User:GW-Vanguard

This page was last updated on 22:31, 1 November 2007 (UTC) (Approx)

You can find my most up-to-date info [Here]. I try to update this page and my page on PvX, but the Official GWWiki is where I go first, so go there to find my most up-to-date information. Enjoy.  Vanguard  17:18, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

About Myself
Greetings. I've been playing Guild Wars for about 15 or so months now. I specialize in the Form Dervish, I would submit my own but there's already a variant of it that's relatively accurate to what I have, so screw it. I'm still learning how to use wiki Profiles, I'm about done. The only updates I need now are fixing typos, editing my characters, and learning how to put some images up here to make it less boring.

Anyway, all my in-game names have the Vanguard theme, so I'm not hard to find. The Vanguard thing is a concept faction I made, in which you can read about in my "roleplaying" section. Still about a character or two and another article I need to add so stay tuned.

As for Real Life, I am an 18 year old male, into college right out of High school. I am majoring in Simulation and Game Programming, I aim to work for a big game company such as Microsoft (for their xbox), Blizzard, Arena.net, any big names I hope to strive for. I'm kinda proud even getting INTO the college, and some of my motivation comes from me being nearly the only one in my family to get into college. I live in a house with my mother, grandmother, and mother. It's a very sad situation but it is the truth. If you want to know anything else that's not TOO personal, feel free to post in my talk page.

Obligatory Userboxes
[Click here] to check out my sw33t userbox collection. 59 boxes and counting.

GW Characters
Vanguard Nisai Oril - W/E20 - Can be standard PvE tank, currently built for RA/TA --For roleplay, Nisai gets along with the cheerier types. Does not go well with evil. Vanguard Huntress - D/W20 - Form Dervish, ever since NF came out. Made the build myself, never looked at wiki when Huntress was made. /W is mostly for wild blow. --For roleplay, Huntress get's along with demonic characters and fanatical followers of any type of Elona religion. Vanguard Jolei - PvP Mo/Me20 - LoD infuser, ZB, RC for GvG .. --No RP. I delete and remake PvP characters on a whim. Vanguard Chamosaala - E/Me20 - Secondary not used, standard fire nuker --For roleplay, a lot like Nisai. (read up) Vanguard Namuen - Rt/R20 - [Spirit's Strength Bow], from PvX. It's a simple variant, mine has no self healing, pumping what WAS in restoration in making other things stronger, like Communing. Small price to pay. --For roleplay, would be difficult. Namuen is quiet, might able to get along well with those who treat her with respect. (The most honest or respectful people are, the more she may open up and talk more). Vanguard Theresa - P/ 5. - Remade my paragon that I had back when NF came out. I plan on keeping this one. --Theresa will get along with anyone who has a casual acceptance of the Sunspears. (Casual as in you don't have to be fanatical about it, you don't have to praise it every other sentance) Vanguard Nikki - R/W20 - [Axe Ranger], using the cyclone Axe in the optional slot. Mass AoE. No self healing sadly but that's what monk heroes are for. Major EoTn Character, complete norn armor. --For roleplay, Nikki is realtively normal. A very neutral character. Probably could be roleplaye with anyone but evil or fanatical characters of any sort. Vanguard Hasin-A/x20 - [PvE Assassin]. My first semi-successfull assassin, some of my opinions of the PvE sin is a bit outdated but I'm leaving it there since I'm still prejudice of OTHER PvE sins. Still, I'm doing very well with overpowering and showering this character with the leftover cash and quest rewards from Nikki. --For roleplay, Hasin is easy a tomboy, and can get along well with manly men, not so much of her own gender, strangely. I have purposely kept "Seek out brother tosai" permanetly for roleplay in Am Fah infested areas.

Roleplaying
Yes, GW-RP does exist. I assume many tend to avoid asking in public channels if there are roleplayers about to avoid humiliation. But I will happily roleplay if you catch me at a good time.

Descriptions: The Vanguard: The Vanguard is an organization is a powerful, but unused legion of Anti Demon/Undead/Criminal fanatics bent ont he destruction of mentioned enemies. Most of the things they do is morally questionable, but they get the job done and make living a lot easier for the innocents. The Vanguard has one of the highest survival rates of any army in history, losing only about ten troops a year, rarely more. The Vanguard recruits anyone and everyone, even exiles of their enemies.

Vanguard Huntress: Mysterious to the point of having no name, she is revered under the alias "huntress", as she has a habit of never letting off her target untill she or they are dead. She is a known demon, recruited into the Vanguard anyway. Her "condition" known by very little, Huntress seeks to fix Varesh's mess by serving Abaddon. Huntress does not fear much, but she does fear crossing a Vanguard Psychic.

Vanguard Namuen: A die hard patriot of the Kurzicks, she might as well be considered a lost child of the Helzters (due to her devotion, this is under investigation). Namuen is about eighty but her body is greatly preserved by the spirits she serves. She has been a kurzick patriot and a Vanguard Officer for a very long time, but is now on a modified vacation. She is back in Cantha, residing in House zu Heltzer, and actively fights the luxons and still, the enemies of the Vanguard. The life of a Vanguard official is a difficult one, and Namuen has been forced to travel a lot. Her favorite place other than Cantha, is Elona. Namuen, although quiet, has a powerful voice that she does not put much to use. It is a low, but mature and commanding voice. Those who have heard an angry Namuen, tend to avoid her for the rest of their days.

Vanguard Nisai Oril: Think of the most stereotypical warrior for a second, the most violent and fanatical one you can think of. [Maybe not from Guild wars. Perhaps a movie you've seen or a book you've read.] Think about an insane warrior happily shoving an axe into an enemie's nervous system, perhaps singing and laughing in the process. Now, make this vision a female, and you have Nisai Oril. Nisai, a run-away princess and retired Ranger, gets her glee off of serving the Vanguard, since the Vanguard is never short of enemies to kill. She can be calm at times, but don't bother trying to talk to her on the battlefield. She does her job very well, which would be making things very dead. Side note, she is found wearing kurzick armor, but is not a kurzick. When approached about this, she says "It just looks so cool." Namuen isn't very happy about this. Nisai wasn't always fun loving and care-free. She had to be a hardened survivalist while running away from the powerful knights her father sent to retrieve this runaway princess. Vanguard Dzate: A pre-searing version of Nisai Oril, a couple years before. (Though not when we has a runaway.)

Vanguard Chamosaala (Pronounced; Cham-oh-saa-lah): Chamosaala is not much more than the elementalist version of Nisai Oril, which should make it no surprise onw hy they get along so insanely well. Chamosaala loves making things explode, whether it be buildings... or people. Make no mistake, her scantily clad look may throw people off. Aside from her skimpiness, she is a brilliant woman, almost genius. She delves into alchemy to find different ways to make things explode, implode, melt and degrade things faster. If you EVER see Chamosaala pull a red vial out of her pockets, BE SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Nikki: Nikki has lived among the Norn for nearly her entire life. One of the very few humans ever to be accepted in their society untill the influx of heroes ever since the trouble began. Nikki has joined in the battles, with her foster father's Norn Axe she was rewarded with when she was very young. Nikki, due to Norn training was able to overcome many men, woman, and children of various ages even though they are five times as large and strong as she was. After her father's death she is still seeking his shield, either as a relic or for use she has not decided yet.

Hasin: After countless years of drugging, drinking, murdering and ravaging with the Am Fah around Kaineng Center, Hasin has finally decided to slow it down and take her life to Shing Jea monestary to get herself clean of said impurities. Now, she's not looking for any type of spiritual renewal, as she keeps her assassin like ways and her tomboy-ish nature. She's simply looking to clean up her act. While she's immensily cleaner than she used to be, it's not uncommon for her to rejoin her old Am Fah friends for a smoke. I have purposely kept "Seek out brother tosai" permanetly for roleplay in Am Fah infested areas.

Theresa: -Under construction, subject to rewording- A relatively devout sunspear, recruited right before their fall. She loved the sunspears since she was a child and was a little heartbroken at it's near destruction. She is a little happier now that they've risen back up after what seemed to surely be their doom. Theresa Actively works on the Istani islands recruiting and teaching young Paragons.

What They Look Like
NOT SHOWN: Every character I have is currently represented. WISHLIST: Ancients for Namuen, Norn for Theresa, Everyone else I am content. [You might want to click and enlarge to see the characters better)

Vanguard's Guild Wars Opinions
These are random tidbits that have no known organization other than bullets. Enjoy.


 * I don't believe people should complain much about nerfs. It forces people to think, and get players to reformat their builds. I say skill updates should be done every 3 months to keep the spice of guild wars. I fear this will be halted on the release of GW2, leaving the same builds for GW for years. Ugh.
 * I actually believe "Touch Rangers" are a legitamate PvP Build. I have never had one myself and have gotten killed and HAVE killed a few. It's difficult to counter but it's fun to go against. It forces me to think "Okay what can I do to get around this fool's heals?"
 * On "gimmicks". My understanding is gimmicks, or cookie cutter builds, are terms that go hand-in-hand but I'm not clear what the difference is. But I believe THESE TOO are legitimate builds that can help a player learn how to work it, and then later on make a slightly more original build later down the road based on the gimmick they learned on.
 * People who scream at the other factions annoy me. The "Kurzick versus Luxon" idea was not only a blatant rip from WoW, it not only made players almost hate each other, but it birthed a breed of idiots who thinks it's cool to stick with one faction for their entire Guild Wars career. Let me tell you something: It's not what alliance they are that make a crappy person or guild, it's the person or guild that makes themselves crappy!
 * Pet Rangers/BeastMasters: You don't do any damage. Quit Rangers. that, or just get rid of the pet.
 * PvE Assassins: Go PvP. PvE has no use for you. PvE gives pressure and numbers that is heavily limited on PvP so you can handle more there than you can against PvE. Let's see. AB is 12v12, HA/GvG is 8v8. In PvE, it can be 8vs40. I've seen so many assassins think they can condition spike mob groups that have like 5 healers. Just... Go PvP.

Campaign Opinions
' Spoilers alert. ' Also notice how I said opinions and not facts. Keep that in mind.

On Prophecies I know this is the favorite of most people, but I must say it is aweful. I am usually good with keeping up with storylines, but the Proph one makes no sense. First, you're in Pre-searing ascalon. You do quests for kids, actors, and princes. A hostile army comes alone and bombs the place. So far, so good. A generic "fall of the empire" template storyline. Unoriginal,but it works. So now you're in post-searing Ascalon, apparently your mission as a band of heroes is to stop the invasion (or at least postpone it some more?) Kill as many charr as you can, and perhaps even save ascalon.

So far, so good.

Then this is where the game loses me. After the discovery of stormbringer, you make your way into the shiverpeaks and end up getting all in the dwarves business. I fail to realize why. You muddle through their little civil war to gain passage to kryta (even those there's plenty of water underneath it all. It would have been as simple as getting a boat ride from ascalon to kryta.) Rurik dies, and you make your way to Kryta. Suddenly you're taking orders from a fanatical religious group called the White mantle, for some reason that escapes me. Suddenly, they turn evil (yay for killing innocents?) you escape, and BAM suddenly the undead want to kill you as well, for a reason that escapes me as well.

WHAT THE CRAP?!

Somehow I did make it to the desert, again I have no idea what I'm doing there, only to ascend for some reason. I finally beat the goddamn game still having no idea how we got from Charr to a Lich Lord. I never want to make a prophecies character again due to the nonsense and complete boredom the campaign gives me.

It's pathetic how Prophecies had the worst, yet most creative storyline at the same time.

On Factions I was extremely excited when I got this. The storyline is most definately a lot more original, but the entire thing is obviously PvP based, as one could get to level 11-15 in a day of gameplay. I honestly don't think Factions is good for new players, even during the tutorial, I bet most of them chat with party members rather than paying attention. And the game pins you against level 8's and 11's in almost no time. (The leveling speed in prophecies to me is a tad slow, but I think it was too speedy in factions. Call me picky.) Which I don't think is healthy for new players, it may even discourage them, "omg level 11's already! I'm only level 7!"

All in all, the storyline is decent and it flowed throughout the whole game. In prophecies the main enemy shifted way too much for me to keep up. Charr? No wait, the stone summit! Damnit no, it's the mantle! CRAP NOW THE UNDEAD? At least in Factions you knew who the enemy was the entire time. Shiro. IT was just sad the enemy diversity as mob-killing goes was lacking.

On Nightfall I do believe, they finally figured out what they're doing. The storyline flows, a central enemy is established while still giving you plenty of side-enemies to worry about. The storyline is a political war-time debate that everyone of all ages can relate to. Are you, as a sunspear, working for the greater good? Or have you just taken orders from a mad leader who wants a war? It's hard to tell, which I think is brilliant. It's great because Nightfall gives you characters you WANT to help and WANT to hate. Although the question shifts quickly when you discover the famous Warmarshal Varesh want's to, uh, for lack of a better way of saying it, end the world in this event called "Nightfall" And thus revealing the source of the expansion title. Short, simple, to the point. Awesome storyline.

Nightfall also introduced heros, which are basically henchmen on crack. Which is good, mind you. Each player/party member can equip 3 heros each of their choice (within the party limit, duh), which are generally unlocked as you progress through the storyline. You can equip weapons of your choice, customize their skill bar, edit their attributes, and install runes into their armor. You can order them around making them attack, guard, or avoid combat altogether. You can order them and the heros to stop and stay in a certain area, too, untill you cancel the order. BRILLIANCE?

Let me take a second to comment on the armor that Nightfall gives. In prophecies, the armor was relatively bland, and only the best looking armor went to the high levels who are deep into the island of fire and farm a hundred ectos a day or something. And in factions, you had a couple more creative types, but you were stuck with one style or another throughout most of the same (That much I didn't like.) In nightfall, you almost WANT to end the game with starter-styled armor. The armor is just beautifully crafted.

The nightfall storyline is so innovative and fast paced, that I've progressed farther in the NF campaign in a week or two than I have in any others over the course of 6 months.

On Eye of the North Could have done better but could have easily done worse, too. I've only had it for a week or so but I pretty much cleared the whole first part with "Bring these races together" series of quests. I love the armor, I love the new zones but I hate the PvE lovefest (gasp! This coming from a PvE player!) that this expansion offered. Title hunting? Come on. PvE only skills? Horseshit. PC-Gamer said the "bring 3 races together to fight for the common good!" was an overused storyline, but I personally haven't seen it as often. I mean, what else can you do with a "Human, Dwarves, Elves (in this case Asura and Norn)" storyline? They can't be seperated for fucking ever, y'know? They have to unite sometime and that's what Eye of the North Explains.

I appreciated the re-introduction of the character "Gwen" as a hero, but some of it didn't make sense. It seemed like a last-minute addon, as Post-Searing Prophecies insinuated(sp?) that she died. She healed you in pre-searing so I would like to know what part of her life made her persue the mesmer profession. With her anger, she might as well be a goddamn warrior. I also loved the idea of introducing the Charr as possible allies. While they weren't the major players in the "Let's unit and kill the Destroyers" plan, they served quite a neat purpose in the Ebon Vanguard quest line. (Quite personally I don't know how such a broken army can do much good against the destroyers.)

I find it funny how GW stole the whole "dungeon instance" thing from WoW. WTB Originality.

That's nearly all I can say. The armor is beautifully crafted and the zones are wonderful, even though some of the mobs are annoying to screw around with. I'll add more when I finally finish the damn thing.

Class Opinions

 * Dervish: As a main dervish player, obviously this will be my first one on the list. Yes they are overpowered, but have suffered just as many nerfs as Paragons. A good class that doesn't deserved to be bitched at just because you got slaughtered by one in AB (on the flip side, no need to bitch at them if you slaughter them easily.)
 * Paragons: ALSO don't need to be bitched at. I find it apalling how people thing paragon's are overpowered. Their buffs are nothing compared to what a monk can give. To my understanding they don't stack (for 2+ para teams), but end up overlapping instead. I like paragons. I had one at one point and I don't now, but some day I'll afford to buy an extra slot or.. ten.. and recreate the spear-para I had. (Nothing but spear attacks/IAS, I don't buff people.
 * Monks: Don't deserve to get blamed for team deaths/whipes. They can only handle so much. Unless it's blatant idiocy, (monk using a sword for some reason, smite/heals on the same build, or general "do nothing" attitude...) they really try.
 * Elementalists: If anything is overpowered, it's these. I have a fire ele myself that I have yet to try in PvP, but going against them SUCKS. Heavy spikes and damage that almost seems nonstop, these guys (or, mostly gal's) are annoying to go against but fun to play.
 * Rangers: I can never seem to do a decent amount of damage with a bow, but they are fun to play and can be difficult to kill. (I had a PvE one that somehow made survivor, didn't find out untill I was 200,000xp in. They're long gone now, though.) Fun to play, fun to fight. bows might need a buff, but that's why I'm an Axe Ranger and not a bow user.
 * Mesmer: I've *Tried* this class time and time again and I love stacking degen, but they don't do enough raw damage to be that much fun. Playing a mesmer is too much work for a casual player like me.
 * Necromancer: Same problem. now, I LOVE playing Minion Masters and I do it quite well, but I don't like the "Stand there, do nothing, or kite" part, when I've got full minions and can do nothing else but heal them up or run away from people who spike the MM first thing. Needless to say, I don't currently have a necro.
 * Assassins: I have yet to see a decent PvE Assassin. This is mentioned above, so just read up on my "PvE assassins" bullet.
 * Ritualists: Spirit spamming is fun but I don't like the casting times. Too easily spiked with a Lyssa Derv. That's why MY ritualist is a Spirit's Strength bow user. Massive, constant damage. It's very fun to play and not what people expect rangers to do. Little to no self healing though, if you go for maximum damage. I haven't fiddled around with *real* Rit builds, but there's a notion they are overpowered too. My 200 deaths in 2 weeks would like to say otherwise.
 * Warrior:Simplest class to be sure. Fun to play, to date I've had more warriors than anything else. I guess I get bored of it and delete, only to remake later. I have finally found a permanent Warrior, and I sadly use a sword. Nothing wrong with that, but only that I HAVE TOO MANY SWORDUSERS. Might try a hammer some day. But otherwise, Warriors are fun and simple to use, definately a beginners class.