What has hapend since the GW:F release?

Greetings

About ½ a year ago, i left GW, mainly because i got sick and tierd of the coockie cutters in tomb/ha. I was a PvPer, who enjoyed creating new builds (some of them were really nice, some were interesting, and some of them were downright horrible), the problem was that outside my guild, there were almost never anyone who was willing to participate in any build that wasnt a standard "tested" build. When my guild disbanded, i really didnt feel that i had much of a reason to stay.

Now i plan to return to GW, at least for a while, and i wonder:
What has changed in gw during the last ½year? How has PvP evolved? Does IWAY still live?
During my short time in GW today, i noticed a lack of assassins, and ritualists, were they no good?
How has the Mesmers and Monks changed? (my two favorite classes) Is e-deny builds still popular? (the only kind of mesmer that i really didnt like to play)
What kind of builds seem to dominate these days?
If i create a new build, that contains something odd (say an E/R), what would my ods of finding anyone willing to play said char be? Would anyone even be interested in testing something new these days?

Thanks in advance, and sorry about my spelling, english isnt my native language.

HA changed to 6vs6 now so , 2 words, VIMWAY ,SMITEBALL.

Since nobody can comment on every advance in the past 6 months I'd suggest watching Matches and inspect the builds being used in Guild Wars and Hall of Heroes. This will give you a much better insight into the skills etc ansd what's the new craze and what's not.

Oh my, i remember the old 8vs8 smiteballs, althought not impossible to beat, it was like trying to beat down a brick wall with a teaspoon, tecnicly speaking possible, but verry timeconsuming.

Oh, and i didnt want to know everything that has hapend, i merly wanted to get a general idea about where the game is heading *smiles* It can be a bit overwhelming to watch some PvP games, when there are so many things that i dont know, like the GW:F skills.

I do not PVP but for PVE I can answer a few questions. 1. Ritualist/Nec Explosive Creation Build is a blast! Check it out on Wiki.
2. Assassins have been getting a bad rap sort of. They are fun to play solo with henchies. Groups have a problem usually because they see you running away a lot or dieing a lot. To be effective you have to engage retreat recharge engage retreat recharge ETC… You can do some good spike dmg but lack some armor compared to a Warrior. So many think you are ineffective when in fact you can deal some lethal dmg to a target fast! If you try to toe to toe with a warrior you more then likely will get smoked due to A. They deal more dmg every hit then you. B. they have better armor then you. So you have to have your skills ready for them if the skills are recharging good luck.

I played an Elementalist / Ranger and had a great time in PVE. I used Lightning reflexes and Troll Urgent maybe Serpents quickness. I loaded up with primarily no ranged skills (like bed of coals, Immolate, Double Dragon) Run in behind the warrior explode with all skills. Then retreat wand targets while you recharge.

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Index_of_skill_lists

Now you know...

Thanks Painbringer, its sad to hear that the assassin is one of the misunderstood classes, much like mesmers. I remember being forced to play trough most of the campaign with henchys with my mesmer (pre-faction balthazar, unlocking skills was a pain).


I have skimed trough the list of skills, but the problem is that it takes time to be able to link a particular skills to a particular icon, althought i have been able to memorize some of the "new" skills, i am often forced to check what a particular skill does several times, before i remember it (and because of some odd reason, ritualist skills seem to be even harder to remember than most other ones *smiles*)

Both of which are easily countered.