Guild Wars GW1 Campaigns + Eotn fanart [OC]

GW1 Campaigns + Eotn fanart [OC]
2005/06 Prophecies FULL match commentary and analysis: EvIL vs. EP
Back in my day we used to solo bosses!!! (I'm pretty sure it's normal thing nowadays, but about 15 years back it wasn't :) )

Posted: 18 Jul 2021 02:07 AM PDT

submitted by /u/ZerusDabliu
[link] [comments]

2005/06 Prophecies FULL match commentary and analysis: EvIL vs. EP

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 10:45 AM PDT

[TL - DR; Gonna be a long one folks. Here I included the full (to the best of my ability) build orders of two epic teams in one of their matches back in the original era of GW: Prophecies - EP vs. EvIL. I've also included a full match report with play-by-play commentary, along with timestamps so you can follow along in the video. If you're into this sort of thing, I think it'll be worth it! Enjoy!]

If you're interested in a contextual introduction, see my original post about this match, including the video, here. I'm having a lot of fun with this, and people seem to be liking it, so I've decided to do a full write-up with as much of the builds as I can get and also a minute-by-minute analysis of the video. This is brand new content that I wrote up just now - it's not old material that I'm just republishing. The only resources I've used are what I've been able to gather in present-day 2021.

If you're also nostalgic about the original Prophecies PvP era, check out my other posts (Part 1, Part 2 - already linked above, Part 3, and Part 4).

The original write-up I did was kind of just "hey, this was a really cool video/era", with a bit of context about what was going on during that time. I do recommend reading it if you're interested in the historical context of this matchup. FYI, it was played in late 2005 or early 2006, during the original Prophecies era.

Anyway, like I said, I'm enjoying these and I just had the chance to go back and re-watch the video. I realized a full-blown write up with commentary on the match was in order. Once again, here is the video, and without further ado, here are the builds. Do note that I obviously couldn't get everything as I'm just looking at the video and not everything shows up. I also will include some guesswork which will be noted. Guesswork is based off what I remember from my experience back in the day.

Let's start with Eternum Pariah - EP:

(For a first-hand look at how their build worked, see Part 1 of this series above. Includes ventrilo chatter and everything. The build they used there was not EXACTLY the same as this one, but the idea is the same)

Mo / N - Smells Like Own - Healing/Prot monk. Healing Touch, Mend Ailment, Orison of Healing, Heal Other, Protective Spirit, Vampiric Gaze, Offering of Blood, Holy Veil??, Aegis??

Most of these skills are confirmed from the video, or from the other videos that I've linked above. The last skill I'm not sure of - could be hex removal like Holy Veil, or even Aegis.

Player Fact: Smells Like Own is Looks Like Own's brother. I'm not sure who was older.

Mo / N - Santa Hyori - Healing/Prot monk. Healing Touch, Mend Ailment, Orison of Healing, Heal Other, Protective Spirit, Vampiric Gaze, Offering of Blood, Aegis.

Most of these skills are confirmed from the other EP videos. In those videos he was running Rebirth, but it looks like he skipped it in favor of Aegis since they could reasonably suspect that EvIL would be warrior-heavy (instead of a spike team). The hard res is on the Me / Mo as we'll see below.

Player Fact: This is the guy who recorded the vids in Part 1 of this series.

Mo / Me - Lumi Nosity - Life Barrier monk. Life Barrier, Life Attunement??, Holy Veil??, Signet of Devotion??, Blessed Signet??

The video doesn't show much of him, and his build wasn't really one that was used much if at all. Actually, it's the biggest part of what made EP's spike build so unique. So I'm not really sure what skills he ran. The most important thing was Life Barrier to be cast on the whole team. I'm pretty sure he would use Life Attunement as a cover enchantment on non-rangers, and also as a way to boost the healing from the healing monks. Holy Veil for hex removal would not have been out of the question. I believe Blessed Signet would be used for energy management, and Signet of Devotion would be a free heal.

Player Fact: He was the guild leader.

Me / Mo - Athro Q - Dom mesmer. Phantom Pain??, Shatter Delusions??, Energy Surge??, Energy Burn??, Shatter Enchantment, Resurrect.

The only skill I actually saw him use in the video was Resurrect. In the other EP videos he uses Phantom Pain / Shatter Delusions to inflict deep wound (20% damage to target). In this one I didn't see a hex so he might just be using Energy Surge / Burn to spike... I have no idea. Shatter Enchantment would be an almost certain bet to rip enchantments and inflict damage on the spike.

Me / N - Dr Infamous - Fast cast orders necro. Offering of Blood, Order of Pain, Shadow Strike, Vampiric Gaze, Blood Ritual??, Rigor Mortis??, Dark Pact??, Res Sig.

Most of these skills I saw. I didn't see Dark Pact but the necro runner was using it, so it's possible. Same with blood ritual. Rigor Mortis was commonly used in ranger spikes as well, so that's a possibility.

R / Me - Looks Like Own - Spike ranger. Dual Shot, Punishing Shot, Savage Shot, Read the Wind, Hex Breaker, Pin Down, Distracting Shot, Res Sig.

Most of these skills I saw or could be assumed to near certainty based on how ranger spike used to work.

Player Fact: AKA Tastes Like Own, this was the target caller, who also appears in the EP videos. As mentioned before, he was Smells Like Own's brother. This was one of the few guys who kept playing Guild Wars after EP quit, and he became a serious player, although I can't remember with which guilds exactly.

R / Me - The Custodian - Same build as above.

Player Fact: I recall this guy going on to bigger and better things, too, but can't remember with which guilds.

N / R - Hydralisk X - Flag runner. Order of the Vampire, Vampiric Gaze, Dark Pact, Blood Ritual, Storm Chaser, Troll Unguent??, Shadow Strike??.

Troll Unguent would be used as a heal since he already had Wilderness Survival for storm chaser. I didn't see him use Shadow Strike, maybe because it takes a long time to cast, but I did see him using Vampiric Gaze and Dark Pact.

Build Ethos - It's a typical spike build. A ranger spike build kind of, yet at the same time mixed (the classic ranger spike had 4 rangers, as you can see in part 4 that I linked above). The Me/N throws up Order of Pain before spiking with Shadow Strike -> Vampiric Gaze. The Order buffs the Rangers, who have damage bonuses not only from the Order, but also Read the Wind, Vampiric mods, and hornbows (10% armor penetration). They spike with Dual Shot -> Punishing Shot / Savage Shot. All 3 arrows are buffed, and since Punishing / Savage are interrupts, they're basically instant. The flag runner N/R would also throw up Order of the Vampire when available for additional buffs, plus spike with Vampiric Gaze / Dark Pact.

The healers, when possible, would contribute to the spike with Vampiric Gaze. This was a really neat feature of the EP spike build - one which was totally unique to them. The Me/Mo would aid in the spike with deep wound (Phantom Pain/Shatter Delusions) or Energy Surge / Energy Burn depending on what they were running, and in both builds he would almost certainly have Shatter Enchantment for spikes, too. The Life Barrier monk was to keep everyone protected. If he was using life attunement, which I assume he was, the healing from the healing monks is that much stronger.

N / R flag runner was an interesting choice and I'm not totally sure why they went for that, at least as far as the ranger secondary goes. The Orders thing makes sense, and he also used Blood Ritual to help the Life Barrier monk get all his bonds up in the beginning, and maintain them in times of trouble. Storm Chaser was his stance for running. Interesting note: depending on when this was played, Order of the Vampire would affect all party members anywhere on the map. It was later nerfed to only be in radar-range. I get the feeling that this was probably pre-nerf as this build makes more sense that way (flag runner can provide support from anywhere).

For those who aren't familiar with spiking, the idea of a spike is that the caller says, "This guy... in 3,2,1" and on 1 everyone uses their skills on the target. When done correctly, the result should be an instant kill that comes out of nowhere - impossible to heal.

One caveat is that you need to have all of your spikers together in order for this to be effective, otherwise there's simply not enough damage. This is why EvIL decided to split and run around the map: their build could afford it, EP's could not.

The Last Pride - EvIL:

W / E - Dan Jang - Gale axe warrior. Eviscerate, Executioner's Strike, Sprint, Healing Signet, Frenzy, "Shield's Up!", Res sig, Bull's Strike??, Wild Blow??, Disrupting Chop??

I didn't see him use anything except Gale. But the axe warrior build was pretty standard. Later on Bull's Strike became the norm, but I saw other players on their team using Wild Blow, so he might have been carrying that instead. Disrupting Chop would be an option as well.

Also, late in the video I saw one of the warriors use "Shield's Up!", and based off the other skill bars I saw I think it must be this guy.

W / E - Bloodlight Eyes - Hammer warrior. Irresistible Blow, Bull's Strike, Crushing Blow, Frenzy, Sprint, Healing Signet, Res Sig, Devastating Hammer??

I didn't see what his elite skill was, but Devastating Hammer would be more common than Backbreaker. I thought he might have gale but, unless he's not carrying res sig, it looks like he doesn't.

Player Fact: If I recall correctly he was pretty much always a hammer warrior throughout EvIL's career. Kind of a team icon.

W / E - Strong Yearing - Glyph of Energy sword warrior. Sever Artery, Gash, Frenzy, Sprint, Gale, Glyph of Energy, Ward Against Foes, Healing Signet, Res Sig.

Really interesting build here, and I think it's the only one I got down with 100% certainty.

R / W - The Pride Master - "Bunny Thumper" - Escape, Tiger's Fury, Irresistible Blow, Crushing Blow, Wild Blow, Res Sig, Bull's Strike??

Got most of these but missing a couple. Interesting build here, too, which I'll touch on below.

Player Fact: AKA Last of Master.

E / Me - LP Woonori - Air ele flag runner. Lightning Orb, Lightning Strike, Windborne Speed, Blinding Flash, Gale, Distortion??,

Hardly saw anything at all here. The skills above would be typical air ele flag running skills, and distortion was a great defensive stance back then which would make his secondary make sense.

Me / Mo - Sa Mak - Dom mesmer. Energy Surge??, Energy Burn??, Shatter Enchantment??, Mind Wrack??, Drain Enchantment??, Diversion??, Resurrect??

Sorry guys, didn't get anything here, but I think it's very safe to say that this was a domination mesmer given EvIL's history of using them before. The skills I listed above would be a very safe bet for that kind of player. Potentially a hard res due to the fast casting, just like with EP.

Player Fact: Was this the guy AKA Eun Jong? If I recall correctly, he was their guild leader, and he was always on mesmer - so it may well be.

Mo / N - Korean(??) Characters - Boon prot - Divine Boon, Reversal of Fortune, Protective Spirit, Guardian, Mend Ailment, Offering of Blood, Contemplation of Purity, Holy Veil??

Didn't see much here but it would be a typical boon prot monk from the era. These would be the corresponding skills.

Player Fact: Better known as Only One Star.

Mo / N - Soul Wedding - Boon prot. Same as above.

Player Fact: Someone made a spoof of this called Seoul Wedding. Loved it.

Build Ethos: The axe and hammer warriors are pretty straightforward. The "bunny thumper" was a popular build that relied on tiger's fury to spam the hell out of enemies with hammer skills. Because expertise makes attack skills cheaper, he could spam Wild Blow and Irresistible Blow to his heart's content. Also, since Tiger's Fury doesn't have the damage penalty like Frenzy, he could be up in their grill 24/7. Very powerful frontline build, especially if he's bullying a lone monk.

The Glyph of Energy sword warrior was something I never recalled seeing. He would use Glyph of Energy basically so as to be able to spam Gale even more. He also used Ward Against Foes to slow the enemy down in strategic moments, as we'll see below in the match write-up. Using Glyph of Energy before he casted the Ward drastically reduced the cost as well (from 15 to 5 with 0 energy storage).

Don't forget about gale, either. The hammer warrior was used for straight forward knockdowns, but the other 2 warriors could also knockdown via gale. Gale warriors were all the rage because, with the Stonefist Insignia, gale was actually a 3 second knockdown rather than just 2. Two warriors who knew what they were doing could effectively "gale lock" an enemy monk by timing their gales perfectly one after the other. Believe me, The Last Pride had practiced this to the point of having it perfected. Beyond the gale lock utility, it was also useful to disrupt enemy flag runners or any players when they tried to retreat or get from point A to point B.

"Shield's Up" was included on at least one warrior. Either EvIL knew what EP would be running, or they considered it useful for attacking the archers, or both.

The ele flag runner was useful as a damage-dealer plus Blinding Flash in split situations. I imagine he had Gale as well which could also work to disrupt the enemy.

The dom mesmer was another damage-dealer, and useful for ripping off enchantments as well as energy denial on monks. Not so effective vs. the whole team, but could easily ruin a lonely monk's day.

The monks were the typical boon prot monks of the time: useful because they could both heal and protect at the same time, and thus split up.

And that was the whole goal of EP's build: to be able to run all over the map and bully EP in different locations. While EP was in their base, they'd have half of their team in EP's base bullying their NPCs or their flag runner, as you'll see in the write-up.

Match Write-up, minute-by-minute:

Will include time-stamped links to the video. Note that the timestamps correspond to the YouTube video, not to the match timer itself.

0:08 - EP heads right to the flagstand, as would be expected with their 8v8-oriented build. EvIL heads to the middle where they can begin their split tactics. They know what EP is going to be doing - no surprises there - and their build and strategy were designed to counter it.

0:59 - EvIL has 3 guys in EP's base as EP confusedly decides how to respond. Notice on the map that they have 4 guys hanging back but one of them ends up rejoining the main team.

1:03 - Now we get a (mostly) clear view of EP's gank squad: it's the sword warrior and the bunny thumper. The third guy would be one of the two monks, which we can't see now but will see later on in the video - it's Soul Wedding. EP responds by keeping one healer back (Hyori), the bonder (Lumi), and the runner (Hydralisk). EvIL begins work on the NPCs.

1:19 - Blue (EvIL) captures the tower. This obligates Hydralisk, the N/R, to run a flag. EvIL says "no" and chases him down immediately - getting a gale off pretty fast. Bunny thumper catches up with Escape. Hydralisk is down again and again, and the ice on the Frozen guildhall (EvIL's choice, of course), means that he gets slowed down once he's back on his feet. EP's monks follow and have no problem keeping Hydralisk up.

1:53 - EP already seems to be panicking as we see the whole team running back to deal with the harassment on their runner. Either they were panicking, or they saw it as an opportunity to quickly spike off somebody from this EvIL detachment. EvIL knows just what to do and is already back out immediately, all the way back up through EP's hall and back through the middle. Looks Like Own tries to pin down but to no avail. Meanwhile, the other half of EP have successfully accompanied Hydra to the stand so that Red (EP) captures.

I believe we're already seeing cracks in EP's play here, because there's really no reason for just one ranger to go back while everyone else is at the stand. I'm speculating now here, but I did play with EP a year or two after this match and it wouldn't surprise me if there was a rift in strat-calling during this brief moment of panic. So, it wouldn't be a controlled "one ranger here, one ranger there", but rather each player just had different ideas about what to do. I can imagine multiple voices talking over each other in this moment. Again, all speculation, but the response of 1 ranger forward and 1 ranger back strikes me as odd and unplanned.

2:22 - Notice the gale as EvIL tries to bully EP back a bit before retreating. Blue (EvIL) captures the tower again, meaning EP has to go through the agonizing process of capturing the flag again. EvIL sprints out and closes the center gate.

2:37 - Classic gank tactics. What frustration for EP, lol! EP's defense squad has retreated back into the bodyguards (later we'll see that it's the healer Smells Like Own and life barrier monk Lumi) and EvIL opens the gate and is back in for more, all within 15 seconds. We see a blue dot in the middle still - possibly the E/Me flag runner.

Interesting note, it seems that somewhere along the line that EP's healers Smells Like Own and Hyori have switched positions. Smells Like Own was a vocal and confident player, and the main strat caller's brother, so I wouldn't be surprised if he made a call of something like "let me handle the Guild Hall". I also wouldn't be surprised that if, in the aforementioned confusion, one monk just ran one way and the other ran the other. This is once again speculation, but it is interesting that EP switched like this while EvIL's squads were totally consistent throughout.

2:58 - EP is out again trying to run a flag. Instead of trying to bully NPCs, which is what EP was preparing for, EvIL's gank squad makes a masterful beeline to collapse on EP's flag-running squad - 5 players sans two of their monks.

3:10 - The battle is emerging - 8v5 (or 7v5 depending on location of EvIL flag runner) - with EP down two of their monks momentarily. Lumi and Smells Like Own are in hot pursuit from EP guild hall, but are lagging behind EvIL's split detachment due to their use of Sprint and Escape, plus whatever time it took EP to figure out exactly what was going on.

3:17 - All of EvIL collapses on the lone monk Hyori, who does a masterful job of keeping himself up. It's interesting to note that they didn't hit Hyori immediately - one warrior was hitting the Me/N, which would make no sense. It seems to me like they pretended to have other targets and then suddenly someone made the call to collapse on the lone monk. A brilliant play, but Hyori keeps himself up long enough for the other monks to arrive. Red retakes the stand with no resistance.

3:44 - EvIL realizes their plan has failed and that they don't want to be fighting EP 8v8. They're off to the races again, running straight past EP and sending a detachment back into their undefended base. It looks to be the usual 3 suspects (bunny thumper, sword warrior, Soul Wedding).

4:10 - We see that EP has decided to keep bullying forward. It looks like they've sent their own 3 back - Smells Like Own (healer), Lumi (Life Barrier), and Hydra (flag runner). Meanwhile the 4 primary spikers and their other monk (Hyori) push forward. As EvIL's monk number 7 (Only One Star) starts to go down things look promising for EP for once.

4:32 - EvIL needs to get a flag up. Not sure what's going on back at home, but this ends up being a promising moment for EP.

4:40 - It looks like there's been some confusion on both sides. Looks Like Own, the strat caller, was mid-way between his guild hall and the flagstand. Hydralisk is running up a back-up flag. EvIL meanwhile has realized they're outnumbered at the stand and split off more players, keeping just enough players to be able to capture the stand.

4:50 - Blue (EvIL) successfully captures, but Hydra recaps immediately. Notice EvIL's number 7 monk goes down in a very strong spike. EP has a strong split here: 2 rangers and an orders necro. For some reason, however, the dom. mesmer is back at home (not sure what purpose he serves there, this may have been a mistake or a desperation play: the logic might be that anyone to defend is better than no one).

4:59 - EP advances forward and is bullying back / killing Dan Jang. With the help of pin down he soon falls. Infamous is keeping Order of Pain up constantly for his rangers. Check out Hyori helping out with Vampiric Gaze. Finally, Dan Jang falls. It looks as if EP has finally gained some ground... I'm sure this was a moment of relief for EP and even the people in the chat are calling the match for them at this point.

5:30 - EP's forward squad is running towards the middle. Shortly, we'll see why.

5:42 - EvIL's gank squad pulls out as it becomes clear that EP's forward squad is trying to collapse on them. EP's base defense follows in order to complete the collapse. Nobody to shut the center gate this time for EvIL, as their sole focus is getting home as quickly as possible.

5:56 - This is a strong moment for EP as they've got their whole team (minus flag runner) ready to pick off a few of EvIL's stragglers. Again, I would imagine that EP's morale (IRL, not in game) must be really high at this point. Soul Wedding, the last alive monk, is just out of range with EP closing fast. At exactly 5:59 they get off an amazing spike on him despite the distance, with the Korean barely clinging to life as he tries to escape. What proceeds is a mad dash to bring him down before he can get out of range. It looks like Dr. Infamous finishes him off with Vampiric Gaze at 6:05. Do note that EvIL's other monk has just ressed at the Guild Hall at the 6:00 minute mark.

6:11 - Blue (EvIL) captures the tower - it was Blodlight Eyes who ran it. A res sig goes off on Soul Wedding back home.

6:26 - We see Hydralisk coming in with a flag for EP, accompanied by the healer Smells Like Own. Bloodlight moves to delay. We see EP moving in to EvIL's base on the radar. This would be a strong position for EP, with all of their spikers present, and momentum on their side. EvIL would need to find some way to respond.

6:30 - And they do: this is where the genius play begins from EvIL. It looks like Bloodlight has no appetite to engage - he feigns like he wants go back to the Guild Hall - just throwing an occasional gale to slow Hydralisk down. Of course, gale does double duty on the ice, because once Hydra gets up he walks slowly. But then...

6:42 - Bloodlight flips course and runs after Hydra. Suddenly we see 4 additional EvIL players coming to engage, including the bunny thumper who's there in no time with Escape. It's 5 on 2 at the flagstand now. Whether or not Bloodlight made this feint on purpose, or it just arose in a sudden call, I'm not sure. Either way would be a masterful piece of strategy.

7:01 - EP is spiking away in EvIL's base. It looks like they're going after NPCs while the small EvIL defense squad is tucked comfortably into their Guild Hall. We see Red (EP) manages to capture, but then we see very quickly, as expected, that Smells Like Own goes down at the flagstand. He was no match for a 5 on 2. EP made a big mistake here - as soon as they saw EvIL rotating for their flag running duo they should have retreated and followed. These last 30 seconds were the pivotal illustration of how EvIL was simply a much better tactical and strategic team than EP.

7:14 - We finally see EP rotate out now. But by now it's too late. It looks like the call to rotate wasn't made until Smells Like Own said over vent something like, "Guys, I can't make it alone", seconds before he goes down. That needed to be called 30 seconds ago.

Of course, due to the nature of their build, EvIL was always going to be one step ahead of EP if only due to mobility. But EP reacted far too late, and this would prove to be a turning point in the match.

7:24 - Note how Dan Jang is in hot pursuit as EP rotates out. Love that he's going alone, as he knows EP can do nothing about it with 1 monk down. Do note that EvIL also captured the stand after their previous 5 on 2, so now EP needs to run a flag again.

7:34 - Custodian gets galed and slowed down by Dan Jang. Hyori has to stay back to watch him, while the rest of EP gets back to base. Smells Like Own is dead at the flagstand. They choose not to res him as the 8:00 resurrection is coming up in-base, where they are headed anyway.

8:07 - Hydralisk just went down back home. We can see why: it looks like he tried to panic-run a flag while at least 5 of EvIL's players are in his base. EvIL returns the flag. Smells Like Own is still emerging from the resurrection shrine and was not able to heal. This move by Hydra looks like a panic move - he should have waited until his team was back up as a unit in order to make an orderly push to the flagstand. Looking at the radar, his team was seconds away from regrouping. There was no reason for him to push out so soon, and especially not with his monk just coming back online. Another clear moment where see see tactical and strategic breakdown from EP.

8:13 - Dan Jang is still bullying Custodian with gale, but Custodian launches a masterful Distracting Shot. I mean, this isn't that amazing, but it was still well-done. As I said, Custodian was one of two EP guys who did go on to become a respected player.

8:26 - EP regrouped, EvIL falls out.

8:40 - EP back to their 5/3 split. Hydra is running a flag with the 2 rangers, fast cast necro, and Hyori on monk. The home-team is Smells Like Own (healer), Lumi (Life Barrier), and Q (the dom mesmer). Again, not sure what the dom mesmer is doing here... at this point Resurrect might come in handy. I would imagine at this point that EP is starting to freak out a bit.

9:03 - Red (EP) cap and EvIL is waiting with a flag. Looks Like Own uses pin down. Let's see how EvIL handles this... they've got Dan Jang running the flag and the #7 monk supporting him. That means back home for EP it's 6 vs. 3.

9:18 - We're about to see Lumi go down. EP has already lost a lot of NPCs, and Smells Like Own has gone down so has some death penalty. 6 EvIL players, which means 2 warriors + bunny thumper, dom mesmer, and an air ele, is really too much for this small EP defense to handle. If it were two full-fledged monks, maybe, but a barrier monk isn't very good or helpful in this situation. Neither is a dom mesmer.

IMO this was another tactical / strategic error by EP. As soon as they realized the flagstand was empty at 9:00 they should have been back home immediately instead of worrying about that area of the map.

I reckon that EP's small defense squad didn't go down immediately because EvIL probably had a 3-4 man detachment with the flag to start with. As soon as they saw that EP was bullying up to the stand with 5 guys, they reinforced their gank team and by the time it was 6 vs. 3 it was too late. EP should have recognized their vulnerability here and bolstered their defense at home.

In fairness, though, they probably didn't want to repeat their last mistake: letting their flag squad go unprotected. Unfortunately, these matches are dynamic and adaptable, and you've got to respond to the area that needs it when it needs it. EvIL proved time and time again to be better at this. Once again, mobility helped them, but it was tactics that took the day.

9:26 - Smells Like Own goes down as we see the forward EP squad trying to stop the EvIL flag runner. Smells Like Own has at least 30% DP at this point. It looks like Q has ressed Lumi, but that won't do much good at this point. Smells Like Own is ressed shortly after.

9:47 - Blue (EvIL) captures the stand anyway. We see Smells Like Own doing his absolute best to keep himself, his fellow defenders, and the NPCs alive. This guy was actually a good monk.

10:01 - We see a red (EP) player making his way up to the EP guildhall from down below. We later find it's the other monk, Hyori. Meanwhile Hydralisk falls - his healer has abandoned him, and Dan Jang must have caught him with his gale.

10:08 - What we see here is just beautiful. Warrior Strong Yearing uses his Glyph of Energy then his Ward Against Foes right where EP's defending monks Smells Like Own and Lumi will need to pass through in order to reach the freshly-arrived Hyori, who in turn is trying to reach them. We see it works: both of the monks are slowed as they try to reach their counterpart. Yearing then uses a gale on the main healing monk, Smells Like Own. Lumi manages to get a spell off, maybe Life Barrier? But it's too late. Hyori goes down.

10:27 - EP seems to be confused. They've got 3 spikers running around at the flagstand, but it seems that as soon as they see Hyori go down they try to make their way home.

10:54 - Infamous finally falls to Dan Jang on the retreat. We've seen EP's mesmer Q ressing the monks again and again, only for them to quickly fall.

11:12 - EP's ranger spikers have finally made it home, but what's the point? EvIL takes the opportunity to get some kills on them. They succeed on Looks Like Own.

11:29 - EvIL moves in to kill the monks again. In case it isn't clear by now, EP is collapsing and on the verge of defeat. Will the resurrection at the 12 minute mark allow them to recover?

11:55 - Hyori goes down, expertly on EvIL's part, past the 12 minute mark. We see that Smells Like Own is DP'd out. Lumi, the barrier monk, is the only monk left for EP. Mesmer Q is still trying to res but goes down.

12:08 - The sad music starts in the video. It's not my video, I didn't edit it, lol, but I assume this means that "this is the end" for EP.

12:49 - With all of EP's monks down, and 1 minute til res (for those who weren't DP'd out), this was essentially victory for EvIL. I don't really understand why they were beating away at NPCs and rangers still.

13:16 - You now see all of EvIL's players go for the Guild Lord, which, of course, is the victory condition. They appear to have more than enough time. Yearing, however, sticks steadfastly to the archer for some reason.

13:31 - The archer finally goes down, and Yearing joins his team on the Guild Lord. To be honest I have no idea why they didn't all just wipe the Guild Lord sooner. Maybe it was a strict Korean ethos of "let's make sure we have it in the bag before we get silly with it", which would call for wiping all players and NPCs. I've seen that sort of careful ethos in Starcraft: Brood War with Korean players. Or maybe they knew they had it in the bag and it was just every man for himself. Or maybe they were celebrating the win and weren't in a hurry to end it. I have no idea. We will never know.

What is interesting is how quickly the chat turned against EP. At the beginning, if you paid attention at all, they had a lot of support. By the end of it, it was "pwned" and "hahaha". That was really reflective of how they were viewed, actually: before, they were kind of seen as idols. After this, they were seen as scrubs and losers who had gotten lucky, rather than serious players.

VICTORY EVIL!!!!

Final thoughts on the match

As I mentioned throughout, EvIL showed key moments were they far out-thunk EP in the strategic and tactical play. EvIL was always in the right place at the right time, and showed the ability to make epic decisions on the fly. EP did a couple of good things, but it seemed like EvIL were always one step ahead. In the beginning EP seemed to be holding their own, but eventually EvIL's persistence paid off and EP came crashing down hard.

In my previous post about this match I mentioned how this match-up, and matches like it, between EP and EvIL, or EP and the other great Korean team War Machine [WM], were pretty much the nail in the coffin for spike builds in competitive GvG. Watching this match in detail, however, I'm reminded that it wasn't necessarily a 1 or 0 scenario. Sure, balanced builds made tactical play much, much easier, but EP didn't lose because of their build: EP lost because EvIL out-thank and outplayed them. If EP had been a bit smarter, they could have won this one.

This is why people, even people in the chat in this video, shat on spike builds: they didn't require you to think much. EP was the dominant team, but when push came to shove and a team came along that actually challenged them to think, they crumbled. It seemed ridiculous that a guild could be so dominant for so long thanks to their build, but actually turn out to be mediocre players when challenged with something different.

And there's definitely something to be said for a balanced build. EP's split was permanently crippled, because their build was not designed to split. EvIL, on the other hand, created a build that was strong in all variants: 4v4, 3v3, 2v2, etc. The only variant it was not strong in was 8v8, but that's only because EP's build was just so damn strong in that match-up (we saw EvIL avoid that type of engagement entirely in this video). As strong spikes like this one began to disappear, later balanced builds would include an 8v8 element to them, while still retaining the splitability that we saw from EvIL here.

It's important to talk about mobility, too. Even if EP had played a perfect tactical and strategic game, they still would have been at a disadvantage. Every time EP tries to collapse, run home, push forward - execute any sort of maneuver at all - they're about half as fast as EvIL. They don't have speed boosts, they have to prep up, they have to call a target, etc. So basically, if you took two perfectly equal teams in terms of skill level - as players began to realize - the more mobile, balanced builds would be the winners. This was the true reason for the death of spiking and the shift in the meta.

But it can't be stated enough: mobility was not EP's downfall here. EP's build put them at a disadvantage, but it was the far superior coordination and tactics of EvIL that allowed them to carry the day.

A final note: this was perhaps written from an EP-centric perspective, because as I've mentioned before, I had the wonderful chance to play with them for a couple weeks 1-2 years after their fall from grace. Their best guys weren't with them anymore, which is probably why they were desperate enough to pick up a guy like me. I actually called strats for them. While I wasn't the best, and eventually ended up making some big mistakes, I guess it's true that I had a good knowledge of the game, which has in turn allowed me to make this post today. EP were cool guys, but not the best players in the world, and I think this video illustrates perfectly why that was.

As for a broader musing on Guild Wars: Prophecies as a whole: if you made it this far, then I hope you can see just how awesome of a game we had. It truly was an exciting thing to play and watch, and I haven't found anything like it since.

Cheers to all for reading, hope you enjoyed!

submitted by /u/shortyafter
[link] [comments]

Back in my day we used to solo bosses!!! (I'm pretty sure it's normal thing nowadays, but about 15 years back it wasn't :) )

Posted: 17 Jul 2021 11:55 AM PDT