PoF Intro Mission Impossible to Solo. What's up with the Difficulty Spike?

[Khisanth.2948]

> @"thruine.8510" said:

> > @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > Easy, guys. Here's the situation: the OP is a very "casual" returning player - the sort who really isn't interested in deep-diving into game mechanics. Thus his knowledge level is very basic at this point, essentially on the level of a new player.

> >

> > I met up with him last night and we did some story and open world. He didn't boost and had very little gold, so his gear was a mix of random stats in anywhere from greens to exotics.

> >

> > Given that piece of information along with the build he shared, you can understand why he was struggling.

> >

> > Now that he's using full exotic and a more coherent build, I think it should be relatively smooth sailing from here.

>

> That was my situation when I first quit playing. Not very knowledgeable about the game mechanics and very little resources I found quite a bit of the game to be quite difficult. Of course I also heard how easy this game is and if you make the comparison to WoW once you've maxxed out your character then yes, both games are extremely easy. My big turn around was money. The more I struggled the more resources I had but there was nothing in the game telling me how to make it work for me. Now I crafted exotics for myself and buy any equipment I need from the trading post.

>

> Also, warriors are awful in the game in comparison to the other classes in my opinion. That's what I started with. Too many skills they have available require you to park yourself to make use of them. If using great sword, that is.

 

Greatsword only has one skill that requires you to stand still and Hundred Blades is not something you should be blindly using. The slightly weird bit is that dodging with #3 is more responsive than your actual dodge because using #3 will interrupt the use of Hundred Blades and it evades whereas using normal dodge requires interrupting first then dodging.

 

> I found a rifle to be a better option but since that didn't fit what I wanted in a warrior, I just changed classes. Even if the OP gets better gear and learns more about his setup, the warrior is a disadvantage if you've got a certain ideal of what kind of warrior you'd like to be. Taking things to the face certainly isn't going to work since it seems to me heavy armor offers the same advantage as no armor. With so many mobs in this game having the same mechanic of throwing absolutely everything at you on the floor in the air while throwing you clear from them. The first half of season 2 (which I'm currently working through myself) was terrible for me as a warrior. Especially with mobs like the vines that cover the ground with poison everywhere. The only tells you get is the damage you receive and I've yet to land a stun on one. I'm still learning the game too.

>

 

Longbow is better than rifle. Better damage and hits more targets which is important for thinning out the enemy. If you are only fighting only one enemy then whatever floats your boat. The longobw burst also allows you to drop a large AoE then kite enemies inside.

 

> Not much advice I'm sorry to say. I know how the OP feels. Especially when I came into the game thinking warriors were like those I had played before. Bringing the mindset in of someone who had tanked dungeons and raids in WoW for years it was hard to change for GW2 where that play type will just get you killed. If its a struggle for you now with a warrior, its just going to be frustrating down the road with one. If possible, I'd leave the class as I did.

>

 

That is doable with a warrior but not by running at the enemy while flailing your arms. It requires a build designed to do that.

 

> Edit: Oh, wanted to say I don't think this community is toxic. Its probably the nicest in any game I've ever played. The forums are a bit more like the internet as a whole though which is why so many avoid them. But except for a few even those are okay. Better than many.

 

 

[thruine.8510]

> @"SlippyCheeze.5483" said:

> There also is absolutely positively a huge jump in challenge between most of the core world and the expansion -- even Orr is mostly full of friendly, generous, easy enemies by comparison. Anyone saying there isn't a jump has just forgotten how much they have spent time on "git gud" in the game. (or they came in with extensive outside experience that translated to a huge jump-start on GW2 mechanics.)

 

I've been trying to think of what gaming experience (MMORPGs only) that relates to this but the only thing it reminds me of is old EverQuest fights where the mob says or does something and the raid knows to run around the corner (healers could heal through walls in that one). I've not done any of the expansions just started the Living World. But I knew mobs would start being more difficult (not that some aren't already) but thought that difficulty meant we'd learn their telegraphs. Mordrem I've been fighting don't have their petals pulsate or something, they just start spitting acid. Usually, I expect when that happens to see a color change or something and you'd be able to run towards the mob. Instead, the game play seems to be run out of range and use range weaponry which isn't exactly what I personally wanted in a warrior. Especially since I found I killed faster with a rifle than my swords, axes and maces which was my mind set. I even questioned what's this weapon swap for anyways since I don't care about the others, I want sword and board.

 

I did that whole Rytlock chapter piece with a rifle since I could stay out of the bad and help take the target down while keeping menders dead. Instead of being satisfied that no menders got through and I finished without even going into down state, I was disappointed in the fight since I wanted to be slap that statue up close. I think that might be the OP's thinking process too. He wants to play a warrior the way games have been playing warriors for years and you don't run from the mob, you smack him around and dodge his blows and those you don't dodge you eat fairly easily. If his fight is a taste of what I've been seeing, it just a whole wall of mess on the floor and you might as well rethink the warrior as a rifleman or bowman since for almost all the fights that's where you'll spend most of you time. Even though you can do good damage, you can't stay in melee range long enough to make the fights satisfying as they should be. Not to put words in his mouth but I know when I first encountered fights where I needed to "git gud" it actually translated to no more dancing around the fact, now pick a range and kill that flower.

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @"thruine.8510" said:

> > @"SlippyCheeze.5483" said:

> > There also is absolutely positively a huge jump in challenge between most of the core world and the expansion -- even Orr is mostly full of friendly, generous, easy enemies by comparison. Anyone saying there isn't a jump has just forgotten how much they have spent time on "git gud" in the game. (or they came in with extensive outside experience that translated to a huge jump-start on GW2 mechanics.)

>

> I've been trying to think of what gaming experience (MMORPGs only) that relates to this but the only thing it reminds me of is old EverQuest fights where the mob says or does something and the raid knows to run around the corner (healers could heal through walls in that one). I've not done any of the expansions just started the Living World. But I knew mobs would start being more difficult (not that some aren't already) but thought that difficulty meant we'd learn their telegraphs. Mordrem I've been fighting don't have their petals pulsate or something, they just start spitting acid. Usually, I expect when that happens to see a color change or something and you'd be able to run towards the mob. Instead, the game play seems to be run out of range and use range weaponry which isn't exactly what I personally wanted in a warrior. Especially since I found I killed faster with a rifle than my swords, axes and maces which was my mind set. I even questioned what's this weapon swap for anyways since I don't care about the others, I want sword and board.

>

> I did that whole Rytlock chapter piece with a rifle since I could stay out of the bad and help take the target down while keeping menders dead. Instead of being satisfied that no menders got through and I finished without even going into down state, I was disappointed in the fight since I wanted to be slap that statue up close. I think that might be the OP's thinking process too. He wants to play a warrior the way games have been playing warriors for years and you don't run from the mob, you smack him around and dodge his blows and those you don't dodge you eat fairly easily. If his fight is a taste of what I've been seeing, it just a whole wall of mess on the floor and you might as well rethink the warrior as a rifleman or bowman since for almost all the fights that's where you'll spend most of you time. Even though you can do good damage, you can't stay in melee range long enough to make the fights satisfying as they should be. Not to put words in his mouth but I know when I first encountered fights where I needed to "git gud" it actually translated to no more dancing around the fact, now pick a range and kill that flower.

 

Except that isn't true and it definitely is a learn to play issue if you think melee weapons can't be used in open world. On every class I've tried, melee is my primary.

[Boogiepop Void.6473]

I have soloed the intro mission multiple times, including on a full Berserker Thief and an Ele, the most fragile classes.

[thruine.8510]

> @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> Greatsword only has one skill that requires you to stand still and Hundred Blades is not something you should be blindly using. The slightly weird bit is that dodging with #3 is more responsive than your actual dodge because using #3 will interrupt the use of Hundred Blades and it evades whereas using normal dodge requires interrupting first then dodging.

 

I think that's incorrect. Your auto also needs to fairly close. I don't know why hundred blades is a channel that requires no movement myself. But its your auto, hundred blades and #3 (I don't remember the name either) then you throw the blade for maybe 5% I'm guessing. Then the gap closer. That's just not enough if you want the target dead fast because great sword is reduced to two main damage skills with one requiring no movement. Placing can be an issue when things are hitting the fan. Other classes just have more useful skills in my opinion. And I personally love the hammer but again we have too many no damage skills (CC in its case which I still find fun). Warriors with great sword just seem lack luster compared to other classes and weapons. Like I'm said, I don't have much experience myself but I'm running through mobs on a different class now that I would have trouble with on a warrior which I've only recently started playing heavily. I've started with warrior and he's got all my core stuff done save for a few puzzles and mini dungeons. Of course actual dungeons but I've given up on completely those for now since it takes so long to a group to do them.

 

> Longbow is better than rifle. Better damage and hits more targets which is important for thinning out the enemy. If you are only fighting only one enemy then whatever floats your boat. The longobw burst also allows you to drop a large AoE then kite enemies inside.

>

 

Yeah, I went with long bow when I finally got HoT to allow me to delve into berserker but I like the way rifle has that build up which even if incorrect gives the impression it does better damage. Besides, don't you need to go into a specific direction (condi damage) to get the most use out of them? Its hard to believe fire arrows outperforms those head shots from rifles (that's what I think of its burst skill). Berserker was fun but I still think warrior is lagging. I've never (and I believe this is true in all games) heard people comment that warriors are overpowered which should be something people will think when a class starts to actually perform well for some reason. Maybe I'll try long bow on guardian since it looks like my warrior will be playing mule for a bit till I find the love for him again.

 

> That is doable with a warrior but not by running at the enemy while flailing your arms. It requires a build designed to do that.

>

I'm not being snarky or anything but flailing your arms around is what I think when I think of warriors. If I find an enemy (and to be fair its not every enemy) most make melee range a bad thing. Think of when you fight ogres. You can't melee them and they have that nice tell so you can dodge their big attack. That's the sort of fighting I like myself. Upclose and clear tells. What I've been encountering don't seem to have such a tell (granted I may be mission it due to all the crap they keep spraying the floor with).. I can image fire would be a similar experience. These AOEs these new critter use cover all around them so you can't just get behind them. Basically every fight we've had in the core areas has gone out the window. They don't seem to be dodgeable, I've yet to stun the bosses I'm encountering and you can't simply slip behind them (some you can but they've got so much other crap or other mobs with them there's no breather. I've just not found a build that allows that. The only thing that works is to run aways, return when they settle down, maybe you can take out some of the adds if they stick with you then switch out of melee. Just today I'm having an issue in Orr (no players) and I'm able to basically jump three mobs or more and melt them downwhere my warrior would probably struggle with more than one veteran. Of course I know a warrior can do very well under a skilled player like any class. It also seems to me that those at a high level seem to go with axe/axe over great sword which is popular for the lower levels. Just my observations. Still, I think its valid advise that the OP might find a different class more to his liking. I just found the change brought faster kill times, skills you can cast while moving and just as hardy as warrior. I haven't played all the classes yet (but I will) but so far I have found one that made me think I probably could have managed that fight better with my warrior.

[thruine.8510]

> @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> Except that isn't true and it definitely is a learn to play issue if you think melee weapons can't be used in open world. On every class I've tried, melee is my primary.

 

As have I so I've no idea what your talking about with open world. Is the OP not talking about a mission which I assumed was instanced or have I totally misread this entire conversation?

[SlippyCheeze.5483]

> @"thruine.8510" said:

> > @"SlippyCheeze.5483" said:

> > There also is absolutely positively a huge jump in challenge between most of the core world and the expansion -- even Orr is mostly full of friendly, generous, easy enemies by comparison. Anyone saying there isn't a jump has just forgotten how much they have spent time on "git gud" in the game. (or they came in with extensive outside experience that translated to a huge jump-start on GW2 mechanics.)

>

> Mordrem I've been fighting don't have their petals pulsate or something, they just start spitting acid. Usually, I expect when that happens to see a color change or something and you'd be able to run towards the mob.

 

Which specific mordrem are you thinking of?

 

Instead, the game play seems to be run out of range and use range weaponry which isn't exactly what I personally wanted in a warrior. A couple have modal attacks, or specific high damage movements, but in general you should be able to handle them either way.

 

 

 

> Especially since I found I killed faster with a rifle than my swords, axes and maces which was my mind set. I even questioned what's this weapon swap for anyways since I don't care about the others, I want sword and board. I did that whole Rytlock chapter piece with a rifle since I could stay out of the bad and help take the target down while keeping menders dead. Instead of being satisfied that no menders got through and I finished without even going into down state, I was disappointed in the fight since I wanted to be slap that statue up close. I think that might be the OP's thinking process too.

 

Could be. I'll echo others, that in general melee is better than ranged for damage, and the recommended builds for open world with core warrior are axe/axe, and greatsword plus mace/shield or sword/shield. Rifle is not terrible, but it rarely should be the best option in damage output.

 

I will absolutely agree, though, that if you say "sword and board", and expect to be tanking stuff, rather than dodging around, you will not get that in GW2, pretty much at all. We don't have tanks, basically full stop, in any classical way.

 

https://metabattle.com/wiki/Open_World if you are not aware of it, is a collection of recommended builds for open world stuff (and that covers, eg, instanced story.)

[Jski.6180]

WHY WHY WHY mount pve walls?

[thruine.8510]

> @"SlippyCheeze.5483" said:

>

> Which specific mordrem are you thinking of?

 

Don't know what the flower thing is but the others were the vines and that blasted dragon that almost killed the Pale Tree. Got a little story about that one in a sec.

>

> Could be. I'll echo others, that in general melee is better than ranged for damage, and the recommended builds for open world with core warrior are axe/axe, and greatsword plus mace/shield or sword/shield. Rifle is not terrible, but it rarely should be the best option in damage output.

>

> I will absolutely agree, though, that if you say "sword and board", and expect to be tanking stuff, rather than dodging around, you will not get that in GW2, pretty much at all. We don't have tanks, basically full stop, in any classical way.

>

> https://metabattle.com/wiki/Open_World if you are not aware of it, is a collection of recommended builds for open world stuff (and that covers, eg, instanced story.)

 

I am aware of the site. It has been researched quite a bit by me. Beyond that, I agree we aren't getting classic warriors, or tanks, but something else which I don't care for. I'd say ranger since lots of games have rangers able to melee. I'm not sure people are aware how other games influence you about classes. I'm a bit surprised, make that dumbfounded that everyone picked up this warrior play style in this game without issue. From the way folks are reacting that maybe someone came into thinking the term warrior meant character that could take heavy damage and give good damage. They have historically been great at absorbing damaging while their weapon damage lags behind a pure dps class like elementalist or thief. For me, and this is just for me, I find their armor to be nigh pointless and their weapon too situational. I've played games where the sorcerer class had to stand still to cast while wearing cloth. It reminds me of that.

 

But about that dragon fight and this is what disappoints me about the combat. I was just dying so much I actually got tired. The breastplate had broke and I was making progress then I realized so what. I'm spawning right beside the thing. I still had my weapon. I peck away at it, not the dragon because that not how the fight worked. Kill something, anything really regardless of what it was doing. Stand in the stupid as long as I got a kill. And I finished it feeling like I have just been through one of the worst if not absolutely irresponsible fights any game developer had ever designed with a victory. I had no care at all and made me wish the combat would just get out of the way of what I was enjoying. Now I could replay that chapter and try to go for achievements but it wouldn't mean anything to me because its just dumb. I had no time and ability with the way things were happening to find any sort of pattern. It was as if the design was throw everything everywhere. It was god awful. Not after coming from games with such beautiful choreographic design where everything including the players had a part to play which was important. This fight was just run around flailing about to me. That sort of stuff is hard to learn to play because just getting if finished isn't point of playing. When my other characters go through it, either I'll start to pick out the rhythm of cheese it as it seems to be designed for.

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @"thruine.8510" said:

> > @"SlippyCheeze.5483" said:

> >

> > Which specific mordrem are you thinking of?

>

> Don't know what the flower thing is but the others were the vines and that blasted dragon that almost killed the Pale Tree. Got a little story about that one in a sec.

> >

> > Could be. I'll echo others, that in general melee is better than ranged for damage, and the recommended builds for open world with core warrior are axe/axe, and greatsword plus mace/shield or sword/shield. Rifle is not terrible, but it rarely should be the best option in damage output.

> >

> > I will absolutely agree, though, that if you say "sword and board", and expect to be tanking stuff, rather than dodging around, you will not get that in GW2, pretty much at all. We don't have tanks, basically full stop, in any classical way.

> >

> > https://metabattle.com/wiki/Open_World if you are not aware of it, is a collection of recommended builds for open world stuff (and that covers, eg, instanced story.)

>

> I am aware of the site. It has been researched quite a bit by me. Beyond that, I agree we aren't getting classic warriors, or tanks, but something else which I don't care for. I'd say ranger since lots of games have rangers able to melee. I'm not sure people are aware how other games influence you about classes. I'm a bit surprised, make that dumbfounded that everyone picked up this warrior play style in this game without issue. From the way folks are reacting that maybe someone came into thinking the term warrior meant character that could take heavy damage and give good damage. They have historically been great at absorbing damaging while their weapon damage lags behind a pure dps class like elementalist or thief. For me, and this is just for me, I find their armor to be nigh pointless and their weapon too situational. I've played games where the sorcerer class had to stand still to cast while wearing cloth. It reminds me of that.

>

> But about that dragon fight and this is what disappoints me about the combat. I was just dying so much I actually got tired. The breastplate had broke and I was making progress then I realized so what. I'm spawning right beside the thing. I still had my weapon. I peck away at it, not the dragon because that not how the fight worked. Kill something, anything really regardless of what it was doing. Stand in the stupid as long as I got a kill. And I finished it feeling like I have just been through one of the worst if not absolutely irresponsible fights any game developer had ever designed with a victory. I had no care at all and made me wish the combat would just get out of the way of what I was enjoying. Now I could replay that chapter and try to go for achievements but it wouldn't mean anything to me because its just dumb. I had no time and ability with the way things were happening to find any sort of pattern. It was as if the design was throw everything everywhere. It was god awful. Not after coming from games with such beautiful choreographic design where everything including the players had a part to play which was important. This fight was just run around flailing about to me. That sort of stuff is hard to learn to play because just getting if finished isn't point of playing. When my other characters go through it, either I'll start to pick out the rhythm of cheese it as it seems to be designed for.

 

Obviously, soaking damage is less of a thing due to the presence of dodge and other mechanics which allow players to avoid hits. As these mechanics exist as a central part of combat in GW2, you are expected to make use of them. Further, the group dynamic is expressly designed not to allow players to take damage for other players (i.e. no "tanking").

 

Still, that doesn't necessarily preclude characters who can take hits and warrior is one of the strongest classes this way, in my experience. I haven't played warrior in awhile, but I definitely recall it being perhaps the strongest solo open world class I tried as far as core builds go. Elite specs are another matter, but the fact that warrior has the best base health and armor combined with strong passive healing and mitigation abilities made it much more forgiving to play. I was soloing HoT champions with my core warrior using greatsword/rifle even though I was new to the spec because you can take hits and then quickly recover health.

 

Take a look at strength/defense/discipline core builds. You can trait heals on might, heals on burst, and take healing signet and receive constant healing. That doesn't mean you can completely ignore enemy damage, but it makes it a very forgiving build even using full glass gear.

[Ralkuth.1456]

Awesome to see the player is being helped. I know what true casual player is like, they are often completely capable of playing well, but they just don't see a reason to understand the whole system before having some fun adventuring or chatting about stuff, because martial mastery is not what they're after.

 

I find that it's a depth issue, like someone simply complying with the rules on what not to do, versus someone reading materials and coming to an understanding on the moral, social, and psychological reasons of why you don't do certain things and then deciding not to do them.

 

On a practical level, there might not be a difference if the former is set-up well.

[Algreg.3629]

> @"thruine.8510" said:

 

> I am aware of the site. It has been researched quite a bit by me. Beyond that, I agree we aren't getting classic warriors, or tanks, but something else which I don't care for. I'd say ranger since lots of games have rangers able to melee. I'm not sure people are aware how other games influence you about classes. I'm a bit surprised, make that dumbfounded that everyone picked up this warrior play style in this game without issue. From the way folks are reacting that maybe someone came into thinking the term warrior meant character that could take heavy damage and give good damage. They have historically been great at absorbing damaging while their weapon damage lags behind a pure dps class like elementalist or thief. For me, and this is just for me, I find their armor to be nigh pointless and their weapon too situational. I've played games where the sorcerer class had to stand still to cast while wearing cloth. It reminds me of that.

>

> But about that dragon fight and this is what disappoints me about the combat. I was just dying so much I actually got tired. The breastplate had broke and I was making progress then I realized so what. I'm spawning right beside the thing. I still had my weapon. I peck away at it, not the dragon because that not how the fight worked. Kill something, anything really regardless of what it was doing. Stand in the stupid as long as I got a kill. And I finished it feeling like I have just been through one of the worst if not absolutely irresponsible fights any game developer had ever designed with a victory. I had no care at all and made me wish the combat would just get out of the way of what I was enjoying. Now I could replay that chapter and try to go for achievements but it wouldn't mean anything to me because its just dumb. I had no time and ability with the way things were happening to find any sort of pattern. It was as if the design was throw everything everywhere. It was god awful. Not after coming from games with such beautiful choreographic design where everything including the players had a part to play which was important. This fight was just run around flailing about to me. That sort of stuff is hard to learn to play because just getting if finished isn't point of playing. When my other characters go through it, either I'll start to pick out the rhythm of cheese it as it seems to be designed for.

 

You presume and resist, instead of perceiving and adapting. In that regard, you are like a man banging his head on the wall while demanding it should turn into a door. The fight you bring up is completely predictable with very well defined phases. You don´t want to examine that, you don´t want to accept that, you want your environment to adapt to your expectations. You can accept the environment of GW2, adapt accordingly and enjoy it or you cannot. Then you have to play the games that fit your expectations. I am not telling you to f off, but these are really the two choices you have. I don´t play my GW2 character like my Warframe Tenno or my DDO character - and i certainly would not expect to succeed if I did. Again, this is really your choice to accept the "rules" of a specific gaming environment or not. If you don´t, you will have a hard time enjoying it.

[Kal Spiro.9745]

> @"Algreg.3629" said:

> This thread shows that GW2 community is rather helpful, but as most people, it does not react well to histrionic claims. The whole "elitism" vs. "noob" thing doesn´t make things easier either. So a lesson to be learned: Don´t start a thread about difficulty with outlandish claims. Things are not impossible to achieve when thousands of players do so.

>

> Don´t dismiss the possibility the problem is you, not the game. And I don´t mean that in any way personal. You can be the most wonderful human being in the world, doing something wrong in a game does not tarnish that the least. Look at this case here. It is not a matter of the casuals´ dreaded "meta elitism". OP does not have a bad build, he has no build whatsoever. Things wouldn´t be worse if traits and skills had been picked up by a random number generator. So whenever one encounters a problem, a better approach than bringing up histrionic claims is telling people you have a problem, are you doing anything wrong, what can be done to fix it. Of cause you will always get your "git gud" responses, but also a lot better and quicker advice if you don´t antagonize people up front. And listen instead of adopting a passive-aggressive stance.

 

Honestly, I'm getting to the point where I kinda want to try running this mission with his "build" and see how tough it is. I think the hardest part for me will be picking up a random assortment of gear that's probably underleveled. I wish I knew his stats at the time, just so I could mimic them.

[MetalGirl.2370]

> @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > > @"Algreg.3629" said:

> > > This thread shows that GW2 community is rather helpful

> >

> > Helpful- because Anet removes everything that's negative on forums so people don't even bother commenting the actual truth. If he said that on reddit he would have a different experience.

> >

>

> Or maybe helpful because the OP got help?

 

Helpful because people have to be positive here

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > > @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > > > @"Algreg.3629" said:

> > > > This thread shows that GW2 community is rather helpful

> > >

> > > Helpful- because Anet removes everything that's negative on forums so people don't even bother commenting the actual truth. If he said that on reddit he would have a different experience.

> > >

> >

> > Or maybe helpful because the OP got help?

>

> Helpful because people have to be positive here

 

I see. So I took my time in game to help one on one because...forum moderation. Right on.

[MetalGirl.2370]

> @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > > @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > > > @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > > > > @"Algreg.3629" said:

> > > > > This thread shows that GW2 community is rather helpful

> > > >

> > > > Helpful- because Anet removes everything that's negative on forums so people don't even bother commenting the actual truth. If he said that on reddit he would have a different experience.

> > > >

> > >

> > > Or maybe helpful because the OP got help?

> >

> > Helpful because people have to be positive here

>

> I see. So I took my time in game to help one on one because...forum moderation. Right on.

 

I'm obviously talking about forum not about "in game" ... you can even see people on reddit hating on forums because of how restricting forum is.

[SlippyCheeze.5483]

> @"thruine.8510" said:

> > @"SlippyCheeze.5483" said:

> >

> > Which specific mordrem are you thinking of?

>

> Don't know what the flower thing is but the others were the vines and that blasted dragon that almost killed the Pale Tree. Got a little story about that one in a sec.

 

The vines have two attacks: once every ten seconds they have that spin/knockback thing, signalled by the red circle, and they have the three globs of poison shot thing every three seconds or so. To avoid the first, dodge a little after the indicator so you don't get hit, or just move out of the circle. (Using a +25% speed trait or utility will definitely help there, but you should have enough time -- with practice -- to work at "normal" speed out too, most of the time.)

 

The dragon boss in the pale tree story instance is hard. Those are big attacks, and you have to cope with the (respawning) vines as well. Most of the attacks can be predicted by keeping focused on two things: where the dragon is located around the edges of the chamber, and the shape of the attack -- the cone, or the spots. The entire floor thing, dodge for. No other option.

 

> I am aware of the site. It has been researched quite a bit by me. Beyond that, I agree we aren't getting classic warriors, or tanks, but something else which I don't care for.

 

Yeah. GW2 actually has *unique* classes, which makes for a shock when you are conditioned to expect warrior to be the same thing in every MMO, because they are all just carbon copies of WoW, which is a carbon copy of earlier games. Finding the class you like can take more work. You may actually find that guardian -- hammer, or sword and shield -- is a better match to what you expect than warrior is.

 

Entertainingly, you might also find necromancer, a cloth class, more to your taste -- especially the HoT reaper elite spec, which gives access to the greatsword, turning you into a high health pool, heavy melee hitting, two handed fighter.

 

> For me, and this is just for me, I find their armor to be nigh pointless and their weapon too situational. I've played games where the sorcerer class had to stand still to cast while wearing cloth. It reminds me of that.

 

I think you will find that, generally, that is how all the GW2 classes feel to you, because the game puts a premium on player actions rather than passive numbers to handle combat. Instead of stacking large amounts of armor, then standing still and hitting something, you move around it, act to counter the attacks intelligently, avoid standing in range of the big attacks, and generally fight it like it was a threat, not like it was a training dummy.

 

On the other hand, GW2 also has relatively few "stand still and cast" spells. Not none, but most things can be used while you move around. You can literally run circles around the enemy while attacking them, radically different from those other games.

 

> But about that dragon fight and this is what disappoints me about the combat. I was just dying so much I actually got tired. The breastplate had broke and I was making progress then I realized so what. I'm spawning right beside the thing. I still had my weapon. I peck away at it, not the dragon because that not how the fight worked. Kill something, anything really regardless of what it was doing. Stand in the stupid as long as I got a kill. And I finished it feeling like I have just been through one of the worst if not absolutely irresponsible fights any game developer had ever designed with a victory. I had no care at all and made me wish the combat would just get out of the way of what I was enjoying. Now I could replay that chapter and try to go for achievements but it wouldn't mean anything to me because its just dumb. I had no time and ability with the way things were happening to find any sort of pattern.

 

I'm entirely sympathetic to this being difficult. I understand the frustration. Ultimately, this is part of where the game reaches the point that you need to learn the details of combat, and the simplest approach of standing still and fighting isn't going to work any longer. This will be just as true out in the world as it is in that story instance -- HoT and PoF enemies will be just as capable of turning you to mulch as the dragon was.

 

It is absolutely possible to learn how to spot the tells, and practice until you understand the ebb and flow of GW2 combat. Ultimately, the approach of respawn and hit until you win is ... not going to work out, even if it gets you through that one story step.

 

So, you have to ask yourself this: GW2 is *not* the same as other MMOs. It has unique classes, a different approach to combat, and a higher focus on player involvement rather than passive number increases. It also *never* allows you to simply outgear content, and so trivialize it. Even the best gear in the game won't keep you alive when you face the dragon, and even the most robust build will not let you survive very long standing still and fighting....

 

So, ask yourself this: are you interested in learning this different approach to how an MMO works? Would you rather just go back to the comfortable sameness of WoW clones? That is absolutely possible, and there is no shame, and no failure, in that. You **don't have to like GW2** or the way it works. This is absolutely OK.

 

Just be honest with yourself: GW2 has shown that the way you expected it to work, isn't how it is going to work.

 

Nobody has to like everything, and nothing is to the taste of everybody. That is good, and fine, and why we have choices.

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > > @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > > > @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > > > > @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > > > > > @"Algreg.3629" said:

> > > > > > This thread shows that GW2 community is rather helpful

> > > > >

> > > > > Helpful- because Anet removes everything that's negative on forums so people don't even bother commenting the actual truth. If he said that on reddit he would have a different experience.

> > > > >

> > > >

> > > > Or maybe helpful because the OP got help?

> > >

> > > Helpful because people have to be positive here

> >

> > I see. So I took my time in game to help one on one because...forum moderation. Right on.

>

> I'm obviously talking about forum not about "in game" ... you can even see people on reddit hating on forums because of how restricting forum is.

 

So, the community isn't helpful because some people are tools? I disagree.

[LucianDK.8615]

i suspect wow is to blame for setting the bar too low for casuals expecting it everywhere else.

[ZhouX.8742]

> @"Phantoms Shadow.4512" said:

> > @"Dante.1763" said:

> > You can definitely do it solo. Did it solo on both my ranger(who was running a very sub otptimal build at the time) and my Ele(Who yes was running a DPS build).

> >

> > Instead of blaming the game perhaps you should look at what you are doing wrong.

> > What build are you running? What skills are you running? What equipment are you using?

>

> How do I link my build here? In-game and trying to ask for help while explaining the situation. The community is more toxic then I last rememeber. Another reason why I recall leaving the game.

 

This community oddly enough has one of the best communities I've seen between BDO , Bless , FFXIV with BDO being easily the worst. It's a bunch of teenagers spamming racism and trump shit all day and saying "meow" and "blackpink in your area" in general chat.

 

It's massively cringe

[Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.294]

> @"Phantoms Shadow.4512" said:

> Trying to run the Intro Mission of Path of Fire (Sparking the Flame), and you just...can't run it. I am a level 80 Warrior and I cannot beat it. I am getting annoyed by the fact that they made a DLC Story you are forced to run with others. I don't have many people who I can run with, so I end up playing Solo. I mean GW2 is a Solo optional game. So why did they totally break the AI and make Solo impossible. I do nothing but die, get back up, die, get back up and repeat the loop.

>

> You cannot even get past the intro mission on your own. The AI flood you and even when you had the support of the Ally AI they were pointless.

>

> Remembering why I quit the game for so long. The Devs seem intent on forcing you to not do anything Solo. About to give up again.

 

Phantom Shadow, I ran this solo on my berserker warrior. Here is what I ran for equipment, build, and slots skills at the time I ran it:

Armor: full set of berserker's exotic armor with superior rune of strength on all 6 pieces

Trinkets: Back, amulet, both earrings, and 1 ring are ascended Marauder's (thank you LWS3!), the other ring is ascended berserker+valk (Bagh Nakh)

Weapons: Exotic berserker mace (Superior sigil of strength) and exotic berserker shield (superior sigil of Rage), ascended Svaard's Claymore (Marauder stats)(Superior sigils of force and blood)

Build:

Discipline (2, 1, 3): Warrior Sprint, Inspiring Battle Standard (*), Burst Mastery

Strength (1, 2, 1): Brave Stride (**), Forceful Greatsword, Berserker's Power

Berserker (1, 1, 1): Smash Brawler, Blood Reaction, Bloody Roar

 

**: Brave stride came in after I ran this solo, so I'm not sure what I was running before, could have been Peak Performance, or it could have been whatever Brave Stride replaced.

*: Inspiring Battle Standard is a big crutch when running glassy. It basically adds 15k worth of regenerative healing to each banner. Drop the banner and stay inside the effect area, you'll constantly regen, and it stacks on top of the healing signet regen.

 

Utility Skills:

Healing Signet

Bull's Charge

Banner of Discipline

Signet of Stamina

Headbutt

 

Headbutt, Bull's Charge, Mace 3 (Pommel Bash), and Shield 4 (Shield Bash) are your main CC skills for breaking the defiance bar. Note: The Mace primal burst skill (F2), Skull Grinder, is also a CC, but I only use that in desperation as I try to use the primal burst for my greatsword Arc Divider.

 

Shield 5 (Shield Stance) and Mace 2 (Counterblow) are, obviously, your attack blockers. You have 2 dodges - use them, but don't waste them - and greatsword 3 (Whirlwind Attack) is also a dodge.

************

 

This build and equipment isn't optimal, and yes, I do get my rear handed to me sometimes, but it works (at least for me) in PvE. When I'm not soloing in PvE with this, I'm running it in a party with my not-at-all-complete ranger on my alt account on my other monitor. :)

 

The number one key to winning is BREAK THE DEFIANCE BAR. It's why I run 4 CC's between utilities and weapons. You HAVE to take that defiance bar down as often as you possibly can. Secondly, don't waste your dodges getting back to melee range. After I use GS 3, hit GS 4, and then GS 5 to get you back to melee range - waste a bull's charge if you don't have GS 5 off cool-down BEFORE you waste a dodge to get back - at least the bull's charge will do a knock down.

 

One last piece of advice: I remapped my keys, so I can hit almost everything with my left hand. I've got the elite skill on an extra button on the mouse, but utility skills 6-9 I remapped to left-shift, Q, E, and C respectively, and moved left and right strafe to A and D respectively.

 

The fight is solo-able on a warrior. I hope some of this can help you. Good luck.

[SlippyCheeze.5483]

> @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > > @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > > > @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > > > > @"AliamRationem.5172" said:

> > > > > > @"MetalGirl.2370" said:

> > > > > > > @"Algreg.3629" said:

> > > > > > > This thread shows that GW2 community is rather helpful

> > > > > >

> > > > > > Helpful- because Anet removes everything that's negative on forums so people don't even bother commenting the actual truth. If he said that on reddit he would have a different experience.

> > > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > > Or maybe helpful because the OP got help?

> > > >

> > > > Helpful because people have to be positive here

> > >

> > > I see. So I took my time in game to help one on one because...forum moderation. Right on.

> >

> > I'm obviously talking about forum not about "in game" ... you can even see people on reddit hating on forums because of how restricting forum is.

>

> So, the community isn't helpful because some people are tools? I disagree.

 

The unhelpful parts of the community are composed of people who are tools. ;)

[SlippyCheeze.5483]

> @"ZhouX.8742" said:

> > @"Phantoms Shadow.4512" said:

> > > @"Dante.1763" said:

> > > You can definitely do it solo. Did it solo on both my ranger(who was running a very sub otptimal build at the time) and my Ele(Who yes was running a DPS build).

> > >

> > > Instead of blaming the game perhaps you should look at what you are doing wrong.

> > > What build are you running? What skills are you running? What equipment are you using?

> >

> > How do I link my build here? In-game and trying to ask for help while explaining the situation. The community is more toxic then I last rememeber. Another reason why I recall leaving the game.

>

> This community oddly enough has one of the best communities I've seen between BDO , Bless , FFXIV [...]

 

Yeah, as a rule the GW2 community is pretty good. It is still possible to approach it in a way that generates annoyance and rudeness, though, and like any community there are a few people who love to destroy rather than improve.

[Rap Tiger.1257]

> @"Phantoms Shadow.4512" said:

> Trying to run the Intro Mission of Path of Fire (Sparking the Flame), and you just...can't run it. I am a level 80 Warrior and I cannot beat it. I am getting annoyed by the fact that they made a DLC Story you are forced to run with others. I don't have many people who I can run with, so I end up playing Solo. I mean GW2 is a Solo optional game. So why did they totally break the AI and make Solo impossible. I do nothing but die, get back up, die, get back up and repeat the loop.

>

> You cannot even get past the intro mission on your own. The AI flood you and even when you had the support of the Ally AI they were pointless.

>

> Remembering why I quit the game for so long. The Devs seem intent on forcing you to not do anything Solo. About to give up again.

 

If you're not able to learn a mechanic and get over it, then you better do it yourself when you're a kid or a bit of a child's play and easy when you do it when you go through a difficult situation too, you do that? change your build and try harder to win, I'm tired of players like you who want everything easy.

[Dashingsteel.3410]

I believe the op was helped already and is doing fine. This obviously makes his original post not true. Had the op not posted he probably wouldn't have received help and just quit the game.

 

 

Tip of the hat to AliamRationem for helping.

 

 

Could we please close this thread as it is no longer relevant or helpful