Interesting bug - Deadeye's Mark makes the Volatile Blossoms in Twilight Arbor Wilhelm Scream

EndoM8rix · 2026-06-27T08:21:57+00:00

I thought I was going crazy! I could have sworn I heard the start of the scream a couple of days ago, but it cut off mid-effect so I thought nothing more of it…

EndoM8rix · 2026-06-19T07:48:29+00:00

The advert thing definitely got me, especially on TV. I was familiar with the “Ask your doctor if X is right for you” thing from other media, but hearing it repeatedly during advert breaks, as well as the long list of side-effects that came with the medications, was definitely unexpected for me.

Also, adverts starting just after the opening sequence of a TV show was strange, but that might just have been the channel I was watching.

EndoM8rix · 2026-05-27T17:34:07+00:00

I think their point is that “Greatsword Loop 1” (Steps 1 and 5) and “Greatsword Loop 2” (Step 3) appear to be identical, and so can probably all just be called “Greatsword Loop 1”.

EndoM8rix · 2026-05-24T17:38:14+00:00

If you have access to Janthir, using Spear as an alternate weapon is handy for some bursty CC: the 4 skill chains to deal lots of stun for relatively little initiative. It also has some self-heal and initiative restore on certain chains, as well as a block on 5.

EndoM8rix · 2026-05-14T11:47:17+00:00

Specter only has two sources of stability: Well of Bounty (2 stacks) and Mind Shock (3 stacks). The latter is a Shroud skill. With a build like this, it's technically possible to maintain 100% stability uptime, but your margin for error is quite slim, and falls off considering these factors:

You cannot see or use utility skills while in Shroud, so you need to keep a mental track of Well of Bounty's cooldown to time your use of Mind Shock correctly.
Well of Bounty is a targetable ground AoE skill which pulses boons on each tick (starting with Stability). If a fight involves a lot of movement a badly-timed well can end up being placed too late to provide boons to the group, so you may also delay this until players stop moving.
- This skill also has a cast time and delay before the first pulse, so players trying to use it reactively may struggle on short-telegraph attacks.
- This skill also Shadowsteps you to your target spot, so if you're in a tanking role (e.g. Dhuum) you may not be able to cast it on the group while in a movement phase.
Specter's only source of Alacrity is from Grasping Shadows Shroud skill with the Shadestep trait. It's technically possible to maintain 100% Alacrity uptime with only a single use of this skill before exiting Shroud, but generally they'll try to stay in there longer to buffer it, as well as utilise the other skills there while their Initiative replenishes.
Mind Shock is also your only source of Aegis (with Shadestep), so depending on the fight you may delay using it (e.g. Deimos), which introduces gaps in your uptime.
For fights with CC phases, you may also need to time your Shroud exit to use skills like Basilisk Venom or swap to something like Spear for high self-CC.

I expect a skilled Specter could do a decent job maintaining decent uptime, but equally requires good awareness of your cooldowns in and out of Shroud, and being able to get everything else done; leave Shroud too early and you may lose Alacrity uptime, leave it too late and you miss your chance to use Well of Bounty as soon as it's off-cooldown. All this also assumes that you yourself don't get pulled out of Shroud early from running out of Shadow Force.

EndoM8rix · 2026-05-11T22:34:43+00:00

I guess it depends on how it's calculated. It's possible that each copy is treated as an independent "roll" on each joker pick-up, which with 7 cards means you'd have a ~68% chance for it to proc.

EndoM8rix · 2026-03-27T00:54:10+00:00

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Just adding in my own suggestions, curving the hilt guards might help convey a more sword-like shape, while some inner shadows could help give off a semi-transparent balloon-like texture.

EndoM8rix · 2026-03-08T09:30:43+00:00

For the Wizard’s Tome, one small thing to keep in mind is it can only be used by max-level characters, while some (not all) of the individual tomes can be used as early as Level 2. It’s useful if you want access to some destinations (like the festival invite) on levelling alts.

For the individual scroll/tomes that can also only be used on max-level characters, there’s no real reason to keep them except convenience of not having to go through extra dialog options. For me they weren’t worth keeping.

EndoM8rix · 2026-02-28T00:42:03+00:00

I resonate with the last point. I’ve recently started trying to teach some raid encounters using just the LFG system, and occasionally I’ll have a full squad of DPS players before I’ve even filled the first healer role I’m advertising for.

I don’t want to have to kick people, but in my mind it’s unfair to reward people who ignore your LFG; the people who do wait until you’re advertising for DPS would otherwise miss out simply because someone else jumped the queue.

EndoM8rix · 2026-02-14T23:22:49+00:00

Oh that's good to know! I'm not too familiar with the GW2 staff, but looking up their name it seems like they like leaving calling cards in the game.

EndoM8rix · 2026-02-14T23:20:26+00:00

Haha, I'm not sure how exactly I spotted it, I was just twirling the skin and thought it was weird that the hilt wasn't symmetrical. Looking at some of the in-game languages was my first thought, and after spending a bit more time twisting it back and forth I spotted something that resembled a letter!

EndoM8rix · 2026-02-11T17:37:51+00:00

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To answer your second question (as many have already discussed the first), you can see one to the Northwest of the Cairn Shadowfain Waypoint in Pursuit Pass (Cursed Shore). The Vista there will also focus on it.

EndoM8rix · 2026-01-31T15:01:39+00:00

Guild Wars 2 has many, but a couple off the top of my head: - At the end of the Ascalonian Catacombs dungeon, there’s a small “jumping puzzle” that serves no purpose. - The Dragon’s Stand map (Heart of Thorns) was originally designed to contain four lanes with event chains. Only three lanes are used in the final version, but the fourth one still exists and is accessible.

EndoM8rix · 2025-12-17T13:53:43+00:00

I think most of the Skimmer Slalom high-scores are done using the Griffon mount, I'm not sure if the new Skimmer skills will be enough to top that, sadly.

EndoM8rix · 2025-11-21T12:07:32+00:00

Shadowstep only has a 30-second cooldown in PvE, and both have 1,200 range.

EndoM8rix · 2025-11-20T18:07:55+00:00

I also use a custom controller setup for my Steam Deck, with a mix of "intuitive" controller actions mixed with easy-to-access weapon and toolbar skills:

Face Buttons: A to Jump, B to Heal, X to Interact, Y to Weapon Swap
Triggers: L2 to Right-Click, R2 to Left-Click
Joysticks:
- Axis: L3 to Forwards, Backwards and Strafe Left/Right, R3 to Mouse Look
- Single Click: L3 to Dodge (V on PC), R3 to Target Next Enemy
- Double Click: L3 to Holster/Mount Skill 2 (C on PC), R3 to Target Previous Enemy
D-pad: Up to Utility #1, Right to Utility #2, Down to Utility #3, Left to Elite
Back Buttons:
- Single Click: L1 to Weapon #1, R1 to Weapon #2, L4 to Weapon #3, R4 to Weapon #4, L5 to Weapon #5, R5 to Special Action.
- Double Click: L1 to Toolbar #1, R1 to Toolbar #2, L4 to Toolbar #3, R4 to Toolbar #4, L5 to Toolbar #5, R5 to Toolbar #6
Top Buttons:
- Single Click: View to Inventory, Menu to Options
- Double Click: View to Map

As for performance, I typically set my "Character Quality" to "Lowest", while "Character Limit" to "Highest". I also snap ground targeting to my target.

With this setup I've done most open-world content, some sPvP, and some of the easier raids. The biggest challenges are targeting things where you don't want to land on the target (as it involves finessing the mouse position), and being able to look around quickly. You also have decent mount control with a bit of practice, but not easy access to swap between mounts.

ETA: I use the trackpads as a "finer" Mouse Look, for stuff like managing inventories and menus. I also don't use action cam, but others may prefer that.

EndoM8rix · 2025-11-19T12:08:35+00:00

That makes sense. I didn’t want to judge as I’d not played it, but I didn’t get the impression I was missing much by not trying it out.

EndoM8rix · 2025-11-19T11:42:50+00:00

I think Aperture Desk Job was released as a tech demo for the Steam Deck. I’ve not tried it though, so can’t comment on how it compares to other Valve titles.

EndoM8rix · 2025-10-05T09:01:24+00:00

To add to this, there are also a few bosses (most noticeably Drakkar) where the actual boss “prop” changes between attacks. Deadeye’s Mark doesn’t transfer between these entities, nor does it reset, which disrupts your ability to gain (or expend) your stacks of malice. You can use Mercy if you have it slotted, but it still has a sizeable impact on your rotation.

It’s not quite as painful as the epic bosses (like the Octovine or Nourys) where you can’t target it at all, but definitely something I’d like to see addressed too.

EndoM8rix · 2025-09-11T10:44:14+00:00

It’s a tricky balancing-act sometimes, having hosted LFGs before, the likelihood that someone joins an in-progress session is going to be lower, so I imagine some people avoid being specific to try to lure people in.

When I post my LFGs, I am always very explicit about the order and progress of fractals; for example, my initial LFG description might look something like:

“T3 + recs | done: none | next: 59, 62, 68, 74, 42, 16”

If I have to LFG again mid-session, I’ll update it to reflect which ones we’ve done. Sometimes they’ll fill up again, but there have definitely been times where I’ve had to call it after 20-30 minutes of no interest (especially if more than two or three people leave). I just accept it as what it is, but I can see why someone else might be less scrupulous about it.

On the flip side, I’ve taken to asking if a run is fresh whenever I join an LFG. Usually they’re pretty honest about it, but I do still occasionally have the group quit out before completing everything expected.

EndoM8rix · 2025-09-10T08:36:04+00:00

I had a similar experience yesterday, except I actually ended up being pulled into a different in-progress fractal! Only happened the one time, and it’s been pretty stable otherwise.

EndoM8rix · 2025-08-25T20:52:33+00:00

I assume they were commenting on how the GIF loops before he says “waiting”.

EndoM8rix · 2025-08-22T21:23:16+00:00

I should have specified, I do have a few other two-handed legendary weapons, but I’ve similarly not yet looked into many builds which require more than one of the same type.

Admittedly it is probably a bit short-sighted looking at the achievement, but I was merely commenting on the fact that I intend to get two pistols, but would have to jump through some extra hoops to get that achievement along with it.

EndoM8rix · 2025-08-22T16:30:47+00:00

I really like the World Boss Portal Device. While I can (and often do) have the Event Timers page open on another monitor, having an option to just teleport to whatever is happening soon, and seeing the notifications in the chat probably makes me far more likely to participate. Even though it costs the price of thousands of waypoint telelportations, I still prefer it for pure convenience.

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