TamX.1870

Today it was announced, that the forthcoming change will be so, that runes will grant stats and new relics will grant procs. But for us with legendary runes this change will not make any sense. Why would you slot anything to berserker armor than power/precision/ferocity stats? The entire reason for legendary runes have been to be able to switch procs, which now go to relics. The stat increase in runes are IMO negligible compared to the amout from armor, weapons and trinkets, not worth to consider without procs. Procs have been the reason to slot anything other than the stats in the armor. I feel bit disappointed. No matter if the stats from runes are increased, it still means that for certain type of armor you slot certain type of runes, and it obsoletes the need for legendary runes.

Yes, the same.

IIRC, that's how the shared inv slot + booster worked with HoT/PoF, too. Using the booster frees the slot.

Did it took some time? I received those bonus items, but no 25th slot nor booster.

You can solo low tier fractals, but you don't have to. Join to some T1 groups from LFG. Those groups are for new people and quite often they have some experienced friend with them to carry them through. This helps a lot. In the beginning, you can just follow people and learn how that specific fractal works. Then, bit later, you can ask those more experienced "carriers" about the details in that specific fractal. Then, you climb the fractal ladders, meet people, ask and get answers, and eventually one day your fractal level is 100, you have 150+ AR and you do T4 dailies :)

Yes, I was wondering if mac users can play with Linux and as pointed out above, it should be possible. I have played GW2 and other games under Linux with Wine for years. It is not always perfect, but it definitely works.

I run Harrier-Minstrel mixup, but that's only because of very specific reasons: I'm using my Druid's Harrier trinkets, but can't use her medium armor, so I'm running with my WvW Minstrel support armor on HFB. I haven't ran HFB in raids, but in case I do, I can make exotic Harrier armor for that purpose. I generally make Shaman armors and weapons and then change stats. There are also other cheap variants like Soldier. Any cheap exotic insignia/inscription from TP will do the work. What you basically save is the cost of the recipes, so in some cases you might want to buy the recipes to make the armors/weapons directly to correct stats (e.g. Berserker which is so common for all power DPS builds).

Gliding is account wide, so once you have learned it, all your toons can glide no matter of level. But to learn gliding, you need to go to HoT maps (Verdant Brink and so on) to gain both HoT mastery points and XP for mastery, and those maps are level 80 maps. I am not entirely sure if it is mandatory to do the first HoT quest, but at least that opens you access to Verdant Brink.

There are many, but what I like most is the lack of gear treadmill (games that keep constantly obsoleting gears by raising levels or other ways, so that you are forced back to get back where you were). Here you need basically gear your toon just once for the content you play, and that's it, although of course balance changes change some things (you may need to gear up to different role, or gear up a toon you hadn't played for long time). I like how there is lots to do, so that if you get too much some content, you can go doing something else or try something you hadn't tried ever before. I mostly play in "periods", I might be very active for few weeks or months, and then I'm more or less at background for months. It is nice how you can always continue where you left.

I'm using Chrome all the time, and pages are working just fine at this very moment. I can't remember that I would have any problems in the past either. Sometimes I have experienced problems with some pages after updates. As I am using Linux, many of those have been problems with some inconsistences in the installations, and have been fixed with updates to rest of the system (or caused by them, in which case updating Chrome has helped). Sorry that I can't help you more with this but saying that everything seems to be working fine...

Yes, you need PoF expansion :) They are so called "elite specializations". You can slot three trait lines for a class. In addition to core trait lines, there are now two "elite specializations" from HoT and PoF. You can either slot HoT or PoF elite spec (with two core lines), not both at the same time, or you can go without one (three core lines). Well, the basics are simple. You collect mastery points which you get from wide variety of sources. You use them to unlock additional abilities. What complicates this is that masteries are organized in regions (core, HoT, PoF, Icebrood Saga), and to unlock them you need mastery points (and XP) from those certain regions: that is, you can't get mastery points & XP for HoT masteries from core maps. They are sort of like map currencies.

At (group) PvE side I run mostly with Warrior, Guard and Ranger. Especially Guard is very versatile for PvE content, you can run power or condi DPS and variety of support builds (HFB, QFB). Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but at WvW side ranger and thief have had nice roaming builds like forever, and guard (as FB) has been solid support class for zergs for like eternity. The situation may have changed, of couse, I havent followed that front that closely. If you have already suitable exo/asc gears, it is just about learning(*). For example, warrior, guard and ranger still use Berserker pieces for group PvE power DPS. For WvW purposes many replace Berserker with Marauder for larger HP pool. EDIT: (*) Learning what the the post-HoT specs do, mainly - ranger Soulbeast, guard Firebrand, thief Deadeye and warrior Spellbreaker. It is not mandatory, but nice to have, it is another source for different sorts of pieces. True, you get all sorts of currency from content to buy what you want, but like said, crafting gives you yet another source to gear up your toons.

I don't think you should care about what people say about builds. Have you read comments about GS/LB SLB in PvP/WvW? If so, just forget it. Nowadays I run mainly on GS/LB Soulbeast. In fractals, I usually replace LB w/ x/Axe (x being sword, dagger or another axe). For all sorts of generic stuff, I like carry LB to have a ranged option, and I like the versatility of GS (compared e.g. axe/axe combo). Axe/axe combo can be nice replacement for LB in some situations, but anyways, I mainly stay on GS/LB. What I don't like in x/Axe is that its main DPS comes from Whirling Defense, which roots you and is prone to CC (so to use it effectively you like to have stab on you). EDIT:Ah, if there is something people have in LB ranger, it is the frequent use of Point-Blank Shot to push mobs out from melee range. Pushes and fears are ofc not ranger-specific, but rangers tend to like to push mobs out without any good reason behind. I'd say Soulbeast. I used to love playing Druid, but sadly that spec has received too much nerf to my taste. Soulbeast is somewhat solid for fractals. You can add group support by taking spotter, one wolf pack and/or spirits. I admit that if fractal groups need DPS, I mostly take my warrior for that purpose, but it is mainly because warrior has pretty solid DPS rotation - keeping up good DPS on Soulbeast require more from yourself and team. Marauder is good, but IMO Ranger has enough HP already for PvE purposes, so I run mainly full Berserker. I have Marauder armor with different runes mainly for WvW roaming, but yes, I admit that I use those pieces at open world some times.

Hi! Story is anything but mandatory. I would suggest you to get grasp about just everything and decide where to put effort. HoT is generally a tough place for a new player. I suggest you to jump to PoF, maps and hero points are easier. Of course, start the HoT story at the point where you can enter Verdant Brink, but you can leave it there until you are more ready to continue. Guilds are useful from the beginning, so yes, start looking for a guild right away. It is, people in the guild can give you all sorts of advice, info and help out in different situations. The game has so vast amounts of things to do, that it is impossible to say to anyone what to do. Take your time and explore the possibilities. No need. I think low tier fractals can be such. Just be warned, that not all low tier groups have any kind of support, so they can be bit hard if you don't bring some sustain in your build. But on the other hand, many T1 groups have one or two more experienced players carrying some of their kinnies, so it is possible that you have some support. And in any case, people don't generally expect you to shine there.

Full zerker/assassin warrior has enough sustain for fractals, but it of course assumes that you and your team (1) are somewhat familiar with the mechanics, (2) you have enough agony resistance, (3) at higher tiers you are using fractal pots, (4) it generally helps at all tiers that you have someone healing. I have ran hybrid scourge at low tiers, as it gives some support for others and thus makes the runs much more convenient. I started to play warrior and guard more at high tiers, just because there you can assume some sort of support from team.