Saya

[quote name='Gavin][SIZE=1']Thanks for the help Des, it's really a bit weight off my mind as I honestly had no idea how the system worked. Here's hoping I'll be a fully-fledged member of the QKT by Saturday. On that note, does anyone have any built recommendations for a first character, or is it really just whatever you think suits yourself ?[/SIZE][/quote]If PvE is in your intentional aim then I'd start off with a profession that interests you. Later in the game you can select a secondary profession - if you have a specific build set in mind you can aim for that (that is a character that aims to perform a certain task given certain skills). (If PvP is your intention to boot with no intention on going into PvE, usually a preset build is selected and then through earning faction you can use Priests to unlock skills and form builds? though I?m guessing your intention at the moment is PvE, which is fine since you ? in PvE ? will be unlocking skills for use if you ever decide to PvP). In all probably you'll select something that interests you rather than something that achieves a goal (as you might not be aware of the different types of builds out there), that's what I recommend doing at first. Jump in the game, do what seems like it would be fun. As always I should note that there is one thing you should stay away from: smiting monks. If by chance you made one you could always switch to Protection or Healing simply by reallocating attribute points, but keep in mind that smiting monks in particular are almost useless as new anti-farming regulations make most of their skills inefficient (beside farming they were really never that fun to play anyway). Be forewarned against players who tell you to aim for "anything" you want and then say smiting monks are fine (game restrictions, regulations, and updates change the effectiveness of a profession?s skill selection). It might be a great idea to play a smiter for instance but you'll find yourself smacking your head quite a bit when you don't do nearly as much damage as you could be because your enemies are running away from you, running out of any wards you lay down, or just not taking enough damage (smiting monks are the only type of monks whose primary goal is more or less tanking, whereas other types of monks play more of a support role). I mention smiting because it was my first choice when I bought Guild Wars as I had some experience with playing a High Priest in Ragnarok Online and loved the idea of monks doing damage. The distinction between support role characters and primary damage dealers is a big one which you should consider in time. Mesmers, Necromancers, and Elementalists all function as support role characters though Elementalists in particular have certain skills which allow them to function "as tanks," though not nearly as efficient (that means when partying with others you'll most likely be in the back of your group while your warriors run up and do the "tanking"). It should be said though that the higher level support role characters typically have a good amount of spike capabilities which make them well suited for solo missions as well. While not essentially "tanking," as previously mentioned, these characters can do their fair share of damage... such skill sets include Necromancers using Spiteful Spirit or Feast of Corruption, and Mesmers using domination against caster foes. In the beginning these things need only be a brief consideration, the main consideration should be what interests you the most (keeping in mind the difference between casters, support monks, and tanks). With that said I wish you much luck in exploring the world of Guild Wars and sincerely hope that you pick something you'll enjoy playing. - Me Post script: The distinction between support role characters and non-support role characters was essential to make as if you select a monk primary for instance and decide later support role isn't the way to go, you'll find little in the way of a good time as most of the primary attributes in the monk profession are geared toward support role (with the exception of the previously mentioned smiting).

[QUOTE=Boo][size=1]The assassin is overpowered. The boat to the pvp islands is funky... I don't like GW in Asian style, please stick with the European (Dark Ages) style. And the pvp looks like a disco... The login stuff looks better though.. >_> I'm not quite fond of the updates, as you may have noticed. -__-[/size][/QUOTE]Why do you feel the new Assassin class is overpowered? I mean relatively speaking with the current game changes that have been made and in light of Ritualist skills - the whole bloody lot of them. Don't get me wrong, if played correctly I believe the two professions are extremely potent and perhaps, as you said "overpowered." But that applies to both of them... by themselves there are quite a number of counters against them. Ritualists for instance have that annoying time delay. Ritualist healing is, to be quite frank, rather an annoyance. The heal area spells are probably the only cool thing there, everything else is a bit of a pain in bum. Ritualist healing [b]must[/b] (as far as I'm concerned) be from a Mo/Rt as a Rt/Mo is quite useless. See I think the combinations themselves are quite dangerous. And yet still you find Assassins limiting in the same way Warriors are - composing Warrior builds has always been a challenge because only certain skills mix well with other professions, other than that they are almost too stand alone to work with. I think this aspect of Assassin-play should keep your mind at ease. That is to say, a solid team with a guild build in pvp will almost always be able to knock out Assassins in the same way Warriors can be handled (and more so because Assassins are far more vulnerable... weaker, in essence, with more swift attacks and evasiveness over solidarity). Now do I think the new professionals are "equal" to the core professions? No. Already I can think of a number of ways in which expert plays can combine Ritualist skills to form (quite literally) unstoppable healing characters, or unstoppable KD spikers. When I say unstoppable I mean unstoppable. Do not forget the power of the no interrupt Tranquil Was Tanasen with the +25 armor bonus and 5 energy cost. But you needs to remember that to use this properly you need to work in into a strategy as a secondary. No Ritualist primary can carry Tranquil Was Tanasen (don't quote me on it but it would be of greater benefit to a standard Orison/Infuse healer as opposed to a primary Ritualist). But there are a lot of builds that are similar (from the core builds)... but they've undergone changes since the games release. Likewise changes will occur undeniably to my most loved Ritualists when the game comes out. My important point is the [b]least[/b] of these powerful characters are Assassins. In fact I find Assassins to be pretty pathetic in the way of a solid character type that can be incorporated with other builds. The only thing they seem to be good at is hard hitting kite blows (and everyone knows how useless that would be against a solid pvp team... useful in that it will be annoying, useless in every other capacity). So not sure that I share the same thoughts as you. As for the look *shrugs* I like the clothing of the Ritualists, the look of SOME Assassins, and then that's about it. I don't care one way or the other for the "asian" look (if anything I like it, after all it is a Korean game). But I do hope they add more appearance options for characters in the future. At first I was disappointed in Factions as I thought Assassins weren't really that great of an improvement to warrant the fee of an expansion, but seeing the Ritualist skills and their ability to blend in well with any build as a secondary, I've changed my mind about that. Double post needed. [color=#4B0082]No it wasn't. :p - [i]Desbreko[/i][/color] I hope this spawns some sort of interest in fusing Ritualist with other professions. Unlike Assassin, Ritualists can be used in a number of different ways (not saying Assassin's cant but they're much more limited in what they do after all their true power is in their amazingly strong kiting attacks and skills). As you can see you can use Ritualist skills for almost anything (so yes, please do read my "Alternatives" notes for more information on that aspect of the skills mentioned). Enjoy the build. Dedicated to Alex: This is what I do when you're not around! Damn her computer. ;) [quote=Me - St Mary's Tranquility Build][size=4]Tranquility: A Mo/Rt Heal Monk Build[/size] The off beat healer for the new Ritualist profession. REASON FOR BUILD: Rt/Mo healing is the pits, seriously. Around two basic skills you can use to heal others. True you can have cool spirits heal the entire area for you but truth be told in an organized pvp game this can be a big problem as one can easily either kill the spirits or simply draw the team away from them (plus healing with the spirits doesn't even do that much healing). NOTE: Starting pvp chars will notice problems early on with setting Divine Favor, Restoration and Healing attributes correctly seeing as how it is a 3 way split instead of a standard two way (Divine Favor and Healing for instance). Do what you think is best for the skills selected. EXAMPLE OF STAT SETUP: 14 Heal with sup rune, 9 Divine Favor with minor rune, and a max of 12 Restoration Magic. Why the 9 in the Divine Favor? Unfortunately the weapons for pvp, insofar as Heal monks are concerned, start with a req. of Divine Favor 9. This was regrettably unavoidable as I too would have liked to have made Healing Prayers higher. Suppose just have to go with earning XP if it matters to you. Soothing Memories 5 m, 1 cast, 5 recharge Target ally is healed for x Health. If you are holding an item you gain 3 energy. Orison of Healing 5 m, 1 cast, 5, 2 recharge Heal target ally for x points. Dwayna's Kiss 5 m, 1 cast, 3 recharge Heal ally for x points and for an additional x points for each Enchantment or Hex on that ally. Healing Touch 5 m, 3/4 cast, 5 recharge Heal target ally or self for x points, health gain from Divine Favor doubled. Holy Veil -1, 5 energy, 1 cast, 10 energy Hexes take double time to cast on a target ally, but if you pull it off fast it removes one Hex. Mend Body and Soul 5 energy, 3/4 cast, 3 recharge Target ally healed for x, ally loses one Condition for each Spirit in your area. Tranquil Was Tanasen (Elite) Hold ashes for a total of x seconds (max 17). While you hold his ashes you have +x armor (max 22), and cannot be interrupted. ___________________ Alternatives ___________________ WEAPON CONFIG: Try a PvP Holy Rod which halves skill recharge of healing 20, and an Ankh which is 20/20 recharge/time. ALTERNATIVE WEAPON CONFIG: Carry a +5 energy, +5 armor, Insightful PvP Holy Staff of Defense with a cast time 20/recharge 20. You won't need it so if you want to swap this for something which grants some sort of protection feel free but it doesn't matter. What you might want is a PvP Ritualist Focus, time 20/recharge 20. So carry that on the off-hand 2nd weapon slot. TRANQUIL WAS TANASEN: You may use this for other things other than a monk build. I'm mentioning this elite in particular not only because it plays an important role in this build but because the incorporation of it in other builds can be monumental for obvious reasons. NOTE ON ASHES AND URNS: Ashes are stored in urns, likewise you cannot attack a target with any sort of weapon while holding the urn (you may cast spells but that's it). SPIRIT ALTERNATIVE/ADDITION: Mend Body and Soul works wonders when spirits are present. Feel free to subtract a healing spell of your choice for a long lasting/low energy spirit. A good way to incorporate this approach without actually using the skills is have another party member bring spirits (yes, you can use them since they are in the area). WORD OF HEALING ALTERNATIVES: Sub out Tranquil Was Tanasen for Lively Was Naomei, and since you have an elite free go ahead and take Word of Healing. Take your res signet out and feel free to put in Contemplation of Purity or whatever else you want (note: blank skill box). NOTE ABOUT WORD OF HEALING ALTERNATIVE: More taxing and in honesty not needed. Feel free to use Lively Was Naomei if you want but incorporate it in another way. Some people are comfortable with Word of Healing elite, this choice is for you. LIVELY WAS NAOMEI/INSTA-RES ORB: 15 energy, 6 cast time, 20 recharge, you hold her ashes for 60 seconds at max. When you drop them (and yes that means death), all party members are resurrected with 63% Health and zero Energy. Technically with a good team this means you will never die, unfortunately it is taxing as energy wise you res with zero energy. If you were the one to die and be res'd this could be dangerous as monks need their energy.[/quote]

[quote name='Ben Holiday']The new assassin class is pretty cool I wish they would at least have given us the first one or two skills though so we can really get a feel for it. I hope they have a suit of armor as well without the blades sticking off the sides it seems a little much after looking at the henchies in the new area I'm hoping that the female warriors armor is one of the ones that will be available and that the male version is just as impressive.[/quote]They do, follow the templates in character creation (although I think I mentioned it online so oh well, if anyone doesn't know that... just follow the templates). Not only that but there are 3 different armor sets in total for Assassin, as is the case for Ritualists. I love both, although Assassin is just my "go in and fight" part of me speaking. A fun, kiting profession which has attacks that are similar to a Warriors and yet much more potent (dexterous movements seem to be key). Defense is key as well, so playing one correctly requires slightly more finesse than your standard warrior tank. Ritualists are a real pearl, truly amazing for both healing purposes (mostly as a secondary, as a primary their healing is so off beat that it just comes across as too slow against a good team). The heal spirits they can use to heal an entire area are neat but too costly so with a high recharge it seems a bit silly. However, with Ritualists there are a lot of great things to unlock from the knock down spirits to other such things that do a lot of damage (a lot of damage but of course on the slow side). Ritualists are truly amazing in my opinion and it opens up a lot of different opportunities for secondaries (Mo/Rt with the RT elite Tranquil Was Tenesen, and yes part of one of my builds). So all in all very cool - I certainly hope more faces and such become available with the release of the final game. But I don't mind... one thing I sort of looked forward to is other races other than humans, but we'll see. I've heard a number of complaints about people not wanting to shell out $50 for the expansion containing only two professions (the Assassins, who are your basic warrior characters with some neat bonuses, and your entirely original Ritualists). Again, we don't really know if there will be more - as it stands the Gaile article has contradictory information from newer interviews, so we can only see what happens with Chapter 2 in the future. Very cool experience. I'm loving the new GW layout... the maps in pvp areas are interesting? they sure do make things more interesting. Also one cool plus as exhibited is now henchies actually attack called targets and can change targets as you call them. Neat stuff.

[QUOTE=Dodeca]Woah... haven't played this in a lo-o-ong time. I got to the ascension trials, but couldn't find a good team. Everyone kept dying. : P Though it probably was more my fault. I've played a little since then, but mostly just in PvP, as a Hammer/Air knock-em-down Warror or a... err... knock-em-down Monk.[/QUOTE]Well while many of our members aren't all that active, we're becoming more and more active each day. I've been bringing in some dedicated pvp and pve players into the Guild so hopefully they'll be something for everyone. I'm sorry but I couldn't find any of the names of your Guild Wars characters on this thread. If you're interested in playing with the Guild let me know and we'll send an invite your way. Guys remember, [b]tonight at 12 pm EST[/b] is our first look at Chapter 2: [b]FACTIONS[/b]. All right, just had to say that. *Drooling over the music at the moment* Remember to keep a close eye on the [URL=http://www.guildwars.com/news/gameupdates.html]GW Updates Page[/URL] for more info! New to pvp? Check out the Temple of Balthazar for more information and if you wish to practice pvp before actually entering it they have the Isle of the Nameless where it teaches you basic pvp skills. All part of the new Factions update, I don't know how long it'll last for but try it while it's out. Why buy Guild Wars? [URL=http://www.guildwars.com/gallery/movies/default.html]GW Official Movies[/URL]. Enough said. [size=1][right][i]GW Signature...[/i][/right][/size][center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center] [center][IMG]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5220/bangbang7hp.gif[/IMG][/center] [center][SIZE=1][b]No res signet? No fun.[/b][/size][/center] [center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center]

[quote=Boba Fett] From current Guild Wars players... If you were going to give a new player advice what would it be? Are there any builds that should be avoided? That aren't common? Anything at all... [/quote]Sir, I would agree with Desbreko 100%, common sense is key. You'd be surprised how many people on Guild Wars don't have common sense and go and play something they know won't work out well for them. I'd say know yourself a little bit, what you really want to play, what - at the time - you think will work. Trust me, you can always change things later on (secondaries you can switch much later on in the game), so just be sure to select a primary class you absolutely, positively want to play as well as an appearance. It might seem superficial, but an appearance is everything... once you got those two essentials down, anything is possible. Do you like Warriors? Shoot for it. Like Elementalists? Go for it. I know it is a tough decision to make in the beginning because you're not sure what each profession essentially can do. A basic run down though, Warriors can use axes, swords, or hammers, Elementalists can be Air (lightning), fire, and water (chaotic than the rest), and Earth. Mesmers focus on draining the enemy, confusing the enemy, and re-directing the enemy's attack. What you play is truly up to you. If you dislike Air (as Air is not as effective as fire half the time in PvE), shoot for fire later on when you have more attribute points to experiment. Nothing is set in stone except your first primary class. PvP is different from PvE... it causes you to think about the relationship between professions and their individual aspects. What do I mean? Well, in PvE you want to combine the best of your primary with the best of your secondary in order to create a character that does what you want (a character that has a specific "build" set). For instance... Knock down elementalists may use Earth Magic to knock their foes down and while their foes are down cause a ton of damage to them. What are the skills for that? Earthquake followed by an aftershock. Why is that cool? Picture a team of other knock down characters fighting... timed properly, this team can cause a lot of damage, knocking their targets down so they are helpless and throwing a load of pain on them. Would I suggest PvP for a beginner? Yes and no. If you are interested in PvP I would experiment with the templates offered in the PvP creation wizard when you boot up guild wars. Run a PvE character as your primary character, and have fun with a PvP character. Why a beginners approach? Because you can only unlock skills for use in PvP for the different professions by essentially either playing in PvE with the same profession (elementalists in PvE unlock skills for use in PvP), or by fighting in PvE in which you earn [b]Faction[/b], and then can unlock things in PvP that way through the Priests of Balthazar. Advanced players of PvP can be of two sorts: players that have PvP and PvE characters like I suggested and unlock more skills for use during PvE, or players that only have PvP characters and unlock skills by wins in PvP, earning more [b]Faction[/b] to spend unlocking things. Both are decent approaches, but that's up to you. Are you a PvPer only or do you have an interest in PvE (the story game)? If both, create both - a PvP character initially with the template just to explore it while you unlock things in PvE. If you're just a PVPer go for PvP only and unlock through earning faction. The choice is essentially yours. A build I would avoid at the moment? A monk with the sole intention of smiting (simply because the AoE a smiter delivers isn't really all that relevant anymore), and maybe any sort of ele that isn't fire... in the beginning it could become kind of silly. Air ignores armor, sure, but it isn't very practical in PvE. Damage wise fire has better opportunities going for it. But I have no specific builds I would avoid trying. Again, if you get Air skills, you can be a fire ele still - cool thing is, it unlocks those skills you get for PvP use. I hope I was of some assistance. Let us know when you get on GW so we can send your primary character a guild invite, we?re currently looking for PvPers (Rangers would be just daisy) *smirks*. ~ PB [size=1][right][i]GW Signature...[/i][/right][/size][center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center] [center][IMG]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5220/bangbang7hp.gif[/IMG][/center] [center][SIZE=1][b]No res signet? No fun.[/b][/size][/center] [center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center]

Hell no, keep up the posting! You defending your points well, and for that I'm going to try it and keep an open mind but there are some things that bother me. I'm just very picky. [quote name='Ace of Spades']Guardian is only for protecting single targets anyway, so I'd rather just cast it again. Aegis could definitely benefit from this, as could the elites, but you can only bring one of those. Making an "aegis-bot" to keep that up all the time might be feasible, but I'd rather have a bonder or heal party bot if you're going to get that dedicated. Other lines might see more benefit from blessed aura.[/quote]Makes sense now that I think about it. Guardian does have a 2 second recharge, and Aegis's regard is what, 30 seconds? Hrm. I still don't love Holy Veil but with Smite Hex taking such a long time to become available again, oh well. What is true though is that HV takes a while to use properly: which clicking off takes 3 seconds, and a soul alive that says otherwise is a little on the slow side. A lot do like it, it's great for hex removal with certain builds (spikers prefer infuse monks for instance to have it), but it does take a second longer than required. Not always an option for heal monks, but seems to be a decent choice here. Given what you said about Mantra of Recall I would suppose it is better for longer matches where you know that your team maes can back you up (either other prot monks or heal monks). The energy back is well worth everything that sets OoB ahead in my opinion, and does get you out of that sacrificing pitfall OoB shoves you in (I can count many times over the amount of Mo/N that have died trying to give themselves energy in pvp, but yes I suppose if a prot monk is all alone and is in need of quick energy there is no way around this). So I'll go with it, until I find something better. Not too fond on prot monks doing anything other than prot (as far as boon is concerned), but in TA and the like it might just be needed to stay alive, and of course boon prot is the flavor of the month for a good reason. Everything else I liked a lot and I look forward to trying it both ways... using your ideas for N and my ideas for Me... in the end I'm sure it'll both turn out decently, just depends on style of play and type of team you go with. Again kinda hoping to see something in the way of Martyr/Draw conditions but oh well :D I'll see if I can adapt it into the build. But with Spirit and Aura it too is very specialized and needs a real coordinated party to pull off well: better suited for GvG in my opinion rather than Tombs but don't quote me on that. Anyhow for now this is the build I came up with based on what everyone said... and I've been using it, damn good. Thanks a bunch all. [quote=Boon Prot Build w/ focus on conditions and Prot]Prot build setup. Can be done with Mo/Me, few skills for that added at the bottom.. Monk/Necromancer Level: 20 - Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers) For 8 seconds, the next time target ally would take damage, that ally gains that amount of health instead, maximum 32. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:2 - Aegis (Protection Prayers) Your entire team is enchanted with Aegis. For 7 seconds, your allies have a 50% chance to block attacks. Energy:15 Cast Time:1 Recharge:30 - Guardian (Protection Prayers) For 5 seconds, target ally has a 28% chance to block attacks. Energy:5 Cast Time:1 Recharge:2 - Divine Boon (Divine Favor) While you maintain this Enchantment, whenever you cast a monk spell on an ally, that ally is healed for 28 health and you lose 2 energy. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:0 - Holy Veil (Monk other) While you maintain this "Enchantment", any "Hex" cast on target creature take twice as long to cast. Energy:10 Cast Time:2 Recharge:0 - Mend Ailment (Protection Prayers) Remove one "Condition" (poison, disease, blindness, dazed, bleed, crippled, or deep wound) from target ally. That ally is healed 22 for each remaining Condition. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.75 Recharge:2 - Draw Conditions (Protection Prayers) All negative Conditions are transfered from target other ally to yourself. For each Condition acquired, you are healed for 11 health. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:0 * * My Alt for Devotion, I like this approach better. Less heal. - Offering of Blood [Elite] (Blood Magic) Sacrifice 10% maximum health. You gain 8..18 energy. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:15 Alternative configuration - Signet of Devotion (Divine Favor) Heal target ally for 20 health. Energy:0 Cast Time:2 Recharge:5 - Blessed Aura (Divine Favor) While you maintain this Enchantment, Monk Enchantments you cast last 12% longer than normal. Energy:10 Cast Time:2 Recharge:2 - Divine Spirit (Divine Favor) For the next 2 seconds, monk spells cost you 5 less energy to cast. (Minimum cost: 1 energy). Energy:10 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:60 - Heal Party (Healing Prayers) Heal entire party for 20 health. Energy:15 Cast Time:2 Recharge:0 - Contemplation of Purity (Divine Favor) Lose all Enchantments. For each one lost, you gain 11 health, lose one Hex and lose one Condition. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:5 * * Alt for Devotion/Draw Conditions. - Mantra of Recall [Elite] (Inspiration) For 20 seconds, you gain no benefits from it. You gain 20..30 energy when Mantra of Recall ends. Energy:15 Cast Time:1 Recharge:20[/quote]I would love to use Martyr more but that requires a specialized build in and of itself, so it'll have to wait. :) If anyone is interested in what builds I use for a Heal Monk... I've recently begun to use Infuse Heal, but it can be replaced with Seed... depends on the circumstances (Infuse, for instance, works well against spike teams and teams that do quick damage). With Infuse Heal, self-heal after the health split isn't really all that difficult... a quick touch and if need be, orison, quickly clears it up. [quote=St Mary's Infuse/Heal Build]Infuse Heal monk build that can be the foundation for obvious heal monk choices. Yes a Necro secondary adaptation can be made but for all intents and purposes the Mesmer is the most straight forward. The necro does not include Word of Healing for instance, and has signet of devotion along side of Offering of Blood. Depends what you're after but I for one like the Mo/Me end of it. Monk/Mesmer Level: 20 Divine Favor: 13 (12+1) Healing Prayers: 16 (12+4) Inspiration: 2 (Erm program got a little scewed up there, the stats should be common sense and if not I'll set you straight on them later. The skills are what is important here.) - Word of Healing [Elite] (Healing Prayers) Heal target other ally for 84. Heal for an additional 106 if that ally is below 50% health. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.75 Recharge:4 - Orison of Healing (Healing Prayers) Heal target ally for 73. Energy:5 Cast Time:1 Recharge:2 - Dwayna's Kiss (Healing Prayers) Heal target other ally for 63 and an additional 21 for each Enchantment or Hex on that ally. Energy:5 Cast Time:1 Recharge:3 - Infuse Health (Healing Prayers) Lose half your current health. Target other ally is healed for 139% of the amount you lost. Energy:10 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:0 - Healing Touch (Healing Prayers) Heal target touched ally for 63 health. Health gain from Divine Favor is doubled for this spell. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.75 Recharge:5 - Inspired Hex (Inspiration) Remove a Hex from target ally and gain 5 energy. For the next 20 seconds, Inspired Hex is replaced with the Hex that was removed. Energy:5 Cast Time:1 Recharge:0 - Energy Tap (Inspiration) Steal 9 energy from target foe. Energy:5 Cast Time:3 Recharge:20 - Resurrection Signet () Resurrect target party member. You can only use this skill ring once per mission. Energy:0 Cast Time:3 Recharge:0 Alternative configuration - Healing Seed (Healing Prayers) For 21 seconds, whenever target other ally takes damages, that ally and all adjacent allies gain 32 health. Energy:15 Cast Time:2 Recharge:25 - Healing Breeze (Healing Prayers) For the next 10 seconds, target ally regenerates 10 health regeneration each second. Energy:10 Cast Time:1 Recharge:2[/quote] [SIZE=4]Now take a deep breath...[/SIZE] All right it has come to the attention of the Guild Officers of QKT that we do not do as much pvp as we could be doing (if you have [i]no interest in pvp[/i] don't worry about it, if you do though, now is the time to come forward). Some of us have taken to joining other guilds for pvp events, like myself, while still remaining in QKT... hopefully we can do a little of our own experimenting in that department. With some extremely experienced pvpers as guild members we're sending out the call to those interested in pvp to come join the ranks of QKT pvping. We've got voice services for those of you who are interested, and we can and should begin preparing 8v8 builds for Tombs and/or GvG battle. Time is a sad thing isn't it? M'fraid with school coming back for most of us it'll be difficult at best to make it on. But maybe a schedule of play times would be appropriate. At the very least please reply if you're at all interested in pvping, and we'll see what we can or can't do. Generally speaking I'm available in the evenings from 7 pm EST on until midnight or 1 am EST during school nights, and later on weekends. I know this time frame is extremely broad but hopefully we can narrow it down once we see some responses. [size=1][right][i]GW Signature...[/i][/right][/size][center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center] [center][IMG]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5220/bangbang7hp.gif[/IMG][/center] [center][SIZE=1][b]No res signet? No fun.[/b][/size][/center] [center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center]

Interesting, I'll try to the build out later - you combined all the things I liked, I hope it works out. I must admit to you though that I hate OoB and putting on and taking off Holy Veil... I know, common for heal monks too and very effective but I normally don't like it all too much. I'll give it a try though. I don't care how long it takes to cast, I'm in love with energy tap... plus I do find the health reduction to be a downside (for offering). But Mantra of Recall is something I'm also fond of, I might end up replacing it (offering) with Recall or Energy Tap and giving it a run to try it out (chew me out all you want for it, but if you're who I think you are - Chris - we'll have plenty to say about it in Guild chat). However in more quick forms of pvp I would say offering stands a better chance. You're not the first person I met in the last 2 days that suggested no res for monks. I like the idea WITH a good team. With a bad team the monks probably will be the only ones left alive (been there done that). I carry a res with a standard word/infuse heal build I use (I only have inspired hex with it), but I'll consider taking mend ailment there instead of a res signet. As far as this build is concerned I'll give it a go without res signet as I see the need for a prot monk to make use of all of the skill slots. Now tell me, you really like Divine Boon? I mean I'll try it but I never thought the heal factor was that important on the prot end... what I wanted to see was enchantments longer skill/spell (Aegis is, after all, very short as is Guardian - almost useless without Blessed Aura which in my opinion needs Divine Spirit). I mean come on, 10 seconds or so... lol, I mean sure better than Distortion for instance buuuuuut.... See that's what I'm having a problem with. I need the duration to last longer... and truth be told, 1 energy cost on all my spells wouldn't be too bad either. Meh, I'll think it over, try running the build - see if I can add anything and get back to you. [b]NOTE:[/b] LOL, I just checked - someone from GSS uses the exact same build but replaces Signet of Devotion for Prot Spirit... geez, you guys think a like! :) Guess it is common to use offering... I still don't love it :/ Question: Is draw conditions [b]only[/b] really good when you have two monks - one to take all the conditions, the other to take off all those conditions in bulk? Guess so but I want your opinion. [quote=Ideas so far, so plz comment]So the way I see it looks like this for Mo/N, the ()'s are for Mo/Me which I prefer. Rof, guardian, mend ailment, holy veil (or insp hex), Blessed Aura, Divine Spirit, Offering (Mantra of Recall, or energy tap). [b]Depends on type of team you're working with...[/b] Heal Party and Draw Conditions[/quote]

[b]Desi:[/b] Oh I'll take some Candy Canes from you if you don't mind *smirks* but something tells me that isn't quite what you had in mind. But should you want to give them away... I'll have them... all, please. :) I know this further clutters an already cluttered thread but I did suggest splitting it a long time ago (which if asked I can always do out of love of the OB), just stating that as my defense (all right, I suppose I don't really need a defense since there are about 5 pages of builds on the thread, but hey I?m covering my bases). Alex, for convenience sake I've posted the build we?ve been discussing and possible skill choices ? continue to give your input please either here or off the forums, but feel free to use this as a framework. Again this build implies the use of a 20% enchantment mod for a staff. I think the energy clothes for the monk are best as well. Let me know what you think. I know Chris (from the guild) plays a Prot monk but I?m not sure whether he?s signed up for the OB or not. Anyone wishing to give tips or comments in regards to the build please feel free to do so. So here goes nothing? [quote=Prot Build/my test project w/ Brasil]NOTE: 7 slots filled, 1 empty - can drop Heal Party for Aura and Spirit... otherwise we're left with a few essentials as seen in the "[a]lternative configuation" section. So this means we have a lot of work on our hands to make this flawless... again depends on the intention, 8v8 we have the luxury of heal and prots or just prots, while PUG Tombs might require something a bit more stand alone as far as heal/prot usage is concerned on the part of the prot monk. Monk/Mesmer Level: 20 Divine Favor: 13 (12+1) Protection Prayers: 14 (10+4) Inspiration: 4 - Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers) For 8 seconds, the next time target ally would take damage, that ally gains that amount of health instead, maximum 76. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:2 - Mend Ailment (Protection Prayers) Remove one "Condition" (poison, disease, blindness, dazed, bleed, crippled, or deep wound) from target ally. That ally is healed 66 for each remaining Condition. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.75 Recharge:2 - Draw Conditions (Protection Prayers) All negative Conditions are transfered from target other ally to yourself. For each Condition acquired, you are healed for 25 health. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:0 - Divine Boon (Divine Favor) While you maintain this Enchantment, whenever you cast a monk spell on an ally, that ally is healed for 64 health and you lose 2 energy. Energy:5 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:0 - Heal Party (Healing Prayers) Heal entire party for 20 health. Energy:15 Cast Time:2 Recharge:0 - Mantra of Recall [Elite] (Inspiration) For 20 seconds, you gain no benefits from it. You gain 23 energy when Mantra of Recall ends. Energy:15 Cast Time:1 Recharge:20 - Resurrection Signet () Resurrect target party member. You can only use this skill ring once per mission. Energy:0 Cast Time:3 Recharge:0 Alternative configuration - Blessed Aura (Divine Favor) While you maintain this Enchantment, Monk Enchantments you cast last 32% longer than normal. Energy:10 Cast Time:2 Recharge:2 - Divine Spirit (Divine Favor) For the next 10 seconds, monk spells cost you 5 less energy to cast. (Minimum cost: 1 energy). Energy:10 Cast Time:0.25 Recharge:60 - Aegis (Protection Prayers) Your entire team is enchanted with Aegis. For 11 seconds, your allies have a 50% chance to block attacks. Energy:15 Cast Time:1 Recharge:30 - Guardian (Protection Prayers) For 5 seconds, target ally has a 48% chance to block attacks. Energy:5 Cast Time:1 Recharge:2[/quote]The more I look at this the more I want to remove Heal Party... and yet still, I can't find the heart to do it mainly because it still leaves matters of Aegis and Guardian out (two things which benefit from including Spirit and Aura). Grah, so looks like it needs revamping! [size=1][right][i]GW Signature...[/i][/right][/size][center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center] [center][IMG]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5220/bangbang7hp.gif[/IMG][/center] [center][SIZE=1][b]No res signet? No fun.[/b][/size][/center] [center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center]

[quote name='Brasil']Because I enjoy mind games:[/quote]Well we spoke about it briefly off the forums but I think this build is perhaps one of the most unconventional builds I've ever seen. The intention is of course clear, make the enemy think you're IW (Illusionary Weapon Mesmer) or something of the sort when you're not. A great strategy in the quick world of Tombs and GvG but ultimately has some failings, the same failings of IW. The fast casting in this build ultimately implies that you are taking this from a Me/W perspective in which can the character can be confused for an IW from those that know what IW is (IW is horrible at W/Me and experienced players know that - reiterating this for people that have any interest in playing IW in the future). And while I [b]love[/b] the idea of mind screwing them, the build only goes so far because you will essentially be "re-targeted" for what you really are. The result would be the same as running IW. IW is very much like this build. In both cases you're a Mesmer relying on fighting skills. IW requires a sword... in this build, what, you're going to switch to a axe real fast? SV, and Illusion of W. is going to recharge slower and yet I don't think you mind. The problem instead is that [i]once[/i] you pull your axe you'll be taken down like a Mesmer trying to play warrior (fast... sure it'll screw them up, Mesmer who suddenly wields an axe, Me/W that's not using IW, Me/W that's tanking... but the result is the same). I don't think it'll confuse the enemy all that much... beside, you're still a Mesmer primary. Everyone is going to assume either your "armor is weaker" or you're up to no good; you'll be the first thing targeted as it stands - at least do what Mesmers are good at instead of wasting it on powerful axe attacks. See but that's just my point of view. IWs are typically targeted extremely fast as it stands because they're extremely dangerous... this build will undeniably draw the same sort of doubt. But is it all doom and gloom? Hardly. IW has a lot of success in pvp mainly because people don't expect that type of damage and the amount of damage output from a Mesmer in the first place. Teams that don't know what to look for will be confused, likewise teams with little experience in pvp might even up and die to one Mesmer. This build seems even MORE confusing in [b]those[/b] circumstances, and even more powerful. And yet again I can't help but think IW has had its day in the sun. This build seems as though it will be treated in a similar fashion by experienced players seeing the Me/W running this in combat. Some IW builds which combine other Mesmer skills along with powerful sword attacks are quite nifty too but that's beyond the scope of this reply, as most IW do not carry anything other than IW and sword attacks (reminder IW dmg ignores armor, although there is a lot of damage in this build, armor still reduces damage taken). Just some reflections. Maybe I'm looking too much into this, maybe this build would be just as successful as IW... I can surely see the massive damage output, very nifty and I surely like the axe skills you selected. [size=1][right][i]GW Signature...[/i][/right][/size][center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center] [center][IMG]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5220/bangbang7hp.gif[/IMG][/center] [center][SIZE=1][b]No res signet? No fun.[/b][/size][/center] [center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center]

Hey, Some people wonder what Persocomblues does when he's bored... well I don't knit! So you're chilling in the dead of winter with your Ministry Ibiza Summer Jams CD and you're thinking to yourself, "Self, how the hell am I going to warm up this winter?" The answer should be clear! With a QKT Summer Jams @ The Beach background! All right, well they aren't the best quality in the world (I didn't use my PC with the nice graphics card to get them), but they're kind of cute! Fits toys, boys, and girls of all ages. Show your guild spirit by putting one of these on your wallpaper... or not, see if I care... but you know what? You'll be sorry you didn't when you suddenly get a streak of bad luck in pvp. That's right folks, not only are these k-cool wallpapers but they also give +10 moral boosts PLUS Dwayna/Grenth Blessings! So get them while they're hot. [URL=http://img254.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atthebeachwtheqktlglo3qj.jpg][IMG]http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/5840/atthebeachwtheqktlglo3qj.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img254.imageshack.us/my.php?image=atthebeachwtheqkt0ej.jpg][IMG]http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/455/atthebeachwtheqkt0ej.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Picture features Bittersweet Lullaby (played by myself), and Rose Dove (played by Tigris). [size=1][right][i]GW Signature...[/i][/right][/size][center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center] [center][IMG]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5220/bangbang7hp.gif[/IMG][/center] [center][SIZE=1][b]No res signet? No fun.[/b][/size][/center] [center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center]

I'll give it a try... you brought up a very good point. Mass disease, so to speak. We've been experimenting with F. Dreams as being a key to mass degen, using FoC would be more appropriate it seems. This build seems very effective - I'll post more later when I try it out. But spamming P. Bond is a big plus considering the casting time is so damn small... I'm a little upset at the moment, as I'm juggling between FoC and Spiteful Spirit. SS of course = dmg for nearly anything, and FoC = more damage, wider range, but ALL in range must have hexes on them. It CAN be done, but in my opinion it is best suited for a team (party) whose build is based around laying degens (tombs/gvg specific build). I could be wrong on that though... :) Strategy is slightly different in the two builds, it'll be a tough decision as to which way to go. On a positive note though, I should say that FoC scores highly in my book: last night a team was running up to my team in random, one necro cast FoC after we both laid some hexes... within two seconds, literally, after a flood of yellow damage marks, the entire team was destroyed. For PVP builds on a large scale I'm really liking Feast in combo with Suffering (you're right, Suffering alone is not all too wonderful, but with FoC maybe)... like, a whole lot - have a few necros on the team, and it'll do some nice damage. Like you, I'm a BIG fan of Feast of Corruption (though I figured we both would be since we liked the idea of Fevered Dreams). My only problem is again 1) it relies to heavily on the fact that enmies are close in range to eachother and 2) it relies on enemies being hexed. But eh, AoE + more damage, or the other build, more centralized attacks but less overall damage? Brasil you make life too complicated my friend. Again though, I find it strange you don't think that the SS build before this is neither slow nor ineffective with monks on the opposing team. Looks like we need to go into PVP so I can show you :) I swear, it's the strangest thing. Anyhow, more later when I use this new FoC build... first I need to go get FoC. ;) [b]After Using It:[/b] GREAT Necro spiker build with AoE capabilities. [strike]If you don't want to use Desecrate Enchants and keep your Shadow of Fears (if you were like me, running it without Price of Failure in case you brought a res signet), then Descrate Enchants is not [b]needed[/b],[/strike] it is INSANELY useful against monks and mesmers though but it depends how you like to play. I love this build! :) Nevermind, use Desecrate... sub it for Enfeebled Blood if you have to, it's well worth it even if target foe doesn't have enchantments (dmg wise and since it doesn't take long)! [size=1][right][i]GW Signature...[/i][/right][/size][center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center] [center][IMG]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5220/bangbang7hp.gif[/IMG][/center] [center][SIZE=1][b]No res signet? No fun.[/b][/size][/center] [center][b]~~~~~[/b][/center]

[QUOTE=Raiyuu][color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]I think all the arguments are pretty much sorted now, but one thing in this thread caught my eye: No. We keep a watchful eye on bad posters, we keep an eye on frequent spammers and flamers. I've [b]no [/b]idea how old most of the people on this forum are. I'm just not bothered. [/font][/color][/QUOTE]You took what I said entirely out of context. I meant as far as the discussion between Baron Samedi and myself was concerned - the middle ground of the discussion in which both our points can be addressed and where we can both be relatively satisfied. But you are right in your assessment? that argument has been sorted out as well.

Alex, The build is working great. The problem seems to be speed - I have the right weapons to enhance speed but it does little... in the end, 2 monk teams that are remotely coordinated are tough fighting against (4v4 almost impossible), random is up in the wind. Build does well if you have a monk, 2 monks all the better (but 2 monks means there will be NO damage output in 4v4 against teams with either monks or Mesmers, as both really screw up this SS build). All and all tough to play. In random it does seem to work with the right team. Packs quite a punch when monks DO NOT heal their party members; when they do it is almost impossible to degen or SS against healing. Attacking monks head on with this build is useless, as monks notice backfire immediately. Winning is possible in such difficult situations. Requires distracting the monk by hurting those on their party, while having this build chip away at the monk (or having a char with this build chip away at warriors on the team, while someone else like a w/mo goes for the monk). Under the right circumstances this build packs a punch. I like it more than the degen Mesmer idea (and yet it is MUCH different, in that degen Mesmer is faster but doesn?t pack the same punch, more of a support role), combines all that is great about the degen Mesmer build and adds some hard hitting action. Problem again is time... this build is slow, but under the right conditions it works well. That's what I've found so far, if it helps. So yup, I enjoy using it and I'll continue to. [quote name='haru sakurai']hello, i'm haru, a new member of the guild-- my character is Anna Crucis. i got an account here as it's been suggested. so um, hi! >>[/quote]Hey Haru, where is Shattered? Anyhow, welcome to the OB - I really do hope you enjoy your stay. Please feel free to browse through the various forums and take part in any discussions you may want to (from real movies, to art, from art to anime the OB has it all). Good to see you here. :) Hope to play with you in QKT.

See as far as [b]degen + soul barbs[/b] (Me/N illusion/curses) is concerned I always thought any additional damage on top of the hexes you are casting is worth it, even if it is just a little bit. Truth be told half the time you?re casting hexes to begin with, layering them one after the other ? like you said, typically the ones you want smited off should go last (Soul Barbs cast first makes this impossible, unless the last hex you use is an irrelevant as to whether or not it stays up). But yeah, in and of itself soul barbs does little dmg. Want to know what though? In some cases where either a monk is smiting those hexes off the opponent or where the hexes themselves [b]don?t[/b] do that much degen, Soul Barbs might be the only damage you?d be doing (so it?s far better to have it than not to have it in my opinion). If there was a Fragility for hexes, Soul Barbs would unfortunately be it for now? unless someone can think of something better. The thing is there are very few curses I actually like? with Mesmer?s fast casting, I find it much more preferable to play a Me primary than a N primary to boot, so chances are that means a specializing first and foremost in illusion and then second in curses or blood (most practical for illusion/degen based Mesmers so I?ve seen, likewise in pve I play a Me/N illusion degen/blood health renewal character). That being said? [quote=Brasil] I couldn't see a Warrior caring about it, really (good thing for those using the build). Now that I think about it, your target selection for the Degen/Hexes Illusion magic build was spot-on. (obviously, since the build ultimately worked, your target selection was correct in the first place) When it comes to hex removal priority, it seems like Soul Barbs is/will be pretty low on the list. I could see Warrior's glancing at the stats of a 11 or 12 Curses Soul Barbs, see the 26 or 27 damage and not really care about it.[/quote]I dunno, I mean they can?t really specify what comes off? as the actual caster of the hexes you determine what to put on. That said Soul Barbs wouldn?t matter, 3 seconds later you?d have a hex up? I think the monk will notice the hex put on right after. I see what you?re saying though, in smiting it he will not realize that barbs was on in the first place? *Shrugs* again at that point it did it?s job and if it could have been taken off too, it wouldn?t even matter just stick it back on. Soul Barbs only does dmg when a hex is cast, and by then it wouldn?t be 23 dmg? it would be 23 dmg and a degen, is what I?m trying to say. I mean this doesn?t run contrary to what you?re saying at all, simply saying Soul Barbs as far as smiting priority means very little (as you said), but not for the same reasons. With fast casting a hex typically would be put on half a second after barbs? I?d figure the monk?s player?s eye couldn?t even catch the soul barbs to notice. So pretty need to have as a bonus. So in the end this is actually agreeing with you and providing a reason for it as well, just incase anyone thought of mixing Soul Barbs with other hexes in pvp combat where degens can be smote. :) I realize my thoughts are scrambled a lot here too, but hopefully there is someone out there that is following this. As for the build, it looks GREAT as far as domination goes? I might try it out later, I?m going to mess with illusion for a bit though and then switch perhaps ? we?ll see. Meantime for illusion I?ll pick up some of those cool curses like Price of Failure and see how it factors in. In the end if I don?t see myself doing as much damage (which I do a good amount against Warriors as it is), I?ll go for dom :) very cool build though!!! A must try for Mesmer fanatics out there like me! (And if you were too busy reading this to see Brasil's build, scroll the heck up, it's worth it.)

Thank you guys for the advice. I'll compare prices next time I go to the game store. It does sound as though I'd enjoy the original DDR most of all, though we'll see - I'll take a look online a bit and see what songs I like which I don't. At competitions and the like, do they usually play the first DDR or the newer versions? Again, trying to get a good grasp of what they might have at this anime convention I'll be going to. Yeah, I suppose the best idea is to start off slow like both of you suggested. Much appreciated advice, who knows, I might become a DDR addict as well (god knows I need the exercise)!

LOL, awesome pictures Tigris!=D Hey Brasil, you know what really sucks? Degen+Curses in pvp, that's what. Now, I'm not saying with the proper build it won't be of any use but as a stand alone pvp character in random arenas I must say that I really thought degen+curses would be as effective as anti-casting... it isn't, not remotely. Tested a build with Parasitic bond, conjure phantasm, phantom pain, faintheartedness, soul barbs, and energy tap. All right, I don't have any N elites, I have plenty of Me elites, regardless whatever I was doing it wasn't working well. The intention was clear, stack hexes while soul barbs is up. Problems? Well it worked great against warriors (dropped like flies), but domination mesmers had fun eliminating me instantly. I did almost no damage against monks and I doubt it was because of their smiting hexes, I was fast casting curses and degens on them fast. Distortion must be used but... you know how precious energy is, beside doesn't even do its job well. Anyhow what matters is that this build does not work for a nice single player experience (not like anyone said it would, but I thought I'd try something different as I find as a stand alone domination build, not working in conjunction with a "build set" for a party, is typically boring and useless if you are up against a team without casters but very useful if you are). Forever Discouraged by Build Testing, PB [b]NOTE:[/b] NEVERMIND! Happy now. 1 monk on team makes this build nice. Ineptitude (e) seems to make the build worth while... fun to play, needs a good team to work, otherwise death comes too quickly before you can do major dmg (and yes inept means only targeting attacking chars, w/mos are easy prey).

DDR looks really interesting and I'm eager to try it out for the first time. Unfortunately every time I go to the store to buy a copy they're always out of what seems to be the original DDR game (I see titles like "Extreme" and so on, but I can't seem to find any other DDR game at game stores around here). It's interesting that someone on here said 6 months... from what I hear from friends, pads should last a little longer than that. Selecting a mat can be difficult so I hear. I'm told that the actual hard DDR platforms are best (the metal platforms), and yet they are also quite a bit more expensive. I'm not very good at dancing but from what I've seen at DDR competitions at the mall it isn't really dancing, it's more stepping on the right things at the right moments (although I have seen a lot of people do their own dance moves in DDR, seems more along the lines of rhythm than dancing). I certainly hope it'll be fun for me still. You know I'm actually preparing to play DDR so that when I go to AnimeNEXT I don't look like a complete fool (between DDR and Mario Kart DS competitions it should be fun... I'm hoping for many Korean individuals to attend, when there are GW is typically played competitively as most Korean guild members bring their entire teams... as OB QKT members should know, I?m very competitive with many Korean guilds... been a member of a few). Does anyone have some tips for someone getting into DDR for the first time?

[quote name='ScirosDarkblade]X-Box - [i]Hunter: the Reckoning[/i']. How do you make multiplayer hack-n-slash completely and demoralizingly boring? Ask the developers of this bowser, they know pretty darn well. I've never had this little fun playing a game for ten minutes. Shame on my cousing for buying it.[/quote]Well the game was kind of crappy but then again I don't usually go for games of the action genre that easily. I never would have normally played (or buyed it) it to begin with... happened to catch it at a friend's house. H:tR was actually designed for fans of the RPG... I'm a [b]huge[/b] fan of Hunter: the Reckoning the RPG (playing it on "by Night" sites is the best possible crusader-type RPG experience available). Even still I find myself a little sympathetic to White Wolf... they try to hard with video games and typically they are completed misses. Thankfully they never got around to releasing that Werewolf movie they hyped up a years ago. That said, for a fan like myself I'd give it a try if it were free and perhaps even buy it if a used copy was around $15-$10, but I'm in a generous mood this morning. Crappiest game I've played? I've got a few... P2- Barbey games, Tenchu (oh my god, they can't get any worse than these pointless action games, only die hard fans of the time period and setting need play it), King Aurther, most movie games (Spider-Man was fun though) and Maximus or something (really idiotic). PC- Wow, a lot... I'll just name a few: Lord of the Rings line is really pointless, Leisure Suit Larry (good for a few laughs but not a great game), Icewind Dale II (once you play good RPGs you'll really shoot yourself for ever liking this slow and boring title), Prince of Persia 3D, Enter the Matrix, etc etc etc the list can go on for hours.

Oh yes, Raya quite right on all those points. I feel just the same... haunting in my opinion because typically his "characters" (at least as they pertain to watercolors), have almost a cold beauty to them. Not too much emotion (although he does do an "evil/powerful" look rather well, lol), but utter beauty and majesty. Truly one of the greatest artists in his field that I've seen to date... at the top of my list. [quote name='Raya'](How odd that this thread came up just after I found out that a certain "Yoshitaka Amano" was involved in the concept design of some movie about the Heian period. Google reveals: Onmyoji.)[/quote]Oh wow, Onmyoji looks really interesting, not sure whether or not it'll be good but I added it to my Netflix (apparently they have a sequel as well)! Both receive adequate-to-poor reviews, but I'm planning on seeing it simply as a nod to the individuals who worked on it. [quote name='Raya']"天野喜孝", that's just Amano's name in Kanji. But hrmm, it turns out that Amano did release some bondage-themed artbook with a really pink cover and "花の蛇" written in black strokes. It reads "Hana no Hebi" or something like "the flower's snake". Mmm hmm.)[/quote]From seeing his art works before I knew how to spot his name but that's about it. As for titles of things... oh well. Yudoku Hana on the forums is my translator (tm) but she wasn't there (if you are reading this gurlie, you should start posting). Thank you! I think that's the title! I'll try to find out for sure later. :) Truly beautiful work in there, while it keeps to his "style" the content is drastically different... in an utterly amazing away. [b]NOTE:[/b] Well the book I saw was a very pink cover, with a multitude of different colors mixed in and a very pretty looking individual on the front. I'm pretty sure we're talking about the same one... thanks a ton!!! I really want to buy it but the damn book is around $75 (and it isn't even that big). So it's going to have to wait, but yeah, if anyone out there likes Yoshitaka Amano I'm going to have to recommend this art book.

[QUOTE=Goddess][size=1][color=indigo]Awww! I could just snuggle her ^-^ Amelia has got to be the hottest female character in our guild. That's a big bite out of my pride because I think Belial is so damned sexy---but there's something about pink that gets me ^_~[/size][/color][/QUOTE]Damn what about my Eve! Not fair at all. Oh well you've never seen Chrysalis in pink, before I made her armor blue she had the same set in pink... it was really cute. Heh, but I do have to admit Amelia is adorable (*glares at Desi*). [URL=http://img368.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eveadvertuntitled2copy0ey.jpg][IMG]http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/2510/eveadvertuntitled2copy0ey.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Repost of the image, muhaha! =^.^= And Wintersday pics coming soon.

[quote name='Raiyuu][color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]Arrgh. I was going to move this to the Anthology, seeing as it covered Steampunk literature like The Difference Engine - awesome book, by the way, William Gibson is my all-time favourite author - but now we have anime, movies and even music creeping in too, giving it three different forums it could fit into. [/font'][/color][/quote]Exactly the same sound I made when I was trying to figure out where to put this given its very general scope! ;) [QUOTE=Raiyuu][color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS] Some more Steampunk works that I haven't seen/read myself, but which may spark off more discussion: Steamboy, a fairly highly-anticipated anime film that came out recently; and there was that book, [i]Mortal Engines, [/i]with the cities on caterpillar treads, which I think fits the genre. [/font][/color][/QUOTE]I saw the Steamboy movie at a Japanese bookstore today, looked really cool, I'd be interested in knowing if the anime was faithful to the time period. Truth be told I've stayed away from it thus far because I heard there were too many repetitive action sequences (one such review was by [url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050317/REVIEWS/50309001/1023]Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times 2005[/url]). If it is good and faithful to the genres mentioned I might just go rent it after all (I'm a big Akira fan so I was delighted to find out that it was the same director). Yeah, anyone know more about this? [quote name='Nomad Tical']Also, are you sure ROd would fall under this? It seems pretty modern-day. I do love ROD, though, a great movie/show.[/quote]No no, quite right it is modern generally speaking. I meant that one episode in particular, although there are certain segments in the R.O.D. Read or Die OVA such as the way they did Mr. Gentleman and some other random technological things during the show (R.O.D. the TV) which touched upon the genre. It seems that many works of sci-fi trying to bring England into the picture contains some Victorian elements (and rightly so, serves to make it seem all the more lavish and interesting).

While Yoshitaka Amano?s work has been mentioned before in other threads (namely the ones pertaining to author Neil Gaiman, Vampire Hunter D and the Final Fantasy game line), I don?t recall there being a general art thread regarding Amano?s work (search turned up little). Certainly his name is big among Japanese watercolor enthusiasts and fantasy fans, so I?m sure there are a few fans out there. Do you enjoy Yoshitaka Amano?s work? If so, do you own any Amano art books? What pieces would you say are your favorite? Has anyone ever seen Tenshi no Tamago? A big Oshii fan, I'm dying to see it. Dream Hunters was one of my favorite Sandmans because of the collaborative work of both Gaiman and Amano, though I?m also quite fond of his traditional Japanese watercolor works. One day soon I hope to own Amano: The Complete Prints. I'm also in love with his work from Tenshi no Tamago and from the Ryunosuke Akutagawa series. Unfortunately most of his work I've seen only online... the rest has been from the few art books available at a local Japanese bookstore, so I really look forward to seeing replies to this thread. Yoshitaka Amano?s style ranges from traditional Japanese animations (he?s assisted on a number of such projects), to watercolor work, from watercolors to popular paintings. Surprisingly the talented artist has also appeared in a movie by the name of New Rose Hotel. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the artists work, I would like to respectfully post a link to an Amano fan site (it doesn?t advertise any of his art books I don?t think, so it should be fine). [url=http://www.elevenland.com/amano/amano.php3]Click here if interested[/url] in seeing some samples of his work. Recently I was in a Japanese bookstore with forum member Tigris and I crossed an interesting art book featuring Yoshitaka Amano?s artwork. The style was much different than I usually associate with him and yet it still had a very ?Amano? feel (a lot of use of gold and stencil-thin, delicate images)? the art book featured beautiful, sexually charged bondage-type artwork. Unfortunately the name of the book was in Japanese (I have a friend of mine that usually translates Japanese for me but she wasn?t there), does anyone happen to know which art book I?m referring to? Anyhow, it?s my sincerest pleasure to open up what seems to be the first Amano thread on the OB? truly a great artist. [b]Edit:[/b] Makes sense Raiyuu, was originally going to post it there too... don't know why I didn't. Misread the description I think, thought it was only for OB member submitted works. ;)

[quote name='Retribution']but would something like Brave New World be considered Steampunk? [/quote]Well I'm certainly no expert on it:animeswea, but it would be my guess that Brave New World would be simply sci-fi. The problem with Brave New World, if I'm remember it correctly, was that there wasn't Victorian-esque engineering components to simulate modern day technology (I remember "old" things but I think that was because it was a post apocalyptic world... I don't remember Victorian things or anything from around that time period). But in the end I think it wouldn't be considered Steampunk because it takes place in the future and speculates what the future would be like (basing this off the movie, as I did not read the book Brave New World, or if I did I don't remember it well enough). I might be completely wrong? the book might be majorly different, if so I deeply apologize. If it is slightly easier to visualize, I picture some of the earlier airships and the like in the Final Fantasy series to be very Steampunk-ish, but I doubt anyone is going to agree with me there. Again, the big video game that comes to mind is Dark Cloud 2. RPGs like Shadowrun is often considered Cyberpunk, Wikipedia classifies that as this: [quote name='Wikipedia on Cyberpunk']Cyberpunk (a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk) is a sub-genre of science fiction that focuses on computers or information technology, usually coupled with some degree of breakdown in social order.[/quote]While it doesn't sound entirely like Brave New World, it does sound right up your alley Retribution. :) [quote name='Ailes de Velour']I've never heard of steampunk until now. I mean, I recognized the basic parts of it, such as Victorian influences, but I didn't know that they were a part of such a thing. I love some of the things Wikipedia mentioned as being steampunk[/quote]While not on the same subject, you're quite right - like existential writings for instance, Steampunk encompasses a whole lot of things, in fact, sometimes it encompasses literature which not everyone would agree is Steampunk. Truth be told I wouldn't agree entirely with some of the books that article classifies as Steampunk, but like the Cyberpunk and film noir genres, I suppose it is all up to individual opinion. And like you said, once you consider the themes present in those films, you kind of see how they all relate... at first I thought "Steampunk" was a dumb new movement, but in actuality it seems quite appropriate. It's interesting, at the very least I found it to be a useful term in that it attempts to define certain characteristics in movies and literature which one might find desirable and yet otherwise difficult to make mention of. [quote name='Ailes de Velour']It looks like my band will finally have a definitive genre and not just "a whole bunch of rock stuff" or "gothic/symphonic metal/emo/psychobilly/progressive/ambient." Thank you, so very much. =D[/quote]Actually.... you know it sounds like industrial too! *Snickers and knows this further confuses matters* but I would love to hear your stuff sometime, sounds like my kind of music (I used to make ambient/electronica music... some of my pieces includes jazz remixes, real fun). R.O.D. (and all branch offs from it) are high in Steampunk. While at first it comes across as a background theme, one particular in episode in R.O.D. the TV features (this spoiler pertains somewhat to the ending of the series), [spoiler]Dokusensha/the British library transfering London back into the Victorian age. Ontop of that there are a lot of machines which are brought into the equation that did not actually exist in that time period.[/spoiler] I thought that one particular episode was extremely well done. Defining Steampunk is pretty difficult. :animeswea I guess the only real way of being able to tell is either by seeing something that is [i]clearly[/i] Steampunk without any reasonable doubt or just by searching for it online (one good example in my opinion is La cité des enfants perdus - The City of Lost Children).

Mmhmm, finally creating a thread for something that hasn't been mentioned elsewhere on the OB. The general discussion regarding favorite works in the Steampunk/Victorian time period. It has been mentioned as it pertains to individual series/movies here on the forums, but this is for general discussion purposes only. Two of the genres I enjoy the most in video games, literature, and movies are the Steampunk and Victorian settings. While it has been mentioned in a number of threads on the OB it has never once been the sole focus of a thread. Likewise I?m curious to know if any other OB members out there like the two genres I previously mentioned, and what works from them you like or dislike. For those of you who do not know, Steampunk is a general term used to describe literary works, movies, and so on which are set in either an alternative reality type world, or otherwise abnormal world in which a Victorian England type setting is used (in combination with modern technological ideas. For instance in a Steampunk video game or role playing game you might find a transportation device similar to a helicopter and yet unlike a modern helicopter it might have a number of odd gears and components reminiscent of 18th century scientific advancements and yet overall serve the same purpose as a modern day helicopter. Wikipedia describes it best! Their entry ([URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk]click here[/URL]) also contains a lot more useful information such as sub-classifications within the genre for those interested in classifying the literature that they?ve read: [quote name='Wikipedia Steampunk Entry'] Steampunk is a sub-genre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting. Fiction in the steampunk genre is set in the past, or a world resembling the past, in which modern technological paradigms occurred earlier in history, but were accomplished via the science already present in that time period. The genre typically falls into the realm of science fiction.[/quote]This thread is both dedicated to Steampunk as well as Victorian themed productions and literature and the general interest in both those genres (Cyberpunk can be tolerated so long as the setting is somehow related to the Victorian time period and less on later time periods such as the Edwardian early 1900s, which it [i]typically[/i] is not). So what types of stuff am I into? Well, I like Victorian Age Vampire by White Wolf Game Studios for a general guide to role playing a Vampire: The Masquerade type game in the Victorian age. I?m also very fond of video games like the Final Fantasy series, and most suited to the Steampunk genre, Dark Cloud 2. Comic books? I?d have to say that CrossGen?s Ruse is best for a sci-fi Victorian setting insofar as the historical setting mixed with magic is concerned. It stretches as far as anime too, doesn?t it? From trace elements of Steampunk in Last Exile to the reminiscent Edwardian period left over in pieces that take place in the 20s like Chrono Crusade, and the pilot of episode of YamiBou. Of course more traditional works of literature such as The Difference Engine also play a role in my love of the genre. Traditional Victorian pieces are too numerous to name, but I love quite a number of Victorian books (both classic and new), as well as classic Victorian poems. The time period is just fascinating to me, and I?ve done a lot of historical research of the time period, specifically as it pertains to England, as a result. The style of dress, socially acceptable etiquette, decadence which was kept behind veils and other such things interest me. Being a sci-fi and fantasy fan, it?s no wonder that one such as myself can quickly come to love Steampunk. If you think it sounds interesting but want more information about it or what works are considered Steampunk, please post! Does anyone else share my love of the genres mentioned? If so, what sort of movies, books and games relating to them do you like? Anyone have any good suggestions for other anime series/movies that fit the bill? Completely open discussion, Enjoy

Hentai is brought up elsewhere (namely the thread dealing with Hentai), but I thought this does deserve some sort of response... [quote name='Sakurasuka']Sex does sell. And that's the saddest part of it. Guys nowadays would much rather sit at home and watch porno/Hentai than live their lives and meet real girls. And - because of the obnoxiously large chested women in anime and other places - boys are having a skewed view of reality and of women. Magizines, TV shows, movies, and now even cartoons are portraying women as merely sex objects.[/quote]I'm not quite sure I agree with you, certainly sex sells but I don't think that's a bad thing at all. Guys nowadays? I watch Hentai and I'd much rather have a woman in real life, and chest size means absolutely nothing to me and I'm a huge anime fan/Hentai fan. Am I different from what is norm is? I don't think so... while I certainly understand your concerns it has very little do with anime and Hentai and more to do with the individual in question (it might have little to do with the porn industry as well, but that?s beyond the scope of this topic as it in and of itself is a highly debatable topic). Certainly there are [i]some[/i] individuals who fit what you're saying perfectly, I know a few, but it isn't a standard and it certainly isn't enough to warrant saying "guys nowadays." What I think is a little upsetting is the fact that you keep saying "now" as though that means something. You do know pornographic cartoons have been around for quite sometime, and if you think they're anymore popular now than they were in the history, you've got another thing coming. Sure there are times when certain types of artistic mediums are more popular than others, but I doubt that was your point. There is nothing new under the sun. [quote name='Sakurasuka']It's no wonder so many teen girls are falling back on plastic surgery lately. I think that's really what girls have a problem with, it's now having to compete with not only our peers, but the goddamn cartoon characters.[/quote]I think this is a very simplistic view of an age old problem (and I do see what you are saying and I do consider it a problem). But it is an individual problem and must be dealt with on an individual basis, not on a large scale basis (it is, in my opinion, not as large scale as you make it seem [b]at least[/b] insofar as it pertains to hinting at those themes in animes, cartoons, and mangas). [quote name='Dagger']Fanservice-y character designs aren't limited to large-breasted women. If anything, the moe trend is more prevalent.[/quote]True... many animes would also break the mold you gave them Sakurasuka, and fan service can be achieved with characters that have flat chests as well as ones with larger chests (in fact, I could name a few examples in which many flat chests were more prevalent with characters in a given series/video game/manga line... but in the end it would be splitting hairs, I don't know which is actually more prevalent and I don't think it's relevant). [quote name='HeartStopper]I totally disagree with you!! The majority of manga/anime fans are male. to attract a male to a certain manga/anime their gonna use a hot chick wearing tight clothes with tits the size of watermelon, no guy wants to read or watch something about some ugly, flat chested chick dressing like a boy![/quote]I'm too appalled to give this a decent reply.[quote=Sakurasuka]Not responsive? Pffftttt, most guys are just assh*les. Not pointing fingers at you, you seem to be alright, but most guys are simply idiots. Do you disagree? Well, you shouldn't.[/quote]I disagree, and I fail to see any argument given as to why I should agree with that conclusion here.[quote=Kitsunekami']i agree with some of your points, that it really has messed up alot of stuff in our world, but you can't blame most of it on anime and manga, i think.[/quote]A very important point. Now the reality: do many guys prefer seeing larger chests on their anime heroines over flat chests? Not sure seen things that run opposed to that. Do many guys like seeing large chest girls in animes, generally speaking? I'd say many [b]people[/b] do... not just guys. Actresses in real life are preferred in similar ways based on seemingly silly characteristics. Yes, socially it might in fact be considered the norm for how women should seem more ?feminine,? as disgusting as it sounds. Again, the problem has little to do with anime and mangas, and I think as far as they are concerned, it might not even appropriately apply. When large chest characters are in animes solely as fan service it does strike me as silly... but apparently a lot of people dig that kind of stuff. Whatever the reality of this is, I highly doubt that anime and mangas really set unfair expectations for women in society. That argument has been around longer than time itself: it's very big in the motion picture and modeling industries for example. Overall I'm inclined to say it is much more important there than it is for this specific genre (most notably modeling). If such things play any role at all in mangas and animes (as they pertain to how men treat women or what men in general expect of women in society), then I have yet to see it.