbers before, but it didn’t -seem- to be hitting as lethally as before. Still yet to fix his shiny new account-bound WXP traits and test him out there, nor have I gotten around to the WvW asura guardian either.

My necromancer is a total mess stat and gear wise. A month ago, I took him out of his stopgap minion master axe/horn zerker build that helped me get through the norn and his dog in the Queen’s Gauntlet, and swapped him into an experimental death shroud/well power build for PvE, running a few easy dungeons as a test and change of pace. (Did passable to fine, didn’t get kicked.) At the same time, he was in Dhuumfire/terrormancer condi PvP build for mah dailies.

Today, I said, “Ok, today is the day I get him shiny new PvE condition gear and get him all set up looks-wise like my other mains.”

Except I somehow managed to edit my PvE traits while sitting in the Heart of the Mists pondering what would be functional for PvP (I blame the trait trainer who oh so helpfully offered to bring up my traits panel.) Thankfully, the PvP build copied itself off the PvE build, so I didn’t have to change it a second time and now BOTH builds are specced towards condition and bleeds and I’ve forgotten what the hell the dungeoneering power build was.

Then all my attention ended up in the wardrobe trying to design the new look.

Naturally, the only gloves that I wanted were those I didn’t have. (I really should have bought those toxic gloves. I hope they come back some day.)

Eventually, vanity won over frugality, and the remaining $10 in the month’s gem store budget went to buying Trickster armor for a pair of really neat gloves. (Granted, the rest of the armor doesn’t look half bad and I might be able to use pieces for my mesmer some day. Having the skins permanently available in the wardrobe really nudged me over the edge. Sorry, drum. Next month.)

Then I spent 30 gold on one miserable piece of T3 sylvari cultural armor, thinking I’d gotten really lucky that the cultural armor was the rabid stats I wanted. Only when I looked at the vendor, did I realize the blasted thing only had rare stats. Gah.

I’m feeling a bit too poor to buy one more chestpiece of exotic stats today, especially since it has also hit me that his jewellery is all still zerker.  Some day, but not today, I’m going to have to sit down, rummage through my bank and wallet and see what exotics or ascended of the right condition stats I can afford and fix that up properly, stats and runes/sigils and all.

For now, he’s sitting in a PvE limbo of neither condition or power. Bah.

There’s a dreamcleaver axe and staff skin waiting in the bank for his power build too, when I get around to designing a second look, when I actually figure out what his power build should be. *sigh*

All in good time, I suppose.

Feels like being pulled in a dozen directions at once, and being completely confused and penniless at the same time.

Who needs an expansion to shake things up when one dang feature patch is all it takes, eh?