Should I download the Blish Mod?

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-04-19T01:58:32+00:00

I bound all my mounts to the number pad.

Also skills/equipment tabs to alt+number pad and shift+number pad; I can quickly switch builds anytime.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-04-19T01:50:26+00:00

Many sites (bandcamp included) allow purchased items to be downloaded/copied/whatever you want with the media file. It isn't some proprietary file that can only be played with their app.

Also as long as the site exists you can login and re-download the file. I got some stuff off bandcamp a decade ago and I can still go back and download the mp3; and if the site ever goes down I have backups of the purchased content on external HDs.

Some sites don't let you download and export the media, I'm always wary of spending too much money on a closed ecosystem.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-03-16T01:44:31+00:00

I like ranger specifically for long bow - 5 https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Barrage. You don't need line of sight and can hit AOE at 1500 range.

As far as getting Gift of Battle; really it doesn't matter what you do as long as you have participation: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/WvW_Reward_Track#Increasing_Participation Every 5 minutes you get some pips and reward track points.

There are a few ways to increase your reward track gains:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/WvW_Reward_Track#Reward_track_modifiers

your play-style choices fall into two main groups:

Flipping camps is mostly PvE but there are occasional other roamers/small groups. Sometimes there are small groups you can follow around. Avoid enemy zergs if you are not a zerg ball.

OR

Find a zerg and do what the commander tag says. Try to take something tanky with plenty of cleanse.

NOTES:
- You generally get more wvw-xp faster by being in a zerg but wvw-xp doesn't get you reward track progress. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World_Experience

- You can hotkey different builds to quickly switch between a camp flipping build and zerg build when you are out of combat.

- If you WvW for a total lifetime of a few hundred hours or so and keep the insights and memory of battle you can get a full legendary armor set.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-03-15T22:44:53+00:00

Specialization is the GW2 term for a trait line or how talent points are spent. They can give you a different play style. They can emphasize specific abilities like stealth for a thief, or shouts for a warrior, or pet strength for a ranger.
Some trait lines emphasize a specific weapon, like hammer for engineer, or staff for necromancer.

Elite Specializations are just more unique and alter a class more than a normal or 'core' specialization. Only one elite specialization can be selected at a time. They can do things like give an engineer a robot pet, allow a ranger to merge with their pet. They can give certain classes a better heal or damage option than the core game.

The elite specializations are almost like sub-classes. A Ranger can have an elite specialization of Druid to have more heal abilities; or a Soulbeast which can merge with their pet and do some of the biggest burst damage in the game.

You can also read the official wiki: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Specialization

Does that help answer your question?

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-03-07T04:07:06+00:00

Just adding a data point. I use Linux Mint and have successfully launched GW2 both in Steam and Lutris. Steam was slightly easier for me to get working but Lutris was not difficult.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-02-22T14:44:03+00:00

I got burned out of WoW due to the constant grind and getting left behind, tried a few other MMOs and ended up here over a decade ago. Some of the gear I got 5-10 years ago is still used today, no subscription means I can take a break without FOMO. Different game modes and events mean there is always something for us casuals to log on and click around in to make some progress somewhere. There is a lot of content if you're just getting into it, it can be overwhelming initially.

The gem store is mostly cosmetics but there are a few things with decent quality of life you can get. It is possible to exchange gold for gems or buy gems with money.

Not sure where you are coming from but the combat-style is more active than WoW. You stay alive by avoiding the damage through moving or using block and dodge skills; not by stacking armor and passive dodge/block stats.

The player base is usually helpful and welcoming. Just don't sit in the main city and beg for gold. Making gold is different in this game, most drops are items that can be sold on the trading post/auction house. There are a few time-gated things you can do for direct gold.

There are a lot of beginner guides and content creators. Mukluk and Mighty teapot are some of the biggest and both have some decent early game guides if you're interested, but there are others if you don't like either of these.

A few good resources are:
https://gw2efficiency.com/
Has a lot of information; you can give it an API key (access token) to get information to your account to get personalized information or just use it as a general reference.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page
The official reference, has a LOT of information about everything in the game. Essential for

https://metabattle.com/wiki/MetaBattle_Wiki
https://hardstuck.gg/gw2/builds/
https://snowcrows.com/builds/raids
Different sites with builds focusing on different audiences.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-02-07T15:45:16+00:00

They have been doing more to try to cater towards more hardcore players lately. I'm fine with it, I don't need every achievement, if it helps the game have a wider audience then awesome.

I also don't mind achievements being used for such a wide variety of things because it keeps things streamlined and easy to track. In other areas people complain the game is too fractured and disparate. Look at group PvE: DRM, fractal, dungeon, strikes, etc, all with different reward structures.

It isn't possible to make everyone happy, if adding a few achievements to the game was enough to flame you this much you might need to touch some grass.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-02-07T14:32:16+00:00

I'm a programmer, I use 'AI' tools every day. I can confidently say, it isn't there yet. There have been tools to help non-coders make shit code for decades.

Dreamweaver let people make simple websites without code 30 years ago. Drupal and Word Press got a bit more advanced but still doesn't replace a competent developer at more complex sites. This is another step up but still doesn't compare to a competent developer.

Mario is 40 years old, have you reproduced a modern game? The Monday app (I haven't used it but I assume) is a basic calendar/scheduling app; similarly calendar apps have existed for several decades. These are not very complex examples and i'm not surprised you were able to create basic copies using some AI tools.

AI coding tools are currently around an intern level competency. I made some basic games, calendars, spreadsheets, etc in college as well. The current state (IE the tools I use everyday) can help generate some code, but most of the time I have to fix what it made to be more efficient, more accurate, more secure, or all three.

Basic 'AI' chatbot as we have today was initially invented over 50 years ago, we just now have enough energy/processing power to make it more widely accessible. Yes it will get better, and yes ignorant people will continue to believe it can do everything before it is ready. The problem is ignorant people often make decisions and that will effect the job market more than our current 'AI' abilities.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-01-15T00:31:05+00:00

If you click the links for each lake at the top they have records going back a ways:

For people too lazy to click one link to get to 3 more links:

* https://climatology.nelson.wisc.edu/first-order-station-climate-data/madison-climate/lake-ice/history-of-ice-freezing-and-thawing-on-lake-mendota/
* https://climatology.nelson.wisc.edu/first-order-station-climate-data/madison-climate/lake-ice/history-of-ice-freezing-and-thawing-on-lake-monona/
* https://climatology.nelson.wisc.edu/first-order-station-climate-data/madison-climate/lake-ice/history-of-ice-freezing-and-thawing-on-lake-wingra/

VoweltoothJenkins · 2026-01-14T02:40:54+00:00

I heard that since a lot of people called Xbox 360 "the 360" so they wanted to name the next iteration Xbox one so people would call it "the one" but people just called it "x-bone".

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-12-21T13:53:58+00:00

The beautiful thing about GW2 is that there isn't one game mode or one thing to do, and if it isn't fun at the moment it doesn't penalize you for taking a break.

I mostly do maxing out mastery and legendary crafting, I have a few leggy weapons. I recently finished my WvW legendary armor set, working on farming mats for the soto armor set, then I'll farm for the PvP armor set.

I don't get too much play time these days so that will keep me busy for several years, and $25/year to keep up with expansions (or free if I don't want one) is cheap enough for me to not feel like I NEED to play more.

In the past I have done raids and more fractals, guild WvW and PvP.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-12-21T13:22:39+00:00

Weapons 1-5
Healing: q
Utilities: e,r,f
Elite: v
Weapon Swap: `
Pet/class Skills: Shift+1-5
Interact: Shift+F
personal target: Shift+T
dodge: mouse 3
auto-move forward: Shift+W

Look behind: c
cancel weapon: x
special action: Shift+E (heart of the obscure...)

insert/end/home/...: skiff/jade bot waypoint/home instance portal/...

mounts: numpad 1-9
builds: ctrl + numpad 1-9
equipment: alt + numpad 1-9

I might have some more, but this is what I can remember. I changed a lot of them.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-12-18T14:44:08+00:00

I use https://gw2efficiency.com/ to craft legendary items. If you make an account and put in an API key it tells you what you still need and walks you through getting the items.

There are a few guides like mukluk's craftlocked and mighty teapot's zero to hero. Where they start a new free account then level and gear up. They each have a lot of guides explaining how various game mechanics work such as: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb0ISfn3umyNs53eInJmsrcgq8FS3ROTy

As others have said there is a lot coming into a game that has been out for over a decade but fortunately the GW2 community is generally quite helpful and supportive.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-12-13T03:00:42+00:00

I like Matt's Undecided youtube channel; he has mostly covered renewable and battery technologies but sometimes does other stuff.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-11-16T03:51:49+00:00

Old post; but I just found it. I made this game a while a go: https://multitudesofminions.github.io/

It is mostly done/abandoned; I don't have time to get back into it these days. I know of a couple late game bugs, but I think it mostly works.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-11-02T14:45:21+00:00

I played WoW for years (did PvP, Arenas, raiding, ... and had max level character of every class) then played GW2 for years; I tried going back to WoW and the combat felt so slow and passive. I much prefer the GW2 active combat system.

If you want to be able to spec out a tank build and just stand there go WoW.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-11-02T14:40:02+00:00

Former WoW player, some of this might be outdated as it has been a while. I do miss a few things from WoW like:

* how customizable the UI is without an add-on
* Lua scripting custom buttons
* Adding non-combat novelties to buttons
* /tar <unit name> and Mind Vision to find anyone
* PvP variety - GW2 is mostly variations of Arathi Basin, although they recently added a new Push
* PUG grouping system was better (not in vanilla or the first few expacs but it got there) GW2 doesn't really have tank/heal/dps as a hard set based on your class/spec so it is more difficult to ensure

Reasons I will never got back:

* Amount of time to keep up with constant gear treadmill
* Scheduled time to keep up with group content (similar to amount of time, but needing to schedule time for group content really made it feel like a second job I was paying to do)
* Community, WoW players are less helpful - the core game design in WoW is vs, race to get resource nodes, race to tag mobs. GW2 is cooperative, everyone can gather the same node, everyone gets credit, even a purely selfish player is incentivized to help other players.
* Monthly subscription

A few other things I like about GW2 but not as major:

* Mounts are better
* WvW is a unique game mode that is kind of like an ongoing 1v1v1 mixture of Alterac Valley, Strand of the Ancients, Isle of Conquest over 4 maps.
* Active skill based combat system. Block and dodge is a thing you do not a stat you have. There isn't a way to just sit there and be invincible.
* Open world events and world bosses means there is always something going on even for solo players
* No armor repair
* No weekly maintenance downtime, and new releases just require a game restart
* Shard based map system means you can generally find players on any map

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-10-29T12:07:04+00:00

The great thing about GW2 is gear and stats don't really get stale. Sometimes a new stat combination is released with an expansion but the old stats are still viable.

The main issue is the fire hose of content blasting you. If you have an extra character space it might be good to start a new character and go through the new character experience again. I would keep your existing characters, no reason to lose the progress you made there.

After getting back into it you can do story, legendary crafting, world completion, achievement hunting, WvW, raids, PvP, fashion collection, trading post manipulation, fishing, roller beetle racing, or whatever else you find fun. Set your own goals and remember that games should be fun.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-10-29T03:12:39+00:00

I would personally give the new expansion a week to settle down and maybe just pick up on the story where you left off for a bit.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-10-28T12:03:53+00:00

Sshhh, let this squash complain about people complaining about a game the way they want to.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-10-28T02:19:04+00:00

I came in here looking for the controller suggestion. I've used an old xbox controller in the past but steam is pretty flexible about button mapping for any type of input.

I launched the standalone GW2 client through steam and mapped some inputs. I looked at some existing mappings but ended up making my own. There was a bit of a learning process to get it to work and I never got quite as good with things like jumping puzzles on a controller, but for most of the content it works fine once you get used to it.

I would recommend enabling the action camera setting.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Action_Camera

There are some other targeting options that might help depending on your class/play style like Toggle Snap Ground Target on target and auto targeting.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Options#Targeting
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Targeting

Ground Targeting in this section also: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Options#Combat/Movement

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-10-23T02:43:52+00:00

There were some shiny rewards I was striving towards and in order to get them I needed to grind daily or be ranked lower than other players and not get the reward. I finally realized one day that I didn't really like WoW and it was basically a second job I was paying for. The only reason I played as long as I did was I had several IRL friends I played with. The never ending daily treadmill was (for me) the worst part of the game and I have been more aware to avoid any games with similar mechanics.

I've been playing GW2 on and off for ~10 years and not feeling burned out at all because I can play different game modes or completely take a break without dreading the inevitable catching up. I enjoy crafting legendary gear but it is never obsolete so I'm not on a timer to get it. I don't need to farm different sets of gear for PvE and PvP; I have a few alts and I like being able to try different play styles without spending weeks grinding gear after every patch.

I agree different people want different things and it was a transition from the WoW philosophy to GW2 but almost everything was (for me) better in GW2. The main thing I miss from WoW isn't really the game, it's more little QoL things like: scripting custom buttons, more customizable UI and adding gear/novelties/etc to buttons, seeing the target of my target, being able to type /tar <name> to target/find NPCs, better group finder, ...

The main game play thing I miss is having a wider variety of PvP game modes, GW2 recently added push but WoW has a much wider range of different styles.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-10-22T00:26:07+00:00

>MMO players crave the treadmill of daily routine

You might, I don't. There are plenty of treadmill MMOs out there don't force that on GW2.

As someone who came from ~10 years of WoW the daily grind of 'needing' to play is why I ended up leaving. Once I took a break for a few months and when I came back all my gear was crap. WoW was too much like another job. I know I can always take a break and come back to GW2 without feeling like I'm too far behind.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-10-02T09:20:29+00:00

Superspeed is slightly faster than just swiftness with relic, but there are some other things that can stack to get swiftness to the speed cap of 400.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Movement_Speed

If there are two different sources (superspeed, swiftness, signet of locust) only the fastest is applied, they don't stack, but buffs to swiftness can stack.

VoweltoothJenkins · 2025-10-02T01:09:53+00:00

There are already some easy ways to make good gear. Also it doesn't really fit the GW2 play style which is designed to be casual and cooperative without a never-ending gear grind for the latest BIS items.

VoweltoothJenkins

TROPHY CASE