How many completed the pof story solo?

[Tiviana.2650]

> @"Kaliwenda.3428" said:

> I am a relatively new player (came back last June after years away) and I just got to this story step earlier in the week. I play primarily solo though I have done LFG fractals maybe two or three times.

>

> I could tell right away it was a big "nope" for me too, at least for now. I am just not good enough with the movement controls yet to be able to stay out of the way of all the bad stuff. The Balthazar fight before this one was the worst so far, (well, maybe tied with Hearts and Minds) and when I started this one I knew right away I had to step away for a while.

>

> I play a ranger, switched from longbow to shortbow not long ago and also use axe/dagger. I have a mix of exotics and ascended but I think my own problem is being too slow and not very nimble. So I went back to LS3 to do that story and practice more on those maps.

>

> I appreciate the build tips from folks here and will try them out, and come back to this fight after I feel more confident about it. I find that if I just look at it as a chance to learn and try things out I can surprise myself with what I'm able to get through. But yeah, there's a lot of frustration attached to that process.

 

I think im with you on this, i thought i could go in and power through it like the previous stories, yes balthazar was a pain and he downed me several times before i finished. But this one really got me im literally dying not downing lol. I have read through the comments and have learned a lot, and thanks for links to builds and the video and other peoples experiences. Oh and the link to the sword abilities was an eye opener. Im going to play more and learn more before i attempt this again. And esp practice moving, things come out fast in this game and immediately go off. So i guess i need to learn that this game is a bit different in how it handles damage mitigation.

[Aaralyna.3104]

> @"Kaliwenda.3428" said:

> I am a relatively new player (came back last June after years away) and I just got to this story step earlier in the week. I play primarily solo though I have done LFG fractals maybe two or three times.

>

> I could tell right away it was a big "nope" for me too, at least for now. I am just not good enough with the movement controls yet to be able to stay out of the way of all the bad stuff. The Balthazar fight before this one was the worst so far, (well, maybe tied with Hearts and Minds) and when I started this one I knew right away I had to step away for a while.

>

> I play a ranger, switched from longbow to shortbow not long ago and also use axe/dagger. I have a mix of exotics and ascended but I think my own problem is being too slow and not very nimble. So I went back to LS3 to do that story and practice more on those maps.

>

> I appreciate the build tips from folks here and will try them out, and come back to this fight after I feel more confident about it. I find that if I just look at it as a chance to learn and try things out I can surprise myself with what I'm able to get through. But yeah, there's a lot of frustration attached to that process.

 

You pointing at that Balthazar fight atop a mountain in Elon Riverlands? That one you can't survive at. Its the point of the story you actually die here (no matter how good you play at him). Don't feel let down and without hope you can't continue his later fight. I'm sure you will manage the later fight (even when you don't move around all too much coz neither do I :)

[ugrakarma.9416]

Try use more Sohothin properly, its hits hard and make fight very fast.

[Kaliwenda.3428]

> @"Aaralyna.3104" said:

> > @"Kaliwenda.3428" said:

> > I am a relatively new player (came back last June after years away) and I just got to this story step earlier in the week. I play primarily solo though I have done LFG fractals maybe two or three times.

> >

> > I could tell right away it was a big "nope" for me too, at least for now. I am just not good enough with the movement controls yet to be able to stay out of the way of all the bad stuff. The Balthazar fight before this one was the worst so far, (well, maybe tied with Hearts and Minds) and when I started this one I knew right away I had to step away for a while.

> >

> > I play a ranger, switched from longbow to shortbow not long ago and also use axe/dagger. I have a mix of exotics and ascended but I think my own problem is being too slow and not very nimble. So I went back to LS3 to do that story and practice more on those maps.

> >

> > I appreciate the build tips from folks here and will try them out, and come back to this fight after I feel more confident about it. I find that if I just look at it as a chance to learn and try things out I can surprise myself with what I'm able to get through. But yeah, there's a lot of frustration attached to that process.

>

> You pointing at that Balthazar fight atop a mountain in Elon Riverlands? That one you can't survive at. Its the point of the story you actually die here (no matter how good you play at him). Don't feel let down and without hope you can't continue his later fight. I'm sure you will manage the later fight (even when you don't move around all too much coz neither do I :)

 

Thanks for the kind words. :) I did get to the point where he kills me and was able to go to the rest of that story part, for me it takes so long for me to whittle him down to the point where that triggers that my hands are literally sore by then. And I haven't gotten The Whole Story achievement yet so it's something I've got to talk myself into doing again someday soon for that.

 

I will definitely keep at it and keep practicing! :)

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"wickedkae.4980" said:

> I had no issue completing EVERY story solo. It's why i love this game. I do not have to rely on others.

 

Which is actually a sad testimony for a MMO. I miss how GW1 forced you to group up for missions - it was so much more fun! (well, most of the times ;) )

GW2's story missions are all soloable (with the exception of "Hearts and Minds", which would take forever to solo, I assume).

[AnClar.1304]

Completed solo using metabattle.com's Tempest - Scepter/x Fresh Air build. I actually found this storyline somewhat easier than a few of the earlier ones. GL to you.

[perilisk.1874]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"wickedkae.4980" said:

> > I had no issue completing EVERY story solo. It's why i love this game. I do not have to rely on others.

>

> Which is actually a sad testimony for a MMO. I miss how GW1 forced you to group up for missions - it was so much more fun! (well, most of the times ;) )

> GW2's story missions are all soloable (with the exception of "Hearts and Minds", which would take forever to solo, I assume).

 

It's kind of tautological, since when people say "story missions", they mean the soloable story instances.

 

The dungeon story modes tell a coherent story which ties into the personal story (and are group content), raids have a somewhat thinner story but it's still there, and fractals have a little bit of a narrative arc as well. Not to mention the smaller story arcs of dynamic events.

 

Edit: Hearts and Minds isn't especially bad to solo, as long as you don't (i) go for Migraine, (ii) do the Pale Tree, and (iii) hit bugs.

[Khisanth.2948]

> @"Tommo Chocolate.5870" said:

> > @"PeerlessArch.6547" said:

> > To those who commented on builds and gear --

> >

> > I soloed the whole story on a Staff Tempest with all Exotic Celestiel gear. Absolutely **NOT** the most ideal class/setup/spec at all by far.

> >

> > And I'm not even that good of a player lol.

> >

> > It can be done without max gear and Meta specs.

>

> I'm in a similar position - the first time I did it was solo with a Weaver with exotic Celestial gear (actually some of it was just rare - Wintersday trinkets). That's not to say the fight is easy, but I don't think it's at all dependent on gear.

>

> I think I used [Final Shielding](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Final_Shielding "Final Shielding") and [Arcane Shield](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Arcane_Shield "Arcane Shield") to survive when I failed to avoid or dodge one of the big AoE attacks. Unfortunately the OP is using Ranger, so I don't think they have access to anything similar, although [Runes of Rebirth](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_the_Rebirth "Runes of Rebirth") might help.

 

Unfortunately? Not at all ... https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Eternal_Bond

 

> @"Aaralyna.3104" said:

> > @"Kaliwenda.3428" said:

> > I am a relatively new player (came back last June after years away) and I just got to this story step earlier in the week. I play primarily solo though I have done LFG fractals maybe two or three times.

> >

> > I could tell right away it was a big "nope" for me too, at least for now. I am just not good enough with the movement controls yet to be able to stay out of the way of all the bad stuff. The Balthazar fight before this one was the worst so far, (well, maybe tied with Hearts and Minds) and when I started this one I knew right away I had to step away for a while.

> >

> > I play a ranger, switched from longbow to shortbow not long ago and also use axe/dagger. I have a mix of exotics and ascended but I think my own problem is being too slow and not very nimble. So I went back to LS3 to do that story and practice more on those maps.

> >

> > I appreciate the build tips from folks here and will try them out, and come back to this fight after I feel more confident about it. I find that if I just look at it as a chance to learn and try things out I can surprise myself with what I'm able to get through. But yeah, there's a lot of frustration attached to that process.

>

> You pointing at that Balthazar fight atop a mountain in Elon Riverlands? That one you can't survive at. Its the point of the story you actually die here (no matter how good you play at him). Don't feel let down and without hope you can't continue his later fight. I'm sure you will manage the later fight (even when you don't move around all too much coz neither do I :)

 

You still have to survive long enough to get to that point.

[Mahou.3924]

> @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> You still have to survive long enough to get to that point.

 

Technically, not precisely. Baltazar will rezz you as long as necessary until you have finally dealt enough damage to trigger the dialogue and event chain. Source: Own experience as Master of Dying in that fight lol.

 

 

[XatraZaytrax.2601]

If I ever complete a boss with my armor intact, I will be surprised. I always consider it GW2 version of the walk of shame as you hurry over to the vendor in your skivvies to repair your stuff.

 

Never really understand the idea behind the thought "you can't kill this boss with armor fully intact? Here, try it without any armor at all."

 

I don't think the beast resets after you die though. I've done it will a character from each profession and there are some, like my thief that I had to chip away at I until it was dead. Just remember to spam the special skills when ever they come up. They are different for each class.

[Nephalem.8921]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"wickedkae.4980" said:

> > I had no issue completing EVERY story solo. It's why i love this game. I do not have to rely on others.

>

> Which is actually a sad testimony for a MMO. I miss how GW1 forced you to group up for missions - it was so much more fun! (well, most of the times ;) )

> GW2's story missions are all soloable (with the exception of "Hearts and Minds", which would take forever to solo, I assume).

 

Only the cm in hearts and minds takes forever. The other part is fairly quick. Did all the story and achievements solo and Balthasar was one of the best endboss fights we had yet.

He is the God of War after all. Easy compared to unfair stuff i had to fight in monster hunter.

The boss is fairly simple once you know what to do. Just don't get hit by the ground effects and do the aurene special action key thingy. There are also orbs appearing for free barrier. You can jump over the waves and don't have to use a dodge aswell.

I don't like the sword though. I do more damage without it just using normal skills because the sword can't crit or stack 25vuln like my holo can.

You have to use the sword for the warbeast though since your normal skills do almost no damage.

 

[Fenom.9457]

was able to do it on ele just fine. Dying a lot is on too, I think I broke most of my armor in that mission

[Donutdude.9582]

I completed it solo. I timed my dodges and used positioning/utility skills properly.

 

If you're finding it hard, try to bring a few more defensive utilities and work on your dodge timing too. You'll get there!

[Ol Nik.2518]

I completed the entire PoF story solo on my ranger. I had full exotics set (Rampager, I believe) with some cheap runes and sigils (far from any meta build). I died a lot. All my armour was shattered. But I would just resurrect and keep hitting the enemy.

 

PoF story fights can be annoying and time-consuming for new solo players, but they are doable. Bosses' HPs do not restore, so if you manage to hit only once before you die again it is not a big deal: The damage is there and is not going to disappear.

 

I would suggest to get a big cup of tea, put some music on (or even watch some series), relax, and just keep going. Death from a thousand cuts is still death. You do not have to be fast and efficient. You just need to win eventually. And this is something that even terrible players like myself can do, just takes some time.

[Tommo Chocolate.5870]

> @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> > @"Tommo Chocolate.5870" said:

> > > @"PeerlessArch.6547" said:

> > > To those who commented on builds and gear --

> > >

> > > I soloed the whole story on a Staff Tempest with all Exotic Celestiel gear. Absolutely **NOT** the most ideal class/setup/spec at all by far.

> > >

> > > And I'm not even that good of a player lol.

> > >

> > > It can be done without max gear and Meta specs.

> >

> > I'm in a similar position - the first time I did it was solo with a Weaver with exotic Celestial gear (actually some of it was just rare - Wintersday trinkets). That's not to say the fight is easy, but I don't think it's at all dependent on gear.

> >

> > I think I used [Final Shielding](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Final_Shielding "Final Shielding") and [Arcane Shield](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Arcane_Shield "Arcane Shield") to survive when I failed to avoid or dodge one of the big AoE attacks. Unfortunately the OP is using Ranger, so I don't think they have access to anything similar, although [Runes of Rebirth](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_the_Rebirth "Runes of Rebirth") might help.

>

> Unfortunately? Not at all ... https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Eternal_Bond

 

Whoops, I'd forgotten about that one! Shows what I know. I don't play as Ranger much...