User:Shaothemerciful

=Shao The Merciful=


 * Name: Shao
 * Birthdate: December 8, 1983
 * Gender: Male
 * Started Playing: January 2007
 * Guild Forums: RoD Forums

Greetings, I am Shao The Merciful- just Shao, for short. I am an officer and the HA Team Co-Leader for the guild Ravenz of Darkstone [RoD], a PvX guild. My primary interest is in PvP, mostly Heroes Ascent(r6 Hero), and more recently, Hero Battle(38|44|0). I am a converted PvPer, as some call it- that is, I began as a PvE player; however, that has grown far too dull for my tastes. I am still actively "title hunting" on my Dervish, but the rest are merely farmers for equipment and funds to make my PvP characters look that much better.

Heroes Ascent
In Heroes' Ascent, I will gladly play any mid- or frontline position- though, as the team leader and caller, I spend the most time on a warrior, dervish, or a ranger. Recent nerfs have forced me to abandon my dervish/sin frontline- and I am extremely anti-spiritway, so balanced spikes, ranger spike, or the occasional pressure build are my favorites.

The Current Metagame
As far as my thoughts on the current status of the HA metagame- Spiritway is still dominating the lower maps, which, while relitavely easy to beat most days, can be problematic at times. Further nerfing of spirits would be unfair to other aspects of the game. However, the Ranger/Dervish "escapeway" frontline, the new backbone of the entire build, could be subdued by a single addition to the skill escape:

The skill should read " For 1...7 seconds, you move 33% faster and have a 75% chance to block attacks. This stance ends when you use an attack."

Of course, "swayers" cry foul, saying Wild Blow solves everything, but that regulates the frontline to either running a Warrior/any, or a Warrior secondary. Now, while this may seem like it's not a problem:

The skill reads " Lose all adrenaline. If it hits, this attack will result in a critical hit and any stance being used by your target ends. This attack cannot be blocked."

So, running the skill on an adrenaline-heavy bar (see: Warrior Frontliner, lawls) is nearly impossible. The nerf to Escape wouldn't have a devistating effect- in fact, it would simply regulate Escape to becomming the skill that it was meant to be: a means of escaping mass damage via melee pressure or a spike.

Hero Battle
Hero Battle is another story. I started out in HB, like many, as an assassin, but have since progressed to monking. I prefer shrine cap victories over face-to-face matches, but can prevail in both accounts. Like all serious HBers, I believe Crossing needs a bit of work, to say the least, and pray for the day Anet finally fixes it- or removes it entirely and replaces it.

Guild Versus Guild
GvG carries little if any interest to me, aside from the fact that it basically determines what builds I can run in HA because of "GvG nerfs"; that is, nerfs that occur because GvGers whine about a build long and hard, and Anet changes everything. HA has become the red-headed stepchild of Guild Wars, but I love it, nonetheless. {| width="100%" style="background: transparent;"
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[[Image:Warrior-icon.png]] Shao The Mighty
Usual streams: Swordsmanship - Cripslash interupter. Axe Mastery/Air Magic - Shock Axe frontliner. Uses: Currently, I run this Warrior in HA, mostly as a cripslash, running trains on oposing mid- and backliners.'''
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[[Image:Ranger-icon.png]] Shao Rains Arrows
Usual streams: Expertise/Marksmanship - Rangerspike caller. Uses: This character has taken a bit of a backseat to other builds, but I love Rangerspike, so I keep him around.
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[[Image:Monk-icon.png]] Shao The Merciful
Usual streams: Protection Prayers/Shadow Arts - Hero Battle Prot spammer. Uses: I use this character for weekly 1v1 Hero Battle Tournaments, and enjoy it greatly.
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[[Image:Dervish-icon.png]] Aidan Taylor
Usual streams: Scythe Mastery/Mysticism - PvE Avatar frontliner. Uses: This is my main PvE character, which I have achieved all my major titles with.
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