#GW2 wintersday

[guildwuff2]

(Adapting and reposting this from a twitter thread I wrote in 2021 before it all exploded. Happy Wintersday!)

How Do Bells? A Wintersday Mini Guide

tl;dr: Most important things are to keep your pace, listen to the other parts, find the sweet spot of when you gotta press the button, and bring a buttload of karma boosters in with you. But, for a more in-depth explanation:

First things first, figure out what difficulty you're comfortable with! Low is easy, mid is, well, mid, and upper is a little more difficult, though different folks have their own preferences or idea of difficulty. Try each one out and see which one you like most (I like upper the most since I can hear them most easily).

Match the tempo. You get a a measure or two of metronome before you start, and that helps ya pace yourself out. It's more useful in the beginning when you're always on the first beat, but it gets a lil more complicated towards the last songs. tap your foot if it helps!

Listen to the other parts. Often times you'll be able to hear where your part fits in with the other players, and if they know their parts well, they can help you keep pace if you take cues from them. The BEST is when you get a stage for yourself and you hear the other parts played correctly by default-- if you're still figuring things out, try getting a solo stage and practice!

Find the sweet spot. The notes follow a guitar hero layout, but they work a bit differently; you gotta wait for the note to cross the white line into the blue circle and then "pop", and you get about a solid second or so of wiggle room to play the note (you can kinda see this in the gif). Remember to pace yourself, go by the tempo and listen to the other parts, those might help you figure out when to press your notes.

EXTRA ADVICE: bring karma! Banner, food, utility, guild hall, booster, and bonfire if you can get it! Also if your game lags, the notes will show up in the wrong order, but if you remember the notes and the order they'll still count-- being able to listen for your part and tempo by ear will help a bunch when dealing with a funky connection.

Hope this all helps! I'll try to respond to any further questions in the replies if folks have 'em. Best of luck!

[littlefoxgw2]

how many ales have i had???

[fireskarr]

Wishing everyone a happy holidays!

[mistfallengw2]

Quick Guide for a Smooth and Quick Toypocalypse ⛄️

Just a quick guide so that Toypocalypse can a bit faster and hopefully more enjoyable for everyone involved~

General Strategy

Every player should pick a different zone to focus on, so that there's no need to struggle for resources and the whole map gets covered by clusters of catapults! Here's a map of the best spots:

The areas in red are secondary spots where you can expand or move to if an area is already covered. You CAN cover a whole map with properly built Labyrinth, Hoelbrak and Village, so you can team up to do those!

You want to pick spots that are close enough to be in reach of other people's catapults, but not so close that you have to fight for resources. See what your party is doing and act accordingly.

For your own zone, you want to pick a good spot to build your Catapults (high, good view over the map) and then surround them with a few Snowmen and the occasional Ballista. Soon, your Catapults will be able to nearly one-shot enemy waves that spawn close enough, while the rest will take care of those that get too close during reload.

Properly set up clusters are more effective than randomly placed toys! Clusters focus enemies in a few spots and catapults' barrages can clear them even at their spawn. Stray toys will spread enemies around the map and Catapults may not even reach them :(

There's a cap AND a decay timer for siege toys! Old toys will despawn if you place too many or after 15 minutes with no upgrading! Try to place them with intention from the start, then after round 4 it's best to start upgrading what you've already placed.

Your strategy should be to aggro enemy waves away from the center and clear them fast! While you want to drop a few toys on the central platform to defend the dolyaks (pretty useful in the first waves and for extra security), only place them on the outer edges and don't overdo it! Enemies will aggro on siege toys, and if they're too close to the dolyaks... well, that kinda defeats their defensive purpose, and it'll hurt a lot if it's Toxx's turn.

Focus on Toxx as soon as she spawns (every 2 rounds, after a few waves of regular toys) and try to break her CC bar asap! You don't want her to destroy your hard work, but be careful of her attacks, especially the one where she spins and reflects projectiles (you can get oneshot if you use the rifle).

Siege Toys and Weapons

Catapults are your best friends and Snowmen are their buddies! Let the Snowmen do damage, aggro and chill enemies, so that Catapults can reach them over long distances by firing in an arc. (a full barrage from is extremely satisfying to witness)

Ballistas and Walls are not bad, but should be used sparingly. Ballistas attack faster than Catapults, but unlike them they are single-target and can only hit enemies that are in a straight line in front of them. Walls should be used only as a way to block or bottleneck specific areas, as toys will usually ignore them if something else is around.

Siege toys do more than any weapon skill! Pistol is kinda useless after the very first wave, while Rifle and Smasher are overall better. They mostly matter during Toxx fights.

Remember: a few upgraded toys are better than many base toys.

While you can build in a cluster, you're better off leaving at least some space between them so that you can have an easier time upgrading them later. (This example for the two points above is a bad example: FAR too many toys for one spot + extreme lack of space between them)

If you know spawn points, you can place a single sacrificial Snowman (you'll have plenty of snow anyway) in there to immediately aggro enemies and give your Catapults extra time to clear the wave where it spawns.

Tips & Tricks

When holding Snow or Scraps, you can use your 3rd skill to run faster!

You can gather extra gifts after every Toxx on the left side of the map! (Round 2, 4, 6 and 8. Round 10 gives its own reward in the bouncy chest.)

You can regen health by hanging out with the dolyaks for a few seconds, and if they're hurt you can heal them using Hay!

If you want extra security for the dolyaks, there are 4 Skritt Mercenaries on the sides of the map that can be hired for 3 Scraps each.

Resources respawn after a few rounds, so do try to use your first round of resources responsibly! If you're doing fine with your numbers, upgrade early or maybe even bring some of your Scraps to party members that are struggling to set up!

Siege toys are built right on the spot your camera/mouse cursor is aiming, and you can take advantage of it to build more precisely! Also, if you're building against a wall, it'll be placed above it! (In this example of my fave Labyrinth configuration: toys are built by aiming on the pole at the intersections and end up on top of them + walls block the entrances)

As a note, the Wiki has already a pretty decent guide, but I wanted to sum things up and add to it!

[amnyatas]

anyway, a happy wintersday from your cousin Throckmorton!

[the-woods-call-me]

} Wintersday Joy {

Happy Yule! ❄️ Please click for larger size. =)

[milaisa]

My Wintersday piece for Inquest Calendar (CalendarKrewe)

[gw2-positivity]

Wintersday Goblin here to say:

"Wintersday is for having fun and feeling at peace with the world. If spending time with your blood relatives is harmful to your mental state, emotional health, or physical safety, do two things! One, stay away and close your eyes. Two, point me and my bag of snowballs at 'em!"

[archesa]

Surprise gift for the Wintersday prompt 👀

Thank lot!! 😁 I hesitated a bit between two stories but the first one I considered would fit better for another prompt (and only in a certain AU) soooo... Hope you'll enjoy this one!

Content warning : fluff, mutual pinning, it's requited they're just idiots! 🥰

Sapphire and gold

Caer Aval stood proud and radiant over the Strait. Colourful lanterns and garlands of evergreen and holly hanged from the spirals of thorns illuminated by the constant pulse of the orb — the soldiers had insisted on decorating and he saw no reason to oppose it, even if, with the risen all but subdued, and the purification already showing its effects on the shores of the archipelago, most of them were given leave for the holiday — and a scent of mulled wine arose in plumes from the mess hall where the soldiers remaining on guard duty had gathered for the eve.

Trahearne considered joining them, but renounced, in fear the arrival of their superior would spoil their cheerful mood, and after a short midnight stroll to the prow of the Glory of Tyria — still moored for repair thus offering an incomparable view on the shore and beyond it the distant heights of the Vizier's tower — he returned to his quarters, enjoying the calm of his room, the warmth of the hearth and the quiet yet constant company of his cats.

The kettle he had placed on the stove just started whistling when a knock on the door interrupted his solitary evening. He removed the pot from the fire and curiously headed to the door where an asura all but crumbling under the weight of a box almost as big as he was waited on the threshold.

“Merry Wintersday, Marshal!”, they saluted. “The post just arrived, the men are opening their gifts and there’s this one for you.”

The package was not very neatly wrapped — creases on the expensive paper betraying the sender’s efforts and ultimate failure at an elaborate folding, yet the motif and the and the ribbon, gold trimmed satin of a rich sapphire colour, was tastefully chosen and carefully assorted.

Trahearne thanked the messenger and offered them a drink they politely declined before heading back to their companions.

He carefully placed the box on the table, earning most curious chirps from Harley, just awakened from his nap and now idly pawing at the end of the ribbon. He untied the bow — only for the grey cat to snatch it from him and run off with it, quickly followed by Leo and Maddy, decided to enjoy their own Wintersday present — and curiously peered inside the box, a rich scent of herbs and spices filling the air as he scoured the content with delight.

Several richly ornamented boxes, each containing a fragrant tea - curious melanges and colourful infusions — a year’s worth of his favorite brew and a dozen phials of the specific kind and colour of ink he used to write his research notes — one that dried quick and was afterwards impossible to wash, thus keeping his notes readable even in the often unforgivingly humid climate of Orr. He smiled, and looked for a card, finding an envelop sealed with golden wax hidden underneath the ink.

The writing was familiar, wide letters and coiling spirals standing starkly, sapphire on golden letterhead paper — her colours...

'Merry Wintersday, dearest friend.'

[littlefoxgw2]

she's a little grumpy but she's got the spirit 🎄❄

[ylkcheeeks]

Fete Inspector Gwyl spotted in DR

[mistfallengw2]

Would anyone want some tips and tricks for a smooth Toypocalypse? 👀

[the-woods-call-me]

++ Through Snowy Streets ++

Please click for larger size. =)

[adamthinkarai]

Happy Christmas Everyone ^-^

[screamn-robo-drawin]

I finally got the expansions!!!! Merry wintersday!!

I love playing GW2 for the world, story etc. etc. but I also love to "clean my inventory" of gifts aka make my charr necromancer go wobly wuub wuuub