#but for now thisll probably be the last thing i say about this here unless something insanely infuriating happens. lol

[wyldblunt]

Hi, it is 6 AM here and I have to sleep but I'm writing to you to let you know that I'm very concerned about what I've been reading in the past day.

I heard of the gwg/Logan incident on the day of it happening, but that's not really what I'm worried about. What concerns me is what seems like a consistent & long term systematic marginalization of POC in GW2 fan spaces. To be honest I'm not that surprised, I've had my suspicions since 2020.

I'm not active on GW2 tumblr or any social media at all, other than posting the Tyria Pride announcements once a year, so I don't have much impact outside of the Tyria Pride discord, but I still want to do something. I have some ideas, and am also always open to suggestions.

I would love to chat at some point (it doesn't have to be now, and I totally get it if you're not interested). The Tyria Pride discord isn't huge but it isn't small either, and maybe I have some influence that I can use for good.

Lelling

Tyria Pride Lead

P.S.: I know this can be a source of exhaustion so please do not worry about tone policing yourself or rewording your reply for ages to be "just right", if you do reply to me. (I just spent an hour doing that so I get it, it is now 7 AM). I'm on your side. I'll meet you where you're at.

hey — i hope you don't mind that i'm posting this publicly, but i want to because waking up to this message was a huge relief to me. and as i've tried to explain in other conversations about this, i KNOW there are LOTS of people who have been really uncomfortable through this entire convo but have not felt willing or able to speak up publicly (bc of open threats of ostracization for "being mean" AND observed behavior towards those of us who have said anything) and i hope that reading this will be a relief to them too.

thank you not only for reaching out but also for GETTING what our actual concerns are, bc one of my biggest frustrations through all of this has been people repeatedly twisting the issue so they can dismiss it as squabbling about fiction and then they don't actually have to address the broader patterns we're talking about here; thank you for the assurance that i won't be tone policed, because that's been repeatedly used against us as well ("okay i guess you guys are making some good points but you're being so ANGRY"); and thank you for acknowledging how tiring this is, because i've been made to feel like if i don't keep showing up and being vocal about this, leaving behind mostly the white allies who have been sticking up for us and using their privilege to make corrections and take some of the brunt of the ridicule and backlash, the whole thing will be dismissed as a non-issue anyway. and frankly i don't fucking want to anymore! i'm tired lol!

but i also wanted to springboard off this really kind and reassuring message from you to say it isn't the only one i've received, and that as angry and exhausted as i am, i want to highlight and acknowledge that i have NOT been alone in this. people have been checking in on me, listening to what i and others have to say about it and boosting our statements, changing their minds if they jumped to conclusions earlier, and offering private support and conversation among those of us who still don't feel comfortable braving the environment out here on tumblr — obviously the bad experiences i've had through this are sticking in my head and are really demoralizing, but honestly in terms of quantity and quality i have had MORE experiences of people supporting me and making sure i'm okay. this fandom has massive problems but it also has more of a solid, positive core than i was willing to hope for in the beginning.

i spoke up initially because it was horrible how isolated i felt when this all kicked off; the wider problem is absolutely not fixed, but i can confidently say i don't feel alone or abandoned anymore, and that gives me a ton of hope for figuring this out.

[lifeblossom-remaking]

how to effectively Maxwell DPS in the forge: a (rambling) guide

heyo, im seeing lots of guides going up now that the forge is live and no longer in beta and i figure nows a good time for me to explain how ive won as this terrible, terrible frail old man and how he can actually be one of the strongest players on the team!

a few overall tips:

- communicating openly and loudly with the team is vital. youre going to be pretty weak at first and your biggest benefit to the group will be reducing the number of enemies coming to them, especially in rounds that can be overwhelming like the ones with pit pigs and crocommanders

-similarly, youre going to need a team comp thatll work with you. for maximum damage maxwell is going to want both the infernal staff *and* the tome of beckoning (as well as the tome of petrification when the situation calls for it). dont use a maxwell in a game with a wickerbottom, because imho theres really only room for one magic dps per game (though he does great with willow as a teammate, given willow can take fire physical dps with the molten darts)

-its going to seem stupid but youre going to want heavy armor once your tank(s) is/are outfitted and there happen to be extras. trust me.

now, starting out: maxwell is frail as shit. he has 75 max hp. with his starting armor, he dies in three hits to the snortoises, and if he gets hit from max hp by the scorpeon acid, he will get knocked down to 10 hp once the acid leaves your system. you absolutely do NOT want to get hit. dont even bother trying to hit enemies with your book unless youre absolutely confident in your ability to get away from their retaliation and are doing it to keep them grouped up for petrification purposes.

this guide’s going to explain how to be a king of multitasking via both tomes and the infernal staff. given maxwell has the shadow clone special ability, which does about 150 damage when it procs, AND can summon the magma golem to do consistent damage on top of his infernal staff usage, he is very, very good at taking down bosses and keeping their attention if need be!

besides that: though i focus on how wonderful and sexy the infernal staff and tome of beckoning are, the tome of petrification is HUGELY useful. be sure you keep an eye on your cleric. if theyre surrounded and trying and failing to cast, you can easily swoop in on the distracted enemies and freeze them in their tracks so your healer can revive or cast life blossom.

however, that means getting past the first few rounds. the pit pig and crocommander rounds are hell on earth as a maxwell. in the beta, he was able to consistently petrify enemies if he got the crystal tiara due to the recharge being just fast enough - however, it got rebalanced in the new update, either slowing down the cooldown or shortening the time enemies stay petrified. its better to let the healer take the crystal tiara (unless they insist). stay out of the thick of things, or just run around and try not to get hit if youre being pursued because the pit pigs are fast enough to get to you before you can petrify them.

your time to shine will come when your healer gets a life blossom spell up. once all the enemies are grouped up - this is where communication is vital, because this is where i see the most mistakes - let your physical dps units get their anvil strikes/pyre poker attacks off, and THEN petrify the enemies while theyre stunned. this will let them pick off the severely damaged enemies at their leisure. dont be afraid to be assertive in text or voice chat! remind the others to take turns getting those attacks off as the healing goes down, and keep track of how many are left to go. the worst feeling is getting a petrify up as soon as someone else undoes all that with an anvil strike.

when its time for the crocommanders, the best you can do is petrify one of the two groups as soon as they spawn in, then continue to stay out of the thick of things. the best ive found to petrify a group without getting completely mauled or them running out of the circle is actually going after a group of enemies that the tank has busy - and of course, communicate as always. thisll make it easier for them to either clean up the pit pigs or pick off the crocommanders if you make your intentions clear so they can stop attacking the petrified enemies.

the snortoises are the next round that youll only be able to petrify in. let your kite take the top or bottom group of two - youre going to want the group of three that spawns to the bottom-right. its not hard to keep them petrified, given how slow they are and how little you have to worry about dodging them, even if its tempting to sometimes whack one as it starts to wander off. youll probably get spiked in retaliation - keep in mind you can only survive three of those hits. just make sure you keep communicating and dont let anyone else, not even your kite, (well, okay, your kite can, but its very annoying), get those three away from you or unpetrified.

after the snortoise round is when the infernal staff drops. the scorpeons are much more dangerous than the snortoises, but youll be able to actually hold your own for once. just keep your distance and be sure to consistently attack one - and keep an eye on your healer as always, in case theyre having difficulty with aggro, so you can switch back to your petrification tome and freeze the scorpeons. i find it easiest to keep the two weapons, whenever i switch, in the middle, so that i can always see where they are.

you dont need to worry as much about petrifying as enemies wake up; now you can join the physical dps team. try to remember about how long life blossom lasts; the meteor spell takes a long, long time to cast, and youd want to get it to land about when the flowers are fading away. its helpful in that it can stun enemies for a short time, too, in case anybody needs to get out. if youre going to cast it on a group of moving enemies, it follows the same rules as petrify, just takes longer to cast; try to predict where theyll be moving a few seconds ahead, especially if theyre chasing a teammate.

this really should go unsaid, but do everything you can to not get hit by the acid. stick with your healer if youre hit, because youre almost guaranteed to go down unless youre able to avoid any more hits afterward.

the tome of beckoning should drop towards the middle to end of this round. it summons a magma golem that does about the same damage as you do with the infernal staff, and as consistently, but it goes down rather easily and will eventually leave by itself. however, by combining that AND the infernal staff AND the shadow clones (those dont apply to the golem, obviously; only the staff attacks), you can get an absolutely bonkers amount of damage off.

hopefully, you only have one tank. having more spaces open for dps will get you through the fight laster. if you only have one tank, you can get the second chiselled marble armor when it drops. if you have two, you can get the stone splint armor. either way, youre going to need those during or after the scorpeon round, otherwise (im relatively certain) the boarilla can literally one hit kill you. and things will go awry sometimes. its going to want to punch that frail old man. thats just how the forge goes.

this shouldnt have to be said, but once it drops from the first boarilla, youre going to want that tiara that ups your cooldown speed and your magic damage. now you can be even more deadly.

for obvious reasons, when it comes to the two boarilla round, youll be better against one boarilla than against the reinforcements that come up. just keep versatile. youll want to petrify the mooks while keeping dps up on the boarilla if possible, and its a stressful job, but its absolutely useful and possible and will keep a lot of heat off the team. now that youll have better armor, youll be much more survivable against the hordes, too, and have to worry just a little less.

(by the way; the magma golems ai isnt too bad. it wont attack petrified or sleeping enemies, making it automatically a better teammate than half of the randoms youll find)

if you have the marble armor, youll actually be able to take a couple punches from the boarilla. dont be afraid to try to draw aggro off of your healer or wilson (or if they were feeling particularly punchy, your wilson IS your healer). and as a dps, youll be the bottom priority for rezzing (which should be wilson>kite>tanks>dps). but not to worry. just do what you need to keep the group alive, even if you have to get smushed sometimes. dont forget, the golem can serve as a distraction, too, and can keep it locked into defensive mode.

the same general rules apply to the boarrior, when it shows up; you can tank a bit better than you think (but still not very well! youre a twig in a whole bunch of bubble wrap) if you need to get aggro off your healer. now, heres where things can get really juicy: does your healer have a hard time getting the big man into the life blossom circle so he can sleep? this is where you can swoop in. remember that tome of petrification you forgot about once all the mooks got cleared out?

yup.

you can set up a combo (as long as youre communicating! no matter what i say here communication is the number one key to winning) where you petrify the big boy (which will only last a few scant seconds, so work fast) and then your healer puts a circle right on him so he cant escape.

aside from that, tactics are widely the same. dont be scared to petrify pigs, etcetera, etcetera. keep your kite and your healer safe. you can do it!

good luck! message me or reply if you have tips i should add!