Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
[Column] Guild Wars 2: WvW: Should I Follow the Zerg or Go Havoc?
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
When I first started playing Guild Wars 2, all I played was PvE. It was fun to be part of the lore, and do dungeon runs, but after I explored the world it was time for something else. That's when I tried WvW, and I've been hooked ever since. There's just something special about doing battle with enemy armies, or sneaking behind enemy territory to stop their supply flow. The only bad thing is deciding if I should become a part of the zerg, or go havoc.
Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: WvW - Should I follow the Zerg or Go Havoc?
)
Nothing is worse than getting loot bags and dieing before you can grab them.
Comments
Depends on what you want. Going havoc means getting a few good fights from time to time, getting steam rolled by zergs, and not having any affect on the point totals beyond a few camps.
Going with the zerg is safer and more rewarding, but you don't get the satisfaction of small scale fights.
Pick your poison, either way larger zergs win GW2 everytime.
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
I love both so much, but if I just login alone then I go zerg otherwise it's very fun to make a run with your guild friends and go Havoc. Like you said you don't get many lootbags but on the other hand you get the thrill of trying to ninja your way to take smaller objectives. I also love the feeling when you see the enemy zerg coming towards you and you go guerilla warfare on them and hide just to attack when they are most vunreble.
The reward of this gameplay is much bigger then any lootbag.
Agreed, a thief is excellent to go behind enemy lines and take out single players (or 2-3 if they play badly) and the adrenaline kick can be pretty good.
I rarely zerg unless my side is the underdog so we really need those points from fast taken towers.
No they don't. They really, really don't. I don't know what game you were playing.
Nope, not at all. I thought this back at launch, but it was because my server had little interest in WvW. But a year ago I moved to a different one, and efficent commanders make all the difference.
Effective use of skilled stacking, ambushing, and having a group that stays together and benefits from the heals and condition removals make all the difference. In our guild havoc groups we're usually 15-20 guys. We have 4-5 dedicated guys just to water fields. That's some serious AOE heals that add up during downtime. We've beaten groups of twice or triple or own size due to lack of organization and just hitting them from behind or hiding in a keep.
WvW is all the difference if you are with people who know how to play. It's not different from that in real battles the bigger army often wins if the technology, terrain and so on are equalized between the two armies, but every so often, a smaller force has been able to beat a larger force with tactics.
The problem with WvW is that not everybody finds groups like this that really work together. In my mind it's a problem that there is not some sort of build-in teamspeak. because you need the added tactical element of giving commands to really succeed.
GW2 for about 2 years now. Everyone's gonna have different opinions, I love the GW franchise, but the WvW has not aged well and stacking trumps skill. Of course there will be outlying fights where occasionally a smaller force will win, but it doesn't happen often enough to say that GW2 WvW is anything but a karma train past the GvG fights people set up.
As I said, Anet has been making some promising changes so they might get around to fixing WvW and making the meta something beyond numbers, it just isn't true right now imho.
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
Our guild is large enough that we generally have 4-5 people ready and able to go cause havoc. So much so that we've had them have laid back response to our presence (we continually hit a keep over and over) that they didn't pull their zerg in response. So we responded with ours and took their keep easily. On a reset night with full queues it was quite rewarding to be the pest that caused them to make a mistake.
Especially on home BL. Have you main group defending northern towers/keeps and maybe poke out from time to time to make them think you're active while having a small group take down gates covertly. Even more fun when that small group has a thief and a mesmer in it to hide them for later usage.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
this game is incredible fun!
last night on EB on Piken was so great!
our golem rush was awesome
who said that zerg vs zerg is brainless, he just has no brain or must learn to play.
My guild on Anvil Rock has a group specifically designed for capturing smaller objectives. 2 mesmers, 2 thieves, and me the physical CC warrior. It provides for quick captures of small objectives, ganks for groups twice our size, and great support for zergs in the form of ganking stragglers or those who peel off of the main enemy zerg.
With our team comp, we have plenty of stealth and mobility (we are present to portal golems if needed). It can be REALLY fun to get a group of 5-10 and see a direct server wide result of your efforts.
"As you read these words, a release is seven days or less away or has just happened within the last seven days those are now the only two states youll find the world of Tyria."...Guild Wars 2
Nothing more to say.
Of course, because in this forum every "skilled" player seems to think he should be able to beat 100 people no matter what, if that aint so game suxxorz.
Its sooooo funny reading posts like this.
On the contrary. I love fighting in small numbers. I frequently visit custom arenas in SPvP where I can duel in a proper way (WvW again does not allow this). My point is that numbers weigh too hard against skill.
Most people in WvW seem to be pressing #1 and their loot key, and that must be it. AND they win because they have a number advantage. I find that very tiresome (especially when I'm on the winning side). The fights I enjoy most are fights where I am outnumbered and manage to win because of skill, sadly those are very rare because enemies either:
1) run condibunker builds for solo roaming
2) run in groups of five
3) run in groups of 30-50
There is either roam or blob, and nothing in between.
It's not an opinion when you clearly stated "every time". And frankly, it's no one's fault but their own if they don't break away from the zerg into smaller groups to seek adventure simply because they're worried they'll get killed. If you love PvP so much, do it anyway. Or just keep staying in the zerg and wondering what you're missing. On the rare occasions I even go into WvW, my friends and I don't NEED a huge zerg to take points or have fun, but then my friends are all really good at this stuff (I'm not).
Going to go ahead and call this dolyak dung. In fact, Blackgate (the current most populated server in WvW) has been throwing a fit because the two less populated servers in Tier1 (Jade Quarry and Tarnished Coast) have allied and may even knock them out of the tier.
LOTS of drama. https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/wuv/wuv/Is-2v1-a-breach-of-the-Rules-of-Conduct
And it also depends what you consider "winning". Is winning having your entire server being in first place because of 10-15 people? Likely not going to happen. Or is winning coming out on top in the majority of your encounters, even when the odds and numbers are against you? THAT is very possible and is what makes WvW the highlight of my weekend
"As you read these words, a release is seven days or less away or has just happened within the last seven days those are now the only two states youll find the world of Tyria."...Guild Wars 2
Wrap it up in whatever shell you want, it's still my core issue with WvW and zerg balling tactics. The game lacks the depth and strategy I need personally in a large scale siege PvP setting.
I'm glad you enjoy it, but without changes to increase the usage of tactics it's not a permanent home for me
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
I dont think you even realize how funny is your post. You really dont belong to RvRvR setting.
You now accuse people for running:
1. condibunker builds for solo roaming
2. people running in groups of 5
and no "proper" (whatever that is) dueling in....wait....RvR
As you said yourself....stick to arenas. there you can set your own rules.
Numbers matter...its a fact of life.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor