I still don't understand how to avoid PVE enemy damage

[BlueJin.4127]

Royal Treasury Guard critically hits you for 4000 damage using Ambush.

Royal Treasury Guard critically hits you for 4000 damage using Ambush.

Royal Treasury Guard hits you for 380 damage using Flurry (this happens like 10 times).

Royal Treasury Guard critically hits you for 1300 damage using Double Slash.

Royal Treasury Guard critically hits you for 1300 damage using Double Slash.

Now I'm dead.

 

Am I supposed to know what Ambush, Flurry, and Double Slash are? I don't see any big red circles saying I need to dodge. Even if I do see a big red circle, I can only dodge twice before I have to wait to dodge. My friend says enemies telegraph before big damage, but all I see is blue light special effect, fire effect, yellow flash, Fiery Dragon Sword effect, special move effects, etc. covering 90% of the enemy's body, preventing me from even seeing the enemy's animation.

 

Basically, I lose 90% of my HP without having any clue why I'm taking damage and THEN I move back/dodge/heal, etc. I look at the damage tab, but I have no idea what to make of the info above. As a Guardian, I do have a lot of blocks and what not, but since I have no idea when enemies will do big damage, I just use them randomly for the most part. I thought I will learn naturally, but I'm currently in chapter 8 of PoF (started at personal story, went through LWS in order) and I still have no idea what to make of all these move names and have no idea if they're unavoidable regular attacks of if they're special attacks that are telegraphed with enemy animation.

 

[BunjiKugashira.9754]

From the skills you've listed I assume you're playing ele?

For ele the best method to deal with groups of trash-mobs (veteran and below) is to pull them together with your raptor and immediately cast Glyph of Storms while attuned to earth. This creates a pulsing aoe that blinds foes, giving you enough time to safely kill them. You don't need to dodge, just make sure the mobs don't leave the aoe.

 

Another tip I can give you for the story instance you're in, is to wait for your NPC companions and have them tank for you.

[Urud.4925]

He said that he plays a Guardian. I guess you are trying to complete the instance Hallowed Ground. Those guards deal a lot of damage if you are not able to evade their charge; even a ranger could take a lot of damage if doesn't evade in time (see [Ayin's video](

"Ayin's video") around minute 9).

Try to fight them 1 by 1, stay ranged until they charge you, evade, then go full dps in melee. This should give you more time to see the animation for the charge.

 

Anyway, sometimes GW2 is just mean. Yesterday I've been hit for 18.8k damage (with a single hit) while I was gliding in Verdant Brink; I fell from the sky, with a fall that lasted 20 seconds, hitting all the rocks, until I finally crushed to the ground for a 6-digit damage (I think it was 178k damage...). Yeah, totally avoidable :/

[torakun.9638]

Ok, I can help a little to make thing clear I think..

 

I think what OP meant was, for example, something like GW1, when the enemies are using skills, we can see the animation/effect, sometime even casting time under it (so that mesmer or ranger can interrupt it). With that method, we can prepare and know what actually is killing us.

 

In GW2, other than Veteran/Champ/WB's huge red AoE indicator, most enemies dont provide any real cue on what they are about to do, and if they do it, we only receive the dmg number instantly. And if there's just another 2 other players even, with the massive light effect and shinies that goes around each skills and character's items (legendaries), it become certainly more impossible to discern what the enemies about to do. Except for a huge enemies thats easily visible (2-3x the height and size of norn for example), most will get 100% covered with all the shiny effects surrounding them. We just knew afterwards that we have been hit by "x" skill with "x" amount of dmg.

 

In my opinion, the way to avoid it is play range and melee if your profession can afford it. Switch it up using weapon exchange when needed. The dodge being only 2x is pain really, but you can go around it by playing range and deliver the burst when you feel safer.

 

anyway, hope any of that make sense. :# :o :s =)

[Cyninja.2954]

Git gud. ;)

 

Now with that out of the way, some actual advice:

 

Not all attack are Telegraph or can be easily seen (or at all seen). This depends more on what you are facing and how dangerous the attack is (meaning if the developers though it be necessary to specifically animate it). Often experience is the best teacher and you often just have to take some hits to learn and adapt.

 

That said, for regular enemies (up to non specific elites) , you would usually run a rotation of sorts which always or often is similar:

 

Engage enemys with a few attacks - > enemys close distance so you now evade or use defensive skills to deal with the damage (depending on the enemys range this might vary) - > use the protection gained to wave in some more attacks - > use defensive skill or if low in defensive skills try to gain distance - > etc.

 

It becomes more of a prepared dance than actually reaction to enemys clues.

 

The time where you need to watch out is usually during Boss battle or specifically animate attacks (of which many by now have Red or Orange danger idicators). Those are the attacks you have to dodge or move out of, but often only big enemys will present with them.

 

As guardian the easiest approach would be to take a Focus into you off Hand and use Focus 5 for the 3 Blocks it provides. Combine with scepter main Hand and you have a great range-power setup which can nicely combine with a Greatsword.

[BlueJin.4127]

Pretty much what Tora said. Also, there are times when I can see enemies just fine, but I lose a huge chunk of my HP in like half a second, and I swear there wasn't any special animation. This is more of a problem with small enemies rather than big enemies. The example I mentioned in my original post was during a PoF story mission that Urud mentioned, against a human sized ghost, with 3 NPC allies fighting with me. The ghost is already hard to see since it's small and somewhat transparent, then I have all these special effects that impede my view even more, and even when I can see the enemy, I don't notice it doing any special animation before I lose a huge chunk of my life in less than a second. One second, it hits like wet noodles, then randomly, it just eats through my HP. O_o

 

I guess some attacks aren’t telegraphed like ninja said. I do use a scepter and focus as my 2ndary weapon, it's just that I prefer to save skill 5 for when I see a big attack coming. Except... apparently, big attack already came. :tongue:

[Schnuschnu.9857]

> @"Urud.4925" said:

 

> Anyway, sometimes GW2 is just mean. Yesterday I've been hit for 18.8k damage (with a single hit) while I was gliding in Verdant Brink; I fell from the sky, with a fall that lasted 20 seconds, hitting all the rocks, until I finally crushed to the ground for a 6-digit damage (I think it was 178k damage...). Yeah, totally avoidable :/

 

Yes, don't fly near a boss island in the night with a oneshot aoe if not dodged. This aoe is telegraphed but since you fly only near the island you likely don't see the boss and therefore the telegraphed aoe. It is only one boss, don't remember the name, so easy to avoid. And if you see the Boss and aoe, you can dodge it in the air and carry on.

The high fall damage is always a good laugh for me. Love it. Just think of the mess this would leave... damn. Okay, somewhat dark humor, but I like it.

 

[Ojimaru.8970]

> @"BlueJin.4127" said:

> ... but all I see is blue light special effect, fire effect, yellow flash, Fiery Dragon Sword effect, special move effects, etc. covering 90% of the enemy's body, preventing me from even seeing the enemy's animation.

 

While in open world or group settings, it is always advisable to turn on Effect LOD (Options > Graphics) to limit the visual noise, and therefore allow you to focus on your own skills, as well as the enemy skills.

 

> @"BlueJin.4127" said:

> Pretty much what Tora said. Also, there are times when I can see enemies just fine, but I lose a huge chunk of my HP in like half a second, and I swear there wasn't any special animation. This is more of a problem with small enemies rather than big enemies. The example I mentioned in my original post was during a PoF story mission that Urud mentioned, against a human sized ghost, with 3 NPC allies fighting with me. The ghost is already hard to see since it's small and somewhat transparent, then I have all these special effects that impede my view even more, and even when I can see the enemy, I don't notice it doing any special animation before I lose a huge chunk of my life in less than a second. One second, it hits like wet noodles, then randomly, it just eats through my HP. O_o

>

> I guess some attacks aren’t telegraphed like ninja said. I do use a scepter and focus as my 2ndary weapon, it's just that I prefer to save skill 5 for when I see a big attack coming. Except... apparently, big attack already came.

 

Enemy combat design in this game has never been the greatest. Some encounters are designed to Down random players in single, randomly timed, zero-telegraph attacks (e.g. the Pestilent Golem in Gandara), while some can be overcome flawlessly with good footwork (e.g. Mark II Suppressor Golems in the Sandswept Isles), then there are the atrocities that are the Awakened Olmakhan enemies in Kourna. In other words, don't feel too bad if you die to seemingly random damage.

 

That said, however, there are still ways to mitigate damage. Guardians have easy access to Blinds (Justice is Blind trait), Blocks (Aegis, Shield of Wrath, etc.), and Protection ("Hold the Line!", "Save Yourselves!", Inspired Virtues trait, etc.) that can go a long way to extending your tiny health pool.

[Turkeyspit.3965]

Posters above have commented on Veteran+ / boss type mobs, who usually have indicators. What about the rest of them?

 

My honest opinion? You will eventually learn what an Ettin looks like as he winds up to club you, but I don't think you are supposed to know when normal mobs are attacking, but instead, you are supposed to kill them before they kill you. As the saying goes, DPS is the best form of crowd control, and if you burst an enemy down, you don't have to worry about dodging their next attack. This is why many agree that defensive stats, while not useless, aren't as impactful in GW2 as they are in other games, because in this game you are meant to kill them fast, and dodge anything that survives.

 

You will eventually get to a point where if you play as power guardian GS, you can melt 4 enemies instantly by pressing 3 keys.

1. GS 5 (double tap actually

2. GS 4

3. GS 2

4. Collect loot

 

 

 

[AliamRationem.5172]

Here are a few tips that may help:

 

Simple concept, I know. But melee attacks generally only occur when a target is available at melee range and ranged attacks from range. Duh? But if you think about it, this gives you a measure of control over enemy AI. For example, I know that when I'm fighting a champion chak lobber solo, if I stand at range it will use its charge attack to get closer to me, but never its shake or stomp. This is quite useful if I need to buy some time because the charge is laughably easy to avoid and nowhere near as damaging as the lobber's melee attacks!

 

Stay in motion! Let's say I'm fighting a fire hydra. They have a double meteor strike that happens very quickly. I honestly couldn't tell you what the attack animation looks like because I know that if I simply stay in motion, those meteorites will miss (barely!). But it also helps with their directional charge and breath attacks. As long as it's lateral movement in relation to the hydra's position, I will always be moving out of the line of these attacks whether I notice the animation or not. Even their normal melee attack (bite) is easier to avoid if I simply circle strafe around the target. It forces the hydra to turn in order to bite me, making it much more noticeable - which is good because they bite pretty quickly and it hurts! This also works in larger groups - if you see the boss turn in your direction, there's a pretty good chance whatever it does next will require you to take some evasive action!

 

So, let's go back to that chak lobber example for a moment. Let's say I'm at melee range. Now I know that the charge attack is off the table. That leaves the bite, the stomp, and the dreaded shake in play. The bite happens pretty quickly, but I'm circle-strafing, forcing the boss to turn toward me before it can bite. It also needs to turn toward me to use the stomp. However, the stomp is slower and has a very obvious animation. So, in actuality, I'm not even watching for two attacks there. The bite is harder to avoid while the stomp is trivial to avoid and they both require the boss to face my direction. All I'm watching for is whether the boss is turning toward me. Simple. And if he stops turning toward me and begins twisting his body and tail, I know the shake is coming and I'd better have an answer for it!

 

You will also notice a cadence to enemy behavior as well as a priority. In other words, they will tend to favor leading with a specific skill, which will then go on cooldown resulting in them using some other skill instead. If you just saw an enemy use a dangerous ability, you know that you have some time before it can use it again. That makes the list of abilities it has available 1 skill shorter. Proximity may reduce that number further. As well as redundancy such as in the example of the chak lobber's bite and stomp, which are very different animations but because I force the boss to turn to face me I don't need to worry about two animations.

 

Don't underestimate the benefits of a strong offense, either. This is particularly true of non-boss units, many of which can be taken down in a matter of a few seconds, before they have any chance to damage you! For example, a veteran fire hydra is a pretty annoying enemy to fight with low damage builds because every move they make will stun you and they move around quite a bit with their charge attack. They also have a built-in Achilles heel in the form of a stun that is applied to them when you remove one of their heads by dealing 33% of their health in damage. A high damage build can simply run up and chain stun a fire hydra to death while a tanky build is usually forced to dodge around and chase the hydra all over the place!

 

It's even worse when facing groups of enemies. I call this the pocket raptor effect. An individual pocket raptor is no threat at all, but 20 of them in a swarm is another matter! The longer you take to kill each enemy, the more damage you have to absorb. A tanky build may be equipped to do just that, but in many cases a high damage build will survive with fewer complications and finish the encounter in a fraction of the time!

 

[Warscythes.9307]

Those are just normal hits from a pretty generic enemy which is why there are no obvious indicators. They are not going to have indicator for a normal sword slash. You are overthinking it and conserving resources too much. If you need to use something then hit it, no need to save something like focus 5 when is probably going to be up for the next fight. If you treat fights with every enemy the way you would compare to bosses then you are going to tire yourself too quickly.

 

You took roughly 5 hits or so(Flurry is 1 skill), therefore you should have enough time to use around 5 skills in general. That should be more than enough time for use any CC, blind, weakness, block, protection or any other plethora of skills to prevent damage. Honestly there is no need to even think about dealing with mobs like this too much. Go in with greatsword, 5, pull them in, F1 to proc an aoe blind, 4, 2 and they should all be dead by the time the spin finishes. If you want to be safe then hit focus 5 beforehand and swap to greatsword to engage. The idea is basically I don't care who what where you are. I am going to pull the enemy in as CC, blind to prevent 1 hit and kill them before the blind falls off. If they are still alive then you are not doing the damage portion correctly or they are silver/gold/legendary mobs which requires paying a bit more attention.

[Khisanth.2948]

This is a case of trial and error as well as a demonstration of why copy and pasting an enemy with a stun follow by a hard hitting attack makes for a crappy design.

 

> @"Schnuschnu.9857" said:

> > @"Urud.4925" said:

>

> > Anyway, sometimes GW2 is just mean. Yesterday I've been hit for 18.8k damage (with a single hit) while I was gliding in Verdant Brink; I fell from the sky, with a fall that lasted 20 seconds, hitting all the rocks, until I finally crushed to the ground for a 6-digit damage (I think it was 178k damage...). Yeah, totally avoidable :/

>

> Yes, don't fly near a boss island in the night with a oneshot aoe if not dodged. This aoe is telegraphed but since you fly only near the island you likely don't see the boss and therefore the telegraphed aoe. It is only one boss, don't remember the name, so easy to avoid. And if you see the Boss and aoe, you can dodge it in the air and carry on.

> The high fall damage is always a good laugh for me. Love it. Just think of the mess this would leave... kitten. Okay, somewhat dark humor, but I like it.

>

 

Don't what it was but 18.8k is way too tiny for a hit from Axemaster. I was going to poke him to get an actual number but ended up killing him instead. XD

[Warscythes.9307]

> @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> This is a case of trial and error as well as a demonstration of why copy and pasting an enemy with a stun follow by a hard hitting attack makes for a crappy design.

>

> > @"Schnuschnu.9857" said:

> > > @"Urud.4925" said:

> >

> > > Anyway, sometimes GW2 is just mean. Yesterday I've been hit for 18.8k damage (with a single hit) while I was gliding in Verdant Brink; I fell from the sky, with a fall that lasted 20 seconds, hitting all the rocks, until I finally crushed to the ground for a 6-digit damage (I think it was 178k damage...). Yeah, totally avoidable :/

> >

> > Yes, don't fly near a boss island in the night with a oneshot aoe if not dodged. This aoe is telegraphed but since you fly only near the island you likely don't see the boss and therefore the telegraphed aoe. It is only one boss, don't remember the name, so easy to avoid. And if you see the Boss and aoe, you can dodge it in the air and carry on.

> > The high fall damage is always a good laugh for me. Love it. Just think of the mess this would leave... kitten. Okay, somewhat dark humor, but I like it.

> >

>

> Don't what it was but 18.8k is way too tiny for a hit from Axemaster. I was going to poke him to get an actual number but ended up killing him instead. XD

 

You likely took a shot from a sniper. What happens is that there would be a small icon similar to a sniper crosshair that appear above your head for a 2-3 seconds. Then you will take massive damage unless you get behind something, stealth or land.

[BlueJin.4127]

Yeah, it’s weird that the last boss of PoF does more predictable damage than random regular enemies. Anyways, I’m taking everybody’s advice of just using my defensive skills against regular enemies, rather than saving them. Fortunately, most controlled pulls end with 3 or 4 skills. Though sometimes, PoF enemies will chain pull one after another for like a minute... ugh, that aggro range.

 

Thanks for the advice, all. Now my focus is on getting the Griffon. ^^

[Urud.4925]

> @"Warscythes.9307" said:

> You likely took a shot from a sniper. What happens is that there would be a small icon similar to a sniper crosshair that appear above your head for a 2-3 seconds. Then you will take massive damage unless you get behind something, stealth or land.

Hmm, I'm usually able to evade those shots, I know the icon, sadly. But it's possible that with the updrafts/dark, I didn't notice it. I think it was just in front of the entrance for Lost Precipe. Anyway, it's always funny to read those big numbers. Just sad to see my character falling for several seconds before finally dying.

Probably she became unconscious after hitting small rocks during the fall though, so she didn't have to suffer until the end.

 

[Khisanth.2948]

Tested with some sharphooters. The damage was under 14k but it might also scale with distance away from them.

[Pretty Pixie.8603]

What gear do you use? Guards have a very small hp pool, so slotting gear with vitality will make your life a lot easier vs hard hitting single shot like attacks.