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Guild Wars Again - Playing with a Paragon

Without really planning it I appear to be taking a break from Lotro. I am sure I will return soon, I have already been tempted by the goodies coming up in soon to be released book seven. In the meantime I have been shying away from heavy mmorpging - sticking to single player games and a bit of online fragging.

Guild Wars is a game I have always intended to return to and this sojourn has hopefully provided an opportunity to do so. Previously I did pretty much everything there is to do in Tyria (original Prophecies campaign) with my Mesmer but I lost interest about half way through bringing a Paragon through Nighfall.

Getting back into an mmo like game is always intimidating. There is just so much to do and to learn. Inevitably lots of new features will have been added. Although Guild Wars does not have the rich imersive world of a full blown mmo the meta game is very complex, more so than any game that I have played outside of EVE. You could spend years collecting skillls and refining builds not to mention pursuing titles and vanity armour sets. I know I could get lost in that sort of stuff so have decided to take an extremely blinkered view of the game and focus on completing the main campaign.

I logged in and took up where I left off (luckily I still remember how to play) getting my paragon as far as the Tihark Orchard mission last night. Sadly I find the paragon a bit boring to play. It's not that Paragons are weak. A Paragon provides strong offensive and defensive buffs combined with moderate helaing and reasonable dps all the while wearing heavy armour. They are an excellent asset to any group and certain paragon builds have even come to be termed "Imbagon" on account of their overpowered utility. Utility is not nessecarily fun however and I don't really like the support paragon role which mainly involves standing back from the fight and shouting repeatedly to buff your fellows. I have opted instead for a DPS paragon which is probably heresy but more fun to play. If figure out a way to link to a Guild Wars build I will do so later but don't expect any brilliant insights from this noob.

Comments

Melf_Himself said…
I found I had the most fun with the Paragon when playing a more hybrid role. Bring a couple of the better attack skills, aggressive refrain to bolster your attacks and adrenaline gain, and some of the more impressive shouts. When you have to worry about inflicting pain AND positioning yourself to rescue team mates, it makes things more engaging I think.

Curious why you don't feel the game world is as rich/immersive as a 'real' (non-instanced) MMO? Is it just the non-instanced aspect?
mbp said…
I thin kI am see-sawing towards a hybrid configuration myself Melf. I started out with support skills and got bored with that so I loaded up on spear attacks. Now I find myself slowly adding back in useful shouts (anthem of zeal has just snuck in to help power my healer.

The instancing is a big part of it Melf - the instanced zones don't feel as alive as those in a no-instanced game I think. AS well as that though the npcs are all quite wooden - none of them appears to be doing anything other than standing around waiting for you to talk to them. I have to admit the scenery is lovely though. I think Guild Wars strikes a marvellous balance between good performance and pretty graphics.
I used to find the Warrior skill 'Flail' very useful on a Paragon, but I think it got nerfed. It might still be of some use since it costs nothing and it speeds up your attack rate.

It's been too long since I played GW... I can't remember any of the hax builds anymore...
mbp said…
Good call Crimson. I just looked it up - it gives increased attack speed but slows movement. Being a ranged attacker a paragon doesn't need to move so its a free boost. Thnx.

Oh dear, I can feel myself getting seduced by builds and skills again. I am trying hard not to go there because I want to get to the end of the campaign before I get sidetracked.

I still have factions and Eye of the North on my shelf in shrinkwrap!

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